The Lamb of God
This was always one of the most difficult passages of scripture for me to read. Maybe because I couldn’t wrap my mind around how God could possible ask someone to do what He asked Abraham to do.
What helped me reconcile my feeling about this passage were two things. First, I surrendered to the mystery. I accepted that I will never understand or be able to rationalize everything God choses to do and that’s okay. Second, I began to see that this passage was actually more about what God would do for us, than what He asked Abraham to do for Him. Let’s read it together then discuss.
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 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.”
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 the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 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.”
6 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. 7 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?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
9 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. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
12 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.”
13 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 son. 14 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.”
Before you allow your frustration and confusion to question God or even accuse Him of some injustice, lets remember that before the Scriptures are about us, they are about Him, Jesus.
Let’s go through these parallels verse by verse.
Vs 2 - Mount Moriah was believed to be the very same mountain that Jesus would one day ascend and be crucified on.
Vs 3 - Like Abraham and Isaac, Jesus would ride into that city on the back of a donkey.
Vs 4 - As Abraham and Isaac’s journey lasted three days, Jesus would die and be in the tomb for three days
Vs 6 - As Issac (the sacrifice) hiked up that mountain carrying the wood for the altar, Jesus would carry the wood of His cross up the same mountain.
Vs 6 - As Abraham led his son carrying the knife and the flame, God Himself would lead His only Son up that same hill pouring out His wrath on the only One who did not deserve it.
Vs 8 - As Abraham would prophetically declare “God will provide for Himself the sacrifice for the burnt offering.” God Himself, in the form of Jesus, would be that very sacrifice.
Vs 13 - It is significant that the ram was caught by his horns because every sacrifice was required to be perfect and spotless. If the ram was caught by its wool, it would have been marred and blemished. This is speaking to the Messiah, how He would be the perfect and spotless lamb, Jesus Christ.
Even though I still don’t fully understand all that God was up to in this passage, how beautifully is the Gospel story told in this passage? It is as if God was declaring His wonderful redemption message from the very beginning.
Here is where we come in.
The beauty of the Gospel is that Jesus invites us to follow Him. Meaning His story becomes our blueprint. He is how we ought to live our lives, meaning:
Like Abraham, Isaac and Jesus left their home to journey to a far unknown land, Jesus asks us to leave our own lives and follow Him.
Like Abraham, Issac and Jesus humbly arrived on a donkey, He asks us to lay down our pride and humbly admit our need for a savior.
As Abraham, Issac and Jesus took their three day journey, He asks us to commit to our journey of sanctification and dying to ourselves.
Like Jesus and Issac carried the wood on their backs, He invites us to take up our cross and follow Him.
As Abraham and Isaac walked down from that mountain in perfect peace, because of what Jesus did, we get to walk in peace with the Father once again.
As in their obedience, Abraham and Jesus became a blessing the the nations, through our submission and obedience to the Father we become an instrument He uses to bless those around us.
Finally, as Abraham looked up to see the sacrifice, we are to raise our gaze and look unto Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God. (Heb 12)
As we look at this passage through the lens of Christ, we see the Gospel narrative within it. God was not asking Abraham to do an unthinkable action, He was demonstrating to him and to the world what Jesus would one day do.
In fact this narrative is found all throughout Scripture. If you would bare with me as we look at the manifold wisdom of God. I mean, you made it this far, you might as well stick around.
When Adam and Eve took and ate of the forbidden fruit, at that moment sin and death became our portion and inheritance. David says is Psalms 51 “I was brought for in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me.”
It is because of this very sin that you and I live under the curse. Genesis 3.17 “cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.” It is because of this curse that there is sickness, poverty, addiction, suffering and pain in the world.
But God would come to us, He would not leave us alone in our mess. Remember? He would provide for Himself the sacrifice! (Gen 22.8) Isaiah 53.7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
This is a crucial point we cannot miss. Who led Him as a lamb to the slaughter? Was it sin? The devil? Was is us? Vs 10 of Isaiah 53 says“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.” It was God Himself that led His own Son to the cross. Jesus did not stay the hand of an angry and vengeful God. The God-head is in perfect unity, redemption was always God’s plan.
As Abraham led Isaac, so God led His own Son to the cross to break and overcome the curse of sin in everyone who believes in Him. Galatians 3.13 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)
As sin would enter this world through the eating of the forbidden fruit hanging from a tree, it would be destroyed by the Son of God, the first fruit of heaven, hanging from a tree.
Oh how beautiful are all of your ways God! What an incredible love story you have told through the cross!
When we are in Christ, we are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5.17) we are no longer bound by sin and death but our inheritance is now Him! It is our unity and oneness with God just as it was in the garden at the beginning of time.
Please pray this with me as we conclude.
Jesus, thank you for your wonderful sacrifice. Thank you for enduring the cross, taking my shame and becoming my curse. As Moses was hid in the cleft of the rock, Holy Spirit hide me in Christ. Let me forever be found in you Jesus.
Amen.
