Genesis Chapters 22-23 – John Karmelich

 

 

1.                  When I first decided to teach Genesis, I have to admit I was looking forward to Chapter 22.

a)                  It is the “high point” of Genesis and one of the most important chapters in the bible.

b)                  It is arguably, the high point of Abraham’s life.

c)                  It is also one of the most famous events in the bible:  Abraham’s offering of Isaac.

d)                 I’m so excited I can hardly wait to write this stuff down!  J

2.                  There are two key ways to study this chapter: The first is to study the prophetic implications and the second is to study is the personal applications.

a)                  First, let’s talk about the prophetic implications.  One of the main points I am going to drive home today is that Abraham’s offering of Isaac is a detailed, word-picture prophecy of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and rising again the third day.

i)                    Remember Jesus said, You (Pharisee’s) diligently study the Scriptures (Old Testament) because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me… (John 5:39 NIV)

a)                  Jesus is teaching that the Old Testament is prophetic about him.

ii)                  “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  (Revelation 19:10b, NIV)

iii)                Paul defines the Gospel for us in 1st Corinthians Chapter 15, Verses 2-4.  As part of that definition, Paul makes this statement: “That he (Jesus) was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”. (1 Cor. 15:4 NIV)

a)                  Paul is saying the fact that Jesus was to rise again on the third day was predicted in the Old Testament (The New Testament was not written yet).  I believe this prediction is based on Genesis Chapter 22.

iv)                The next thing one needs to know is prophecy (bible predictions) is often based on “word-pictures”.  Prophecy is not just blunt statements about what will happen in the future.  Prophecy also comes by studying the stories in the Old Testament and realizing they are prophetic word-pictures that tie to Jesus. 

a)                  Remember that Jesus said, “these are the Scriptures that testify about me”.  (John 5:39 NIV)  It is not just the direct predictions, it is also the word-pictures and patterns that one reads in the bible stories.

b)                  In Genesis 20:7, Abraham was called a “prophet” by God himself.

(1)               Here is something else the bible says about “prophets”:

(2)               “I (God) have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitude’s, by the ministry of the prophets."
(Hosea 12:10 KJV)  Similitude’s is a reference to “word-pictures”.

b)                  Next, let’s talk about the personal application of Chapter 22:

i)                    Yes, the chapter is a word-picture about “the cross event”, but it also has some personal applications that we can relate to on a daily basis.

ii)                  God tests Abraham.  God tests us.  God does not tempt us.

a)                  “When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; (James 1:13 NIV)

b)                  God wants to mature us, and He does that by testing us.  During those tests we can fall into temptation, but that is not God doing the tempting.  He is testing us to see our level of faith in Him.

iii)                It is important to note that God waited until near-the-end of Abraham’s life before He asked Abraham to offer Isaac.  It wasn’t until after Abraham had grown and matured in his faith, after he had passed all sorts of other tests, that God asked Abraham to do such a thing.

a)                  Remember God knows the outcome of all things in advance.  He knew what Abraham was going to do and knew that an angel was going to intercede and stop this event.  God never asks us to sacrifice our children.  God tests us to see if we love Him more than our children.

b)                  Jesus said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26 NIV)

(1)               What Jesus meant by that is not to have hatred toward your family members, but that your love for God must supercede your love for anyone else.  It is then that through God you can love others as God intended.  God “tested this principal” in Genesis 22.

iv)                This chapter teaches us the great lesson of ”total surrender” to God. 

a)                  It is about trusting God to do things we don’t want to do. 

b)                  Again, God never calls us to sacrifice our children.  That was a special case and is designed to be a word-picture of the resurrection.

c)                  God does call us to be obedient to His Word, and that often means doing things we don’t like or make us unpopular with others.

c)                  I guess I should also add, this is also a study of Chapter 23.  J

i)                    I figured, while I was in the neighborhood, I would do that chapter as well.  J

ii)                  Chapter 23 is the story of the death of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

iii)                Most of the chapter tells about the negotiation to buy the burial plot for her.

iv)                The question-of-the moment to ponder is, “why here, why now?

a)                  Why include this story at this point in the text?

b)                  Why spend a whole chapter discussing the details of buying a burial plot?

c)                  We’ll get into those details after Chapter 22, but the key point to remember is that it has to do with the promise of the land itself.

d)                 That piece of ground is where Abraham and Sarah both get buried.

e)                  It is the only piece of land “owned” by an Israelite prior to the conquest of the land over 400 years later.  It is a symbolic first step that the Promised Land belongs to the Israelites.

v)                  More on that when we get there.  For now, let’s start Chapter 22.

3.                  Chapter 22, Verse 1:  Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"  "Here I am," he replied.

a)                  The Chapter starts with “some time later”, also translated “After these things” (KJV).

i)                    The concept is that there is a time gap between the events of Chapter 21 and the events of Chapter 22.

ii)                  In the last chapter, Isaac was just weaned (probably 2-3 years old) and Ishmael was 13-14 years old.  We had the birth of Isaac, the casting out of Ishmael, and Abraham’s dealing with King Abimelech.

iii)                During that section, Abraham had to pass God’s difficult test of telling his other son Ishmael and his mother Hagar that they had to leave.  Now that Abraham passed that test, and some time had past, God was ready to move Abraham on to the next text.

iv)                God works that way in our lives as well.  In a sense, God is constantly asking us, “Do you trust me?  Do you really trust me?”  He puts us (or allows us go) through difficult situations to see if we are still trusting Him.  Most Christian adults can look back on their life as a series of tests and how God got them through them.

b)                  Getting back to my introduction, notice the word “tested”.  You will never in the bible see the words “God” and “tempted” in the same sentence, other than James’ statement that God does not tempt anyone.

c)                  Twice in Chapter 22, Abraham makes the statement to God, “Here I am”.

i)                    His grandson Jacob also said “Here I am” to God two times (Gen. 31:11, 46:2).

ii)                  God called to Moses via the burnish bush, and Moses said, “Here I am” (Exo. 3:4).

iii)                When God first called Samuel, He responded several times “Here I am”
(1st Sam. 3:4, 3:5).

iv)                When God called Nathan the prophet, who worked with King David, he responded, “Here I am” (2 Samuel 7:2).

v)                  The point is obedience to God starts with the attitude prior to any command given by God.  If you desire to be used by God, you first must be willing to have the attitude to be used by God.  You start by saying, “Here I am, Lord”.

4.                  Vs 2: Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

a)                  The key word in this sentence is “only”.  God says, “Take your only son”.

i)                    Remember that Abraham spent years raising Ishmael and I suspect that Abraham still loved him dearly.  You can’t “unlove” a child.

ii)                  The word “only” here is a reference to the promised Messiah.  In that sense, this is the only son, as this is the one who God promised, and is working through.

b)                  The “region of Moriah” is also “Mount Moriah” where the Temple was built by Solomon (2 Chronicles 3:1).  This is the same temple mount where a temple existed in Jesus day.

i)                    It refers to not one specific mountain, but a general rise in the hillside.  It also refers to area where Jesus was crucified. 

ii)                  The same location where Abraham offered Isaac is the same location where God “offered” Jesus as a burnt sacrifice for our sins.

iii)                This is the first of many clues in this chapter that what Abraham is doing is prophetic.  This event is a word-picture of God “offering” Jesus on the cross.  More on this to come, later in the chapter!

c)                  Here is something else special:  This is the first time that God uses the word “love” in Genesis.  The only previous mention of “love” is a reference between Abraham and Sarah.  The Abraham/Sarah reference is a different Hebrew word, which is better-translated “kindness”.  In a technical sense, Genesis 22 is the first mention of the Hebrew term for Godly love, in the sense of a total commitment of oneself to another.

i)                    From the prophetic picture, it is that reminder of God who loves “his only son”, and offers him on our behalf.

ii)                  This is God testing Abraham and saying in effect, “I know you love Isaac.  My test for you is to see if you love me (God) more than Isaac”.

a)                  Remember that God knows all things in advance.  God did this to “act out” prophesy for our behalf as well as to glorify Abraham by showing his willingness to be obedient to God.

d)                 Before I move on, I should also explain a “burnt offering”.

i)                    A burnt offering does not mean you burn it alive.  A burnt offering required killing the animal and then burning it completely on the altar.  It is symbolic of a total commitment. A burnt offering is saying, “I 100% commit this thing to you as I love you more than this thing I am offering”.

ii)                  When the tabernacle was put together in the Book of Exodus, the first thing one comes to when entering the tabernacle is a firepit to place a burnt offering.  The idea is to approach God, one must fully commit themselves to God.

iii)                In a “word-picture”, the crucifixion was a “burnt offering” by Jesus as he was completely given of himself on behalf of our sins.

iv)                This is the second reference in Genesis to a burnt offering.  The first was by Noah after the ark has rested from the flood.  Noah gave a burnt offering as a sign of gratitude after the event.  God is asking Abraham to go one step further, and offer a burnt offering prior to “the event”.  (Ref. Genesis 8:20).

5.                  Verse 3:  Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

a)                  I stated in the introduction that Paul said that Jesus would rise again on the 3rd day, as “according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:4 NIV).  I believe this is the specific passage.

i)                    In Verse 2, God told Abraham to offer his son.  In Abraham’s mind Isaac is “dead” at this point.  God told Abraham to kill Isaac, so “mentally”, Isaac is “dead”.

ii)                  Notice it was the third day (Verse 4) when the sacrifice took place.  It was on the 3rd day when God stopped this action and an angel told Abraham not to offer Isaac, as told in Verse 11.

iii)                My point is in Abraham’s mind, Isaac is “dead” in Verse 3 and three days later, in Verse 11, Isaac became “alive” again.

b)                  Paul said something interesting about the Gospel message and Abraham:

i)                    “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." (Galatians 3:8 NIV)

ii)                  I’m going to argue that Abraham knew he was acting out prophecy-in-advance:

a)                  God told Abraham that he would have many children (i.e., descendants) through this promised son, Isaac.  (Genesis 13:16 and 15:5)

b)                  Yet here in Genesis 22, God is telling Abraham to kill his son.

c)                  Therefore, if Abraham believed God, then Abraham knew God had to resurrect Isaac.  If God wanted Abraham to kill Isaac and at the same time, God promised Abraham children via Isaac, then God has to resurrect Isaac in order to perform that promise.

iii)                That is how Abraham had the faith to kill Isaac.  He knew God would have to resurrect Isaac in order to fulfill the promises about Isaac.

a)                  “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." (Hebrews 11:17-18 NIV)

c)                  Which leads us to the wonderful words of Verse 3:  “Early the next morning”:

i)                    Abraham didn’t procrastinate, he started off early the next morning.

a)                  It is probable that Abraham couldn’t sleep that night, and it may have been a matter of “getting it over with”.  J

ii)                  Sometimes I think there is nothing God loves more than obedience.  It seems like every time the bible gets a chance to comment on someone’s obedience, it does.

d)                 OK, what’s the deal with the “two servants”?  Why did Abraham bring two servants along on this trip?

i)                    It leads back to God’s rule of “two or more witnesses to an event”.  God likes to have human witnesses to major events of the bible.

a)                  “One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” (Deu. 19:15 NIV)

b)                  Remember when Jesus died, there were two others crucified at the same time.  There were also witnesses at the cross. (Reference: John 19:25-26)

ii)                  Notice the last part of Verse 5, Abraham says, “We will come back to you”.

a)                  First of all, it says, “We will come back”, as in Abraham and Isaac.

b)                  Second, it says, “We will come back”.  I personally believe this is Abraham trusting in God’s promise of a resurrected Isaac.

iii)                Also notice the two “witnesses” didn’t participate in the actual offering.  They waited at the base of Moriah while Abraham and Isaac went’ up.

a)                  This was a word-picture of “God alone” in the process of the offering of his son for our sake.

6.                  Verse 6: Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,  7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

a)                  Some of the details of the prophetic word-pictures are interesting to consider:

i)                    Isaac “carried the wood”.  Think of that picture of Jesus carrying the cross.

ii)                  Abraham carried the knife and the fire.  Both speak of the judgment by the Father.  The “Father” took the responsibility of placing the judgment on the son.

iii)                The only aspect at this point that “doesn’t fit” the word picture is that Isaac was not aware that he was being offered.  If you study the gospels carefully, you get the idea that Jesus fully understood his purpose and mission in life.

b)                  There is a classical debate as to how old Isaac actually is at this point. 

i)                    Some of the Jewish commentaries say he may have been over 30, which would be another word picture of Jesus at the time of his death and resurrection.  This is possible because the next chapter records the death of Sarah at time Isaac was 37.   (Ref.  Genesis 23:1, 17:17).  Further, it was stated that right after Sarah’s death, a bride was arranged for Isaac.  Isaac was 40 as of that time (Genesis 25:20).

a)                  Isaac may have been as young as a teenager and as old as his mid-30’s. 

b)                  It is just speculation as to his actual age at the time of this sacrifice.

7.                  Verse 8:  Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

a)                  In some ways, Verse 8 may be the most powerful verse of the chapter:

i)                    The literal Hebrew can be translated “God will provide himself as the lamb”.

ii)                  The idea, in the Hebrew is that God himself is being the sacrificial lamb.

iii)                One of the things that distinguishes true Christianity from cults is the concept that Jesus is God-himself, being the perfect offering for our sins.

b)                  There is a classic illustration about “perfection” that fits here.  Let’s start with the premise that God is perfect.  A perfect God is perfect in his love.  He loves us perfectly and therefore desires to 100% forgive us of all our sins, well, because He’s perfect.  At the same time God cannot tolerate any sin whatsoever, because again, He’s perfect.

i)                    The question becomes:  How do you reconcile a God of perfect love (perfect forgiveness) and a God of perfect judgment? 

ii)                  If God forgives say 1% of our sins, he would not be perfect in judgment.

iii)                The only “perfect” answer would be for God himself to pay the price for our sins.

c)                  Which leads to classic illustration #2:  There is a courtroom judge who is known as the “perfect judge”.  He has a great ability to discern who is truly guilty and who is fully innocent.  When he finds someone guilty, that criminal gets the maximum punishment allowed under the law.  One day, the judge’s son is on trial.  The son is found guilty.  The judge pronounces the maximum penalty.  The judge then takes his robe off and agrees to go to jail on the son’s behalf.  That is how the judge shows “perfect love” and “perfect judgment” at the same time.

i)                    Which leads back to cults that claim that Jesus is less than God.

a)                  In this “judge” illustration, suppose the judge says to his son, “you are guilty, but because I love you, I will let your brother Leon will serve your jail sentence for you”.  J That wouldn’t be perfect love as that is “unfair” to the criminal’s brother.  If you think of Jesus as anything less than God-himself, the concept of “perfect love” and “perfect judgment” won’t work.  If Jesus is less than God, that God is being “cruel” to Jesus making him pay for the sins of someone else.  This is why the concept of the “trinity” is so necessary for Christianity. It is God-himself paying the price for our sins.

ii)                  Which, surprisingly, leads us back to Genesis.  J The last part of Verse 8 says, “And the two of them went on together”.  It is almost as if Abraham and Isaac “became one in their prophetic plan”.  It is another “word-picture” of the “father and son” being “one” and paying the price for our sins.

d)                 Before I move on, notice how Abraham encouraged his son through what had to be a difficult moment for Isaac as well.

i)                    I suspect Abraham spent a lot of time teaching Isaac about God and the ways of God.  Abraham led Isaac in both words and deeds.  Isaac respected the God of his Father, because Isaac not only saw his father “preach it”, he saw his father “live it”.  So when it came to this crucial time in Isaac’s life as well, Isaac was willing.

ii)                  Notice that in Verse 7, Isaac knew what a burnt offering was.  That means his father trained him on how to worship God.

iii)                Give Isaac some credit.  He got up on the wood willingly.  That too, is a wonderful word-picture of Jesus freely choosing the path of the cross.

8.                  Verse 9: When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"  "Here I am," he replied.

a)                  Here is the climatic moment:  Don’t take this lightly.  Despite God’s commands, despite the fact that Abraham understood God’s promise of a resurrection, despite Isaac’s willingness to go along with this plan, this moment is difficult. 

b)                  It was only at the exact moment that Abraham was about to offer Isaac that the angel intervened.  Remember that all of this was a test (Verse 1).  Abraham now passed with flying colors.

c)                  Here we have the second statement of Abraham saying, “Here I am”.

i)                    Just as Abraham was willing to slay Isaac, Abraham was just as willing to receive new instructions by the angel.

ii)                  Notice Abraham didn’t say to the angel, “Excuse me, but God told me to kill him, now get out of the way.” J My point is that since God tests us, we have to be willing to obey new instructions as we receive them by God.  Saying, “Here I am” to God is not just in the beginning our trust in God, but all along the way as well.  We have to be flexible enough to understand that just because God worked “one way” in our life one day, it may be “another way” on the next day.

9.                  Verse 12:  "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." 

a)                  Here we have the second reference to your “only” son.  This is God letting Abraham knew he past this test.

10.              Verse 13: Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

a)                  In Verse 13, we get introduced to the idea of the “ram” as an animal used as a substitute sacrifice for our sins.

i)                    Back in Verse 7, Isaac asked his father, “Where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” 

a)                  This may mean that Isaac was used to seeing his father sacrifice a lamb.

ii)                  The lamb is a word-picture of “innocence”.  Lambs are baby sheep and are harmless.  In the New Testament, there are a number of references to Jesus as our sacrificial lamb.  (E.g., John 1:29, 36, Rev. 5:6, 5:12, et.al.)

iii)                The ram has his power through his horns.  Here we have a ram and his “power was stuck in the bushes”.  It is a word-picture of power being taken away.

iv)                When one gets to the book of Exodus, almost half the book discusses the construction of the tabernacle to be built by the Israelites.  One of the materials used in the construction was ram skins, died red.

a)                  These ram skins were used as a roof covering (Exodus 26:14, et.al.) 

b)                  This roof material is a word picture of sacrificial blood.  To enter the tabernacle one has to be “covered” with the blood of this animal. 

v)                  The word picture in Exodus ties back to this story in Genesis as the ram-substitute, “dyed red” (symbolic of killing it for its sins).  It is a reminder of the substitute offering for sins!  By the way, this is the second time we read of the shedding of the blood of an innocent animal for the forgiveness of sins.  The first time was when Adam & Eve died, God provided for them “coats of skins” (Genesis 3:21).

b)                  The main point for Christians to learn from this is no human sacrifice is needed other than Jesus offering, past-tense, present tense or future tense, period!  Abraham didn’t have to offer Isaac, as God-himself has, is, and will provide atonement for our sins himself.  

i)                    All of the animal sacrifices we read about in the bible are “temporary”.  The Old Testament emphasizes how these animal sacrifices “covers” their sins, but never takes away their sins.  Only Jesus on the cross takes away our sins.

11.              Verse 14:  So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

a)                  My favorite word in this verse is the word “will”.  It is very important to note that this is future tense.