Continuing our study we take a second look at the life of Abraham to seek out those pointers that would indicate that Jesus could be considered a true son of Abraham. This blog it is Abraham's obedience.
The Obedience of Abraham
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| 'Here I am' |
If the faith of Abraham recognised the aim, it is the obedience of Abraham that more clearly provides the pointer towards the cost. A cost that will be borne by God the Father and God the Son, for it will be the sacrifice of Abraham’s greater Son that will make this wide-ranging blessing possible. Abraham’s obedience is recorded in Genesis chapter 22. “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” (The word is ‘Hineni’ which means ‘Here I am Lord, attentive and ready to do anything you ask’). 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” (Gen. 22:1-2). The phrase “lekh-lekha” (go to) connects this passage with the original call of Abraham in Genesis 12 where previously it had been used when the Lord instructed Abraham to leave Chaldea. If Abraham has been called, it was ultimately for this event. Not an animal sacrifice now, but his son. The description of Isaac is illuminating: Your son – your favoured one – the one whom you love. If asked, Abraham could have said, ‘This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased’ (cf. Matt.3:17).
Directed by God, Abraham obediently travelled to Mount Moriah, later to be known as Mount Zion, the site of the Temple. As the narrative unfolds, the parallels with the crucifixion of Jesus are recognisable. The wood for the sacrifice is carried by Isaac, even as the wood of the cross was carried by Jesus.
The Jewish Study Bible quotes a midrash on this episode which, referring to a Roman execution, says “it is like a person who carries his cross on his own person” (Gen. Rab.56.3). When Isaac asked, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Gen. 22): he received the reply: “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:8). At Calvary God provided Himself the Lamb for an offering.
When they came to the place to which God had directed him, Abraham built an altar and made all the necessary preparations for the sacrifice of his son. He bound Isaac and laid him on the altar upon the wood (Gen. 22:9). Abraham was fully committed to yield everything to the will of God. But God did not require human sacrifice, only a knowledge of the submission of Abraham, so the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.” (‘Hineni’ – ‘still listening and ready to fulfil your perfect will’) (Gen. 22:11) The lad was spared, and with the ram to hand Abraham had a substitute to present to God.
Such wholehearted commitment should be commended – and it was! Abraham had another message from heaven. “By Myself I have
sworn ... because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Gen. 22:15-18).
For the patriarch, this was the most forceful declaration yet that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through his seed—a promise confirmed with an oath! “For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you” (Heb 6:13-14). “For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.” (Heb. 6:16-18).
Abraham received an all encompassing re-affirmation of all that he could have hoped for: (i) the assurance of an lasting earthly seed (the sand on the seashore) and (ii) a lasting heavenly seed (the stars of heaven); and (iii) a blessing on all nations of the earth. Moreover, the Bible identifies the ‘seed’ through which all this is to come. “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ” (Gal. 3:16).
More Next Time
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