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Song: Beneath The Cross Of Jesus
Scripture: Genesis 22:1-24
The story of Abraham’s offering of Isaac is a picture of faith, and a story with a familiar ring.
God commanded Abraham to offer his son—“your only son, whom you love.” Your only son. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The land of Moriah was the site selected for the sacrifice. Why there? Why not Beersheba? A Mount Moriah was the site of Solomon’s temple. A sacrifice on a hill in the vicinity of Jerusalem...I’ve heard that somewhere before.
Arriving at Moriah, Abraham laid the wood of the burnt offering upon his son. A son, an only son, bearing a tree upon his back and up a mountain… sounds so much like another story I know.
As far as Abraham was concerned, Isaac was dead for three days. The decision to offer him was made, not at Moriah, but at Beersheba. Three days his son was in the grave. The third day he received him back from death. I’ve heard that before.
The whole story sounds suspiciously like another story I know. Not just a story, a history, just as real as this one. “God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham said to Isaac and unwittingly preached the gospel to his boy. God provided the lamb indeed, in the person of His only son, Jesus Christ. And the Lord Himself in the story of Isaac’s offering preached the gospel in shadow. Only God could write such a book!
Jason Moore
