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I once read the following saying on a packet of sugar: “Experience is a valuable thing; it helps you recognize a mistake when you make it again.” You know, they say the mind is the first thing to go. I disagree. What is the first thing to go? Well, anyway, I disagree.
You know, there’s forgetfulness that’s just a natural part of aging, but there’s another kind of forgetfulness, and it’s far more deadly; the failure to remember or appreciate those who have gone before us, and what has been done for us. Pharaoh forgot Joseph and what he had done to save the people of Egypt, and it was all downhill from there. Uzziah, though a powerful king, forgot the teaching of Leviticus and presumed to enter the Holy Place to offer incense, though he wasn’t a Kohayn (priest). God struck him with leprosy and he had to spend the rest of his days in complete isolation.
This kind of forgetfulness, or disregard, is a direct consequence of the Fall – that tragic and real historical event in which Adam and Eve, two very real people, rebelled against God, a very real Person, in the Garden of Eden, a very real place. When they defied Him and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, human nature was fractured – broken spiritually and, it seemed, irremediably. Suddenly, mankind was alienated from God the Creator; and alienated from one another. From that moment on, human beings have come into this world spiritually stillborn. We are like a brand new but defective computer. No sooner are we fired up, than a virus kicks in and wreaks havoc on our operating system. And one of the symptoms of this spiritual sickness the Bible calls “sin” is that we either forget or else disregard what has gone before.
But God knows our propensity to take things for granted, to forget our true condition, and in His mercy gave us occasions such as Rosh HaShanah to stop everything and take spiritual inventory. If we don’t take time to remember, we will lapse into malaise and even become arrogant.
Let’s take a few minutes this morning to read and remember and learn from what is the most pivotal event in the life of our father Abraham. Look with me at Genesis chapter 22, which retells the event of the Akedah, the binding of Isaac.
I. The Perfect Faith of Abraham (trusted his Father)
The late Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, Joseph Hertz, argued that the purpose of the Akedah is to show God’s contempt for human sacrifice. While it is true God abhorred the Canaanite practice of child sacrifice, as should we (though, ironically, most Jewish people favor legalized abortion), that is a deeply flawed interpretation of the Akedah. In fact, we’re told right there in the words of Scripture why God commanded it: He was testing the depth of Abraham’s commitment to Him. Let’s examine the Akedah this morning and see what faith looks like ‘in real time’.
Verses 1-2
Now it came about after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
In Abraham we see a consistent pattern of obedience. At age 75 Abraham was summoned by God to leave the land of his ancestry, to leave his father’s house, his culture, his friends, everything that was familiar – and to set out for parts unknown. All he had was the promise that God would guide him. But that was enough. He obeyed and set out. When sometime later God invited him outside for an evening stroll and promised that his descendants would be countless as the stars of Heaven, this elderly, still childless man took God at His word, and it was that complete trust that was the basis for God declaring him righteous. And, of course, God made good on His promise, and at the appointed time, 100 year-old Abraham and 90 year-old Sarah’s beloved son Isaac was born!
But now his faith is going to be tested to the utmost. Isaac, Yitzchak, whose name means laughter, whose birth itself was a miracle, is to be offered to God as a sacrifice. Could anyone blame Abraham if he had said, “You’re kidding me, right? This is the son You Yourself promised me; the one through whom You said You would continue my lineage and Your Covenant!” But he said nothing of the sort. I don’t doubt that Abraham was bewildered and terrified by this command; yet there was no questioning, no second-guessing, not even the slightest hesitation. Look at verse three.
Verse 3
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 wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
He didn’t waste any time. They saddled up and left early the next morning. It is curious that instead of having one of his many servants split the wood, Abraham did it himself. We’re not told why, but it is common knowledge that splitting wood was a servant’s task. Maybe Abraham felt that if his beloved son Isaac was really to be sacrificed, he himself, as his father, would take full responsibility.
Abraham was living in Beersheva at the time, and the journey to Moriah (which would later be the Temple mount in Jerusalem[1]) would have been 46 miles. That’s two and a half days’ worth of travel if you’re on foot – plenty of time to think about and agonize over what he had to do; yet we’re told not one thing about Abraham’s internal conflict. It’s left to our imagination, but as a father, to imagine what he might have felt is overwhelming. But Moses tells us nothing. It is a deafening silence. Let’s continue:
Verses 4-5
On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”
Abraham’s dread, which had to have been increasing, now escalates as he sees the place from a distance. They stop and presumably set up camp temporarily. He tells the young servants to remain there. All this time they had no idea what Abraham’s purpose was, nor what God had commanded him. They may have guessed from the wood that there would be an offering, but they had taken no sacrificial animal with them. Odd, but perhaps by this time his household was accustomed to the patriarch doing things differently, guided by the unseen God he surely told them about.
He tells the servants, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” The verbs for “worship” and “return” are both in 1st person plural form. “We will worship” and “We will return”. How could he say this, knowing what God had instructed him? Was He lying to them? No way. In fact, he was prophesying!
I believe, as have others for thousands of years, that Abraham trusted God to perform yet another miracle. Isaac’s birth had been miraculous, and God had already promised to continue His covenant through Isaac. Abraham was convinced of God’s unchanging faithfulness, so by logical deduction he concluded that God would either provide a substitute or else literally raise Isaac from the dead. After all, you can’t continue covenant promises of land and generations and blessings to someone who isn’t around.
Verses 6-8
Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
Wood, fire and a knife – something is going to die! Try to imagine with me the silent, intimate minutes father and son shared as they walked alone together. Was Abraham’s heart still in turmoil, or had he come to the place of surrender and acceptance of God’s will? Again, we’re purposely left to imagine for ourselves Abraham’s thoughts. Remember that all this time you and I have been let in on what God is purposing. So we know more than Abraham knew at the time, and certainly more than Isaac imagined. But I want you to take special note that Isaac himself carried the wood on which he was to be offered to God.
And now he questions his father about having everything but the very thing they needed for the burnt offering, the lamb. And Abraham answers him with words so profound in their implication that they reverberate across the corridors of time: “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Once again we are left to decide: was Abraham lying, or was he supremely trusting in God? I firmly believe it was the latter. As I see it, in that moment two men trusted their fathers to the utmost. Abraham and Isaac resumed their walk. Let’s continue at verse 9, as we consider…
II. The Perfect Obedience of Isaac (trusted his father)
Verse 9
Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
How long did it take for Abraham to gather enough stones to build an altar? Did Isaac help him, or did his father insist on doing this himself? Did Isaac watch, puzzled, wondering what was going on as his father went through all the motions of a sacrifice, yet having no animal with them? But the answer came soon enough, as his father summoned him, and proceeded to tie his hands and feet and lay him on the altar. Take special note here: in all of this, Isaac isn’t saying a word. Just as Abraham didn’t question God, with Isaac there is no questioning, no second-guessing and no hesitation. Isaac offered no resistance, allowing himself to be bound and placed on the altar. He doesn’t know why it must be this way, but he trusts his father completely, even knowing it will mean his own death.
Verses 10-12
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!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Abraham was prepared to follow through on God’s command to the end, and as we see is actually credited with having offered Isaac up. But he was stopped by the angel of the Lord. Never was a man happier to be interrupted! What relief must have flooded Abraham’s heart! And his reverence for and trust in God was proven through this “trial by fire” as it were. But in the end God did not require Isaac’s life. He had something else in mind.
Curiously, the angel of the Lord switches from speaking about God in third-person to first-person. Somehow this angel of the Lord has the authority to speak as God Himself. Much could be said about this, but another time. For now, let’s return to the narrative:
Verses 13-18
Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.” Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
As Abraham had prophesied, God did provide. Not a lamb (that was yet to come), but a ram was provided in place of Isaac. And since the ram’s horn is used to make a shofar this is one of the reasons, the rabbis tell us, that we read Genesis 22 each year at Yom T’ruah, the Feast of Trumpets. The other reason is Abraham’s great faith serving as a model for us. Not even his love for his dear son would come before his obedience to God!
God not only provided, but went on to pronounce a magnificent blessing on Abraham and his descendants, culminating with this promise: “In your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” The blessing of Abraham would be conveyed to the nations of the world, specifically through one particular descendant. We now know who that One is. It is Messiah! Whether or not you believe Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth is that One, the fact is, this passage is messianic in nature. In fact, all of Scripture speaks to the promise of the Messiah. You’ll find Him on every page – if you ‘have eyes to see’. So let me conclude this morning’s message by sharing with you why I believe Isaac was a type of the Messiah, and the Akedah a foreshadowing of his death and resurrection.
Imagine the dread Abraham must have felt, seeing that hill at a distance, and knowing his son’s death was at hand. And then remember with me the agonizing dread Yeshua felt as he prayed, two thousand years later, and ultimately surrendered to God, saying “Your will be done” not very far from the very same hill on which Isaac had been offered up!
III. The Perfect Portrait of Messiah (trusted His Father)
In the person of Abraham we see a father called upon to offer up the son whom he dearly loves. In the person of Isaac we see a son who yields in perfect obedience to his father, even to the point of being made a sacrificial offering. Consider this: both Yitzchak and Yeshua were born through miraculous circumstances. Both were uniquely loved by their respective fathers. Each was in the prime of his life. Neither made any protest, but willingly allowed themselves to be bound. Each carried the very wood on which he was to be sacrificed. And since, through God’s provision, Isaac was able to be brought down alive from that altar, both Isaac and Yeshua were received back from the dead. Yes, the Resurrection is also taught through the Akedah! I am not alone in this view. The author of the ancient Letter to the Messianic Jews (Hebrews) mentions the Akedah.
Hebrews 11:17-19
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED.” He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.
Why is it we read the Akedah every year on this day, in synagogues all around the world? The rabbis have their ideas, but I think God had an even greater purpose in it. I believe it was so that our Jewish people might see a picture of Messiah’s death and resurrection. What God ultimately did not require of Abraham, He Himself would do in the course of time.
The prophet Isaiah, writing 700 years before Yeshua came, foretold the Father offering up His Son as a sacrifice for sin. Listen to Isaiah’s words: Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves thought He was being stricken by God and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
Isaac, in his silent trust of his father, in his willingness to be put on that altar, even in his carrying the wood on which he would be offered, was a type of the Messiah. Yeshua is the very fulfillment of the Akedah, the binding of Isaac. He is also the only way for you to be forgiven of your sins and to be reconciled to God. You and I have no merit of our own; nothing to commend us to the Father. Messiah is the only One who can do that. And it’s a package deal: embrace the Son and you get the love of the Father; refuse the Son and you get nothing – except eternal judgment.
But there’s something else we must take away from our reading of Genesis 22. Abraham was called upon to give up what was most precious to him. If we are to be like Abraham; if we are to be truly Yehudim – Jews, those who give thanks and praise to God, then nothing, absolutely nothing, must be allowed to stand in the way of our obedience to God. Not our possessions, not our affections, not the approval of our peers, not even the approval of our family.
Anything short of being completely sold out, surrendered to God; anything about which we might say, “No – that I am not willing to give up!” is less than the faith of Abraham. May God increase our faith so that we don’t fall short; so that, though tested by fire, we endure.