Jesus in the Old Testament:  The Offering of Isaac

The Offering of Isaac:  a Foreshadowing of Christ Jesus

In Genesis 22 we have the remarkable story of Abraham and Isaac, but did you know that this story is an amazing "foreshadow" of Jesus the Messiah, who was to come some 2,000 years later?  In this account Abraham is asked by God to offer up his son, his "only son", as a sacrifice - as a test of his faith.  Due the remarkable parallels found in the text, most biblical scholars consider this account as a 'foreshadowing" of Christ and His future redemptive act upon the cross. 

Whereas in this account Abraham agrees to offer his only son (but is stopped by God from doing so), God the Father does indeed offer His eternal Son upon a wooden cross some 2000 years later.

Consider the Key Verses

• Gen 22:2: "And He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love..."   God refers to Isaac as Abraham's "only son", the one whom he "loves". 
   
• Gen 22:3: "..took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son..."
   
• Gen 22:4: "Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off."
   
• Gen 22:6: "So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son.."
   
• Gen 22:8: "And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering."
   
• Gen 22:13: "And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and behold, behind him a lamb caught in a thicket ..."
   
• Gen 22:18: "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."
   
• Gen 22:19: "So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba.."

Amazing Points to Note

• Gen 22:2:  This is a parallel to God the Father, and how He loves His one and only Son Jesus. 
   
• Gen 22:4:  It took 3 days for Abraham, walking with Isaac and the two men with them, to walk to the place where he would do the offering.  When God asked Abraham to do the offering, Abraham was so obedient that the act was already done.  And just as Jesus was dead for 3 days before rising again, so for 3 days Isaac was virtually dead while on his way to the mount with his father and the two helpers. 
   
• Gen 22:3: The two men are types of the two thieves that hung on crosses on either side of Jesus.
   
• Gen 22:6: The wood Isaac carried foreshadowed the cross that Jesus was to carry 2000 years later!
   
• Gen 22:8: Abraham prophesizes that God will provide himself a lamb as a substitute offering.  This He did a few moments later,  But Abraham's words were fulfilled on much grander scale some 2000 years later.  The eternal Word "became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory" (John 1:14).  Jesus is referred to by John the Baptist as "the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world!" (John 1:29).
   
• God "provided Himself a Lamb".
   
• Gen 22:13: The lamb that God provided was found caught in a thicket of thorns, prefiguring the crown of thorns that Jesus the Messiah would wear 2,000 years later as the Lamb of God sacrificed for the sins of the world.
   
• Gen 22:18: God tells Abraham that "in your seed" all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.  The New Testament documents record that Jesus was a descendent of Abraham (Matt 1:2 - 1:16).
   
• Gen 22:19: The two men, along with Abraham returned down the mountain - but not Isaac.  Isaac is not referred to as leaving the mountain, and doesn't down up in Scripture until later - when he is introduced to Rebecca (a type of the Church).  This foreshadows the resurrection of Christ, and His eventual return for His church at His second coming.

Do You Know the Lord?

Jesus - "the same yesterday, today and forever".  This passage is but one example of Jesus in the Old Testament.  There are many others, and in fact many places where it is clear that Jesus - the eternal Word of God - appeared and interceded in human affairs. 

But it is not enough to know about Jesus.  To be saved, you really must know Him personally. 

Why not give Him a chance and let Him come into your life!  Say a simple prayer and mean it - ask Him, if He is who He claims to be, to come into your life and make you the person you were meant to be.  He created you, after all, so why not give Him a chance to give you the best He has to offer? 

Here is a link to Billy Graham's web site that can show you how you can pray this prayer and begin a personal relationship with the Lord who loves you so much...

Go to Steps to Peace with God ==>  http://www.billygraham.org/SH_StepsToPeace.asp