Now very candidly I recall the first time that I saw in this chapter these great truths that depict the cross of Christ.  It was breath-taking!  And I’m sure that many of you have had this called to your attention, but again not only in the birth of Isaac, but now in the sacrifice of Isaac there is a strange similarity.  

The very interesting thing is that James makes a statement that I’m sure many of us thinks contradicts the Bible; that is, the other part of the Bible, when he says in James 2:21:  “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?”  And then Paul makes the statement in Romans 4:1, “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?  For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God.  For what saith the Scripture?  Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:1-3).  Alright now, which is right?  James or Paul?  Well, my answer is both of them are right.  

First of all, you need to note that both of them are talking about the same thing.  James is talking about the works of faith; not the works of the law.  And you find that Paul is talking about justification before God.  Now Paul quotes way back in the 15th Chapter of Genesis when Abraham was just getting underway in a walk of faith, and only God knew his heart, and God saw that he believed him.  Abraham believed God.  And God counted it to him for righteousness.  But we saw that he failed many times, and I’m of the opinion that his neighbors might say, “Well, we don’t see that.”  But day he took his son to be offered on the altar, even the hard-hearted Philistines had to say, “Well, this man has worth.”  And so James says he was justified by works.  When?  Well, when he offered Isaac.  But the question’s going to rise, did he really offer Isaac upon the altar?  And the answer, of course, is he didn’t, but he was willing to, and that very act of being willing to is the act that James is talking about that reveals that he had the works of faith.  And James is emphasizing the works of faith, which is in the 22nd Chapter of Genesis.  Paul’s talking about faith in his heart, which he had way back in the 15th Chapter.

GOD COMMANDS ABRAHAM 

TO OFFER ISAAC

Now let’s turn to this and begin to read.  

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.  (Genesis 22:1)

Now the word “tempt” is a little bit too strong here.  Actually, the word means “test” because James, you know, makes it very clear that God never tempts anyone with evil.  God tempts folks in the sense that He tests their faith.  And what He’s doing here is, God did test Abraham, and He’s asking him now to do something very strange.  Will you listen to this:

And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.  (Genesis 22:2)

You’re going to find, by the way, that right after this chapter that Sarah was 127 years old.  Chapter 23, Verse 1 says that, when she died.  And we have the death of Sarah in the next chapter.  The very interesting thing is that when you put that down with this chapter, you find out that this boy Isaac wasn’t just a little lad.  Now remember that 90 years old was the age of Sarah when he was born.  At 127 when she died, that means there was 37 years left here.  Now you wouldn’t gather that from reading this.  So this boy, “little lad” Isaac, as he’s called here, why he actually was in his thirties; probably around 30 or 33 years of age.  

Now God says to him, and it reveals something of the heartstrings that it played upon Abraham and also God Himself:  “Take now thy son.”  And the Lord Jesus, positioned in the Trinity has taken the position of the Son.  “Thy son, thine only son.”  And the Lord Jesus is said to be the only begotten Son.  “Thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest.”  And the Lord Jesus said, “The Father loves me—whom thou lovest.”

“…and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”  “Take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and get to the land of Moriah.”  And it’s the belief of a great many that Moriah—that is the particular part there—is the place where the temple was built and it is the place that the Lord Jesus was sacrificed; that is, right outside the city walls.  I didn’t quite get oriented in Jerusalem, but I had a feeling that Golgotha and the temple area were not very far apart.  And they belonged to the same ridge, by the way.  There’s a roadway in times past has been cut through there, and it’s been breached, but it’s the same ridge, and that is called Moriah.  And it’s the belief of many that the Lord Jesus died on the same ridge, the same mountain that Abraham offered Isaac.  

Now he’s to be offered for “a burnt offering upon the mountains, which I’ll tell thee of.”  Now the burnt offering is the offering up until the time of the Mosaic Law, and then a sin offering and a trespass offering was given.  But here the burnt offering speaks of the person of Christ and who He is.  Now this is a offer of a human sacrifice and, frankly, it raises this moral question:  Isn’t this wrong?  And the answer is, yes, it’s morally wrong.  

But let’s look at this for just a moment.  I’m of the opinion had you met Abraham that day on the way with Isaac, you would have said to him, “Where you going, Abraham?”  He’d a said, “to offer Isaac as a sacrifice.”  And you’d have said, “Well, don’t you know that’s wrong?”  And I think he would have said, “Yes, I’ve been taught that it is wrong.  I know the heathen nations around here—the Philistines—they offer human sacrifice, but I’ve been taught otherwise.”  “Well, why you doing it?”  “Well,” he said, “All I know is God has commanded it.  I don’t understand it, but I’ve been walking with Him now for 25 years.  He’s never failed me, nor has he asked me to do anything that didn’t prove to be the best thing, and I don’t understand this, but I believe that if I go all the way with it, that God will raise him from the dead, because I believe that he’ll do that.”  Now what we have is that Abraham, he goes out and takes this boy with him.  And let me read this because this is a tremendous picture.  

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.  (Genesis 21:3)

Now he goes with Isaac, takes him with him, takes the wood for the burnt offering.  And now let’s follow this.

 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.  (Genesis 21:4)

Now it took him three days to get there.  But remember, it was on the third day that Abraham received him alive back from the dead as it were.  And that’s a way Abraham looked at it.  He was raised up to Abraham the third day.  

And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.  (Genesis 21:5)

You see now the that’s transaction is going to take place is between the father and the son; between Abraham and Isaac.  And actually, God shut man out at the cross and at the time of the darkness at high noon, why man was shut out.  The night had come when no man could work.  And during that last three hours, that cross became an altar on which “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world was offered.”  And the transaction is between the Father and the Son on that cross, and man is outside.  Man is not participating at all.  Now the picture is the same here; it’s Abraham and Isaac.  Verse 6 I’m reading now.

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son… 

Now remember Christ carried his own cross!

…and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.  (Genesis 22:6)

And the fire speaks of judgment and the knife there, the execution of judgment; sacrifice.  

And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?  (Genesis 21:7)

A great many people say, “Well, shortly after this there was a ram that was caught in the thicket by its horns, and Abraham got him and offered it.  That’s right.  That’s exactly what happened.  Let me read that.  I drop down to Verse 13.

And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.  (Genesis 21:13)

Now the thing is Abraham said God would provide himself a lamb, but there was no lamb there; it was a ram.  And there is a distinction.  And the lamb was not provided until 1900 years later when John the Baptist marked him out and identified him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)  God will provide Himself a Lamb for a burnt offering.  That’s very important to see, and I think it’s very important for us to note that at this particular place because Abraham is now ready to offer this boy on the altar.  This man does not quite understand.

And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.  (Genesis 22:9)

Now he’s not just a little boy that Abraham had to tie up.  Actually, he’s a grown man, and I believe that he could have overcome Abraham if it came to a physical encounter, but he’s doing this in obedience, and the Lord Jesus went to the cross “not my will,” he said, “But thine be done.”  And he’s going to the cross to fulfill the will of God.  What a picture we have here.

And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.  (Genesis 22:10)

And again had you and I been there and said, “Abraham, are you going through with it?  Looks like now God’s going to permit you.”  And he would have said, “I sure am.”  “Well, don’t you know it’s wrong?”  “Yes, I’ve been taught that and I don’t understand it, but I’ve also learned to obey God.”  

And this is a real crisis in this man’s life.  Actually, God had brought this man through four very definite crises, a real exercise of his soul, a real strain upon his heart.  

• First of all, he was called to leave all of his relatives in Ur of the Chaldeans; just leave the whole group.  That was a real test for Abraham.  He didn’t do it very well at the beginning.  But, nevertheless, a break came finally.  
• Then there was that test that came of this boy Lot, his nephew.  Actually, he loved Lot.  He wouldn’t have been carrying him around with him if he hadn’t.  And then the time came they had to separate, and Lot went down to Sodom.  
• Then we found that this boy of his, the son of Hagar, Ishmael, that Abraham just cried out to God:  “Oh that Ishmael might live before you.” He loved that boy; he hated to be separated from him.  
• And now he comes to this supreme test.  This the fourth great crisis in his life.  He’s asked now to give up Isaac.  Now he doesn’t quite understand all the details about this for the very simple reason God has told him that it’s “In Isaac that your seed shall be called.”  You can depend on that.  Now he believed God would raise Isaac from the dead. (See Hebrews 11:19.)  But as far as Abraham is concerned, he’s willing to go through with it.  Now, James can write, “Don’t you see that Abraham was justified by works when he offered his son?  But wait just a minute.  Did he offer his son?

GOD RESTRAINS ABRAHAM

And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.  (Genesis 22:10)  

And he plunged his knife into his son…is that the way your Bible reads?  No.  Mine doesn’t read that way either.  And in Verse 11, it says:

And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.  (Genesis 22:11-12)

“For now I know that thou fearest God….”  Now He knows.  How does He know?  By action; by works.  Before it was by faith.  Now God sees your heart.  He knows whether you’re genuine or not.  But your neighbor doesn’t know; your friends don’t know.  They can only know by works.  And that’s the reason James can say that “Faith without works is dead.”  It has to produce something.  Now God tests Abraham.

Now may I say that I believe that any person that God calls, any person God saves, any person that God uses is going to be tested.  God tested Abraham, and God today tests those that are his own.  He tests you and me today, and these are tests that are given to us to strengthen our faith and to establish it, and make us serviceable for Him.  That is the important thing that we need to note here.  This man Abraham is now given the supreme test, and God’ll not have to ask anything of him after this.  Now he said to Abraham, “You’re not to do this,” and Verse 13:

And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

And that’s been the substitution all the way from the Garden of Eden down to the cross of Christ, it was this little animal that pointed to His Coming, and God would not permit human sacrifice.  But when His Son came into the world, His Son went to the cross and died.  And God spared not his own Son, but he delivered him up freely for you and for me.  And on that cross, it became an altar on which the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world is offered.  It’s very important to see that, Friends.  Now, Verse 14 says.

And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.  

And so Abraham names this place.  And as I said before, a great many people believe that it’s where Solomon’s Temple was built, and Golgotha, the place of a skull, is just right there on that same ridge that the temple was on that Abraham offered his son, and it was there that the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified.  That is a glorious, wonderful thing to see here.  And now Abraham calls the name of that place Jehovahjireh.  How wonderful it is.  Here’s where God intervenes in his behalf.

GOD REAFFIRMS HIS PROMISE

Now will you notice as we move along…God has a message for him.

And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time…  

Now God has a message for him.  And He said:

…And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

Now just a minute!  I have a question there.  Did Abraham do it?  No, he didn’t offer his son.  Well, God says to him because you’ve done this thing.  You see, Friends, Abraham believed God and he went far enough to let you and me know, to let God know—God already knew—but to let the created universe know that he was willing to give his son, and so God counted it to him that he had done it.  You see that he’s justified by faith.  But, he’s also justified before man by his works.  He demonstrated that he had that faith.  Now will you notice, God says to him:  “…because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son….”  Notice how he plays upon that, because God gave his only Son.

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.  (Genesis 22:15-18)

“And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”  Now that is the fact that today the gospel of Christ has gone out pretty much to the world.  There are many that have not heart, that’s true, even in our own midst.  But, nevertheless, the blessing has come to all nations, and the only blessing the nations have is through Christ “because thou hast obeyed my voice.”  And that obedience rested upon his faith, and it always will lead to action.  Faith without works is dead.  So we leave off at this particular juncture today, my Beloved, and will pick up there tomorrow and will continue on with Abraham’s story.