Genesis 22

Sacrifice and salvation...

Previous post: Genesis 21

Well, we’ve made it to yet another supremely uncomfortable chapter in the Bible. The God of the universe, who created man in his image and loves him, promises a child to a barren woman. He makes good on that promise. Then, the very next chapter, God commands the father—to whom he made said promise—to kill his son…the son of the promise.

By any rational standard…emotionally, theologically, etc….at first glance, this chapter makes no sense. Absolutely no sense. So, what is happening here?

Fortunately, God paints the picture immediately.

Vs. 2. “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah.” (ESV)

Vs. 6. “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son.” (ESV)

Fast forward a few thousand years. We see the exact same image again.

Matthew 3:17 “and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.’” (NIV) This verse is echoed in Mark 1:11 and Luke 3:22

John 19:17: “Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).” (NIV)

Genesis 22:7-8 “‘The fire and wood are here,’ Isaac said, ‘but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’

Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’” (NIV)

John 1:29 and 36: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (NIV)

As soon as God held back the hand of Abraham, he committed to the death of his own son, Jesus.

That’s the picture he’s trying to paint. A God of the universe who created Abraham and Isaac knew what the response of Abraham would be. This wasn’t a situation where God was sitting up in Heaven nervously waiting to see what Abraham would choose. This wasn’t a test so much as it was an illustration. For the blessing to come, ultimate sacrifice must be made. Sin must be atoned for. Debt must be paid. The problem of evil must be resolved. Accounts must be reconciled. And, God will provide the lamb. And, humans will kill him with their hands. And all of humanity will feel the same relief/joy Abraham felt as he experienced grace of a God who atoned for his sins for him.

Holding Abraham’s hand back from his son meant releasing God’s hand on his own son. Sparing Isaac meant condemning Jesus.

Killing Isaac would have killed the line. It would have put a nail in the genealogy of Jesus. It would have destroyed the promise. In other words, killing Isaac would have doomed humanity, spared Jesus, and killed the promise. Sparing Isaac saves humanity, kills Jesus, and fulfills the promise.

That’s the illustration.

I’ve been watching old seasons of the TV show Alone. If you haven’t seen the show, here’s the premise: 10 contestants are dropped off in a remote location of the world with limited supplies and no camera crew. Whoever survives on their own the longest wins. One thing that has struck me is the deep need for humanity to do something with the wrongness inside of them…the sin in their lives. It seems that every contestant who remains past the first few days, regardless of their religion, wrestles with their inner demons. Left alone with their thoughts long enough, they feel a need to repent or make right the wrong in their lives. They feel a need to do something with that remorse. They feel like they have a debt that needs to be paid. I think that is something that is fundamental to humanity. We all have some sense of wrong and right. And, we all have some deep inner need to reconcile the badness in us.

To me, that’s the power of Genesis 22. It reaches into that deep need and says, “You’re right.” There is a need to reconcile that. And, the price is high. In fact it’s higher than you can imagine. Imagine a son whom you’ve not only hoped for for decades, but built a relationship with for years after the rejoicing of his unlikely birth. Imagine that the blood of something that pure and good…a source of total joy in your life, must be sacrificed to make things right. In other words, something must die so that you might live. And you know what, all of life reiterates this. That’s pretty much how food works, right? Whether carnivore or vegetarian, every time we eat we are reminded that some animal or plant must die so that we might live. In fact, often times the more pure the thing that dies, the more abundant the life it gives. It’s as if God built the illustration into creation and nature itself.

To me, that’s Genesis 22 in a nutshell. God is showing Abraham that the pathway to life is via the death of the purest, most beautiful thing. And, he’s doing it in a way Abraham will never forget…in a way no one will ever forget: telling him to lay his beloved son upon some wood and sacrifice him.

This week’s AI rap summary:

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™