Verses 1-2 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. 2 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.
The Hebrew word for “tempt” is “nacah”, pronounced naw saw and it means to test, to try, or to prove. The name Moriah means “chosen by Jehovah” and it was the location where Solomon built the temple in what eventually became the city of Jerusalem. God was asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son on what, in the future, would be the temple mount. This would require killing Isaac and burning his body on a fire.
Application: This test of Abraham was foreshadowing the day that God would sacrifice His only Son, Jesus, as a sacrificial lamb to provide the payment or the remission of the sins of the whole world. John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The amazing thing is that the Bible is so precise because it is the Word of God and not of man. Thousands of years before the birth of the LORD Jesus Christ, Moses recorded an event that occurred between Abraham and Isaac and the LORD which spoke about and predicted Jesus and God’s amazing gift to mankind.
Verse 3 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.
The word “clave” means to cut up into smaller pieces. Abraham was chopping the wood that was to be used to burn his son’s body. Can you, the reader, imagine what might have been going through Abraham’s mind during this necessary task? Notice that Abraham was obedient. He did not argue with God or plead for the life of Isaac. He just rose up and went. It does not appear that anyone else knew what he was doing. He just obeyed God. Since God had promised that Abraham would have a son through whom would arise a great nation and that Isaac was that son, none of this would have made sense. Yet Abraham did not stop to consider all the ramifications of what he was being asked to do. He just rose up and went.
Application: James 2:20-22 and 23 states, “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified (shown to be righteous) by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed (credited counted) unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.” Abraham did not question or argue with God because he already had the promises of God and he knew that God would keep the promises and Isaac would be alright. His relationship with God was so deep that he was a friend of God. Think about that. He was not just a created being or a servant and prophet of the Most High God, but he was a friend.
Sometimes God will ask the believer to do something that does not make human sense. Like Abraham, the believer may be tested and like Abraham, the believer, in faith, needs to just rise up and go and do what is asked of him/her, knowing and believing that God will make it all work for His glory because He honors His promises. This type of faith is what pleases the LORD and this type of faith is what makes the believer a friend of God.
Verses 4-5 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 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.
The number 3, the number of perfection, is seen again in the verse above. This is a pointer to the sacrifice of the One who was perfect and without sin, Jesus, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. See John 1:29.
Notice what Abraham said to the young men accompanying him. He said that both he and Isaac would go and worship and then come again to them. Abraham had such a strong trust and confidence in his God that he made a statement of faith that both he and Isaac would return.
Verses 6-8 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7 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? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Every action in this drama recorded by Moses reflects the incidences surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus was made to carry His own cross to the place where He would be slain, Isaac carried the wood that was to be used in the sacrifice of his life as a burnt offering.
It is clear by Isaac’s words that he was not aware of the commandment given to his father by God. He wanted to know where the lamb was that would be sacrificed.
Application: Pay attention to what Abraham said in verse 8 above. “God will provide himself a lamb.” It is usually read and understood that Abraham believed God would provide a lamb that would be used in place of his son Isaac. This interpretation is correct. However, this writer suggests that it can also be read as God stating that He would provide Himself, God in the body of Jesus, as a lamb. Do you see the difference? Do you see the prophesy here that came to pass around 30 AD?
Verses 9-12 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. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
God allowed Abraham to reach the point of actually slaying Isaac, his only son, before He stopped him. Even if Abraham had slain Isaac, this writer believes that Abraham expected God to raise the boy from the dead, which is not a big deal for God to do. Remember that it was stated previously that “the angel of the LORD” usually refers to deity, to Jesus Christ Himself, as opposed to an angel which is a created being. Here this is clearly seen as this angel of the LORD stated, “…seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” Abraham did not get his orders from an angel, but from the living God he served. Therefore, God is the “me” in the verse above.
Application: God did not withhold His only Son, Jesus, from us, but provided through His death on the cross the payment for all of our sins. Does that mean that, as believers, we can continue to sin because the price is paid? Of course not. It means that we should be so grateful to the LORD that we never want to sin again and that we give our lives here on Earth in service to Him. We can never repay the debt we owe to our great LORD and Savior.
Verses 13-14 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. 14 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.
God did provide himself a lamb and Abraham and Isaac did according to the commandment and offered a burnt offering. Because this act was prophetic of Calvary, a sacrifice had to take place. Jehovahjireh means “Jehovah sees”.
Verses 15-18 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 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: 17 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; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Men often swear by that which is greater than they are. Since there is no one greater than God, He swore an oath to Abraham by Himself. He was making a promise that would endure and He made the promise because Abraham was obedient to His voice. Abraham would be blessed and would have multiple descendants compared to the stars in the Heaven which cannot be numbered by man or to the sand of the sea which also cannot be numbered. Hosea 1:10 says, “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.”
Application: The believer is commanded not to sware or take an oath. Why? Because only God has the right to do so because He is perfect and righteous. Jesus said in Matthew 5:37, “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, Nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” And James 5:12 says, “But above all things, my brethren, sware not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay: lest ye fall into condemnation.“ A Christian man was taken to court and told to swear to tell the truth, and he refused. He said his word was true and that God forbade him to agree to “swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God.” The judge held this man in contempt of court and he served jail time. But he never took an oath, and eventually, the judge had to release him from jail. Do you, the believer, take the Word of God that seriously? Think about it.
The last part of the oath of God given to Abraham spoke of a seed by whom the nations of the Earth would be blessed. This prophecy does not refer to the Hebrew people but to Jesus who was of the tribe of Judah, Abraham’s grandson. It is Jesus who possesses “the gate of his enemies” and by whom all the nations of the Earth is blessed. If it referred to the nation Israel, the sentence above would read “the gate of their enemies.” No nation, Jewish or otherwise, has ever blessed all the nations of the Earth. Only Jesus.
Application: Why is the seed of Abraham compared to stars and to sand which cannot be numbered? The usual first response is that the seed are Hebrews, descendants that are too numerous to count. And it is true that Abraham fathered the Hebrew people and many nations including Arab nations whose people over time are too numerous to count. But the seed here is the LORD Jesus Christ. So how does Jesus become too numerous to count? By His Spirit or Holy Ghost who inhabits His people in all the nations of the world. And since only Jesus knows the hearts of mankind and who will be in His kingdom, believers cannot number His people. No one can. Hosea 1:10 quoted above refers to the Church, not physical Israel, as the true Israel of God today is spiritual and consists of all the Christians who have been born again into the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ, who have repented of their sins, who have been baptized in Jesus’ name, and who have been filled with the Spirit of God. “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.” Galatians 3:16 So all true converted Christian believers are of the seed of Abraham.
Verses 19-24 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor; 21 Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.
Abraham and company returned to his camp and to Sarah, and eventually he got word that his brother had been blessed with children born to him, and one granddaughter would become part of Abraham’s family.