Even now as I was reading the text, the gospel narrative is just coming out of every part of this story where Abraham is instructed of God to come. or to obey Him. And so when you look at the text, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to put this sermon into three parts. First, I want to examine the text and just let the text be its own best narrator because it is the Holy Spirit constantly letting the text tell us what God is saying. And then I want to put some meat and bones, meat onto the bones of this. And then I want to just back off and tell the story a final time so that we would hear the gospel yet once again. And so with your... through 14, you see there in verse 1, now it came about after these things. So the reader must ask himself, after what things? And the proper thing to do when you're studying and reading the Bible is that when you see after these things, then you go back and you read what was just prior to this. And you know what's just prior to this. And so what is there, but there's this agreement between Abraham and Abimelech, a covenant is being made, forged, cut between them about how them and their sons and their sons' sons will treat each other. in the coming generations. So it's after this. Now what we're not sure about, so we don't know how soon after these things. We don't know if it was the very next day. We don't know if it was a couple of weeks. We don't even know, is it perhaps there's even been years that have gone by? All of those can be true. It came about after these things. What has to meet the criteria here is that Abraham must still be alive, Isaac must still be alive, and we'll know that Sarah is still alive because of the way that the story narrates and what is still yet to even come out of this. But we will know that Abraham is obviously well advanced in his years now. What's not clear, what's perhaps the most unclear here for us, is what is the age of Isaac? And we don't know. We just have to be good readers of the text. We just simply don't know. The narrative doesn't give us a clue as to the age of Isaac. If you've been around church for any amount of time, from the days of flannelgraph till today, and well before flannelgraph, we get the idea that Isaac was a little boy, a lad. As a matter of fact, the text will even use the word lad to describe him. I don't want to get ahead of myself on that particular piece, but this much is sure. He's already been weaned, and we get that from previous, these are things that are past those things, verse one is telling us, after he's been weaned, early parts of chapter 21, we already know that. So most likely, a minimum age that Isaac would be, would be around five or six, of the custom of his time. Now, the ongoing narrative will help us see who's probably at least a little bit older than five because of some of the responsibilities that Isaac will have. He must be strong enough to make a journey. He'll have to be strong enough to carry wood. He'll have to be man enough, if you will. He'll have to be grown up enough to know that, but not so old that he's not looking to his father any longer. But we know that it is after these things. And so that God tested Abraham. What we must do now is answer the question, what does tested mean here? Well, first, we have to apply the totality of the scripture that God tested no man. So God's not tempting. Abraham he's not saying he's not saying to Abraham here. I want to tempt you to go off and see have you have you cut off from you? heathen Lifestyle of human sacrifices God's not that's not tempting Abraham here He's testing him so I think that the larger narrative will help us know exactly how that feels as we walk through the emotion that Abraham must have felt, that Sarah must have felt, that even Isaac must have felt, or even the two men of Abraham's larger family or enterprise. that have gone with him. What must they be experiencing in this as well? So God is testing Abraham. We have to get that on the front end so that we don't let it interfere with the narrative later for us to wrongly apply that God would somehow wrongly be accused of tempting Abraham to do this. And then we want to see, before we even get out of verse one, we see that Abraham, We've all seen in past narratives that Abraham is familiar with the voice of God. He's familiar with dialogue with God. He's been visited with the pre-incarnate Christ. He's familiar with the angelic beings. So the narrative doesn't give us any questioning of Abraham being stunned that he's heard the voice of God. The narrative tells us that Abraham responded And the quickness of his response from the narrative, we can easily begin to see Abraham is growing to the point of immediate obedience when God speaks to him. This is really important. That might even be something that is all. You typically delay in your replies to God from the reading of his word. the instruction, the leading of the Holy Spirit? Here Abraham replies immediately. And what does he do? He answers the same way Isaiah does when he's there in the glory of God. And God says, whom shall we send? And what does Isaiah do but says, here, send me. So verse 2, God further says, get some more instructions to him about this test. It says to him in verse 2, take now your son, your only son. This is going to be reason for us to just stop for a moment because if you've been paying attention to the narrative either while we've been going through the book of Genesis or my expectation is long before we ever came to the exposition of the book of Genesis, you already knew that Abraham had a son prior to Isaac. So what do we make of this? When God says, take now your son, your only son, whom you love. Well, we know that it's Isaac because the text clearly tells us it's Isaac. But I think it's important for us to note that not everyone in the world believes that Abraham took Isaac with him. There are world religions that believe that Abraham, that this story, this narrative should be applied to Abraham and Ishmael. And not to a journey to the north, but a journey to the south. So not to Mount Moriah, but rather to Mecca. And so there's a discrepancy in world religions. So boys and girls, when we ask, what is the Bible? We are. Or in fact, we demand a. and there I will land on this is what God did. Now, because the text clarifies that it is Isaac here, it is not Ishmael, we would also be able to apply this just through good logical reasoning from verse one, now it came about after these things. What was after, what things happened prior to this, Abraham is already sent out of his home, Ishmael, and Hagar. Really, he's done it twice, but this was a final time, and there they do go to the south, but Abraham does not go with them, and Hagar and Ishmael are in the desert, and they are no longer in Abraham's house. So, what further can we surmise? Well, the simple interpretation of the text, well, obviously it's Isaac, because that's what the Bible says. We would understand this further culturally as well as legally. Legally, Isaac is Abraham's only legitimate son. So now take your son, your only son whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him, offer Isaac there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, of which I will tell you." So let's just get a few locations, a few other details put into the story here. Where is this land of Moriah? Now, there's only two times in the Bible that this referencing of Moriah is used. One is here, and the other is in 2 Chronicles 3, verse 1. And in 2 Chronicles 3, verse 1, the chronicler instructs us that this is the location on Mount Moriah where Solomon will build David's temple, God's temple. But God instructed David that there would be a temple built, but David would not be the one to build it, to construct it, but Solomon, his son, would do it. So in 2 Chronicles 3, verse 1, we'll hear this description of Mount Moriah. Now here the language is being used, the land of Moriah. Now we'll see before the verse is even finished that obviously this is a mountainous region. So there will be a mountain that will be implied and there will be a mountain that will be described in the text. And so what's beautiful about this, and your Gospel ears are already firing on all cylinders. There's no need to stop and go into the mechanic today to have your car overhauled to be in good fine-tuned running machine. Your Gospel ears are already firing on all cylinders. If this is the place where Solomon builds the temple And this is the same place that Abraham will be instructed by God to go to, and that there are sacrifices that will happen at this place, that there is a story, there is a narrative for us to pay close attention to. This is glorious. We also can see, just by biographical distances, that this is approximately a 40-mile journey that Abraham and Isaac are going to be on. And so they have We'll see in the narrative that they'll arrive in three days. It appears they arrive in two days, and it's on the third day in which they go up to the mountain. So it's about a 20 to 21-mile journey per day. That's quite a trek. I don't know the last time you've walked 20 miles. I remember one time I ran a race that was 26 miles, and I was passed by pregnant women. and a whole slew of asthmatics. So a 20-mile journey is quite a journey in one day, or in two days, two successive days. So 40 miles from Beersheba, that's one of the last places that the narrative tells us of the location in which Abraham, in his sojourning ways, he's semi-permanent but still nomadic, he can pick up and move and does By the way, he'll do it many times. He'll do it even more times than just here. He'll leave the larger enterprise there at Beersheba, and he will make the journey to the land of Moriah, about 40 miles distance. So, verse three, so Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey. Now, are your gospel ears still on? Can you recall any other time in the New Testament specifically when a donkey was readied for a journey into the city? I mean, I can. I think of the day in which the Lord arrived in the city of Jerusalem, which, by the way, is not currently present in this location. Now, Jerusalem or Salem is present, but it's really more of a regional place. That's the priest Melchizedek. was the king of Salem, which will eventually be Jerusalem. Moriah will be in the city of Jerusalem, the mount where the temple is built. There will be, in that New Testament journey, the week before the Lord is crucified, a donkey will not be saddled, but he will be mounted. So he took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, So we know that this is all referring, it's connected and pieced together. And he split wood for the burnt offering and rose and went to the place of which God had told him. That's the land of Moriah. Verse four, on the third day. Now again, your gospel ears are just ringing now, aren't they? It's like, well, okay. I mean, how many other times do we hear in the narrative of the Holy Scripture of three days coming and happening? Well, your gospel ears are telling the gospel narrative over and over and over and over again. So on the third day, Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. So verse five, Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey. And I in the lad, and there's that use of the word lad, so we're going to have to deal with that. In the English, this word lad would typically imply someone in their childhood years, so between past toddlerness into, in our modern culture, we would say pre-adolescent. That would be the lad age. Well, we must, we'll say, does that mean that Isaac must have been somewhere between, say, five and 12 years of age, we can certainly say it's possible. I don't think that you would be wrong to land on that kind of a conclusion. And I'm not here to make an argument that he was that age or that he was older. I'm just saying it was of interest in the scholarly reading that, by and large, the majority of the scholarly reading I did these last couple of weeks on this particular issue is that Abraham or that Isaac could have been as old as 22 to 35 years of age. The discrepancy of there, I would have to get into the weeds of why some of them are making this argument. But the use of this word lad into the English language, why do the translators use that word? Or are they trying to put an understanding on us? In the Hebrew, it's a really complicated word. Because it's the same word that's used in Exodus chapter 33 to describe Joshua as a young man, as the translator would put there, but it's the same word as lad. Joshua was a lad when he was 56 years old. Now I guess if you're 100 plus years old, a 56 year old guy, you can refer to him as a lad, as a young man. I'm not ready to call a 56-year-old a young man yet. A 46-year-old, I'm willing to go there. A 36, I'm willing to go there. But the usage here is should not, and I don't mean, Paul, you're making a bigger deal of it than you need to if you're not going to make a big deal of it. Well, I agree, but I was founded of interest. That it could be, so we're just going to land here, it could be anywhere from age six to as many, to as old as 35, as some of the scholarly's are arguing for. Now, at the end of the day, I don't think that it necessarily matters, but it is certainly of interest, at least in our English translations. So, Abraham is instructing the young men, I mean, there's that word young men, they could be 50 years old, couldn't they, and still be a young man. You stay here with the donkey and I will take the lad and maybe my 22-year-old son or my 12-year-old son and we will go over there and we will worship and return to you. Now, pay close attention here. Your gospel ears are listening, aren't they? The last part of verse 5, well the middle part of verse 5 and the last part, so if it's broken up into three parts, look at the second and the third section. of verse 5. Abraham is instructing them to stay with the donkey and I and the lad will go over there and we will worship and the implication is carried over to the latter part of the text and we will return to you. Your gospel ears or your radars are just thinking whoa this is great and beautiful and glorious He is going to obey the Lord, and the Lord has instructed him to go and sacrifice his son. And Abraham, from every piece of this narrative, intends to do exactly what the Father has asked him to do. Sacrifice his son. Yet, the narrative is saying, it's not suggesting, it's saying, Abraham anticipates to return, not by himself, but with his son, who he's going to sacrifice. Well, we'll just, we'll let that hang on us. That's gospel language. It's a beautiful part of the glorious story here. Verse six, Abraham took the wood. of the burnt offering and he laid it on Isaac. That's the vernacular saying he handed it to us. So we have to know he's at least old enough to carry some wood, not just a few sticks. He's carrying a sufficient amount of wood. So he's strong enough, he's big enough to carry the wood. Your gospel ears are tracking this, aren't they? Can you think of another time in the New Testament? where a man will be required to carry his own wood. He'll be required to load it on his back and carry it to the place of the sacrifice. So he lays it upon his son. And then Isaac takes in his hand the fire and the knife. It's just of interest. First mentions of things, first time that we see both of these objects being mentioned here in relationship to each other. And these would be historically elements or items that would be referred to objects of wrath. A fire, a knife, in the imagery of how they're used. So it will be, it's reflective here, it's symbolic here. where this is a real narrative. Every piece of this is telling us of the actions of God toward mankind. He will use objects of wrath because man has sinned, fallen short of the glory of God. So the two of them walked on together. That's the father and the son. Verse 7, Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and he said, my father. And Abraham said, well, here I am, my son. And Isaac said, behold the fire and the wood. So it's like I get these parts. But where is the lamb for the burnt offering? So there's a couple of things that that verse should One stand out and we're listening with all of our gospel ears in tune here. We're leaning in to hear the gospel narrative again. But there's some things that are implied here. Isaac knew what would be required for a sacrifice. This is not some new introduction into worship of God. Abraham has taught his son this is what happens at a burnt sacrifice. So this is even before the law has been given to Moses to give to the people, and this is the proper way in which you will at this time worship God. And you'll do this through a mechanism of rules and regulations. So even before that, there is a law, if you will, written on the heart of man. There is a right way to respond in worship to God. Abraham's not inventing this worship, as some in the secular world have argued that Abraham is really practicing pagan practices that were well-known and widespread through the area that nobody would have thought any different for him to go to sacrifice his own son. But they're not, they're well-customed. Abraham and Isaac are well-customed that the proper way to worship God is with the sacrifice of a lamb, of a sheep. And the image will just even furthermore help us as we move through the text. Abraham said to Isaac, who's asking perhaps for the first time. We don't know. They've been on a 40-mile journey. I wonder how long Isaac's been wondering. I wonder where the lamb is. I know what we're going to do, but where? But now he's mustered up enough curiosity to ask his father, where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Oh, Abraham is so, so helpful for us here. In verse 8, Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering. You just see that the tenderness, can you hear the tenderness of Abraham here? God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. So the two of them walked on further together. Verse 9 now, they came to the place, so there's the land of Moriah, they've come to the place for which God had told him. And Abraham built there, and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and said to him, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. So this place, this is the place that God instructed him to go, this will be the place that those who will read and hear the narrative of Moses will know that this place is where Solomon built his temple. This is the place where the altar was, where the sacrifices were made. And Abraham is saying, my son, hear me here. God will provide. So Abraham has built the altar. He's arranged the wood. He's bound his son. He's laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Notice in that text. Now there's so many things here. Abraham at times will be a symbol of the father and at other times he'll be the symbol of the people or the priest. At other times, sometimes Isaac will be referred to as or be easily understood as the sacrificial lamb and at other times he's representing you and me. But there are requirements. God requires There is a requirement of death for the sins of men. So here there is the Father doing all of the arranging here, isn't there? Listen here with your Bible knowledge. Everything that the Father is doing here, He's built an altar. He's arranged the wood. He's bound His Son. He's laid Him on the altar. In verse 10, Abraham stretched out his hand. And he took the knife to slay his son. That verse 10 is telling us, Abraham's not waiting. God, when are you gonna stop me? Abraham is ready to sacrifice his son. Verse 11, but the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, well, here I am. But you know, he must have been eager to hear from the Lord again. Happy to be delayed in the slaying of his son, but still with intention of his heart to obey God. In verse 12, he said, the angel says to Abraham, the angel of the Lord, and listen, from the language we've already picked up from the narrative of Genesis, there's no reason for us to not think this is the pre-incarnate Jesus speaking to Abraham again, as he has frequently done and frequently visited him. Also notice how relieved Abraham must have been to hear that all familiar voice of the Lord. Verse 12, he said, Do not stretch out your hand against the lad. There's that word again, the young man, the child. and do nothing to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.' Then Abraham raised his eyes, and he looked and beheld. Behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went, and he took the ram, and he offered him up for a burnt offering. in the place of his son. Verse 14, Abraham then called the name of this place. We know this is part of the ongoing narrative of these places that Abraham would journey. He will name these places and there will be significant meanings to them, won't they? You've heard good scholarly teaching on this before. You already know this is Jehovah Jireh, that's the Hebrew word, the Hebrew name that Abraham gives to this place, Mount Moriah. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. As it is said to this day, as Moses is telling this narrative, as Moses is pointing toward the place in which, it's even a prophetic word of when or where the place will be in which the temple will be built. In the mount of the Lord it will be provided. So Abraham, behaving as a good prophet, doing exactly what the Lord has commanded him to do, and everything that he's doing, he's actually telling a forward narrative. And not just a forward narrative to the temple, not just a forward narrative to Mount Moriah, but a forward narrative of the blessed provision of the Lord God Almighty of a substitute sacrifice for what God would otherwise require of you and me. The sacrifice of Isaac here, it is an understatement to say it is a profound test of faith. and a foreshadowing of Christ. The account of Abraham's near sacrifice of Isaac in the Bible is a narrative packed with symbolism, with profound theological implications. It has been hoped for and longed for since Genesis chapter 3. Humanity has been looking and wondering and hoping, how will God rectify the problem of sin? This is the story of stories. It's serving here as a testament to the unwavering faith of Abraham, the unwavering steps of obedience that he's now grown in toward the Lord. And it is the foreshadowing of Christ's ultimate sacrifice. Can you just for a moment allow your imagination, tethered and with sideboards on the back of the pickup, can you let your imagination wander for just a moment with care and with caution? Can you hear the command of God to Abraham to sacrifice his beloved, only begotten son, Isaac? I don't know about you, but it's frankly unimaginable to me. It's not unbelievable. It's just unimaginable. What kind of test is this? What kind of man must Abraham now be? What are the pages of Holy Scripture telling us of who God is and who I am in relationship to Him. You've already noticed the parallels along the way. I think there's more. I think this is probably a lifetime of examination. Notice in this narrative that at times Abraham represents himself. At times he represents God the Father. I think at times he represents the Son. and that meaning Jesus the Christ. At times, Abraham and Isaac are involved in the sacrifice, but at the end of the day, we learn because of the application of thought, the Father is doing everything necessary to provide the means for the sacrifice. Abraham is not saving himself by going on a journey. He's not saving himself by sacrificing his son. They've gone to the exact location, to the exact way in which it would be expected for a burnt offering to be given. It would have been expected. Here's the unimaginable. It would have been expected that for the preparation of a sacrificial lamb, that Abraham would have had to quarter up the lamb. He would have had to drain the blood from the lamb. He would have had to cut the body of the lamb up into sections. It's unimaginable to think that a father who loves his son would actually do such a thing. We must not be thinking here of the wicked who would do this as well. And they would be sinning to do it. So keep this in mind. God is not tempting Abraham to sin here. He's testing him. And in the testing, He's telling the glorious completion of Genesis chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 11, we learn some things about Sarah and Abraham. By faith, Hebrews 11, 11, by faith Sarah herself received ability to conceive even beyond the proper time of life. We already know this from the things that happened prior to this, right? So she conceived even beyond the proper time of life. And she has considered Him, or God, faithful, who had promised. Hebrews 11, verse 17, By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, he who had received the promise, was offering up his only begotten son, In Hebrews 11 verse 19, still more about Abraham, he considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. Abraham received Isaac back. Now he didn't die. Abraham did not sacrifice him. But the actions are as though he received him back to life. There's the narrative of the whole gospel story. What a glorious consideration here. Think of this from the We're not telling fables here. We're letting the narrative of a man's life tell us the gospel story. Think of it like this. Once upon a time, there was a very special man by the name of Abraham. He loved God very much and always tried to do what God asked. Abraham and his wife Sarah had waited for a long, long time to have a child. God had finally given them a son. They named him Isaac. Abraham loved Isaac. He loved him more than anything in the world. One day, God spoke to Abraham and said, Abraham, I want you to take your son Isaac to the land of Moriah. There you must offer him as a sacrifice for Me. Abraham's heart must have felt very heavy. He loved Isaac so much. But he also loved and trusted God. So even though it was hard, Abraham decided to obey God rather than his heart. Early the next morning, Abraham gathered wood for the sacrifice. He saddled his donkey and got off and set off with Isaac and the two servants for the land of Moriah. It was a long three-day journey. Abraham probably had many thoughts and feelings along the way. Isaac being curious, he asked his father, Father, we have the wood and the fire. Where is the lamb for the sacrifice? Abraham replied, God will provide the lamb, my son. When they reached the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar and he arranged the wood on it. And then with a heavy heart, he bound Isaac and laid him on the altar. Abraham reached for the knife, ready to obey God's command as the day in which he heard it. Well, just as Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, an angel of the Lord called out from heaven, Abraham! Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." Abraham must have held his son as though he had been resurrected from the dead. Abraham looked up and he saw a ram caught in the thicket of the thorns. He took the ram and he offered it up as a sacrifice instead of Isaac. So God was pleased with Abraham's obedience and his faithfulness. He blessed Abraham and promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand of the seashore. God also said that through Abraham's descendants, all the nations of the world would be blessed. So it seems fitting and right that Abraham would name this place the Lord will provide. So the story of Abraham and Isaac, it teaches us about faith. It teaches us about obedience and God's love and provision. Even when things are difficult, we can trust that God is with us and he will take care of us. And so you see the narrative of Abraham's near sacrifice of Isaac is a profound representation of God's love. Just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son God offered his only begotten, Jesus the Christ. The act of divine love here demonstrates the immeasurable depth of God's grace and his mercy, doesn't it? It is multifaceted. It speaks of faith and obedience, submission, and the unfathomable love of God. Again, the sacrifice is not dependent upon what you do. It's dependent upon your response. The Father did all the work, didn't he? He organized the journey. He gathered the wood. He had the elements necessary for the starting of a fire. He even provided a sufficient sacrifice. You're here together today There is no other way to think of this than God provided the lamb. He's done something that you could not have done for yourself.