Genesis 22

Genesis 22:1-19. Abraham's Trial.

1,2. Yahaveh. Command.
3-10. Abraham. Journey.
11,12. Yahaveh. 1st call.
13,14. Abraham. The offering.
15-18. Yahaveh. 2nd call.
19. Abraham. Return.

(This chapter will present some very deep things, for God wants you to know and understand His emotions and feeling that He has for you, that He would sacrifice His son for you, to free you from the bondage and seal of death that is place on all sinners, that each of us can come back in fellowship with in, through the blood of His son, Jesus Christ. Though Abraham was willing to make the sacrifice, God was not willing that it be carried out through Isaac.)

Genesis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things (i.e. after 40 or 50 years in Cannan), that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, "Abraham:" and he said, "Behold, here I am."

(Tempt = prove, so Ex. 15:25; 16:4; 20:20. Deut. 8:2,16. Judg. 2:22; 3:1,4. Ecc. 2:1; 7:23. 1 Sam. 17:39. 1 Kings 10:1. 2 Chron. 9:1; 33:31. Ps. 26:2. Cp. Deut. 4:34-assayed. In later usage trial meant trouble. Wisd. 3:5; 11:10. Sir.2:1. Judith 8:24-27. Luke 8:13 [cp. Matt. 13:21]. Acts 20:19. Heb.2:18. 1 Pet. 1:6.

God is going to test and prove Abraham. God does not interfere in the lives of all, but if you are chosen for a task by Him, He will prove you also. When the test come upon you, are you going to run like a rabbit when it comes, or make a stand? God has His plan, if you are chosen to be an important part of that plan He will see how you stand up against adversity.)

about 1871 or 1863 B.C.

2 And He said, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest (note the reference to the Anti-type, Christ), and get thee into the land of Moriah;

(Moriah = shown or provided by God. Cp. 1 Chron. 21:22; 22:1. 2 Chron. 3:1.)

and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

(Christ crucified also on one of these mountains [Matthew 27:33].)

3 And

(And = the Figure of Speech Polysyndeton = many ands, emphasizing the calmness of Abraham's faith. Each "and" is to be noted, and each act weighed. There are 7 of these = Spiritual perfection.)

Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

4 Then on the third day

(#3 symbolic of resurrection, cp. v.5 "come again", 1st person plural. Exactly 3 days journey from Beer-sheba to Mriah. Gerizim is 2 days further.)

Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

5 And Abraham said unto his young men, "Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you."

(This was proof of Abraham's faith. 1st person plural, "We will come again.")

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son (cp. John 19:17); and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife;

(Without doubt fire from Abraham's altar 12:2; 13:4,18, and see 21:33, for God accepted a sacrifice only by fire from heaven.)

and they went both of them together.

(Cp. the Father and the Son Anti-type. Emphatic by repetition in v.8. John 10:30; 14:10,11; 16:33. The sinner is not seen in the type; his part is subsequent to this, namely to believe in the substitution. See Rom. 8:32. 2 Cor. 5:19)

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, "My father:" and he said, "Here am I, my son." And he (Isaac) said, "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

8 And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:" so they went both of them together.

(Isaac is about the age of twenty two, and he is now putting the whole thing together; and so he asks Abraham; "Where is the Lamb for the burnt offering?" He doesn't know, for Abraham hasn't told him yet. Now is the time to tell Isaac, so Abraham responded, "God will provide a lamb for a burnt offering." They then continued up the mount.)

9 And (see v.3) they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

(Isaac is also beginning to get the picture, but he also loves and trust his father Abraham, and YHVH).

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham:"

(Fig. of speech = Duplication. Cp. the 10 Duplications: A). 7 used by God to men; 22:11; 46:2. Ex. 3:4. 1 Sam. 3:10. Luke 10:41; 22:31. Acts 9:4; B). 3 under other circumstances: Matt. 7:21,22 [cp. Luke 6:46; 13:25]. Matt. 2:37 [cp. Luke 13:34]. Mark 15:34 [cp. Matt. 27:46. Ps. 22:1].)

and he said, "Here am I."

(God allowed Abraham to continue through the sacrifice to the point that the commitment had been made, yet, the life of Isaac had been spared. Then Yahaveh called out to Abraham, and Abraham heard God.)

12 And He said, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me."

(Neither would God withhold His only son from the sacrifice that would be made. Though God has many children, there is only one "begotten" of the Father, His name is Immanuel, the Messiah, the "Prince of peace"; Jesus the Christ. Jesus willingly went to that cross, only He knew that the Heavenly Father would not stop the sacrifice then, until it was completed; and the "lamb" [Jesus Christ] had been sacrificed, and the blood shed.

The loss of Isaac's life would not have paid that price for any sin, and thus the shedding of his blood would not happen, but Abraham had passed the test of complete faith and commitment to Yahveh, our Heavenly Father.) 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

(Here is the Doctrine of substitution, clearly stated.)

14 And Abraham called the name of that place Yahaveh-yireh:

(= Yahaveh will see, or provide. Do you believe that, or does doubt control your mind. God will provide, and you can count on that. When we enter times of great stress, and problems, and common sense tells us that we have done all that can humanly be done to stop it; that is the time to understand that testing you to see how well you trust Him, and believe that "God will provide" for you. So don't worry.)

as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen."

(So it was in 2 Sam. 24:25. 1 Chron. 21:26. 2 Chron. 7:1-3. And so it will be in the future.)

15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

(The first time was for substitution, the second was for revelation.)

16 And said, "By Myself have I sworn, saith the LORD,

(This oath is the foundation of Israel's blessings [24:7; 26:3; 50:24. Ex. 13:5,11; 33:1]. David's "sure mercies" all grounded on it [Ps. 89:36; 132:11. Cp. Luke 1:73].

This is the oath that God is making upon Himself, that will lay the very foundation of Israel, and Christianity, and even the foundation of the coming of His son, and the sacrifice that He would make. Here is that foundation.)

for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

(The "gate of his enemies" is the passage ways that the enemies go through to get to your lands, your homes and your peoples. God is telling us the He will give us the victory over all our enemies, for through God, it is us that controls our gates. When we look around the world there are many gates that our enemies must pass through to get to us, and Christian nations have controlled them all. The canals, the passage ways, the high grounds; and even in the case of Alaska, the passage way to our homeland from the far east and Russia, God has given to America that for such a small price. This is a promise to both the House of Israel [Christian Nations], and the House of Judah [Jews] that they would always posses the gates of their enemies.)

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice."

(Proof that the "Mystery" does not mean blessing of Gentiles as such: but the secret concerning Christ and the church [Eph. 5:32].)

19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

22:20-24. The Posterity of Nahor.

(Introduced here to lead up to Rebekah, the future wife of Isaac. Not proceeding further with Nahor's posterity. See how Abraham's history is broken up into 3 portions by 2 posterities, just as Isaac's and Jacob's histories are broken up.)

20 And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, "Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor (= snorting);

21 Huz (= light, sandy soil) his firstborn, and Buz (= contempt) his brother, and Kemuel (= congregation of God) the father of Aram,

22 And Chesed (= increased), and Hazo (= vision), and Pildash (= flame of fire), and Jidlaph (=weeping), and Bethuel (= dweller in God)."

23 And Bethuel begat Rebekah:

(= ensnarer. We will see that "Rebekah" was a very beautiful woman, bright and compassionate; she also was a humble person.)

these eight Milcah (= queen, or council) did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

(Nahor had 12 in all, as Ishmael had, and as Jacob had.)

24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah (= elevated), she bare also Tebah (= slaughter), and Gaham (= sunburnt), and Thahash (= badger), and Maachah (= oppression).

(So now we have the genealogy of Rebekah, who will be Isaac's wife and the mother of both Jacob [Israel], and Esau [red, or Rosh, or Russia].)

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