[When the Bible says that God tempted Abraham it does not mean tempted as in tempting someone to evil.  The Bible says,] 

[James 1:13 ¹³ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: ]

[God tempts no one to evil or for evil but God does try or test people.  Hence, the word tempted in this sense means God tried or tested Abraham.] 

[In this text Abraham climbed the highest mountain of submission, while Isaac climbed the highest mountain of sacrifice.  God had promised Abraham that it would be through Isaac, and none other, that he would bless every other nation of the world and history.  Yet, now God says take and sacrifice your only son to me.] 

[Surely, Abraham was in consternation, he probably just couldn’t understand God’s request.  But by this time Abraham has learned to obey and submit to God.  So he takes his son up to the mountain with the knife and wood.  He would obey God and Isaac submitted willingly to his father.] 

[Someone might say that we are trying to see to much New Testament truth in this Old Testament passage.  But Jesus said,] 

[John 8:56 ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.]

[This is to say that Abraham saw Jesus in his day.  The Bible also says,] 

[Galatians 3:8 ⁸ And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. ]

[Hence, Isaac is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who dies upon the cross.  This is an Old Testament type of Calvary’s Cross.  The book of Genesis is the seedbed of all Christian theology and doctrine that will follow.] 

[Isaac is a type of Christ in these ways and more,] 

• [Isaac’s birth was prophesied before he was born as Jesus was.]
• [Isaac’s birth date was preset (Gen 21.1-2) Jesus was born in the fullness of time, right at the time God designated.]

[Genesis 21:1-2 ¹ And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. ² For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.]

• [Isaac was named before his birth (Gen 17.19) as was our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 1.21).]
• [Isaac was conceived by a miracle (Gen 18.13-14) as was our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 1.37).]
• [Isaac was the only son (Gen 22.2) and Jesus is the only begotten son (John 3.16)]
• [Isaac was received back to Abraham as though he had come back from the dead as was the Lord Jesus Christ.]

[Hebrews 11:17-19 ¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ¹⁸ Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: ¹⁹ Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.]

[This why Abraham said,]

[Genesis 22:5 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. ]

 Notice,

A.     The Way Of The Cross (vs 3,4,9) [- Notice the key words in these verses,]

[Genesis 22:3-4 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. ⁴ Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.]

[Genesis 22:9 ⁹ 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. ]

1.      [A Place Foreseen of God - Moriah – Chosen of God, foreseen of God.]

[God had chosen Moriah.  This place was not accidental or incidental, this place was fundamental to the plan of Almighty God.  ]

2.      [A Place Chosen of God (Luke 23.33) – Because this was the same place later where the Lord Jesus Christ was to die.  Jesus died on mount Moriah.  From eternity past God had that place called mount Calvary in His heart.]

[The Lord Jesus Christ had his eye set on that place.  The Bible says,]

[Luke 23:33 ³³ And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. ]

[These two places were the same place.  They were both offered on mount Calvary.]

B.     The Woe of the Cross (vs 4,7-8; Mark 14.33-36) [– 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. – This is the anguish of the cross.  Abraham’s young men had come with Abraham and Isaac as far as they could go.  But there was a place beyond which they could not go.  This speaks of dark Gethsemane.]

[Mark 14:33-36 ³³ And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; ³⁴ And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. ³⁵ And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. ³⁶ And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. ]

[ Here is the Father and the Son alone going further and going alone.  When Abraham and Isaac went alone up to mount Moriah they prefigured our Lord alone with His Father in that garden that night.]

[Imagine what must have been going through Isaac’s mind as they walked up that mountain.  Isaac asked,]

[Genesis 22:7 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?]

[And Abraham says,]

[Genesis 22:8 ⁸ And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. ]

[Isaac asks no more questions.  Isaac senses and knows what is on Abraham mind and there are no more questions from Isaac.  Imagine what went through the heart of Isaac as they walked up that mountain together.  Can you imagine what went through the heart of Abraham?  This passage is as close a passage as you can find to finding the heart beat of God concerning the death of His Son.  This reveals how God felt about the death of His only begotten Son, Abraham reveals that for us.]

[Illustration - Once you become a father you can not only love God for what Jesus did for you on mount Calvary, but now you can understand what the Father did when He gave his only begotten son.]

C.     The Willingness of the Cross (vs 6,8; John 10.17-18; Mark 15.31) [– 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. ]

[Genesis 22:8 ⁸ And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. ]

[By this time doubtless Isaac sensed what was going to happen.  By this time Isaac knew that he was to be the sacrifice. Certainly Isaac knew it when Abraham asked him to stretch out his hands and he was bound.  ]

[How old was Abraham when this took place, maybe 133 years of age.  Adrian Rogers said, “I will not be one bit surprise to find out that Isaac was 33 years old when this happened.”  The word here that calls Isaac a lad is used of strong men of war in the Bible.  Isaac was strong enough to carry that bundle of wood on his back.  Why 33 years old, because Jesus was 33 years old when he died and so far everything else in this type correlates.  Isaac was a man, not a boy.]

[Isaac could have easily overpowered and out ran Abraham.  But Isaac typifies the submission and willingness of our Lord Jesus Christ in this picture of Calvary.]

[Jesus said,]

[John 10:17-18 ¹⁷ Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. ¹⁸ No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.]

[Mark 15:31 ³¹ Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.]

[But they had it wrong.  It was himself Jesus refused to save.  The only man Jesus ever refused to save was himself.]

D.    The Weight of the Cross (vs 6; John 19-17-18) [– 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.  – Wood is symbolic of humanity.  A righteous man is spoken of as a tree planted by the rivers of water.  Jesus is spoken of as a root out of a dry ground out of the stump of Jesse. ]

[This wood laid upon Isaac in this account is symbolical of the laying of all humanity upon the Lord Jesus Christ.]

[John 19:17-18 ¹⁷ And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: ¹⁸ Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.]

[Jesus bore his wooden cross, as Isaac bore his wood, up that mount to that place chosen of God bearing the weight of the cross.  That cross speaks of the weight of our humanity, the weight of our sin, the weight of our weakness, the weight of our failures carried to the place of cross.]

E.     The Work of the Cross (vs 9-10; 2 Cor 5.21) [– 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.  – There are three elements mentioned here. There is a cord by inference because he is bound.  There is wood because he is laid upon that wood.  There is a knife with which to wound and to cut.  These things speak of the work of the cross.]

[The cord was for binding, the knife was for bleeding, the wood was for the burning power of sin.  This is the penalty of sin.  This is the price that must be paid.  Sin has binding power, blood shedding power, and burning power for the wicked will burn in hell forever.]

[Jesus upon that cross as they bound Him, as He bled, and as he felt the burning burden of hell carried and paid the penalty of sin for us.  What is the work of this cross,]

[2 Corinthians 5:21 ²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.]

[Jesus paid in full the penalty for our sins.  Jesus died for our sins.]

F.      The Word of the Cross (vs 10-14 ) [– 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. ¹³ 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. – What is the Word of the Cross?  Notice that Abraham raised his knife filled hand and was about to plunge that knife into Isaac, the son of his promise, the son of prophecy, the son of miracle birth, the son of love, and the son of hope.  Just at that time the angel calls out to Abraham and God pours illustration upon illustration.]

[Why could the knife not fall upon Isaac?   Because one day it must fall upon Jesus.  Up to this point Isaac can be the type and illustration.  Then Abraham looks and there is a ram with his head caught in the thicket.  He is wearing a crown of thorns.  God says, there He is, take Him.] 

[What must Isaac have felt when he saw that ram? What must Isaac have felt when the bonds were taken from him?  What must Isaac have felt when he got up off of that wood?  What must Isaac have felt when he saw that ram dying in his place and as his substitute?  ]

[The Word of the Cross is that God has provided a substitute for mankind.]

[After this Abraham called this place by a special name that means, “The Lord Will Provide.”  Why? Because Abraham saw the gospel acted out through his life and Isaac’s.]

[Notice what Abraham said,]

[Genesis 22:8 ⁸ And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.]

[Now Abraham says,]

[Genesis 22:14 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. ]

[Abraham was saying one day God would turn this type into realty and that the Lord Jesus Christ would cause the Lamb of God to die for all of mankind.] 

CrossRoads Baptist, Evening, November 8, 2009