Faith Unbounded || Genesis 22:3 - 23:20 || Session 38 || Verse by Verse Bible Study

In this verse by verse Bible study episode, we tackle one of the most challenging narratives in the Bible: Abraham's near-offering of his son Isaac. We delve into the complexities of Isaac being referred to as Abraham's "only son," despite the existence of Ishmael, and examine Isaac's crucial role as the promised child. We also draw insightful parallels between Isaac's near-sacrifice and Jesus Christ's ultimate sacrifice, considering the potential geographical significance of Mount Moriah. Witness Abraham's incredible faith and obedience, as well as Isaac's compliance, and explore the vital lesson of accomplishing God's work in God's way without shortcuts. Don't miss these rich biblical insights and reflections that promise to deepen your understanding and faith.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:19

Hello and welcome. My name is Glenn and this is Steve. We are Reasoning Through the Bible. If you have your copy of the Bible, turn to Genesis 22. We're in the section where God has commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, isaac, and we're going to read this section Now.

Speaker 1 0:33

It came about after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him Abraham and he said here I am. He said, take now your son, your only son whom you love, isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering, on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and Isaac, his son, and he split wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. Abraham said to his young men stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there and we will worship and return to you. Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So two of them walked on together.

Speaker 1 1:27

Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said my father. And he said here I am, my son. And he said Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham said God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. So the two of them walked on together. With this, abraham is caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. With this, abraham is ready to sacrifice Isaac we talked about last time. This was a test to Abraham to prove that God was faithful. Abraham believed that God would resurrect Isaac, even if he were slain, because he says we will return to you. Let's kind of go through this very dramatic passage, very well-known passage. In verse two, god says take your son, your only son. Steve was Isaac, the only son of Abraham.

Speaker 2 2:58

He was not the only son of Abraham there obviously was. Ishmael was the firstborn son. Only son of Abraham there obviously was. Ishmael was the firstborn son. But Isaac was the only son of the promise, that's, the son that he had promised between Abraham and Sarah. In that respect, he was the only son from Sarah, his wife.

Speaker 1 3:18

And, as we'd seen before, ishmael was put out Isaac was the son of promise Ishmael's put out. Now, as we've said all along, this is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God's only son, only begotten son. Well, it's the Lord Jesus. In verse two, god says you were to sacrifice quote in the land of Moriah. Now, some scholars believe that this was the same place that God later put the Temple Mount and the same place where Jesus was sacrificed. We have here the type of Jesus' death in the sacrificing of Isaac and the real sacrifice of Jesus on the cross happening very likely in the same place.

Speaker 2 4:02

Yeah, as we went through on the last session. There is a story, a backstory, in this, of God's purpose to have Abraham prove his faith. God never has any intentions for this to go through. Abraham has some sort of a sense that God's not going to let it go through. We see both of these things working together and through that we have this story of Mount Moriah, where the temple is and where the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is made. Later on. Jesus Christ is God's one and only son. The other things that mix together here. So there's a lot more here than just this command for Abraham to sacrifice his son.

Speaker 1 4:46

In verse 2, God says do this in the place that I will show you. God had a specific place that he needed this to happen. It says in verse 4, they walked three days to find this. Now, it would have been a lot easier to do this out in the backyard because it would have been closer. He wouldn't have to walk three days out, three days back, but nevertheless, Abraham obeys, he does God's sacrifice in the place and the way that God wants it done, and I think that's an example for us. We have to do things God's way. If we're doing God's work, we have to do it God's way. We can't take shortcuts. We have to do God's work in God's way or else don't do it at all, because God expects us to obey in His way and do it the way he's commanded us and not the way that it might seem good to me.

Speaker 2 5:34

One thing that we look at through this text, glenn, that isn't mentioned that often, is that Isaac's faith as well, because we don't see Isaac fighting. He doesn't resist, he is willingly to go along with Abraham and what he's doing. He knows that there's going to be some sort of a sacrifice there, and especially whenever he gets to the point that he's binding Isaac. That's another part of building up of faith that through this, isaac sees the faith of God and his faith is built up that God is going to provide something that's going to protect him and not allow him to be sacrificed.

Speaker 1 6:14

This is, of course, a very dramatic, very radical, very severe command go sacrifice your son. Did Abraham question God or argue back with him Any kind of pushback that Abraham gives?

Speaker 2 6:27

He did not. As we read, he says we're going to go, we're going to return. When Isaac asked, he said God's going to provide the lamb for the sacrifice. Through this, we just see Abraham's understanding that God is going to provide something. Here's the command, here's the ask. But yet we know that we, being Abraham, I know that God is going to work things out. I'm just going to trust God that he is going to work things out. He doesn't resist and he begins to go through with it. He just follows through.

Speaker 1 6:59

The question each of us needs to ask ourselves is do I question God when he tells me something that's difficult? Am I giving God any pushback or do I just obey? Because we do get assignments that the old, weak flesh finds difficult to do, and we need to do God's work in His way, even though our flesh may not want this.

Speaker 2 7:19

Now let's just interject here, Glenn. We mentioned this at the end of our last session, but let's interject it here because we are talking about this. This is a special circumstance of God commanding Abraham to do this. God never had intention for it to go through. God is never asking anybody to sacrifice their son or anything like that. If people claim that God is asking them to do that, go talk to a counselor, go talk to a pastor. As you pointed out in the last session, you're not hearing from God. You're hearing from something other than God, Wouldn't you agree?

Speaker 1 7:54

Oh yeah, I would agree, most assuredly. If we're hearing commands to do things against what the Bible says, then we need to talk to a pastor, talk to a counselor. In the passage here, it is a fair amount of work when God gives this command to Abraham. In Abraham's mind, the child is as good as sacrifice. He walks for three days. He's thinking this for three days straight. How long was it that God, the Father, had his son killed? Jesus was in the tomb for three days.

Speaker 2 8:26

Three days and three nights, just as the sign of Jonah in the belly of the fish.

Speaker 1 8:31

There's all these parallels between Jesus and Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac. That's one of the other reasons this here. Back to the story he has to split wood. He has to get the servant. They load the donkey. Isaac has to carry wood for all this time.

Speaker 1 8:48

A lot of effort goes into this sacrifice. The question I need to ask myself how much effort do I put into sacrifices for the Lord? Do I give him something that's just left over, or do I do a significant effort in my sacrifices to the Lord? Just a question that I think all of us need to ask.

Speaker 1 9:08

God asked Abraham to give up his most precious possession, his son of promise, isaac. If he asked me and if he asked you to give up our most precious possession, would I do it? If I'm not willing, then I have something that I'm holding on to, that I hold as an idol that's greater than God. As we said before. In verse 5, he tells the servant we will worship and return to you. So therefore, he believed in resurrection. In Hebrews, chapter 11, verses 17 to 19, it tells us that Abraham believed that God was going to resurrect Isaac and it shows that Abraham believed God would raise Isaac. He had promised a great nation would come through Isaac and God's going to follow through. And Abraham believed that. In verse 6, who carried the wood for the sacrifice? Isaac carried the wood. Who carried the wood for Jesus' sacrifice? Who carried the cross? Jesus carried the wood for Jesus' sacrifice. Who carried the cross? Jesus carried the cross.

Speaker 2 10:07

Are there parallels here? There's parallels throughout this whole story. Who?

Speaker 1 10:12

provided the lamb in this sacrifice here in Genesis 22? God provides the lamb. Who provided the lamb when Jesus died on?

Speaker 2 10:23

the cross, god provides himself as the sacrificial lamb.

Speaker 1 10:27

And the animal here in verse 13 that he provided was what A ram? A ram Did God provide a lamb for the sacrifice? That's the clues here is that there's all these ties in and all these parallels, all these ties in and all these parallels, and there are some distinctions, but it goes on with this very clear typology of the sacrifice here in Genesis 22 and the Lord Jesus. I find this just very amazing. Next, Steve, if you could start in verse 14 and go down to 18.

The Abrahamic Covenant and Faith

Speaker 2 11:01

Abraham called the name of that place, the Lord will provide, as it is said to this day in the mount of the Lord, it will be provided. Then the angel of the Lord called Abraham a second time from heaven and said by myself, I have sworn, declares the Lord. Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed, I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore, and your seed 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.

Speaker 1 11:44

With this, god repeats the Abrahamic covenant. He's already repeated it. He mentioned it in chapter 12, chapter 13, 15, 17. He's repeating it again here. We've covered this every time it comes up and he's repeating it so we won't miss it. Covered this every time it comes up and he's repeating it so we won't miss it.

Speaker 1 12:05

But if you look in here, in this passage, god says by myself, I have sworn. God makes this promise for the Abrahamic covenant by himself. As we pointed out every time it came up, it's God making the promise. It's not dependent on Abraham's obedience. One of the reasons why we've emphasized that is because, if we look at here, just to give clear illustration of what's happening here, in verse 16, this is God talking again by myself, I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son. He gives in here and again in verse 18, because you have obeyed my voice.

Speaker 1 12:45

We have to ask ourselves the question is the Abrahamic covenant then dependent on Abraham's obedience? And the answer is no, because of all the times that we emphasize strongly, just because he says, because there isn't a causal grammatical thing, simply because of all those passages Again, go back to chapter 17. There was eight times in eight verses where God says I will, I will, I will In verse 16,. The other reason is, if you look at it, it says because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son. So, steve, did Abraham actually sacrifice?

Speaker 2 13:25

Isaac. He did not actually sacrifice Isaac. He went to the point of close to it, but God stilled his hand and Abraham stopped. Isaac was not actually sacrificed.

Speaker 1 13:38

God here in verse 16, because you have done this thing, but he didn't do it. We have to ask ourselves why. Well, it's because God sees the faith as if it were coming through. God saw his faith start to go into action. That's what God sees. I think that's what he's talking about here. Abraham demonstrated that he had faith. Abraham's faith alone was enough to count him as righteous, as it says in 15.6. God had already promised many years earlier and repeated the promise several times. When Abraham offered Isaac, he demonstrated that he had faith, even though he didn't actually sacrifice him. Therefore, in God's eyes, he counts the faith as if the action had already happened. So therefore, when we have faith, he counts it as righteousness. That's the way it works in God's economy.

Speaker 2 14:34

It's as when James asked how do you see faith? Show me your faith. This was Abraham showing his faith. The fact that God stopped his hand before he got to that point shows and demonstrates that there was never, ever any intention from God for this to go through, for Abraham to actually get to the point of killing Isaac. The ram was there. It was provided by God. God stopped his hand as soon as he saw that the faith was going into action.

Speaker 2 15:07

This is something that was never, ever intended, and this is the part, as we talked about in our previous sessions, Glenn, that we don't know the end result of things and the details behind it, but God does. That is part of acting out one's faith is not knowing the details, following God, letting Him carry through, because he does know the end. We might not see it at the point in time and understand it, but when we look back afterwards then we can say, okay, I understand why this happened. I'm sure that was the same thing with Abraham After this was happened and the Lord stopped him and he looked over and there was the ram.

Speaker 1 15:49

Then he understood, and God gives the explanation to him in the verses here and in verse 18, if we look at that again, it says in your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed and, as I think we've mentioned before, over in the New Testament, it tells us who that seed is. Who is the seed that he's talking about?

Speaker 2 16:09

here the seed is Jesus Christ and it's made clear there in Galatians by Paul that this seed is Christ In Galatians.

Speaker 1 16:17

Paul makes a big point about how he says in your seed singular and not seeds plural. The seed there is the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the three parts of the Abrahamic covenant is that through Jesus Christ, all the nations of the earth will be blessed through the church. That's what's happening here and, steve, I also like to point out, he makes a point of in your seed singular, not seeds plural. Therefore, that's one of the reasons why we believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, because he talks here down to singular and plural. Nouns make a big theological difference. The Word of God is breathed by God, even down to whether or not the words are singular and plural. That's why we need to hold the Bible in very high regard.

Speaker 1 17:04

The last part of this chapter from 19 to 24, gives more genealogy of Abraham's extended family, including the ancestor of Isaac's future wife, rebecca. Not going to read that, it's an exercise in pronunciation, I'm not sure I could still pronounce all the names, but that's the passage here and that's what it's talking about. Book of Genesis is the book of beginnings and it's the origin of all these people. It gives their genealogy. Moving on to Genesis, chapter 23, steve, can you read the first 20 verses?

Speaker 2 17:37

Now. Sarah lived 127 years. These were the years of the life of Sarah. Sarah died in Keriath Arba, that is, hebron in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Then Abraham rose from before his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying I am a stranger and a sojourner among you. Give me a burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight. The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him Hear us, my lord, you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our graves. None of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead.

Speaker 2 18:25

So Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth, and he spoke with them, saying If it is your wish for me to bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and approach Ephron, the son of Zohar, for me that he may give me the cave of Heth. And Ephron, the Hittite, answered Abraham, in the hearing of the sons of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying no, my lord, hear me, I give you the field and I give you the cave that is in it In the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you, bury your dead. And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. He spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying If you will only please listen to me, I will give the price of the field. Accept it from me that I may bury my dead there.

Speaker 2 19:27

Then Ephraim answered Abraham saying to him my lord, listen to me. A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver. What is that between me and you? So bury your dead. Abraham listened to Ephraim and Abraham weighed out for Ephraim the silver which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth 400 shekels of silver, commercial standard. So Ephraim's field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field that were within all the confines of its border, were deeded over to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. After this, abraham buried Sarah, his wife, in the cave of the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre, that is, hebron, in the land of Canaan. So the field and the cave that is in it were deeded over to Abraham for a burial site by the sons of Heth.

Belief in Resurrection and the Land

Speaker 1 20:31

This is the section where Abraham actually obtains a piece of land and buries his wife, sarah, there, and it ultimately becomes the burying place of several other people in his family I think of Steve over in the New Testament. In Acts, chapter 7, the Jewish leaders accuse Stephen of trying to tear down Judaism and Stephen gives a defense for himself. In that defense he goes through a history of the Jewish leaders and the Jewish patriarchs. In that speech Stephen gives before these Jewish leaders, he mentions this passage, how Abraham bought this piece of land to bury his family. God had promised the land, but it wasn't fulfilled during Abraham's time. Abraham was trying to buy enough land to bury his family, other than the temporary settlements where he would live in a tent and then move on.

Speaker 1 21:30

Here is the first place where he actually obtains part of the land of promise. He had planted the tree at Beersheba back in 2133, but here is the first place we can actually drive down a stake and say a Jewish patriarch obtained part of the land. It's where, ultimately, sarah was buried, abraham was buried, isaac's buried there, jacob was buried there. One of the lessons is that both Jews and Christians have always traditionally buried our dead, going all the way back to Abraham. We bury our dead. Why would Abraham want to bury his dead here? Why would Jacob want to be buried here? Why would Joseph, after he spent all those years in Egypt, say when you go back to the land, carry my bones back with you and bury me there? Why were they so concerned about being buried in this place?

Speaker 2 22:34

The land was a major part of the Abrahamic covenant. It was one of the three major things that was an everlasting covenant. The land is there. They want to be in that land that God has promised to them. That's one. Two is that there's a belief in resurrection, that they were going to be resurrected again after their death and their spirit would be resurrected with their body. We refer to it as a glorified body. It's the same thing that we believe today, that our spirit will be combined with a resurrected body. But I believe that's two reasons why they wanted to be buried back in their land.

Speaker 1 23:15

I think that's one of the lessons here is that Abraham wanted this land because that was the land that God had promised him and they believed in resurrection. Over in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians promised them and they believed in resurrection. Over in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 15, it talks a lot about resurrection. Nine times in 1 Corinthians 15, it says our bodies will be physically raised. It is raised, it is raised, it is raised. He says it over and over in that passage. Today, at least in our day, steve, many pastors and Bible teachers have stopped teaching physical resurrection. It does say in 1 Corinthians 15, spiritual bodies, but that doesn't mean it's not physical. If we pick up a couple of chapters earlier in the same book by the same author, 1 Corinthians, it talks about the water. When Israel was wandering in the wilderness they got spiritual water from the spiritual rock and they ate spiritual food and the manna. Well, the rock was physical and the water was real water and the manna was real food. It was physical, tangible. So just because it says we are raised in a spiritual body doesn't mean it's not physical. Therefore, we believe in resurrection. It's a central theme of the Bible. Yes, there's going to be a new Jerusalem. There's going to be a new heavens and a new earth, but guess what? The new heavens and the new earth are going to be earth. It's a physical thing. We're not going to be, you know, some sort of bodiless, ethereal nothing.

Speaker 1 24:48

Abraham believed in resurrection. Joseph believed in resurrection. They wanted to be in that land. Therefore, we should believe in resurrection, because that's what the Bible teaches. In the new heavens and the new earth, there'll be physical people inhabiting a physical earth going into eternity, and Abraham's hope was to be there. Joseph wanted his bones to be there because he believed in a physical new earth and a physical body that was going to be there. Steve, I just find this very, very glorious is that Abraham and Joseph went out of their way to ensure that they were buried in the land that God promised, because they hope to walk in it someday because of the resurrection. What is it that Job says? I know that my Redeemer lived and in the latter day he will walk upon the earth. He even says in that passage though my body be as dust, yet, I will walk on the earth in the latter day. I just find that to be a tremendous teaching.

Speaker 2 25:49

It is a tremendous teaching and one of encouragement for us to know that One thing, glenn, as we have mentioned this in several of our sessions throughout many of the books that we've gone through in this resurrection of the body, and that the Christians from the beginning, or believers, have buried their dead. I have had questions, though, from other Christians who maybe their loved ones, parents or others that are Christians and believers but they have been cremated, and they have asked me what is it about that situation? Is there something there wrong with being cremated? My answer to them has been, as long as the reason for the cremation isn't to worship some other God, that there might be some type of monetary reason to do it, that God has the ability to reunite the spirit with the body, no matter how state it's in, because, after all, people that have been buried for hundreds and hundreds of years, their body has gone back to dust. That is something that I've given to them. Do you have any comment for people that might be in that situation?

Speaker 1 26:55

I have indeed gotten some similar questions from people about cremation. First thing is to be very clear there's nothing sinful about cremation. There's nothing morally wrong about cremation.

Speaker 2 27:07

There's no issue there.

Speaker 1 27:08

It's just that the clear message of Scripture is that we will be raised in a glorified, spiritual but physical body. And it's the same one, it's just glorified. That's what we're taught in the New Testament. This body is going to be raised, it's going to be improved, it's going to be fixed, not going to hurt anymore. I could eat if I want. I don't have to eat if I don't want, but it's going to be physical. It's again over and over.

Speaker 1 27:35

It's said that the message of cremation sends the wrong message. That's my answer. It's a message that there's nothing really there for the body anymore. I don't know how many times I've gone to a funeral and they'll point to a body and say, well, old brother, so-and-so, this isn't him, he's not there anymore, this will be gone. Well, it looks like him. It was him yesterday. What happened? Yes, the spirit goes away from the body, is in heaven, at the point of death, but the Bible teaches that the spirit's going to come back and re-inform the body. The body will rise again. The body isn't something that we should treat lightly. The cremation sends the wrong message in the sense that it communicates that there's no more purpose for this body and that it's spreading of ashes would go back to nature and it's sort of a natural cycle. Well, that's not what Scripture teaches, we're told in the New Testament. We have an immortal body, which means it'll never die again. We're going to rise to never die again. The Christian message, the Jewish message, going from Abraham through Jesus, the apostle Paul, to Revelation, is that the bodies are raised in a physical, glorified form. That's why Christians have always buried our dead. It's not until recent times, when people have lost this teaching on the resurrection, that cremation even becomes a question.

Speaker 1 29:04

Moving on with this, look at verse four. In this passage, abraham goes to these people trying to buy this plot of land. I am a stranger and a sojourner among you. Give me a burial site. He claims to be a stranger and a sojourner, as Abraham felt this was a land that God had told him was his, but he feels like a stranger and a sojourner there. As Christians, do we ever feel like that? We're strangers in this world? Do we ever feel like I am out of place, I'm a citizen of another land, because I don't fit here? I know, steve, I've felt like that. If you have the Spirit of God inside you, then this world is not the one that makes my spirit happy. This world is a sinful ugly world and I don't like it here. I want to go someplace else.

Speaker 2 29:54

I'm a sojourner and a traveler here, have you ever had that feeling, steve, I have that feeling all the time. I'm longing for the time whenever I'm reunited with my loved ones and we are all together, and I'm also looking for the time whenever we all have the resurrected and glorified bodies and we have the fellowship together at a period of time and in an age whenever there's a restoration of creation, and then we're not in this type of a sinful world that we are today. Creation, and we're not in this type of a sinful world that we are today. Yeah, this world is not one that is made for permanent residence, the one that we're currently in. I long for a world that has been promised to us of one where we will be there forever, and one that is going to be a much better place than this one.

Lessons on Marriage and God's Faithfulness

Speaker 1 30:43

And we will get there. We will get there in the millennium and the new heavens and the new earth. But we won't get there today because we're going to stop here. We're at the end of chapter 23. Next time we're going to be in Genesis 24, where we learn about Abraham seeking a wife for his son Isaac. We can learn some great lessons there about marriage, who we should look for, the spouse, god's provision and the faithfulness of God.

Speaker 2 31:13

We'll be back here next time reasoning through that, and we trust that you'll be here with us. Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.