Have you ever questioned God’s plan or wondered why he does the things he does the way he does? The apostle Paul echoes the sentiments of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 40:14), “ Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgements, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” Romans 11:33-34.
Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” However, God does not leave us blind and through prophecy he discloses his plans so that we are not like the home owner that wasn’t prepared for the thief in the night. “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7.
When we examine the circumstances of Genesis 22, we find a perfect prediction of the sacrifice that Jesus made right down to the tiniest details of Abraham’s offering of his son Isaac to God and God’s promise to Abraham. It is requisite to understanding the new covenant which Christ established with the church, that God’s covenant with Abraham preceded the laws of Moses and was unconditional.
This promise was given to Abram in Genesis 12: 2-3, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” This is not to be confused with God’s covenant with the nation of Israel, which was conditional upon their obedience and resulted in the Jewish diaspora and Israel’s precarious position in Palestine today.
When we examine the scripture, we find that Isaac is Abraham’s only son in God’s eyes since he is the son God promised and Ishmael was born of Sarah’s initiative apart from God’s purpose. Additionally, God’s promise to David that, “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me, your throne will be established forever.”, is founded on the genealogy from Abraham through Isaac and David to Jesus.
A side note that is anything but insignificant is the bread and wine that Melchizedeck used to bless Abram (Genesis 14:19-20), Joseph’s interpretations of the dreams of the wine server and the baker while he was in prison in Egypt and of course the bread and wine that Jesus used as symbols of his sacrificed body and blood at the last supper.
God’s promise to Abraham that he would have a son in his old age (he was 75 when the promise was made and 100 when Isaac was born, while Sarah was 90) demonstrates the divine intervention resulting in Isaac’s birth which is indicative of the supernatural circumstances surrounding Christ’s birth. Then, God tested Abraham and instructed him to take his son to a mountain and sacrifice him there. “Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love – Isaac – and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.’” Genesis 22:2. This is the first place in the Bible where the word “love” is used and is a direct correlation to John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Isaac’s age when Abraham offered him as a sacrifice is not mentioned in scripture, however several details indicate that he was not a boy. He carried the firewood for the fire up the mountain (Genesis 22:6) without the help of Abraham who was very old. His willingness to submit to his father’s instructions is another prophetic nugget that aligns with Christ’s willingness to submit to crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his death when he prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42.
In yet another prophetic parallel to Christ’s atonement. It is a three-day journey for Abraham to get to where he would offer his son and in his mind, he had resolved that he would sacrifice Isaac and his son was already dead to him. However, God restored Isaac back to life, three days later when he provided a lamb (significant of the Lamb of God) to be sacrificed in his place. Abraham believed that God would resurrect Isaac from the dead since he had been promised that many nations would be blessed through him and that could not happen if Isaac ceased to live, and he had learned by this time that God keeps his promises.
The writer of the book of Hebrews explains, “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced 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.’ Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.” Hebrews 11:17-19.
The next technicality that is amazing is the location of the mountain where Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed. The region of Moriah is a ridge system between the Tyropean Valley and the Kidron Valley which separates Mt. Zion to its west and the Mt. of Olives to its east. It is here where the elevation rises, that King David purchased the threshing floor of Arunah as the site to build the first temple. The peak of this mountain where Abraham built the alter to sacrifice his son was called Golgotha, the exact location where Jesus would be crucified two thousand years later.
Yet another prophetic event in Abraham’s life is his procurement of a wife for his son Isaac. In Genesis 24, he sends his servant Eliezer, under oath, back to the land of his family to find a suitable bride. (Genesis 24:1-4) and the woman had to be willing (Rebekah was willing and married Isaac). Eliezer is first mentioned in Genesis 15:2, and was to be Abraham’s heir until Isaac was born. It is here in Genesis 15 where we first read that Abram believed the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).
So two thousand years before Jesus, God laid out the premise of our righteousness through the blessings of Abraham (the father), Isaac (the son) and Rebekah (the bride) that have been handed to true believers today through Christ Jesus. Two thousand years after Jesus, our faith is credited to us as righteousness (Galatians 3:7-9) as the bride of Christ, so once again we have the Father, the Son and his bride.
Jesus will return for his bride. For the incredible beauty of our betrothal to him please refer to my previous writing, The Bride of Christ, where the parallels to a first century Jewish marriage contract are correlated to the role of the Church and our required loyalty to our bridegroom.
Jesus gave many signs that would indicate the end of the world was imminent and would precede his return, and as I elaborated in my last blog, Global Warning, he said those days would be like the days of Noah. People would be carrying on with life normally and didn’t realize until it was too late that the flood was upon them (Mathew Luke 17:26-27) and destroyed them all. He also likened that time to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.” Luke 17:28-29. These are precursors to the rapture when God will rescue true believers before he destroys the ungodly.
In the same way that God warned Abraham that he would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, but rescued Lot and his family first, he will destroy this present world but will rescue true believers first. Abraham negotiated with God and asked him if he would spare the cities if a small remnant of righteous people were found in them (Genesis 18) and God said he would and that is why the world has not yet been judged today. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9. Just as Lot and his family and Noah and his family were rescued before God’s judgement was carried out, true Christians will be rescued before the Lord carries out his judgement upon the earth.
We must keep our hearts fixed on Jesus in the troubling times ahead and cling to his words, acknowledging that his ways are higher than our ways. “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase in wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Mathew 24:10-13.
