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They turn in your Bibles to Genesis 
chapter 22. Genesis chapter 22, a passage 
that we have considered in the past, but one instructive for 
our appreciation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Genesis chapter 
22, you'll remember, is the event, the specific incident where Abraham 
is called to offer up Isaac. Make some observations on the 
text and then look at some of the typology that is in the text. A type is something, a picture, 
a message that is prefigurement. And the things that we find here 
are fulfilled later on. The typology is fulfilled later 
on in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. I'll just pick 
up reading in Genesis 22, beginning in verse 1. It came to pass after 
these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, 
and he said, Here I am. Then he said, Take now your son, 
your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah 
and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains 
of which I shall tell you. So Abraham rose early in the 
morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men 
with him, and Isaac his son. And he split the wood for the 
burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God 
had told him. Then on the third day Abraham 
lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to 
his young men, Stay here with the donkey. The lad and I will 
go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you. So Abraham 
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. 
And he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them 
went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham, his 
father, and said, My father. And he said, Here I am, my son. Then he said, Look, the fire 
and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And 
Abraham said, My son, God will provide for himself the lamb 
for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together. 
Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham 
built an altar there and placed the wood in order. And he bound 
Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And 
Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his 
son. But the angel of the Lord called 
to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. So he said, 
Here I am. And he said, Do not lay your 
hand on the lad. or do anything to him, for now 
I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, 
your only son, from me." Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, 
and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the 
ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his and Abraham 
called the name of the place. The Lord will provide, as it 
is said to this day in the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided. Then the angel of the Lord called 
to Abraham a second time out of heaven and said, by myself, 
I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing 
and have not withheld your son, your only son Blessing, I will 
bless you and multiplying. I will multiply your descendants 
as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore 
and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies in 
your seed. All the nations of the earth 
shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice. So Abraham 
returned to his young men and they rose and went together to 
Beersheba and Abraham dwelled at Beersheba. Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for 
the Holy Scripture and for this account. We thank You for what 
it teaches us concerning sacrifice, concerning Your work on behalf 
of sinners. And I pray that we would come 
away from this passage with a fresh appreciation of the fact that 
God took His Son, His only Son, and sent Him into this world 
to die for us and to rise again. We just praise you now, we ask 
that you would bless our study together and bless us as we participate 
in the Lord's Supper. And we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Savior. Amen. Well, as we approach this 
particular narrative, I want to break it up into three sections. 
The first, the presentation of the test. Secondly, the obedience 
of Abraham. And thirdly, the approval of 
God. We'll get right to it. Notice, 
first of all, with reference to the presentation of the test. 
Verse one, it says, Now it came to pass after these things that 
God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham. The author alerts 
us, as the reader, to the fact that God is not really asking 
for human sacrifice. This is something the pagans 
practice, this is something the false religions practice, and 
if we didn't have this particular statement, it might perplex us. But we're told at the outset 
that this is designed as a test given to Abraham. But something 
we need to remember is that Abraham didn't have Genesis chapter 22 
verse 1. As far as he was concerned, this 
was not a test. As far as he was concerned, God 
was calling him once again to act upon his faith. You'll remember 
that in Genesis chapter 12, the original call, Abraham was to 
leave Ur of the Chaldeans. This was his home. This is where 
he resided. This was the people that he knew. 
This was everything to him. And yet God says, come out of 
that land and go into this other nation. And Abraham obeys God. Abraham does what he's told to 
do. In Genesis chapter 21, we see 
Abraham is grieved over having to see Ishmael sent away. Remember that Abraham pleaded 
with God that Ishmael would be the child of promise. And God 
said, no, it's going to be an Isaac that the promise is carried 
through. And then Abraham had to get to 
that place where Ishmael was sent away. I mean, we think about 
Father Abraham, we think about his faith, we think about the 
fact that he is a great example in that regard. But look at what 
he's undergoing as a man of God. Faith does not remove difficulty. Faith in the risen Savior does 
not mean a life of ease and simplicity. In fact, more often than not, 
when we come to Christ, we have challenges and struggles and 
trials that before that we knew nothing of. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, 
comes upon him powerfully at his baptism, and the very next 
scene, after the father says, This is my beloved son, in whom 
I am well pleased, that self-same spirit drives Jesus into the 
wilderness to be tempted by the devil for forty days. You ought 
not to consider it a strange thing when difficulties come 
upon you. You ought not to consider it 
a strange thing when there are challenges and trials in your 
life. In fact, the Master promised in John 16, verse 33, he said, 
In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have 
overcome the world. As one commentator says, this 
scene, Genesis 22, presents the radical nature of true faith. Tremendous demands and incredible 
blessings that in some in substance is what the Christian life is 
all about. So it is a test presented to 
Abraham. Notice. Secondly, the location. Verse two. Then he said, Take 
now your son, your only son, Isaac. Now, readers of the New 
Testament ought to pick up this convention. God sent his only 
begotten son, or his one and only son. That's the emphasis 
in the narrative. Of course Abraham had Ishmael. Of course Abraham had an additional 
son. But this speaks of his prestige. It speaks of his It speaks of 
that special bond between Abraham and Isaac. God highlights this 
reality several times in the narrative that this is your son, 
your only son, whom you love. And it says in verse two, go 
to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering 
on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. Now, Moriah 
was the place, or the location, of the threshing floor of Aaronah, 
the Jebusite, where David built an altar in 2 Samuel, chapter 
24. But additionally, according to 
2 Chronicles 3, Moriah was the location of the temple. That 
is where they were to construct the temple, to build that place 
where God and sinners would meet together, to build that place 
where the sacrificial system would be carried out. You're 
supposed to read this narrative. You're supposed to read Genesis 
22 and appreciate the fact that God is laying the groundwork 
for the sacrificial system to follow. which ultimately culminates 
in the doing and the dying of our Lord Jesus Christ. You should 
see Jesus in Genesis chapter 22. So, we've seen the test, 
the land. Notice the object. I've already 
referenced this. Take now your son, your only 
son, Isaac, whom you love. Go to the land of Moriah and 
offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which 
I shall tell you. Isaac was the son of promise. Isaac was the one whom God said, 
in your old age, you're going to have a son. I mean, again, 
just think about the life of Abraham up to this point. He 
certainly wouldn't be a proponent of the health, wealth, and prosperity 
gospel. He wouldn't listen favorably to Benny Hinn telling him that 
he should have, you know, a gold-colored Rolls Royce. He should have an 
endless supply in his bank account. Abraham, the father of the faithful, 
had a very difficult life, and in this particular instance, 
he is being told to take the son he loves and to put a knife 
into his chest cavity. Now, probably Isaac was late 
teens at this particular time. Certainly enough time for that 
attraction and that bond and that love to grow and to nurture. Only son is repeated three times 
in the narrative. Son is repeated about ten times. throughout these verses. Again, 
what's the author doing but setting before us the great test that 
faces Abraham? I mean, this is something that 
you and I, thankfully, will never be called to engage in. The emphasis 
is inescapable. Abraham faces a monumental test 
in this particular incident. Now, let's move on, secondly, 
to the obedience of Abraham. He prepares, verse 3, Abraham 
rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two 
of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. And he split the 
wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of 
which God had told him. There's no discussion here. There's 
something you need to take note of as well. When God says He's 
going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sinfulness, 
what does Abraham do? Abraham says, Lord, can I just 
present you with an idea? If there's fifty righteous, will 
you spare the land? And they go back and forth on 
that all the way down to about ten or five people. Abraham asks 
the question of God. God doesn't cast him off. God 
doesn't say, you vile wretch, get away from me. And then again, 
with reference to the statement that Abraham would indeed have 
a son in his old age, Abraham feels the ability to say to God, 
how about Ishmael? Let him be the son of promise. 
And God says no. Maybe by this point, Abraham 
stopped thinking he could ask God to stop his ways. He just does what the Lord tells 
him. He just acts. This is what faith 
is all about, brethren. You may not understand everything 
at the particular time. It may not all make sense to 
you at the particular time, but when God calls you to act, you 
do what he says. I remember that illustration 
that Glenn Penner gave when he was here many, many years ago. 
He held up a piece of a puzzle. He says, very often in our Christian 
life, and he's speaking specifically about persecution of Christians 
and of the church. He says, very often in our Christian 
lives, this is all we see is the piece of a puzzle. God has 
the whole thing put together. God sees the end from the beginning. 
God has decreed everything. He is sovereign. Nothing catches 
Him by surprise. We need to trust in that and 
rest in Him, and we need to act in obedience to the commands 
that He gives to us. He doesn't discuss it. He simply 
obeys. He saddles His donkey. He takes 
His two servants and Isaac, and then He splits the wood for the 
offering. It's interesting about these two servants. They're introduced 
here. You know what their job is? Wait 
here. That's the only reason these 
men are in the narrative. He takes them and then when he 
and Isaac ascend to Moriah, he tells the two servants, wait 
here, the lad and I will return. Again, I think what the author 
is highlighting, what Moses is doing for us is to show us the 
isolation. The solitariness, the aloneness 
of Abraham with his God, in obedience, walking by faith in the unseen 
God. Notice the journey, verses four 
and five. It says, then on the third day, 
Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place of far off. And Abraham 
said to his young men, stay here with the donkey. The lad and 
I will go yonder and worship and we will come back to you. 
It's a three day journey. Do you think Abraham's thinking 
in these three days? Wow, this is going to be great. 
It's going to be awesome. You're going to have a worship 
experience. It's going to be like no other 
event in my life. Three day journey with the knowledge 
that the knife you're carrying is going to have to be driven 
into your son, your only son, the one that you love. It's horrendous. John Calvin makes this comment. 
He says, For God does not require him to put his son immediately 
to death, but compels him to revolve this execution in his 
mind during three whole days, that in preparing himself to 
sacrifice his son, he may still more severely torture all his 
own senses. Again, it's not as if God's playing 
some sick joke upon him. It is designed to test Abraham. It is with our knowledge that 
he is carrying this out. We need to just marvel at what 
faith looks like in the servant of God Most High. He says, stay 
here. Again, this highlights the isolation 
of Abraham. A commentator says, the servants 
are brought along to be left behind. Please don't miss details when 
you're reading your Bible. I think sometimes we read it, 
we get the data, we get the main gist, and then we move on. That's 
not the way you're supposed to read the Old Testament. You're 
supposed to stop. You're supposed to focus. You're 
supposed to think. You're supposed to engage your 
mind. You're supposed to ponder, why 
is it that these servants are told, stay here? This man says 
this is their function, a very strange one in any narrative. 
Characters who are introduced solely in order to take no part 
in it. It compounds our sense of Abraham's 
isolation. Abraham must leave everything 
behind. His lonely journey up that mountain symbolizes the 
lonely, lonely journey of faith to the place of sacrifice. When 
you go through trials and difficulties as a Christian, come to Genesis 
22. And we often like to read Job. 
Job is a great book to teach us what faith looks like in the 
midst of trial and adversity. But Genesis 22 is right there 
as well. Feed your soul, nurture yourself, 
realize that sometimes the servants of God are pressed to the very 
end. God is still faithful unto them. Notice how he says the lad. He 
refers to him as the lad in this particular instance. I wonder 
if he's trying to disassociate it. I don't want to get too psychological 
or mumbo-jumbo here, but I've noticed a trend. When my kids 
are going to move out, I have this nesting desire. I don't 
want them to leave. Sometimes I can almost get mad 
at that. Why is that? I'm detaching myself. I'm not 
trying to get all Jim Butler and the weirdness that is him 
here. I think this is interesting. The lad. The narrative is riddled 
with son, except when Abraham speaks, he says, the lab. He's 
putting some distance between him and his son, his only son, 
the one he loves. He's going to have to execute 
his son. It's heavy stuff that we're witnessing 
in this narrative. I want you to get something of 
it, because when God stops him from carrying through, we should 
think of Calvary. Bob doesn't stop himself when 
he sends the knife into the bosom of his only begotten son. You're 
supposed to see through Abraham to the God of Abraham who carries 
this out, who takes his son, his only son, up to Moriah and 
finishes the very job. That's what's going on here. 
Notice his faith. We will come back. He doesn't 
say I will come back. He says we will come back. I 
don't think it's because Abraham has this idea, once I get to 
the top of Mount Moriah, I'm going to cut him loose and we're 
going to run. We're going to make a run for it. No, the book of 
Hebrews informs us why Abraham does this. It says that he concluded 
that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from 
which he also received him in a figurative sense. Abraham tells 
these two servants, wait here, the lad and I are going up, we 
will come back. Abraham, at this particular instance, 
realized that even if he buries the knife into the son, the one 
that he loves, God is able to raise him from the dead. This 
is faith, brethren. This is amazing faith. Notice 
the sacrifice itself, very specifically, verses six to ten. Preparation. So Abraham took the wood of the 
burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son, and he took the 
fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them went together. 
But Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, My father." 
Now, Isaac, again, if we put him, some commentators put him 
as young as thirteen, others put him at age twenty, probably 
late teens. He wasn't a fool. He understood 
sacrifice. We've got the wood, Father, and 
we've got the fire, but where's the actual animal? What have 
we taken up there to Moriah? What is it that we're going to 
engage in, in terms of sacrifice? The two of them went together. 
And then notice, Abraham seizes upon this opportunity to teach 
him theology. It's a good father here, this 
is Deuteronomy 6, when you rise up, when you walk by the way, 
when you go up Mount Moriah, when you're on the way to execute 
your own son. Use those opportunities to teach 
your son about God. Use those opportunities to teach 
your son about substitutionary atonement. Use those opportunities 
to teach your son about the sacrificial system. This is precisely what 
Abraham does. Verse 8, Abraham says, my son, 
God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. 
Beautiful statement. Again, read in terms of John, 
read in terms of the gospel, read in terms of the fact that 
Abraham is making a theological statement of significant import 
at this particular juncture in redemptive history. Isn't this 
what the rest of the Bible is about? God providing for himself 
the lamb for an offering. Isn't that the message of Holy 
Scripture through and through? And here, on the way up to Moriah, 
he is theologizing. Wenham, a commentator, says to 
Isaac, it must have sounded like evasion. God will provide for 
himself a sacrifice. Isaac's probably thinking, you 
didn't really answer my question. But he said nothing and went 
on up the mountain. The two of them went together. 
We are forced to conclude that he was naive and totally trusted 
his father or that he now realized what was planned. Yet he continued 
on up the mountain with his father. Either way, he was a perfect, 
blameless, sacrificial victim. Isaac fit the particular bill 
at this instance. And then Abraham's response. 
From Abraham's perspective, it's his faith. The Lord will provide. God will send one. Again, a commentator, 
John Sailhammer, says, Abraham's words cast a new light on his 
silence. Amid the anguish that the reader 
has read into Abraham's silence, there is now also a silent confidence 
in the Lord who will provide. Abraham's words should not be 
understood as merely an attempt to calm the curious Isaac. But 
in light of the fact that they anticipate the actual outcome 
of the narrative, they are to be read as a confident expression 
of his trust in God. He's not panicking. He's not 
freaking out. He's not saying, why is God always 
do these things to me? I think about it. The three big 
things that we've already seen in Abraham's life and that we've 
seen up to this point, when God pushed him. Not in a bad way. 
God is testing, God is moving him, God is forming him, conforming 
him into the man that he would be. Abraham deals. He doesn't whine. He doesn't 
cry. How many times when we go through 
trials or difficulties, and again, I don't want to get all psychological 
here, but how many times do we bear up like Abraham? He's not 
there in Romans 4 and in James 2 and Hebrews 11, just for, you 
know, wow, theological reflection on what justification by faith 
alone is. That is primary. That is paramount. But we also need to identify 
with what the life of faith looks like. He was pressed and he believed 
God. And then notice thirdly, or with 
reference to the actual sacrifice, the act of verses 9 and 10. Then 
they came to the place of which God had told them, and Abraham 
built an altar there and placed the wood in order. And he bound 
Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And 
Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his 
son." You and I have never been called 
to this. Ever. I mean, God may call us, or we 
may read our Bibles, we may get convicted. You know, I need to 
be a better witness here. I need to repent of this particular 
sin there. I need to be a little more consistent 
in my Christian life right there. This is amazing. What's going 
through the head of a man like this, who's laying out the altar 
where he's going to sacrifice his son, where he's going to 
take a knife and he's going to put it into his chest? This is 
a man that believes God. This is a man who trusts in the 
Father. This is a man that we need to look at in terms of our 
own Christian life. Verse 11 brings us thirdly and 
finally to the approval of God. The approval of God. Notice the 
angel's announcement in verse 11. The angel of the Lord called 
to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. So he said, 
here I am. And he said, Do not lay your 
hand on the lad or do anything to him. For now, I know that 
you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only 
son from me. Praise God Almighty that Abraham 
was rejoicing, singing praise unto his father. What a glorious 
statement concerning not only Abraham's faith, but God's faithfulness. You may be tried, you may have 
difficulty, you may be sorely best impressed, but God will 
never give you something that you cannot handle. Now I know 
that you fear God. We know, of course, that James 
references this particular instance in James chapter two. Sometimes 
readers get a little backwards when they read James chapter 
two. And they think that he was justified by words in terms of 
his acceptance with God. James's point is simply this. 
Genesis 15, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him 
for righteousness. Genesis 22 was the fruit. Genesis 22 was the evidence. Genesis 22 was the confirming 
acts that demonstrated to others that he had a genuine saving 
faith in the Lord God Most High. And then notice, verse 13, that 
Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram 
caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the 
ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. You see the language of substitution 
there, instead of his son. This is consistent with what 
Abraham's already told Isaac, the Lord will provide. We have 
the wood, we have the fire. God will provide the perfect 
sacrifice that he will give us in this particular instance. 
He names the place Jehovah-Jireh or Yahweh-Yireh. This means the 
Lord will provide. As it is said to this day, in 
the mouth of the Lord it shall be provided. And then God reconfirms 
His promise, land, seed, and blessing. These things were promised 
to Abraham in Genesis 12, 13, 15, 17, and 18. And ultimately, based on the 
data we receive in the New Testament, these promises are secured, not 
first and foremost because of Abraham, but because of the seed 
of Abraham, which is Jesus Christ our Lord. Well, that's a brief 
recount of the narrative Let's look at some of the lessons that 
we learned. First, the faith of Abraham. 
We've touched on this, but it bears repeating. We can rest 
assured we'll never be called upon to put a knife in our children. 
That much I can confirm, beyond a shadow of a doubt. I am a cessationist 
after all. I do not believe in new revelation. 
Believe with John Owen that if private revelations agree with 
Scripture, they are useless. If they disagree, they're blasphemous. We've got the written and revealed 
will of God, the written and revealed Word of God. We aren't 
supposed to be looking for new data. So, he's not going to call 
you to take your son, your only son, the one whom you love, up 
to Mount Shem and sacrifice him for the Lord. That's not going 
to happen. Now, there may be trials that 
God has for you. There may be challenges that 
God has for you. There may be difficulties that 
God has for you. There may be issues that you 
would choose not to deal with that God has for you. We need 
to go to Abraham. It's a wonderful exemplar of 
what living faith looks like in terms of great challenges. 
Abraham persevered. Abraham soldiered on. That three-day 
journey with Abraham and Isaac and the two servants must have 
been soul torment for that man. When he finally gets to Moriah 
and he's just there with Isaac and he's preparing the altar 
for the sacrifice, what is going through his mind? It is only 
the steadying influence of the sovereignty and the supremacy 
of God that will quiet the soul in that season of distress. Sovereignty 
is absolutely crucial. Without it, we perish, because 
God can't save us. But without it, we're wrecks, 
because we live in a world of chance, where anything can happen. But the biblical student realizes 
that can't be the case. They sing with the hymn writer 
in Number 94 in the Trinity Hymnal, whate'er my God ordains is right. They realize, with William Cooper, 
that God moves in a mysterious way. They realize, with the saints 
of old, that not everything in the Christian life is always 
rosy, is always happy, is always peppy, and is always full of 
joy. All those who desire to live 
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You will have the 
world to deal with. You will have the devil to deal 
with. You will have your own remaining 
corruption to deal with. I have yet to find anybody in 
the Christian life who's been at it for any amount of time 
who hasn't had trials, who hasn't had difficulties, who hasn't 
had problems. It's just the way it is. It is part and parcel. Now, by 
saying that, I'm not suggesting that only every moment of the 
Christian life is misery continually. I don't believe that at all. 
But what we learn from Abraham is that when called upon by God 
through the written word to do those things that he has ordained, 
we do it. We trust him. We believe him. When we falter, when we sin, 
we confess it. We forsake it. We seek fresh 
mercy in the Lord Jesus. But we keep soldiering on. We 
keep persevering because our God is faithful. The one who 
has promised is not going to abandon us. He has promised in 
the context of physical temporal benefit. I will never leave you 
nor forsake you. Certainly in the realm of spiritual 
and eternal benefit, he will never leave us nor forsake us. Secondly, We need to realize 
that the promise of God is good. He promises him land, seed and 
blessing. God fulfills that God swears 
by his own name. Book of Hebrews highlights this 
reality for us in Hebrews chapter six. It's a beautiful statement 
concerning God's dealings with Abraham in Hebrews six, beginning 
in verse 13. It says, for when God made a 
promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no one greater, 
he swore by himself. It's amazing. That God should 
bind himself by an oath is a reflection, not on divine credibility, but 
on our depravity. God swears and confirms oaths 
for us, for our feeble faith. For our little faith, notice, 
saying, Surely, blessing, I will bless you, and multiplying, I 
will multiply you. And so, after he had patiently 
endured, he obtained the promise. For men, indeed, swear by the 
greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 
Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs 
of promise the immutability of his counsel. That means the unchangeability 
of his counsel. Confirmed it by an oath, that 
by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, 
we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay 
hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor 
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence 
behind the veil where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, 
having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. 
Interesting about the anchor there. Early Christian inscriptions 
were anchors. Anchors. Not that they were all 
naval officers or seamen, as they called them. The anchor, 
based on Hebrews 6. This was found all over ancient 
ruins. The anchor. Yeah, you'd find 
a cross occasionally. You'd find what we call the Jesus 
fish occasionally. Do you know what you found the 
most? Was an anchor. That was a Christian symbol, 
the anchor based on Hebrews six. God, who cannot lie, God, who 
swears an oath by himself. He has promised to save us through 
Jesus Christ. It's going to happen. And when 
we come to the bread and the wine, this is the extent, this 
is the lengths to which the father went to save us from our sins. We have an anchor for our soul. Notice, sure and steadfast, which 
enters the presence behind the veil, where Jesus, the forerunner, 
has entered for us. God's promise is yea and amen. God's promise to Abraham, according 
to Galatians chapter 3, we won't develop that tonight, but it 
is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 3.29 says, 
those who believe on Christ Jesus are the sons of Abraham. Gentiles, physical Gentiles, 
who believe the promise of Christ, the gospel of Jesus Christ, are 
spiritually Abraham's sons. And then thirdly and finally, 
the typology of the passage. As I mentioned, there are several 
things in this passage that flesh out later in redemptive history. 
The event itself is a type. The event itself points to the 
three days journey into the wilderness made by Israel to engage in tabernacle 
worship. The event itself foreshadows 
that sacrificial system that would be in place through the 
Levitical priesthood. The event pointed to the fulfillment, 
ultimately, of the sacrificial system, Calvary. That's why we 
can preach the gospel from Genesis chapter 22. Secondly, Abraham 
typifies God the Father. God the Father and Abraham the 
Father both offered up their sons, their only sons, the one 
whom they loved. You can't miss that. I mean, 
you may be a real dullard and miss that, but I hope you don't. 
You've got to see God in this passage, brethren. You've got 
to see the Lord Jehovah. You've got to see that he, in 
fact, provides and he provides his son, his only son, the son 
whom he loves. Both Abraham and God the Father 
parted with their sons in order to bless the nations. I mean, 
isn't this what God said to Abraham? In you all the nations of the 
earth will be blessed. So when he's called to sacrifice 
Isaac on Moriah, he thinks this is part of the game, not game. 
He thinks that this is part of the fulfillment of this particular 
venture, that in him all the nations would be blessed. By 
game, I didn't mean game. I meant, I was looking for the 
word, the situation. So don't think, I think this 
is a game. But notice, thirdly, that only God the Father carries 
through with the sacrifice. You see, when Jesus was hung 
on the cross, no angel came down out of heaven. No angel stopped 
those Roman soldiers. No angel stopped those religious 
leaders who were taunting Christ, who said he saved others, let 
him save himself. No angel came on that day. No 
angel stopped this tragic event. God indeed took the knife and 
plunged it into the son of his love. Isaiah the prophet tells 
us it pleased the Lord Jehovah to crush him, putting him to 
grief. Yes, godless man crucified the 
Lord Jesus, but it happened according to the predetermined plan of 
God. The father sends the son. The 
son willingly submits himself to the father. The son goes to 
the uttermost in order to fulfill the covenant of redemption. The 
father carries out this act of execution. Paul the Apostle records 
it this way in Romans 8.32. He says, He who did not spare 
his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not 
with him also freely give us all things? Thirdly, Isaac typifies 
God the Son. Can't miss that. Isaac is the 
willing victim. Isaac's soldier's on as well. 
If for three days Abraham's mind was in torment, what do you think 
Isaac's thinking? Certainly he doesn't have all 
the information, he doesn't have all the data, but something isn't 
right here. Things aren't normal here. Things 
don't jive like they have in the past. Jesus Christ is God's 
only son, the son of his love. He willingly goes. He soldiers 
on. He says throughout his earthly 
ministry, my meat is to do the will of him who sent me. He knew 
what the will of the Father was. He knew it wasn't simply to be 
an exemplar of a new religion. He knew it wasn't simply to be 
an all-around great guy and an excellent Bible teacher. He knew 
that he came to die at Calvary at the hands of lawless men, 
and he carried on. In fact, his last time going 
into Jerusalem, the scripture says, he set his face like a 
flint. He couldn't be deflected. He 
couldn't be turned back. He said, I must go to Jerusalem. I must be tried. I must be delivered 
up. I must be crucified and raised 
on the third day. Jesus Christ, his son, bore his 
cross en route to Calvary in order to be sacrificed. John's 
Gospel makes that very clear. There's no Simon the Cyrean to 
help him with the cross. It is Jesus and Jesus alone. The same thing we see here with 
Isaac. Isaac is carrying the wood upon 
which he'll be laid in execution. Jesus Christ, however, was actually 
sacrificed. No angel stayed the hand. No 
angel stopped the event. No angel intervened or interposed. But Christ was pressed to the 
point where he said, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
me? Don't miss this in Genesis 22. 
And finally, there's one other type in the passage. What's the 
other type? That ram caught in the thicket, 
isn't it? It's that ram caught in the thicket. Verse 8, Abraham 
states that God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt 
offering. Verse 13, Abraham lifted his 
eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket 
by its horns. So Abraham went and took the 
ram and offered it up for a burnt offering and loved the language 
of substitution instead of his son. You get those words down 
and Calvary makes perfect sense. You know what Calvary is all 
about? Behold the Lamb of God who takes 
away the sins of the world. Christ is on that cross instead 
of his people. Christ is on that cross instead 
of sinners. Christ is on that cross instead 
of the elect of God. All those whom the Father chose, 
all those whom the Father gave to Him, all those for whom Jesus 
died. It is substitutionary curse bearing 
that Genesis 22 preaches. And we know that that is fulfilled 
and realized in the antitype, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Behold, 
John the Baptist said, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin 
of the world. I hope you see Jesus in Genesis 
22. I hope you see Jesus throughout 
the Old Testament. I hope you see it as a book of 
anticipation, a book of promise, a book of foreshadowing, a book 
that is indicating what's going to happen when Jesus comes in 
the fullness of the times. Brethren, read your Old Testament 
as a Christian. Read your Old Testament as a 
believer in Jesus Christ. Read your Old Testament as a 
brother to Abraham. Read your Old Testament as one 
who realizes that Christ is the Savior of sinners. Genesis 22 
is about Jesus. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this account 
involving Abraham and Isaac. We thank you for what it teaches 
us concerning sacrifice. concerning substitution. We thank 
you, Lord, that you have indeed provided the Lamb of God, that 
you have provided the sacrifice at Calvary instead of, or the 
one instead of the elect. We just praise you. We give you 
glory and honor and thanksgiving. God, truly, these things humble 
us. I pray they would cause us to worship and to praise and 
to honor and adore. And we just ask this now in the 
name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.