2023_02_20 Insight Post- Kim Feld

This year’s Bible reading plan aims to help us see God’s story of redemption throughout the Bible. From the beginning, He planned to restore our relationship with Him. As a result, we see glimpses of Jesus foreshadowing future things.

Genesis 22 tells a fantastic story of Abraham’s faith and trust in God. God had told Abraham that he would have a vast line of descendants, and after waiting many years, he finally saw the birth of his son, Isaac. But Genesis 22 also tells a story of God testing Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his beloved son. It seems unimaginable that God would ask this of Abraham, but Abraham’s immediate obedience is equally stunning. If we look at Abraham’s story as just about Abraham, we can view God’s command of him as callous and even cruel. But if we consider the story God’s story, which ALL of the Bible is, we see Abraham and Isaac taking part in a brilliant view of the future.

Theologians and Biblical scholars have made many connections between the story of Abraham and Isaac and God and Jesus.

• Isaac was Abraham’s beloved only son; Jesus was God’s.
• Jesus and Isaac had supernatural birth stories. Jesus was born of a virgin, and Isaac was born to a man and woman way beyond their child-conceiving years.
• Isaac’s birth and the birth of Jesus were announced long before their coming.
• The distance to the place of sacrifice for Isaac was a three-day journey; Jesus was in the tomb three days before His resurrection.
• Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Although Abraham was stopped before he could sacrifice Isaac, he received him back from the dead in a sense. Let’s look at Hebrews 11:17-19 (NLT):

¹⁷ It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, ¹⁸ even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” ¹⁹ Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.

Isaac was probably not a young boy when this happened. If you look at the end of Genesis 21 and the beginning of Genesis 22, we don’t know exactly how much time has passed, but Isaac was likely a young man. Scripture doesn’t indicate Isaac’s response to being tied and laid on the altar. Still, it seems that if he had wanted to resist, he could have overcome Abraham. The story gives the impression that Isaac obeyed Abraham willingly, just as Jesus followed His father willingly. But here’s where the similarities end. Jesus was crucified, but God provided a ram to take Isaac’s place. When we look at this as God’s story, we see the foreshadowing of a father giving His one and only son as a substitute for the punishment that should have been ours.

I’ve always been intrigued by these words in John 8 (NIV):

⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷ “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

⁵⁸ “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 

I don’t know when or how Abraham saw Jesus’ day, but the connections are striking to me. I’m praying that God opens my eyes to see things I have missed. I hope you will join me.