The Isaac Connection
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Isaac: Pattern for Grace “But God said to Abraham,
‘Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your
bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in
Isaac your seed shall be called” (Gen. 21:12). “But it is not as
though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended
from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s
descendants, but: through Isaac your
descendants will be named”
(Rom. 9:6-7). “By faith Abraham, when he
was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was
offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was
said, In Isaac your descendants
shall be called”
(Heb. 11:17-18). “In Isaac your descendants
shall be called” is a recurring phrase of the Bible. God gave us the pattern
for His work of grace through the birth of Isaac. God had promised Abraham an extended family (Gen.
12:1-3). In order to keep His
word, He had to give Abraham a son. Abraham and Sarah had grown old and Sarah
was barren. The couple had become impatient and attempted by their own plans
to make God’s promise happen. Abraham tried to slip
Eliezer, his trusted servant, into God’s plan. God rejected that idea (Gen.
15:1-3)! Sarah tried to
give her husband an heir through her handmaid, Hagar (Gen. 16:1-6). God rejected that idea! None of their
human schemes worked! God Brought Isaac into
Being Twenty years passed after
God gave Abraham the original promise. Abraham was standing in front of his
tent in the heat of the day. He
was 99 years old and Sarah was 89.
Jehovah God, accompanied by two angels, walked up and spoke to
Abraham. The Lord said: “Then they said to him,
‘Where is Sarah your wife?’ And he said, ‘There, in the tent.’ He said, ‘I
will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife
will have a son.’ And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind
him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past
childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I have become old,
shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’ And the LORD said to Abraham,
‘Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so
old?’ Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will
return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son’” (Gen.
18:9-14). ·
And He said, Note the capitol "H” in “He.” Not we, not they, not them,
not an angel, not the angels, but God is speaking. ·
I will
certainly return to you There can be no doubt. God is the one who is going to make Isaac
happen! ·
according to the time of
life The Hebrew may read “according
to this time next year.” God was speaking of a specific time. Everything that was going to happen
was going to happen according to a divine timetable. God waited until Abraham and Sarah could not possibly produce a child on
their own. In fact, He
waited another year until Abraham was one hundred years
old and Sarah was ninety. God alone would make this happen. ·
and behold, Sarah your
wife shall have a son God emphasized "your wife,” not your concubine, but your
wife - the one that God gave to Abraham as his wife. ·
Sarah was listening in
the tent door which was behind him. The women’s quarters were probably in the back of the tent,
divided by a thin partition from the men’s section. She could not help but
hear the conversation. ·
Now Abraham and Sarah
were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing Do we
get the impression that God the Holy Spirit wants us to remember something
here? He kept emphasizing the miracle that was about to be done by God
alone! Abraham and Sarah
could not do anything to help God help them. ·
Therefore Sarah laughed
within herself “Within herself” indicates that it was a silent chuckle. The Hebrew
indicates that she whispered this in her mind. She just thought it! Now her
thoughts are made known. ·
“After I have grown old,
shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” She was saying, "Shall I in my old age have relations with
my husband and even conceive a child?”
She, like Abraham, treated the announcement as incredible. She was overwhelmed. ·
And
the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear
a child, since I am old?’ Did God
know her thoughts? Yes! This is the point! Did God want Abraham to know that
He knew Sarah's secret thoughts? Yes! Did God need Abraham's confirmation
that Sarah had laughed? No! What is
going on? Abraham and Sarah were in the presence of their Creator and He had
the power to read their thoughts.
If He had the power to read their thoughts, could He bless them with a
child in their old age? Yes!
Then God gives us what I believe to be the very basis for His grace. ·
Is anything too hard for the LORD
Here is
the key to grace! Grace is God’s
work on man’s behalf. Grace is that which God alone does. God has a plan from
eternity and He will carry out that plan. ·
according to the time of life I will return At the
appointed time I will return to you. God etched out the time in His
own will. We know from a
previous verse that it would be a year. God had an appointed time to bring
Isaac into the world. This lets us know that God has an appointed time for
everything to happen (His will is the supreme will in all the universe; Dan.
4:34-35). ·
and Sarah shall have a
son.” God’s word
came to pass! The very next year at God’s appointed time, (Abraham was now
100 years of age and Sarah was 90), Sarah had a son. “Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD
did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to
Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken
to him” (Gen. 21:1-2). God gives life to man by
His sovereign choice based upon His gracious work in Jesus Christ. Paul had begun Romans 9
with a plea for Israel’s salvation. It appeared that God’s word had failed
toward the Jews. Paul’s heart was grieved! Had God changed His plan? Had He
gone back on His promises to Abraham? Not so! Paul brings to light the truth
that this is all in God’s plan! It was God’s desire to temporally blind
Israel in order to call out His elect. And Paul brings up “the Isaac
connection” to show that this was the case. “But it
is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who
are descended from Israel” (Rom. 9:6). God gave the promises to
the generations of Abraham through Isaac. The promise was given to those who
would be given life “like Isaac.” “Nor are they all children because they are
Abraham’s descendants, but: through
Isaac your descendants will be named” (Rom. 9:7). God’s word had not failed because of “the
Isaac connection.” God gives
life to those who belong to Him. The essence of grace is that
God does all the work. God alone makes it happen. Salvation must be
all of God. That is precisely what was illustrated by the supernatural birth
of Isaac. God calls those who
are not as though they were. Nothing is left for man to do. Nothing! If Isaac
was to be, then it was all up to God. That is what makes grace, grace! Paul made this plain to his
Roman readers by mentioning once again the “key hole” incident with Sarah. “For this is the word of promise: ‘At this
time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son’” (Rom. 9:10). Paul
reaffirmed that God had an appointed time and place for Isaac to be brought
into being! All the king’s
horses and all the kings’ men could not make it happen until God was
ready. We
can apply “the Isaac connection” to those who will be called to trust Jesus
Christ as Savior. If you know
Jesus Christ as your Savior, it is because God made it happen. God had the
time and place fixed millions of years ago. God calls people to Himself and
He gives them life! Our salvation is all of God. Isaac: Pattern for the Gospel Genesis 22 God then gave to
Abraham a very rare privilege.
He used Abraham and Isaac to give us a pattern for the gospel. He
allowed Abraham to illustrate the cross work of Jesus Christ. §
Now
it came to pass after these things Abraham had finally learned to focus upon
the Creator. Abraham's attention
was now upon the One who had given the promised blessing even more than on
the blessing itself.
Abraham was now enamored solely with the ability of God. He knew now that God is able and he
knew that God is just! §
that
God tested and said to him, “Abraham!”And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said,
“Take now your son, Your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land
of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of
which I shall tell you.” “Your only son,” in the Hebrew is Yechidekah.
It is taken from a noun Yachid - your uniquely born son. This word is
equivalent to the Greek word in the New Testament monogenes, meaning
uniquely born, irreplaceable one-
your irreplaceable son.
The Lord Jesus Christ was God’s irreplaceable Son. We now see the beginning of a
tremendous contrast. The land of Moriah or the “hill of Moriah.”
This is the hill upon which Solomon was going to build his temple. We are not
left with any doubt as to where Moriah was located. “Now Solomon began to build
the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had
appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the
threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite” (2 Chron. 3:1). “Moriah” means chosen of the Lord. Today
the Mosque of Omar (an Islamic shrine) is located on Mt. Moriah over the dome
of the rock. But it will not remain
there! God’s command to Abraham to offer his son
appears on the surface to be completely irrational, a mistake, and reflecting
incompetence. It is subject to
severe scrutiny and questioning from many. But there is an issue here that is
not obvious on the surface. God is always just. This is a part of His
essence. God always does that which is right. But God’s will does have to appear right to us. Abraham
had complete confidence in the absolute justice of God. He never once
questioned God's integrity and righteousness. Abraham was strong in faith.
God instructed him to take his human treasure, the object of God's grace, and
kill him. This seems to be contradictory to everything that Abraham has
experienced from God. He loved
this boy more than anything else in life and to obey without blinking an eye
was absolutely astounding. This is day one! §
So
Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, The Lord Jesus Christ rode a donkey into
the city of Jerusalem to pronounce Himself as King on Palm Sunday (Matt.
21:1-2). §
and
took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood
for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told
him. Then on the third day Moriah
was three days away. This is no coincidence. Remember the resurrection of
Jesus Christ took place on the third day. §
Abraham
lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young
men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, Abraham
now knew God. Not only had he learned about God, he knew God. Abraham not only knew God but he also
loved and trusted God. §
and
we will come back to you.” “We” will return - not I, but we.
The Hebrew emphasizes this. We
must think about the gory details of the specific orders from God. Put your
son on the altar, cut his throat, and burn his body. Did Abraham think there
was an out? No! Isaac was still a bachelor. He had no wife,
and he had no children. Until that happens Abraham believes that there was no
way that he was going to die permanently. Why? Because
GOD said, ‘In Isaac shall your seed by called.’ Isaac is the source of
the Abrahamic Covenant. So since Abraham fully intended to kill Isaac, God
was going to have to raise him up or have another plan. He had to! God cannot
lie! It is impossible for God
not to keep His word. So strong was Abraham's faith in God that he believed
that God would raise his son up.
Abraham was evidently now the friend of God (James 2:23). §
So
Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and
the two of them went together and he took the fire in his hand and a knife Everything that was necessary was taken
along; the ingredients of judgment: the wood, the torch, and a knife. Abraham as the father had the
ingredients necessary to make the sacrifice happen. The tools of judgment
were in the hands of the father. The two of them were in harmony. They were
in step as they walked along. They were united in a mutual purpose. Isaac was
walking up the hill carrying his wooden burden. It was a hill near this one
that Abraham's Great Grandson would also carry some wood (Jn. 19). And
this Great Grandson would be nailed to that wood in order to satisfy God’s
demand against man’s sin. God the father would judge all of our sins in
Him. God truly gave to
Abraham the privilege of illustrating the cross work of Jesus Christ hundreds
of years before it was to happen. §
But
Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I
am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the
lamb for a burnt offering? Isaac loved and respected his father. This
symbolizes the human thoughts of the Lord Jesus Christ as He faced the cross.
His willingness was never in question, but it was brought to light so that we
would understand that He was a willing participant (Luke 22:42). Isaac’s question would have ripped the
heart right out of an ordinary man. Abraham probably knew that he was going
to ask this. Abraham had done this before but with a sacrifice. Isaac knew
how sacrifices were to be offered.
§
And
Abraham said, God
will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering 'my
Son.' So
the two of them went together. Abraham did not say that Elohim would
provide for “you and me” but “for Himself.” Abraham kept the issue where it belongs. The sacrifice was
God's business! It was God's character that was at stake. Abraham was simply
saying to Isaac, “Son, we going to put our trust in God.” Not “a Lamb.” The Hebrew says “the lamb.” Remember that John said speaking of
Jesus Christ, “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.” §
Then
they came to the place of which God had told him “Which God had told him” is very important.
“Macom,” the Hebrew word for place, was to be that special place set
apart by God. It had to be at
this place. God is sovereign and He had a plan. Abraham must do the will of
God regardless of how it appeared to him. His security was now solely in the
Giver not the gift. The Giver does not lie! Nothing in life could shake
Abraham’s faith! God has found it necessary to consult us
about nothing! Faith does not need to understand! Faith does not need to see!
Faith does not need to be consoled! Faith must obey! But Abraham did not have
faith in faith. He had placed his faith in the right source. He had faith in
God. §
And
Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order and he bound Isaac
his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. The time had come! Isaac said nothing!
Isaac had confidence in his father because his father had confidence in God.
Isaac was stronger than his father and could have freed himself. Jesus Christ submitted totally to the will
of His father even though He had the strength to free Himself. §
And
Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. Hebrew words make an impression here.
“Stretched forth his hand,” is in the Hebrew “Laqach shakat,” a Hebrew
completed action. That is, in
Abraham's mind, he actually did it! He fully intended to follow
through and obey God. That was his mental attitude! In Abraham’s mind at that moment Isaac had
been slain. It was with complete faith and tranquility that Abraham carried
out the divine orders. For Abraham, the outcome was never in doubt. He loved
his son deeply, but his trust was in God. And it was his love and trust in God that motivated this
action. He was totally occupied with the Giver of his blessing. He was caught
up in the fact that, though he may not understand, God knew exactly what He
was doing. “By faith Abraham, when
he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises
offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your
seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up,
even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense”
(Heb. 11:17-19). “Was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that
faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made
perfect (telios; was made complete; mature)! And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called
the friend of God” (James 2: 21).
§
But
the Angel of the LORD called
to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” Abraham has passed the toughest test in the
history of man. He knew that God could never do anything that was not just
and not absolutely fair? The Giver is always right no matter how it appears
to man. Abraham had total
confidence in the character of God. It never occurred to him that God could
be unfair. §
And
He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him for now I
know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son, your only
son, The Cross Through Abraham’s offer of Isaac, God gives
us the perfect illustration that He would provide His son in order to
reestablish His righteousness. God is saying to Abraham in a type, “I am
going to offer my uniquely born son but there will be no one who will stay my
hand.” God could spare Abraham's son, but He could not spare His own Son.
Why? Because God must adjust
that which is not right to His righteousness. He cannot extend His grace to
sinners without first being just with Himself. Sin must be paid for! §
Then
Abraham lifted his eyes and looked and there behind him was a ram caught in a
thicket by its horns The Ram is a picture of Christ. There was
only one place at that precise moment where there was a ram caught in the
bushes. It was on that mountain
at that particular time. God had provided that Ram for this place at that
time. This is why this place was to be the place! God had picked out the
place and the time billions of years ago. §
So
Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him in the place of his son. And
Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide as it is said to
this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” “Jehovah Jireh” - “Jehovah will
provide.” This name is the
essence of God’s grace. God will provide a sacrifice. Only God can provide
the means to adjust fallen man to His righteousness. Jehovah will provide
is speaking of the second person of the Trinity and the fact that He would
provide the once and for all sacrifice to pay for the sin of man. The words “in Isaac shall your seed be
called” should now take on new meaning.
These words teach us that our
salvation depends totally upon God. If we have eternal life, it is because
God made the sufficient sacrifice and He gave us life! We had absolutely nothing to do with
it. God has done it all. “And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise” (Gal.
4:28). New
American Standard Bible Brown,
Driver, Briggs Hebrew Definitions Robert
B. Theime, Jr. S.
Lewis Johnson, Jr. Chester
McCalley Basis
Theology, Charles C. Ryrie |
What
exactly does the birth of Isaac have to do with God’s grace to us? |