Blog | Feb 20, 2010 | 2 Comments

Jesus in the story of Isaac and Abraham

I was reading Galatians and came across the section on the 2 sons of Abraham (Galations 4:21-31). I had never read this or stopped enough to meditate on it at least. I love how Paul used the Old testament as an illustration to show the freedom we and the jewish people under the law have in Jesus. Here’s how the story goes, Abraham had 2 sons, one through his slave Hagar and one through Sarah. One son born as a result of sin and through a slave, Ishmael, and one son through the marriage of Abraham and Sarah free and promised by God. He was named Isaac. Jesus came along the family line that started not in sin but freely within the covenant of marriage and as promised by God.

Isaac was born into the line of Jesus so its fitting he would be used as a echo of the messiah’s death when God tests Abraham in offering his son Isaac. Here’s some parallels I found in Genesis 22:

• God tells Abraham, “take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love…” God took his only son whom he loved (Matthew 17) and sacrificed him.
• Abraham took Isaac and 2 helpers. This parallels Jesus and the 2 others crucified next to Him.
• It took 3 days for Abraham to get to the place of ascending. Jesus ascended from death and Hell on the third day.
• Abraham and Isaac rode a donkey to the mountain in the land of Moriah (hebrew for “hill country” or “the lord is my teacher” or “the land of the vision”). Jesus road into Jerusalem on a donkey and was crucified on a mountain called Golgotha.
• Isaac carried his wood for the offering up the mountain. Jesus carried his wooden cross up to Golgotha.
• Isaac asks where the lamb is for the offering and Abraham answers, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” This statement is prophetic as God did provide the Lamb for the sacrifice of all of our sins. Interestingly, God provided a ram, instead of a lamb and instead of Isaac, possibly because it leaves it open for the fulfillment of the Lamb, Jesus, to be sacrificed.
• Abraham placed Isaac “on top of the wood”. Jesus died on top of a wooden cross.
• After God spared Isaac, Abraham named the place “The Lord will Provide”. This could mean He would provide the Lamb, Jesus, for the offering.
• God says “ALL the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring.” Jesus has given us the ultimate blessing of freedom from sin through His sacrifice on the cross and eternal life through belief in Him.

There are probably even more parallels to Jesus in this little section of Genesis if I delved deeper. I love these little hints of Jesus in the Old Testament. I love that God spares Isaac, Abrahams only son by blood, yet offers His only Son, Jesus, the Son of God, for the ultimate sin offering. Also, the highest mountain in “the land of Moriah” could possibly be Golgotha where Jesus was crucified. The land of Moriah is the area in and around Jerusalem.

What happened to the child born through sin and from a slave, Ishmael? God shows his redemptive character as he saves him from hunger in the desert and tells Ishmael he will make a nation from his offspring. Later in Genesis it talks of 12 tribes of Ishmael.

Thank you Lord for being a God of redemption and love!

Author: Calvin Hanson

My wife and I are currently staffing a Discipleship Training School (DTS) through Youth with a Mission (YWAM). We both love God and are committed to following his will. I enjoys taking photographs of my travels as well as blogging about awesome things God does. To see more photos, visit our gallery. More about Calvin and Camille

2 Comments

Wow that is amazing! I love that stuff… Thanks for sharing what God gave you! The deeper I know God the more I see in those stories, waaahoooo! Go God who is never boring!

Melo

2/21/2010

Such amazing parallels and revelations…thanks for sharing!!!

cam

2/22/2010

Leave a Reply

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail