1675. Seeing Christ in the Binding of Isaac

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. During this Christmas season, we're continuing a study series called Looking Unto Jesus, which is a study of the Old Testament passages about Christ. Today's message will be preached by Dr. Craig Hartman, the director of Brooklyn-based Shalom Ministries, which is an outreach ministry to Jewish people. When we began our series on looking to Jesus and preaching Christ out of the Old Testament, one of the first names that came to my mind to come and speak was Dr. Craig Hartman. Dr. Hartman is the founder and director of Shalom Ministries, which is a Brooklyn-based mission board which seeks to work with local churches to reach the Jewish people with the gospel and to also teach believers about the Jewish roots of Christianity. And so I am so thrilled that he's here today to speak and challenge our hearts as he lifts us and points us to Christ from the Old Testament.

Dr. Hartman. Well, good morning, everyone. Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 22.

Genesis chapter 22, please. While you're turning there, while we're all turning there, allow me to please end the moment with an administrative comment or two. I'm here this week as well teaching a block class, and today and tomorrow from 3 to 5, I'll be, or at least today from 3.30 to 5, and tomorrow from 3 to 5, I'll be in an interview room. I think it's interview room one, talking about our summer mission team, which is available to Bible college students, students here, many of which have participated in the past.

Some of you already know about it. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it, but it's a month every other year in the even-numbered years, so 2016 is the next time, give you plenty of time to prepare for it. College credit is given for it, and we would love to have you come to New York for a week and a half to train. Three weeks in Israel seeing the biblical sites, but also serving in a variety of ways, and in 2016, Lord willing, we'll be stopping on the way back to America from Israel in Poland to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps. So if you're at all interested, even possibly, please stop by, fill out a form. You're not committed to anything at this point, but that puts you on our radar screen so we can communicate with you by email.

Okay. Now, when Dr. Pettit asked me to speak on this subject, I was very intrigued, and we talked about covering either Passover or the binding of Isaac. And I had done a lot of work with the Passover, and the thought of doing a focused look at the binding of Isaac was intriguing to me because I had not really researched it out and spent a lot of time on it.

I've spent a fair amount of time on it just growing up as a Jewish man, but never really put together a message to teach on it. And then I remembered that one of my sons had done a report on this subject when he was in seminary here, and I thought, well, this will be an interesting opportunity for me to sort of stand on my son's shoulders, if you will, and sort of work together. And so this has been very encouraging for me, a real blessing for me to look deeper into the Scriptures here on a spiritual level and also on a personal level.

So please join me as I share just some thoughts that I've had as I've looked at this. Keeping in mind that what we're looking at this morning is a very, very important portion of Scripture in Jewish thought, in Jewish culture, obviously, biblically it's very important. In fact, I just found out yesterday, just to show you how important this subject is to the Jewish mind, yesterday I found out that a local rabbi, Mark Wilson, who's based here in Greenville, is actually holding a symposium on this very portion of Scripture in May.

Just an interesting coincidence, right? This section of Scripture is rich in theology, typology, which is our primary concern this morning, seeing Christ in the Old Testament, seeing Christ in the binding of Isaac, but it also is very, very fascinating in seeing how Jewish and Christian parallels historically and theologically have lined up. It's a wonderful example as well of literary structure in the Bible.

There's much that the Bible shows us in just beautiful form in which God has put it together. Rather than read the section of Scripture and then come back to it for the sake of time, we'll just jump right in in just a minute here and go through the verses together and I'll just share some comments along the way and then we will reflect hopefully as we go forward. This chapter, chapter 22 in the book of Genesis is really a closing bookend to Abraham's spiritual journey which began in chapter 12. And so very interesting how God lays out this section of Scripture beginning in chapter 12 and ending in chapter 22, the journey that Abraham began at Haran.

Both of the bookends demand a very difficult decision for Abraham. Chapter 12, when he's called out of Ur of the Chaldees, he's called to leave his father's house and everything about what was everything in his life to that point, he's called to leave his past behind. Here in the closing bookend in chapter 22, he's called to sacrifice his beloved, promised blessing son.

He's called to sacrifice or set apart or just forget his future, if you will. In both chapter 12 and chapter 22 the command to Abraham is to go. In the Hebrew it's lech lecha, it's a very interesting Hebrew construction found nowhere else in the Bible.

Just in chapters 12 and 22 when dealing with Abraham. It's an interesting phrase in the Hebrew and I'm not going to spend too much time doing a Hebrew lesson here but just to say that it's very difficult to translate literally into English, the best we have in our Bibles is to go. But it's more than just going, it's go, get going, go.

Go. You go Abe, you go. One of the great sages in Jewish history suggested from a Hebrew perspective and it seems to be pretty accurate because there was a test here of Abraham which implies that he was given a choice that it's a command but it's a command leaving some room for volitional act. In any event that is the command to Abraham and that phrase is so important to the Jewish people in fact that there are weekly portions of the first five books of the Bible that are read in the synagogues throughout the world and each portion is given a title that they've assigned to that portion of Scripture and the portion of Scripture beginning in Genesis chapter 12 is called lech lecha. So it's a very important phrase that God speaks to Abraham when He tells him to go in chapter 12 and in chapter 22. In both in chapter 12 the section of Scripture is preceded by a genealogy.

After this section in chapter 22 it's followed by a genealogy. In chapter 12 Abraham is to go to a land that God will show him, that I will show you. In chapter 22 he's told to go to the land of Moriah to a place that I will show you. Do you see the interesting parallels that are developing here in how God laid this out?

Both have a building drama. Chapter 12, leave your country, your kindred, your father's house. Chapter 22, your son, take your son, your only son, Isaac whom you loved.

Amazing parallels. Both end with the blessing of posterity that all people on the earth will be blessed through Abraham. We might even want to take a look at and think about the fact that in chapter 12 God appeared and made a land promise to Abraham by the Terabenth in Moreh and here He sent to the land of Moriah.

You see there's an interesting and a parallel use of the root and at minimum it's a word play for sure. And in both situations, in both places Abraham builds an altar in response to his interaction with God. Very interesting parallel, very interesting literary structure.

We'll see some other parallels as we go through but I just wanted to begin by highlighting those. Verse 1, and it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and sent it to him, Abraham and he said, behold here I am. After these things, well the things that came before it obviously this would certainly include the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael which happened in just the chapter before. At that time we're told that Isaac was weaned and that would put him at about 2 or 3 years old. So we don't know how much later than that this is happening but he's obviously able to carry some wood so he's grown to some extent.

The Jewish sources suggest that he was 37 years old, I won't tell you how they get there, it's an interesting mathematical formula. But Abraham is being tested and he says here am I. Not to spend too much time on it but the term in the Hebrew here where he says here am I, it's a term of availability. It's not like where's Abraham, oh here I am, it's more like who shall we send, send me.

You see the difference? Verse 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. He's told to take his son, it's an entreaty.

In the original language it's not an order, it's an order with an entreaty, not so much a forceful command, please take your son giving him again the option to not go. His only son, there's much discussion about the only son since we know he has Ishmael for sure but remember Ishmael has been sent away. He's been expelled with his mother and so perhaps it's his only son that really matters or whatever, perhaps it's a statement of value but it's certainly a reminder that he is the son of promise and that is very clear. We can hear echoes to John 3.16 and other portions of the New Testament where God so loved his son, his only son if you will.

Maria, we don't know for sure where it is. Most people assume this is Mount Moriah in Jerusalem and Jerusalem is certainly the most popular view. Jewish tradition connects the temple mount, Mount Moriah if you will, with the temple itself. There are many sources to support this, ancient sources, modern sources, biblical sources, extra biblical sources, etcetera. Today on Mount Moriah the temple mount stands and in the middle of the temple mount is the Dome of the Rock which is an Islamic shrine. Interestingly this highlights the fact that everybody wants to claim Abraham.

If you look at the history behind all these things it's a battleground. Who descends from Abraham? Who inherits from Abraham? People of the Islamic faith would claim that Ishmael was the promised son and they even have a record in the Koran of a bound child. Ishmael is not mentioned specifically there but these are interesting parallels. The Dome of the Rock stands over a rock that it is believed that Mohammed lifted up to heaven from and so everybody is sort of trying to claim descendancy from Abraham but it highlights the importance of that spot and the importance of that mount, Mount Moriah.

Although the Bible says the land of Moriah, the Mount Moriah. 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 cleaved the wood for a burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place in which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. We hear the third day and we can't help but allow the echo to come into our mind about Jesus being buried and rising again on the third day and there is a third day motif that runs through Scripture. Very interesting study. Is this a parallel with Jesus?

Perhaps. But it certainly shows that Abraham had time to reconsider. He had three days journey to decide whether he should actually go through with this but he doesn't waver, he doesn't hold back at all and we are told he sees the place afar off. Now we are not sure how he knew what the place was because we are told that God was going to tell him which the place is. Jewish tradition tells us that there was a cloud hovering over the mountain and so Abraham knew that that was the one. And Abraham said unto his young man abide ye here with the ass and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. He's going to the mount to worship.

Keep that in mind. 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 together. The knife here is not just a small knife.

The underlying word makes it clear that it's a large knife. Every blood was going to be shed and I wonder if Abraham took the knife and the fire himself to ensure that the sacrifice would remain unblemished when he got to the place of sacrifice. And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said my father and he said here I am my son, here am I my son sorry and he said behold the fire and the wood but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said my son God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering so they went both of them together. Now perhaps Isaac knew what was going to happen to him. Certainly human sacrifice was not unknown in this time but it says that God will provide a lamb and this is the only dialogue that occurs that is recorded I should say in a three day journey. I'm sure they had a lot more to say to each other but God saw fit to only preserve this one point that God was going to provide the lamb. In verse nine he came to the place which God had told him of and Abraham built an altar there and he laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. The word here for bound has a certain root in it that leads to the name that is given to this event that the Jewish people use called the Akedah. You say the binding of Isaac they say the Akedah but you notice it's all hovering around the word bound. Isaac makes no attempt to stop or run.

He's a willing sacrifice. Ten, and Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. Abraham questioningly followed the instruction with complete trust in God. As a father I can't imagine what was happening in his mind when he lifted the knife. Verse eleven, and the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abram, Abram.

And he said, here am I. God stopped it. If not for the voice of God coming from heaven Abraham would have lowered the knife on Isaac. And he said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him for now I know that thou fearest God seeing that thou has not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. God already knew Abraham's faith.

God already knew what would happen but this gave Abraham an opportunity to demonstrate his faith and he demonstrated it and responded perfectly to that opportunity getting the encouragement and acceptance from God. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him a ram, not a lamb, caught in a thicket by his horns and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. Interesting as to why God would choose a ram and not a lamb.

Why a ram? It's supposed to be a lamb. Could I suggest that perhaps we have a father son motif continuing here because a ram is a father of a lamb, Abraham and Isaac the father son. But more than that the most significant aspect to a ram is his horns. And I believe that God used a ram here to call attention to the horn that would ultimately be part of the full story that God was going to give especially with respect to the Jewish people. Leviticus chapter 23 is going to come pretty soon. He's going to include the Feast of Trumpets. Isaiah 27 tells us that in that day, a day yet future there will be the sound of the shofar, the ram's horn that will mark the gathering of the nation back to the land to worship the Lord in the holy mount in Jerusalem.

Keep that in mind. Verse 14, and Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah Jireh as it is said to this day in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. Jehovah Jireh we think of it as a name but it means something. Jireh, Jireh has a concept of future, looking future. Jehovah he will see in the future.

Why is Abraham changing to the future? And then we are told that there is a saying that is developed even up until the day that this is written in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. Where it says it shall be seen it's a slightly different word than Jireh but it means he will, he or it will be seen. It's a reference here to the mountain of the Lord might be a definite place of worship in the worship tradition. An ancient Jewish translation of the Old Testament into Greek would be translated on the mount the Lord appears, or on the mount the Lord will be seen. I think, I would like to suggest my translation here, on the mountain of the Lord he will be seen.

Hmm, what could that be? Verses 15 and following, the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of Heaven a second time and he said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, 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 seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice. Again the reaffirmation of the blessing of the nations of the world, the people of the world, the entire earth will be blessed through Abraham's seed which we of course know is Mashiach, Christ. And it closes with, So Abraham returned unto his young men and they rose up and went together to Beersheba and Abraham dwelt in Beersheba, or whatever, you know what I mean.

Okay, now there are Jewish parallels here that make this, that establish this typology in a very beautiful way. It is fascinating but the Jewish sources treat Isaac as if he actually was sacrificed and raised from the dead. One reads, When Isaac's children sin, as a request to God, think of the Akedah and let it be reckoned as though his ash were placed on the altar, have compassion to forgive them and redeem them from their distress. Not only would Isaac be treated as if he died and rose again but his death had atoning value for the Jewish people. Other writings say regarding the key of the shofar God says that on New Year's Day, which is now the way they celebrate the Feast of Trumpets, if they blow the horn of the ram he will remember the Akedah and that will thwart Satan's attempts to accuse Israel for her sin.

A special prayer is recited, ask God to have compassion on and to erase his anger because of the merit of the Akedah. Isaac is an atoning sacrifice. Isaac is even revered. Some of the ancient Jewish writings say that there was a dialogue that went on between Isaac and Abraham in which Isaac said, bind me my father so I'm not tempted to try and stop you.

We must submit to the will of the Lord even to my death. So, Isaac is revered. A homily from the Middle Ages imagines a dialogue that Sarah may have had, a song that Sarah may have sung. And in it she says, Isaac was an offering which died and was resurrected. Another Jewish source from long ago says that when the sword reached Isaac's throat his soul flew out of his body. And when God's voice was heard saying, do not touch the lead, verse 12, the soul returned to the body. Thus, Isaac learned the resurrection of the dead.

All corpses will be resurrected in the Messianic future. And Isaac opened his eyes and praised God who resurrects from the dead. You know there are some insights we can get from this from the New Testament even.

Turn if you can quickly to Hebrews 11. By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the promise says offered up his only begotten son of whom it is said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure. In other words, Abraham did it. He was willing to sacrifice his son because he knew that even if he sacrificed his son his son would rise in the resurrection. He had total faith in the resurrection. He was willing to put his son to death but he knew he would be resurrected and figuratively speaking he actually was. So based on the New Testament we can treat Isaac the way the Jews have treated him for eons as if he died and was resurrected. By the way, just as an aside, just a devotional thought. Do you believe in the resurrection? Okay, let's assume you do.

What are you willing to do because you're confident in that? Are you willing to die because you know it doesn't matter I'll be resurrected. Just a side thought. Another Jewish source to keep with the parallel says that in verse 6 when he laid the wood on Isaac it was as upon one condemned who was made to carry the cross on his shoulders.

Wow! And that's not new just to the Jews. Augustine wrote about that many years ago. And in Isaiah 53 we're told he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb and so he opened not his mouth.

That is a prophecy of Jesus Christ and it sounds just like Isaac going to the altar for slaughter. Isaac was a perfect picture of Christ. He was silent. He was unblemished. He went willingly.

He went knowingly. He sacrificed. He was resurrected. His sacrifice was atoning and in all of that we see Christ. Perhaps he's even a first fruits of the resurrection if we want to get really fancy with our theology into the Jewish festivals. And the shofar connection with the ram's horn cannot be ignored.

Figuratively speaking as the New Testament suggests we do let's go back to Abraham. Imagine the anguish. Imagine the sorrow.

Imagine the confusion. It's beyond my comprehension as to what went on through that man's mind but it's amazing that he never wavered. He did it and trusted God because of the resurrection. Isaac effectively willingly sacrificed himself being surrendered to the will of the Father. That's figuratively speaking.

Not figuratively speaking. What happened to Calvary? The father looked down on his only son as Isaac was Abe's only son and the father put him to death. Think of the anguish of the father at that moment.

Think of the sorrow of the son separated from the father. Taking on the wrath of sin. Willingly surrendered to the will of the father.

Willingly surrendered his life for me. Darkness came upon the earth after he had been flogged and tortured. Darkness comes upon the earth.

The earthquakes. The veil is rent. The graves are open. The perfect lamb was slain and he did it for me and you. You know there's a place, there's a place just north of the Temple Mount called the Garden Tomb known as also as Gordon's Calvary. It's suggested that that may be the place where Jesus was crucified and then buried in the tomb. Interestingly this place, the Garden Tomb sits on Mount Moriah.

The same mountain ridge that the Temple Mount sits on. If this is the place, and I'm not saying that it is, but if this is the place and if that is the mount and if my reading is correct of what the saying was in that day, and I think I am correct, then there was a prophecy fulfilled when He died. The Lord was seen on the mount at Calvary and He will be seen again there when He returns. You know the next time in the Bible when we see Isaac he takes a bride. The next time we see Christ He's going to come for His bride and there will be a trumpet sound, the sound of the shofar and there will be resurrection and a voice from Heaven.

Go back and check 1 Thessalonians 4, this is no accident. Oh what a picture, oh what a typology, oh what an anticipation, oh what a consistent revelation from old to new in our Bible. Oh what a living God to communicate with us this way and oh what a wonderful Savior. How do we respond to this one? Marvel at Him, love Him unconditionally with thanksgiving, bow in reverence before Him, make an altar with our lives.

You know we've seen just briefly and I'm just touching the surface here because this can be a whole course just on the Akedah. Isaac is a picture of Christ but you know Isaac can be an example of us. When I think of Isaac putting himself in effect on the altar I think of Romans chapter 12 and verse 1 and we are called as believers to sacrifice ourselves to put ourselves as a birth offering on the altar so we rise up to God as a sweet aroma unto Him. We're to die and rise to new life. Let the old man stay dead.

Last week there was a conference here, one of the best conferences I've ever attended. I would encourage every one of you students to get a copy of those messages and listen to them because it talks about being in the world but not of the world but there's much richness in there about how to act, how to live for Christ in a balanced biblical way, deep, deep quality sessions and I couldn't help but think about several of the times that I was listening to the sessions so much of this was ringing in my ear because we're called to Lech Lecha, we're called when we're saved to leave it behind. Leave the past behind, leave the old man behind, willingly surrender to God as Abraham did and willingly present yourself a sacrifice, a burnt offering, a sweeter aroma unto the Lord as Isaac did. The old man is dead, let's not act like he's still alive. Christ died for you and me. He died for all mankind and any who trust in Him will have eternal life. We will rise up, we will spend eternity with Him. Can I implore you all, encourage me to do it too if I'm ever faltering, worship your Savior, worship your wonderful Savior who has painted and explained to you so clearly in the Scriptures everywhere you look. Worship Him with your life and rejoice in your salvation. Would you stand with me as we close in prayer please. Father we thank you for the wonderful pictures that you have placed in the Scriptures and the communication that you have given to us. You have left us with no doubt over and over and over again teaching us about Jesus from the old through the new all the way from Genesis to Revelation. We praise you for it and beg you Lord to bring these things to mind that we might walk circumspectly and honor you with our lives. May we all be a sweet aroma unto you and in that give you pleasure as we submit these things to you with thanksgiving in Yeshua's name. Amen. You've been listening to a sermon preached at Bob Jones University by Reverend Craig Hartman of Shalom Ministries in New York. Join us again next week as we continue the series here on The Daily Platform.