Genesis 22:3-10 Bible Study | Episode #288

November 16, 2022

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

Genesis 22:3-10  Bible Study | Episode #288

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope Alive, Applying God's Word to your daily life.

Hi, this is Chad Harrison and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up his word to you and allow you to see him and to know him.

And to know his will, that you might glorify him, and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today in Jesus name. Good morning. Welcome to Lake Community Church. Morning Bible study we're on. And we are in the book of Genesis chapter 21. And, We're at one of those passages where I've got to I've gotta attack it some way and I don't really know how to attack it other than maybe break it up and deal with deal with it on several levels and do that in the Bible study format.

That's really the only way I can think of to make this work because it is a The best way for me to describe it is a rich passage that has multiple layers to it, multiple levels to it. And it's gonna be hard for me to cover the The personal emotional level of it, the the relational level of it between God and Abraham, and then the relationship between Abraham and Isaac.

And then you've got the pictures. And for me, the pictures are just as important if not more important in this passage. And the reason there of the utmost importance in the passage is, This is one of those passages in the Old Testament. This is one of those passages in the Old Testament that has great significance in that it is a clear picture of.

Jesus Christ and his crucifixion and his resurrection. And it is one of those, it's just one of those passages that is undeniable and can't be. It just can't be, It can't be, it can't be questioned because as you spend time. Why reading it, you ju it just becomes obvious.

It, if you look for the pictures and the pictures are of great importance. So I think what I'm gonna do this morning is I'm gonna go through the picture. So showing you that this passage has. Is a picture or a a foreshadowing of what God does with Jesus on the cross.

And then I'm gonna I'm gonna take you through and and I'm gonna make it I'm gonna talk about the relational aspects of it, especially the relational aspects as far as between God and Abraham, and. And then we may even do one more day. I, Adam, I'm not sure. It's just so rich.

It, I can't it's hard for me to just sit here and go I can cover this in 20 minutes in any good way. And get through it. So if you don't mind today, let's just go through the pictures in, in, in this passage. And when I say the pictures, the the symbolism the and when I say pictures, also, you need to understand that both Greek and Hebrew are pictorial languages.

And what does, what I mean by that? We have a lot of words that don't really have any picture associated with it. Those languages are more rich in the sense that they have they have pictures, they, the. When you say a word, it literally relates to something in, in creation, something in the universe that you can relate it immediately to.

And because we don't speak that language, it's hard for me to understand, stand that to, for, it's hard for me to understand that. Make you understand that, or for me to understand it because I don't speak the language in the, in that sense. And especially Greek, it's a dead language. And nobody speaks it in the world.

It says, So Abraham Rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey. All right? This is important. He rose early in the morning. We're pointing toward a resurrection. Anytime you read morning you you read Resurrection Notice. He saddled his he saddled.

The the donkey for somebody to ride him. Now, what's gonna happen is that is that you're gonna see the picture of the triumphal entry. You're gonna see this picture of going going to where God told him to to Make this sacrifice of his son. And it says he took two young men with him.

And by the way, anytime you have and they are, and they're servants of him. Anytime you have an unnamed servant in the Bible, it's almost always the Holy Spirit. It's the, it's almost always a picture of the Holy Spirit. Anytime you. Two of them, anytime you have two of them.

It is al it is always the Holy Spirit. Two unnamed servants. That means agreement. It can mean division. The word the number two either stands for agreement or division. And obviously because when two people come together, they either come together in agreement or they come together in division.

And And as we read this and as we look at it I think it is, I think it is a I think it is a fabulous picture of you've got Abraham who represents God. You've got Isaac who represents Jesus, and you've got these two unnamed servants or this unnamed servant who is the representation of the Holy Spirit.

So it's all of them at work together. In the picture, remember, I'm just going through the pictures today. Tomorrow I'll go through more of the relational aspects of it and maybe even some of the spiritual aspects of it. Notice they're going to they're going and they split the wood for the burn offering.

Meaning, meaning the wood is not. The woods, not just giant logs. It was actually hum Or cut wood. And that has significance because remember the cross that Jesus bore was a Hume and cut. It was hue and cut. It was, it is cut wood. It was wood that had been fashioned. It's not just a giant tree.

It, it had been fashioned so that it could sit into that cross so that when they hung it there, it would hang properly. And and the Romans were they were excellent at that. And he says they split wood and offering, and they ro arose and went to the place, which God had told him, Notice you've got the, you've got the plan of God at work here, He says, Then on the third, Abraham, it lifted his eyes and saw the place a far off.

And by the way it's they, he was told to go to some mountains and he was go, told to go some mountains in the distance. Turns out that he's gonna be told to go to the area where Jerusalem is now. The place where this hap happens to take place. There's some question, and the devil has definitely stepped in and caused us to to focus on something less important than this because the Muslims will say that this was not Isaac that was taken up on the mountain, but this was Ishma and.

If you've been around me very long you will know what I think about the Muslim faith. I think it's pretty obvious what I think about the Muslim faith. It is a difficult but Anyway. And when I say that it's difficult for his people, not just not, one, doesn't die for the sins of all die for the the sins of one, which would be Muhammad Anyway that's that's how I I see things and the focus has gotten off.

This is a picture of Jesus Christ and the focus has gotten onto where was the sacrifice made, and is the dom of the rock over where the sacrifice was made? And is it on the temple mount or is it on a different mountain, or was it, is it the place where Jesus was crucified not on the temple mount?

Is that where the sacrifice was actually made and the arguments have so many and so full that it get, it gets to the place where you are not actually reading this story and seeing the clear picture that God's given us and showing us and telling us that he's, that he's a, he's doing a, he's doing a work here and this work is a foreshadowing of the finished work he's gonna do through Jesus Christ.

And So he says they lift up, they saw a place of far off, and Abraham said to the two young men, Notice this is important. Abraham said to the two young men, Stay here with the donkey, the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you. Now, there's two things that are going on.

He says, Stay here. And we'll come back to you. All right. Now that, that, that I can't, I it's it's unimaginably great. It's unimaginably great. Why? Because what did God remove from Jesus? Jesus was under the protection. He was under the power of the Holy Spirit. But after that garden after going to guest semi and spending that time in, God removed the protection of the Holy Spirit from Jesus so that he could be arrested and that, and so that he could be, and so that he could be crucified.

And this is a picture of the removal of the protection of the Holy Spirit, the removal of what God had provided to Jesus in fullness, in completeness as a human man, as a human being. He removed. And then went to the cross and noticed Abraham says, We will both come back to you.

He's not telling them that that he is coming back. He's telling them that they're both coming back. Abraham being a picture of God, Knows that Isaac is coming back. But also, and that's, but also it's just as important that you see this that Abraham as a human being knew that God was gonna make a way that, that God was not gonna allow him to put into death the fulfillment of his promises.

God was not going to kill his promises. It's not gonna. So notice there's a picture of here that they, he says to the Holy Spirit, we're gonna come back. That means that not only do you start out with a picture of the resurrection when they leave early in the morning, but you have a picture of the resurrection right here, that Jesus is going to be resurrected, that Isaac is going to come back from either physically or spiritually speaking the dead.

And then, He says, Stay here with the donkey, the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you. Notice this is an act of worship. This is a foreshadow of Christ too, that we offer our bodies as living sacrifices. Notice that they're not going to make a sacrifice, a grain sacrifice.

Verse three says that they're, they take that wood for a burn. And burnt offerings are sin sacrifices. They're sacrifices for the atonement of sin. And so this is a clear picture that Isaac is the sacrifice for the atonement of sin. Jesus is the sacrifice for the atonement of sin. And so it says, so Abraham took the wood and the burnt offering, and he laid it on Isaac, his.

Really, that's just as, that's like crystal clear. It's almost so clear. You can't get away from it. It's crystal clear. It's, he's going to make the burn offering and he lays the hum or cut wood, the the wood that is going to be a part of the sacrifice. He lays it on his son Isaac, to carry, I.

Jesus carried the cross to gsem. It is it's obvious that this is a picture and he took the fire in his own hand, noticed the death of Jesus, the the way the offering's gonna be made, the way the offering's gonna be taken care. Is left in the hands of God.

Jesus lays down his life. But God is the one who made him an offering for us. If you read Isaiah 53 he made him a sacrifice for us. He is the atoning sacrifice for us. And Jesus carries the burn off the wood for the burn offering for the sacrificing. And God is the one who executes.

And he says he took the fire in the hand and the. And the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham, His father had said, My father. Notice there's that intimate relationship. That's that there's that picture. Isaac is speaking to God. In that, in, in that beautiful picture and same father.

And he said, Here I am, son. Notice, notice there, there is that there, there is that relationship. And he's saying the same thing. He's saying the same thing to Jesus, that that Abraham had said to God earlier and he said look, the fire and the wood, but where's the lamb for the burnt offering?

Notice that Jesus knows.

Excuse me. Notice that Isaac knows that Isaac knows that there has to be a spotless lamb for the burn offering. Isaac understands that in order to have a burn offering, you have to have something to sacrifice. And. That sacrifice has to be something of significance. And so he says where's the offering?

And Abraham said, My son God will provide for himself a lamb for a burnt offering that is almost prophetic. In fact, I think it is prophetic. He says, My son God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. Now we're gonna go through Exodus and numbers and Deuteronomy. There.

All those books that are in the Penta took in the first five books of the of the Old Testament. We're gonna go through there. Prescribe all kinds of sacrifices to be made to God. All kinds of burn offerings, all kinds of fellowship offerings, all kinds of things like that. All of that is right there to me.

All those sacrifices are there to be made to God and they're in there, The great importance they they have great meaning. They, they provide for great things that are going to be go going on, that are going to be happening and. And every one of them the person who needs the atonement brings the sacrifice.

He's the one who provides the sacrifice. You bring a sacrifice to the priest. The priest Kill it. The priest sacrifice it, the priest burn it, and then you eat together and fellowship together. A fellowship of atonement right there together. Notice that this sacrifice, What does Abraham say?

God provides the sacrifice, and I want you to think about, Why don't you think about that? All the other sacrifices, the people had to bring their own sacrifice and give it to God. But the final, the best sacrifice. The sacrifice that is the one that culminates all the sacrifices. It's the one who is who is the final and complete and best sacrifice.

That sacrifice was not provided by us to. That sacrifice was provided by God for us. And when Abraham says this, he says, My son, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burn offering. He, what he's saying is he's saying, is, This final sacrifice, this most important sacrifice. Abraham had made many sacrifices before this most important sacrifice is going to be, is going to be one in which God provides for himself.

And and Abraham's still believing, there's still that faith right there in the midst of all this. Abraham's believing that God's not going to take his promises away, that God's gonna fulfill his promises. And that Isaac, although he may even sacrifice him, God will raise him from the. Or that God is going to provide something else to sacrifice and not his son.

And it says, then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built antar there and placed the wood in order. Notice that they came to the place where, which God had told him. And Abraham prepared Abraham God prepared this sacrifice. He 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 noticed Jesus was bound. Jesus was tied to tied to the wood. He was tied to the tree. He was fastened there. That's a picture of, that's a picture of Jesus being fastened to the tree, and he laid him on the altar upon the wood, and Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son, which is.

It is just it's undeniable picture of God sacrificing his own son for our sins. And where it was done, whether it was Calvary's, Mount Calvary Mountain, or whether it was the Temple Mount or whether I. I'm not even gonna get into all that, and I'm sure not gonna get into where the dome of the rock is and where the temple is gonna be built.

Because by the way, there's room on the temple mount to build a temple that's not and not have to take down the dome of the rock to do it. But I'm not even gonna get into all that. Why? Because this is a, this is a clear picture of the work of God saying, I am going to provide my own sacrifice of my own son for you.

And I'm gonna show you how this is gonna take place. I'm gonna give you all the pictures that are a part of that. S. I'm gonna give 'em to you right here in this little story. I'm going, I got you. I'm gonna give you the morning, I'm gonna give you the donkey, I'm gonna give you the split or hum wood.

I'm gonna give you I'm gonna give you unnamed servant the Holy Spirit. I'm gonna give you a journey that they have to go on to get to the place where, He's gonna do that. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, it's gonna be a burnt offering and I'm gonna provide the sacrifice. I'm gonna provide the sacrifice of my own son.

You don't have to provide that sacrifice. I'm gonna, I'm going to I'm going to provide the burnt offering for you. We're going to place the wood on the shoulders of the sacrifice. We're gonna place the wood on the shoulders of Jesus, and he's gonna carry it up to the mountain.

And and there the sacrifice is gonna take place. Jesus is going to ask questions of the Father about this sacrifice. And that's what and that's what Isaac does. And and God's gonna say, This is the plan. And Isaac's gonna accept that plan and go willingly Notice that's all right there.

It's right there. Jesus heard God's plan. If it's not th if there's any other way but not my will die will notice there's the same thing is going on with Isaac here and then you get to the top and God, I, Abraham is absolutely. And willing to make that sacrifice of his son make that burn offering sacrifice, and he's prepared to do.

And we'll see that God stops him and God does provide his own sacrifice in this situation, just like he does with Jesus. He says it says in verse 11, But the angel of the Lord called him and from the heaven said, Abraham. Abraham. So he said, Here I am. Here I am. And he said, Do not lay your hand on the.

Do anything to him for now, I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son, your only son for me, you're willing to be my, you're willing to actually take on my character fully. And then Abraham looked his, lifted his eyes up and their behind him was a ram caught in the thicke by its horns.

So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burn offering instead of his son. Notice that's a it, i it's undeniably a beautiful picture of. Jesus and God's plan of salvation through him and through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary. It's a great picture.

It is. It's so exciting to read it and we, you can, and I just didn't want, don't want to get it marred or get it mired in any of. Tomorrow, we'll go through it again and we'll talk about we'll talk about the different aspects of that as far as your personal walk with God and and how Abraham dealt with this, how Isaac dealt with this, how God himself dealt with this story and And we'll deal with it on a very personal way, but today we got a chance just to go through the pictures, and I want you to see those pictures because they're beautiful pictures.

And they're, and understanding the pictures, understanding that that a donkey is a picture of, is a picture of God's plan It's not something that seems like it's it's not something that seems like it's gonna be very majestic, but it always gets the job done. It does it exactly right.

It's steady. It does not stumble. It does not fall. God's plan is steady and continues to go the picture of the wood, the picture of the morning, the picture of the trinity, the father of the Son, and the holy. It just is so good and we don't wanna miss out on that and not realize that God's telling us, Hey, listen, look here.

We're in chapter 22 of the first book of the Bible. And I'm going to give you a clear, undeniable picture of the plan I have for you through my son, whom is who is Jesus Christ. And you can see it and you can glorify me for it.

As you go today, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.