23-0409a - Detailed Summary

The preacher, Jim, thanks Mike and Roger for their excellent readings and emphasizes that Christians should devote themselves to the public reading of Scripture. He notes that in his preaching, the more of God’s Word and the less of his own, the more truth is conveyed, though he includes some opinion and commentary. Jim introduces the sermon topic: an ancient land where some of the greatest events in human history unfolded with profound impact on the human race. He mentions his daughter giggling at his pronunciation of "ancient." The land is Moriah, an old term for a region around Jerusalem in the Holy Land consisting of several mountains that resemble large hills rather than massive peaks like those in Colorado. He explains that Scripture refers to going "up to Jerusalem" due to its higher elevation, even if approaching from higher ground geographically.

Jim recounts that Moriah is where God sent a plague on Israel as judgment because King David conducted an illegal census against God’s law. David saw the destroying angel and prayed for mercy on the innocent people affected by his sin. God heard the prayer, showed mercy, and stopped the plague. David regarded the spot as holy, purchased the land from the farmer Ornan, and built an altar to God there. Later, David’s son Solomon built the temple on that very spot on Mount Moriah. Jim transitions to the Old Testament, noting he will read about Abraham, the man God chose to create a special people from whom the Christ would come as a blessing to the world. This precedes David, with Abraham being the tenth generation from Noah after the flood, descending from Shem (from whom the name Hebrew derives via Heber).

Jim reads from Genesis 12:1-3, where the Lord tells Abram to leave his country, people, and father’s household for the land God will show him. God promises to make Abram a great nation, bless him, make his name great, make him a blessing, bless those who bless him, curse those who curse him, and bless all peoples of the earth through him. Abram heads west to Canaan. In Genesis 12:7, the Lord appears to Abram and promises the land to his offspring. In chapter 15, God reaffirms three promises by oath: Abraham would have a child from his own body despite advanced age, his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, Sarah would bear Isaac as the child of promise, they would possess the land of Canaan, and through his seed all families of the earth would be blessed.

The main focus of the sermon is Genesis 22, described as one of the most important chapters in the Old Testament because it pertains greatly to the whole world through the third promise. Jim will go through it verse by verse with commentary rather than reading it straight through. He highlights that it involves deeper teaching through types and anti-types, meaning foreshadows and their fulfillments. Jesus stated he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it and the prophets, encompassing these types. All preceding events are types, while the actual gospel events fulfilled by Christ are the anti-types or archetypes. Jim begins with verse 1: after these things, God tested Abram, who responded "Here I am." The Hebrew word for test means to prove, try, or test, determining Abram’s love, devotion, and faith. God puts Abram through an extreme test unlike any other man.

In verse 2, God instructs Abram to take his son, his only son whom he loves—Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah to offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains God will indicate. Jim explains that a burnt offering involves slitting the throat, draining the blood, quartering the body, arranging it on wood, and burning it to ash. God emphasizes the preciousness of Isaac. Parallels are drawn as types: Isaac had a miraculous birth to Sarah, who was doubly barren (unable to conceive in her fertile years and now 90 years old). God promised and delivered this impossible child. Similarly, Jesus was born miraculously to the Virgin Mary through the Holy Spirit. Both Sarah and Mary conceived despite impossibility, making both sons miracle babies. Both were only sons and greatly loved. Isaac was the only son through Sarah, the legally married free woman, while Ishmael (through Hagar) was not the line of blessing—God specified the promises would come through Isaac from Abraham’s own body. The sacrifice Abraham was called to make also serves as a type.

God the Father sacrificed his son as the archetype, serving as the model and architect of the Father-Son sacrifice. Both Abraham and God the Father had to sacrifice their sons. In Genesis 22 verse 3, Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, took two young men with him and Isaac his son, split wood for the burnt offering, and went to the place God had told him. This demonstrates Abraham’s obedient faith as he promptly responds to God’s command, prepares everything needed, and sets out with Isaac. He took two young lads, likely servants or slaves, but the text distinguishes them from "his son" Isaac, who was not young despite being called a lad later, which simply refers to him as Abraham’s son. In verse 4, on the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. Abraham had three days to agonize over what would happen, paralleling how God agonized for three days at the separation and death of his son Jesus, creating a tight anti-type.

They started from Beersheba, about 40 miles from Jerusalem, a three-day journey by donkey. Abraham may have recognized the place by seeing God’s Shekinah glory, a dominant mountain like Mount Gihon, prophetic revelation from the Spirit, a recognizable feature on the mountain, or a combination. In verse 5, Abraham told his young men to stay with the donkey while he and the lad went yonder to worship and return to them. This shows Abraham’s total faith that he would return with his son intact. The passage does not explain Abraham’s reasoning, but Hebrews 11:17-19 reveals that by faith Abraham offered Isaac, reasoning that God could raise him from the dead even though the promises were to come through Isaac. Figuratively, he received Isaac back from death.

In verse 6, Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, took the fire and knife in his hand, and the two walked on together. They likely left the donkeys due to the mountain terrain. Isaac carried a large load of wood sufficient for sacrificing an adult human, indicating he was full grown. This is another type: Isaac carried the wood for his sacrifice, as Christ the anti-type carried his wooden cross. In verse 7, Isaac asked his father where the lamb for the burnt offering was, since they had the fire and wood. Up to this point Abraham had not told Isaac the full details. Isaac may have suspected he could be the sacrifice, shown by his exclamation "my father," yet affection between father and son remains evident. Isaac was not a child; scholars estimate 25 to 36 years old. Jim believes, given God’s precise timing and deliberate anti-types, Isaac was likely around 33 years old, the same age as Christ at his sacrifice.

In verse 8, Abraham replied that God would provide himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son, and they walked on together. This was more than faithful obedience; Abraham spoke prophetically. God would provide the lamb, fulfilled 2,000 years later when God offered his son Jesus as the sacrificial lamb to take away the world’s sin. In verse 9, they reached the place, Abraham built the altar, arranged the wood, bound Isaac, and laid him on the altar atop the wood. This reveals Isaac’s great faith and willingness to offer himself; he did not resist. Abraham was about 130 years old, while Isaac in his prime could easily have overpowered him, yet Isaac submitted. Jesus likewise submitted to God’s plan, authority, and the cross, saying "It is finished" and "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Both trusted their fathers and reasoned they would live again due to God’s promises. They willingly offered themselves with no resistance or violence and were both bound on their sacrificial wood.

In verse 10, Abraham stretched out his hand with the knife to slay his son. God, knowing the intent of men’s hearts, saw Abraham was truly willing. In verse 11, the angel of the Lord called from heaven, "Abraham, Abraham," and he responded "Here I am." The angel of the Lord is Jesus himself, the second person of the Godhead, calling from heaven and knowing Abraham’s heart. Jesus stopped Abraham abruptly. God never intended human sacrifice for worship. He tested Abraham and confirmed the man chosen to father his special people was willing to give up his son, which made Abraham God’s friend. In verse 12, the angel said not to stretch out his hand against the lad or do anything to him, for now God knew Abraham feared him since he had not withheld his only son. Both Abraham and Isaac passed the test with faith, fear, submission, conviction, and obedience. In God’s eyes the sacrifice had occurred. Abraham experienced God’s grace and salvation. Jesus referenced this in John 8:56, saying Abraham rejoiced to see his day, saw it, and was glad. As a prophet, Abraham saw the angel of the Lord as the Lamb of God.

In verse 13, Abraham saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns, took it, and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham and Isaac felt immense relief and joy; Scripture says it was as if he received Isaac back from the dead. The Lord spared Abraham the agony of slaying his son and provided the ram. God supplied the lamb for Abraham, and 2,000 years later supplied the true Lamb again. In Abraham’s life, God called for five sacrifices, which Abraham faithfully made without complaint, and God blessed him each time. First, leaving his country of Haran, blessed with the promise and delivery of a new country. Second, leaving his family, blessed with the promise of innumerable descendants. Third, separating from nephew Lot and giving him choice land, blessed with the promise of all Canaan for his posterity, later conquered and given to Israel. Fourth, separating from Ishmael, blessed with the promise that many kings and the Arabic people would descend from him. Fifth, sacrificing Isaac, fulfilled when the angel of the Lord who stopped the sacrifice became the true Lamb of God saving mankind from sin, completing the third promise.

The promise giver became the promise keeper by sacrificing himself. In verse 14, Abraham named the place "The Lord Will Provide," also called Jehovah Jireh, meaning Yahweh will provide. It is to this day on the mount of the Lord it will be provided. Jim argues this mountain was not Mount Moriah where the temple stood during Christ’s time, as Jesus was not crucified on temple grounds. God’s command was to the land of Moriah, with the specific mountain to be shown. The best fit is the small mountain called Calvary, an outcrop of Mount Gihon, also known as Golgotha, shaped like a skull and still visible today as eerie and skull-like. This is likely what Abraham recognized or was directed to see.

God’s perfect sacrificial lamb, Jesus, sinless and without defect, was offered on the cross bearing shame for all mankind. There is no greater love. When Jesus said "It is finished," he satisfied the law and prophets, fulfilling all types and anti-types as the archetype. Isaac was figuratively raised from the dead when the angel stopped Abraham. God raised Jesus after three days, the first fruit of the resurrection, enabling those born of God who die in likeness to Jesus through baptism to rise as well. It could happen in our lifetime, as alluded to regarding 2,000 years, where believers may not taste death but meet the Lord in the air, changed instantly into glorious eternal spirit bodies. Paul wrote that death is swallowed up in victory, with thanks to God who gives victory through Christ. Jim invites those needing redemption by the blood of the Lamb or prayers of the church to come forward with obedient faith like Abraham by confessing Christ as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, and calling on his name.