|
Isaac: Pattern for Grace
“But God said to Abraham, ‘Do
not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad
or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to
you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be
called.” (Gen. 21:12)
“But it is not as
though the word of God has failed. For they are not all
Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they
all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but:
through Isaac your
descendants will be named.” (Rom. 9:6-7)
“By faith Abraham, when he
was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the
promises was offering up his only begotten son; it
was he to whom it was said,
In Isaac your
descendants shall be called.” (Heb. 11:17-18)
“In Isaac your descendants shall
be called” is a recurring phrase of the Bible. God gave us the
pattern for His work of grace through the birth of Isaac. God
had promised Abraham an extended family (Gen. 12:1-3). In order
to keep His word, He had to give Abraham a son. Abraham and
Sarah had grown old and Sarah was barren. The couple had become
impatient and attempted by their own plans to make God’s promise
happen.
Abraham tried to slip Eliezer,
his trusted servant, into God’s plan. God rejected that idea
(Gen. 15:1-3)! Sarah tried to give her husband an heir through
her handmaid, Hagar (Gen. 16:1-6). God rejected that idea! None
of their human schemes worked!
God Brought Isaac into Being
Twenty years passed after God
gave Abraham the original promise. Abraham was standing in front
of his tent in the heat of the day. He was 99 years old and
Sarah was 89. Jehovah God, accompanied by two angels, walked up
and spoke to Abraham. The Lord said:
“Then they said to him,
‘Where is Sarah your wife?’ And he said, ‘There, in the
tent.’ He said, ‘I will surely return to you at this time
next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.’ And
Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was
past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After
I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old
also?’ And the LORD said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh,
saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so
old?’ Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the
appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year,
and Sarah will have a son.’” (Gen. 18:9-14)
Note the capitol "H” in “He.” Not
we, not they, not them, not an angel, not the angels, but God is
speaking.
There can be no doubt. God is the
one who is going to make Isaac happen!
The
Hebrew may read “according
to this time next year.” God was speaking of a
specific time. Everything that was going to happen was going to
happen according to a divine timetable. God waited until
Abraham and Sarah could not possibly produce a child on their
own. In fact, He waited another year until Abraham was
one hundred years old and Sarah was ninety. God alone would make
this happen.
God emphasized "your wife,” not
your concubine, but your wife - the one that God gave to
Abraham as his wife.
The women’s quarters were
probably in the back of the tent, divided by a thin partition
from the men’s section. She could not help but hear the
conversation.
Do we get the impression that God
the Holy Spirit wants us to remember something here? He kept
emphasizing the miracle that was about to be done by God
alone! Abraham and Sarah could not do anything to help God
help them.
“Within herself” indicates that
it was a silent chuckle. The Hebrew indicates that she whispered
this in her mind. She just thought it! Now her thoughts are made
known.
She was saying, "Shall I in my
old age have relations with my husband and even conceive a
child?” She, like Abraham, treated the announcement as
incredible. She was overwhelmed.
-
And the LORD said
to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely
bear a child, since I am old?’
Did God know her thoughts? Yes!
This is the point! Did God want Abraham to know that He knew
Sarah's secret thoughts? Yes! Did God need Abraham's
confirmation that Sarah had laughed? No!
What is going on? Abraham and
Sarah were in the presence of their Creator and He had the power
to read their thoughts. If He had the power to read their
thoughts, could He bless them with a child in their old age?
Yes! Then God gives us what I believe to be the very basis for
His grace.
-
Is anything too hard for the LORD
Here is the key to grace! Grace
is God’s work on man’s behalf. Grace is that which God alone
does. God has a plan from eternity and He will carry out that
plan.
At the appointed time I will
return to you. God etched out the time in His own will.
We know from a previous verse that it would be a year. God had
an appointed time to bring Isaac into the world. This lets us
know that God has an appointed time for everything to happen
(His will is the supreme will in all the universe; Dan.
4:34-35).
God’s word came to pass! The very
next year at God’s appointed time, (Abraham was now 100 years of
age and Sarah was 90),
Sarah had a son.
“Then the LORD took note of
Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had
promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in
his old age, at the appointed time of which God had
spoken to him.” (Gen. 21:1-2)
God gives life to man by His
sovereign choice based upon His gracious work in Jesus Christ.
Paul had begun Romans 9 with a
plea for Israel’s salvation. It appeared that God’s word had
failed toward the Jews. Paul’s heart was grieved! Had God
changed His plan? Had He gone back on His promises to Abraham?
Not so! Paul brings to light the truth that this is all in God’s
plan! It was God’s desire to temporally blind Israel in order to
call out His elect. And Paul brings up “the Isaac
connection” to show that this was the case.
“But it is not as though the
word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are
descended from Israel.” (Rom. 9:6)
God gave the promises to the
generations of Abraham through Isaac. The promise was given to
those who would be given life “like Isaac.”
“Nor are they all children
because they are Abraham’s descendants, but:
through Isaac your
descendants will be named.” (Rom. 9:7)
God’s word had not failed because
of “the Isaac connection.” God gives life to those who belong
to Him.
The essence of grace is that God
does all the work. God alone makes it happen. Salvation
must be all of God. That is precisely what was illustrated by
the supernatural birth of Isaac. God calls those who are not as
though they were. Nothing is left for man to do. Nothing! If
Isaac was to be, then it was all up to God. That is what makes
grace, grace!
Paul made this plain to his Roman
readers by mentioning once again the “key hole” incident with
Sarah.
“For this is the word of
promise: ‘At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a
son.’” (Rom. 9:10)
Paul reaffirmed that God had an
appointed time and place for Isaac to be brought into being!
All the king’s horses and all the kings’ men could not make it
happen until God was ready.
We can apply “the Isaac
connection” to those who will be called to trust Jesus Christ as
Savior. If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, it is because
God made it happen. God had the time and place fixed millions of
years ago. God calls people to Himself and He gives them life!
Our salvation is all of God.
Isaac: Pattern for the Gospel
Genesis 22
God then gave to Abraham a very
rare privilege. He used Abraham and Isaac to give us a pattern
for the gospel. He allowed Abraham to illustrate the cross work
of Jesus Christ.
Abraham had finally learned to
focus upon the Creator. Abraham's attention was now upon the
One who had given the promised blessing even more than on the
blessing itself. Abraham was now enamored solely with the
ability of God. He knew now that God is able and he knew that
God is just!
-
that God tested and said to
him, “Abraham!”And he said, “Here I am.” 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.”
“Your
only son,” in the Hebrew is Yechidekah. It is taken from
a noun Yachid - your uniquely born son. This word is
equivalent to the Greek word in the New Testament monogenes,
meaning uniquely born, irreplaceable one- your irreplaceable
son. The Lord Jesus Christ was God’s irreplaceable Son. We now
see the beginning of a tremendous contrast.
The land of Moriah or the “hill
of Moriah.” This is the hill upon which Solomon was going to
build his temple. We are not left with any doubt as to where
Moriah was located.
“Now Solomon began to build the
house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD
had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had
prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite” (2 Chron.
3:1).
“Moriah” means chosen of the
Lord. Today the Mosque of Omar (an Islamic shrine) is located on
Mt. Moriah over the dome of the rock. But it will not remain
there!
God’s command to Abraham to offer
his son appears on the surface to be completely irrational, a
mistake, and reflecting incompetence. It is subject to severe
scrutiny and questioning from many. But there is an issue here
that is not obvious on the surface.
God is always just. This is a
part of His essence. God always does that which is right. But
God’s will does have to appear right to us. Abraham had complete
confidence in the absolute justice of God. He never once
questioned God's integrity and righteousness. Abraham was strong
in faith. God instructed him to take his human treasure, the
object of God's grace, and kill him. This seems to be
contradictory to everything that Abraham has experienced from
God. He loved this boy more than anything else in life and to
obey without blinking an eye was absolutely astounding.
This is day one!
The Lord Jesus Christ rode a
donkey into the city of Jerusalem to pronounce Himself as King
on Palm Sunday (Matt. 21:1-2).
Moriah was three days away. This
is no coincidence. Remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ
took place on the third day.
Abraham now knew God. Not only
had he learned about God, he knew God. Abraham not only
knew God but he also loved and trusted God.
“We” will return - not I, but
we. The Hebrew emphasizes this. We must think about the
gory details of the specific orders from God. Put your son on
the altar, cut his throat, and burn his body. Did Abraham think
there was an out? No!
Isaac was still a bachelor. He
had no wife, and he had no children. Until that happens Abraham
believes that there was no way that he was going to die
permanently. Why? Because GOD said, ‘In Isaac shall
your seed by called.’ Isaac is the source of the Abrahamic
Covenant. So since Abraham fully intended to kill Isaac, God was
going to have to raise him up or have another plan. He had to!
God cannot lie! It is impossible for God not to keep His word.
So strong was Abraham's faith in God that he believed that God
would raise his son up. Abraham was evidently now the
friend of God (James 2:23).
Everything that was necessary was
taken along; the ingredients of judgment: the wood, the torch,
and a knife. Abraham as the father had the ingredients
necessary to make the sacrifice happen. The tools of judgment
were in the hands of the father.
The two of them were in harmony.
They were in step as they walked along. They were united in a
mutual purpose. Isaac was walking up the hill carrying his
wooden burden. It was a hill near this one that Abraham's
Great Grandson would also carry some wood (Jn. 19). And this
Great Grandson would be nailed to that wood in order to satisfy
God’s demand against man’s sin. God the father would judge
all of our sins in Him. God truly gave to Abraham the
privilege of illustrating the cross work of Jesus Christ
hundreds of years before it was to happen.
-
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?
Isaac loved and respected his
father. This symbolizes the human thoughts of the Lord Jesus
Christ as He faced the cross. His willingness was never in
question, but it was brought to light so that we would
understand that He was a willing participant (Luke 22:42).
Isaac’s question would have
ripped the heart right out of an ordinary man. Abraham probably
knew that he was going to ask this. Abraham had done this before
but with a sacrifice. Isaac knew how sacrifices were to be
offered.
Abraham did not say that Elohim
would provide for “you and me” but “for Himself.”
Abraham kept the issue where it belongs. The sacrifice was
God's business! It was God's character that was at stake.
Abraham was simply saying to Isaac, “Son, we going to put our
trust in God.”
Not “a Lamb.” The Hebrew says “the
lamb.” Remember that John said speaking of Jesus Christ,
“Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.”
“Which God had told him” is very
important. “Macom,” the Hebrew word for place, was to be
that special place set apart by God. It had to be at this
place. God is sovereign and He had a plan. Abraham must do the
will of God regardless of how it appeared to him. His security
was now solely in the Giver not the gift. The Giver does not
lie! Nothing in life could shake Abraham’s faith!
God has found it necessary to
consult us about nothing! Faith does not need to understand!
Faith does not need to see! Faith does not need to be consoled!
Faith must obey! But Abraham did not have faith in faith. He had
placed his faith in the right source. He had faith in God.
The time had come! Isaac said
nothing! Isaac had confidence in his father because his father
had confidence in God. Isaac was stronger than his father and
could have freed himself.
Jesus Christ submitted totally to
the will of His father even though He had the strength to free
Himself.
Hebrew words make an impression
here. “Stretched forth his hand,” is in the Hebrew “Laqach
shakat,” a Hebrew completed action. That is, in Abraham's
mind, he actually did it! He fully intended to follow
through and obey God. That was his mental attitude!
In Abraham’s mind at that moment
Isaac had been slain. It was with complete faith and tranquility
that Abraham carried out the divine orders. For Abraham, the
outcome was never in doubt. He loved his son deeply, but his
trust was in God. And it was his love and trust in God that
motivated this action. He was totally occupied with the Giver of
his blessing. He was caught up in the fact that, though he may
not understand, God knew exactly what He was doing.
“By faith Abraham, when he
was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received
the promises offered up his only begotten son, of
whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,”
concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from
the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative
sense.” (Heb. 11:17-19)
“Was not Abraham our father
justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on
the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with
his works, and by works faith was made perfect (telios;
was made complete; mature)! And the Scripture was fulfilled
which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of
God.” (James 2: 21)
-
But the Angel of the LORD
called to him
from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here
I am.”
Abraham has passed the toughest
test in the history of man. He knew that God could never do
anything that was not just and not absolutely fair? The Giver is
always right no matter how it appears to man. Abraham had total
confidence in the character of God. It never occurred to him
that God could be unfair.
-
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,
The Cross
Through Abraham’s offer of Isaac,
God gives us the perfect illustration that He would provide His
son in order to reestablish His righteousness. God is saying to
Abraham in a type, “I am going to offer my uniquely born son but
there will be no one who will stay my hand.” God could spare
Abraham's son, but He could not spare His own Son. Why? Because
God must adjust that which is not right to His righteousness. He
cannot extend His grace to sinners without first being just with
Himself. Sin must be paid for!
The Ram is a picture of Christ.
There was only one place at that precise moment where there was
a ram caught in the bushes. It was on that mountain at that
particular time. God had provided that Ram for this place at
that time. This is why this place was to be the place! God had
picked out the place and the time billions of years ago.
-
So Abraham went and took the
ram, and offered him in the place of his son. 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.”
“Jehovah Jireh” - “Jehovah will
provide.” This name is the essence of God’s grace. God will
provide a sacrifice. Only God can provide the means to adjust
fallen man to His righteousness. Jehovah will provide is
speaking of the second person of the Trinity and the fact that
He would provide the once and for all sacrifice to pay for the
sin of man.
The words “in Isaac shall your
seed be called” should now take on new meaning.
These words teach us that our
salvation depends totally upon God. If we have eternal life, it
is because God made the sufficient sacrifice and He gave us
life! We had absolutely nothing to do with it. God has done it
all.
“And you brethren, like
Isaac, are children of promise.” (Gal. 4:28)
Sources
New
American Standard Bible
Brown,
Driver, Briggs Hebrew Definitions
Robert B.
Theime, Jr.
S. Lewis
Johnson, Jr.
Chester
McCalley
Basis
Theology, Charles C. Ryrie
|
