LAMB OF GOD

Locusts and Honey

1 Cor. 2:13

Vol. 9, Pt.3

The account of Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac is pivotal in understanding God’s plan of redemption.  God’s plan to save mankind is reflected in John 3:16 which says:  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but shall have eternal life.”  The account of Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice Isaac embodies and illustrates John 3:16 to us visibly and experientially.

Synopsis of the Abraham-Isaac Account.

This account is found in the 22^nd Chapter of Genesis.  God “tests” Abraham and instructs him to go to Mt. Moriah and offer Isaac as a burnt offering.  Abraham cuts wood for the offering and immediately goes a three day journey along with Isaac and two servants to Mt. Moriah.  Abraham takes the wood from his donkey and loads it on to the back of Isaac.  He also takes fire and a flint knife.  Isaac asks Abraham where the lamb for the sacrifice is and Abraham responds that God would supply the lamb.  They build the altar from the wood and Abraham binds Isaac and lays him on top of the altar.  He takes the knife to slaughter his son and the Angel of the Lord stops him.  Abraham looks up and sees a ram caught in a thicket by his horns and sacrifices the ram instead of Isaac.  God commends Abraham for his faith and willingness to sacrifice that which was dearest to him.

Isaac is a Symbol of the Coming Lamb of God

The name Isaac means “laughter.”  He was the son of promise.  God had promised Abraham and Sarah a son and heir.  When the child was promised, Sarah had laughed because she was about 90 and Abraham was about 100 years old.  There was at first the nervous laughter of unbelief at such a strange and impossible promise.  Later there was a laughter of joy as the child was born.  The Angel of the Lord says at Gen. 22:12, “…I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.”  I find it interesting because there was another son, Ishmael.  Ishmael was not the son of promise. Instead Ishmael was the issue of Abraham and Hagar, the maid of Sarah,  when Sarah and Abraham had concluded that it was impossible to have a child themselves.  The writers of the New Testament saw Isaac as being the son of Promise whereas Ishmael was the son of “works” or man’s efforts to accomplish the promises of God.

At any rate, Isaac is a symbol or “type” of Jesus Christ.   Below are some comparisons between Isaac and Jesus Christ.

Why did God specify Mt. Moriah?

One of the interesting questions is why God specified Mt. Moriah as being the place of sacrifice.  The sacrifice was to be done at a particular place.  In Gen. 22:2 God tells Abraham to go to the land of Moriah and offer up Isaac “on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”  The place was about 60 miles away and a three day journey for Abraham.  On the third day of the journey Abraham “lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.”  There are a number of reasons why the sacrifice is to be done at this particular location.  At Mount Moriah, God supplies the ram for the sacrifice.  Abraham will name the place “God will provide.”  (Gen. 22:14). 

In future years, this location will show up repeatedly.  Jews believe that when Jacob was fleeing the wrath of Esau and on his way to his relative Laban, it was at this location that he spent the night. Using a stone for a pillow, Jacob had a dream of angels ascending and descending on a ladder from God.

The name Moriah appeared a second time again in Scripture.  During the reign of King David, David against good advice demanded a census be taken.  For his sin, he is given the choice of three years of famine, three months being at the mercy of his foes or three days of the sword of the Lord bringing pestilence upon the land.  David chooses the pestilence.  As the pestilence continues, the Angel of the Lord with upraised sword is prepared to destroy Jerusalem.  The Lord relented from carrying out the destruction of Jerusalem and commands the angel saying “It is enough; now stay your hand.”  (2 Chron. 21:15; 2 Sam. 24:16).  The prophet Gad conveys a message to David that David is to build an altar there.  The land where the wrath of God ends is at the threshing floor of Arunah (Canaanite or Jebusite name).  Sometimes, the Hebrew or Jewish name of Ornan is used.  Arunah was the former Jebusite king who had once ruled Jerusalem.  King David does not appropriate the land but buys it for full price saying that it is not right to burn sacrifices to God which have cost him nothing.

David’s son Solomon built Solomon’s Temple at this location.  2 Chronicles 3:1 says, “Then Solomon began to build the house of the lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”

It was at this very location that the judging sword of the Angel of the Lord was stopped and peace had been made.  At this location, sacrifices were made at the Temple of Solomon.  It was at this location that the Temple would be restored after the Babylonian captivity and it was at this place that the animal sacrifices would be made at the Temple of Herod. 

The Lamb of God however, would not be sacrificed at this location.  As animal sacrifices were being made in Herod’s Temple during the Passover period, Jesus, the Lamb of God would be sacrificed in the near vicinity just outside the walls of Jerusalem. That which was considered to be unholy was always taken outside the gate of the camp.  Jesus took our sins upon himself and as he became sin, it was necessary that sin be taken “outside the camp.”  Scripture says that the Messiah was sacrificed “just outside the gate.” (Hebrews 13:10-14). The real sacrifice of the true Lamb of God happened just outside the walls of Jerusalem at a rock known as Golgotha meaning the “Skull.”  We know this place as Calvary.

They say in the real estate world that the important thing is “location, location, location.”  The command to Abraham as to where Isaac was to be sacrificed was not accidental or haphazard,  Instead it was “location, location, location.”  The place of sacrifice on Mt. Moriah looked both to the institution of the blood sacrifices at the Temple of God but it also looked more specifically to the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ whose blood covered the law and the judgment against man not just at Jerusalem but in the true temple of God where the real presence of God resides.

It will be provided.

Mt.Moriah was renamed by Abraham and became “The Lord will provide.”  Genesis 22:14 says, “So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided.”  The symbol of God’s provision for sin is “On the Mount of the Lord, it shall be provided.”  Abraham instead of sacrificing his own son, sacrificed a ram provided by God in place of his son.  At that same location in the time of David, sacrifices would be made in honor of the Angel of the Lord from sparing Jerusalem.  At that same location the Temple of Solomon would be built and sacrifices would be made to cover the sin of the Israelites.  Each year the atoning sacrifice would again be made (which shall be discussed in another edition).  After Solomon’s Temple was destroyed, eventually the restored Temple under Nehemiah would be built and regular and annual blood sacrifices would be made at that location.  Those sacrifices would continue at the very same location during the period of Herod’s temple, during the time of Christ and until the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by Titus in 70 A.D.

At the time of Christ, regular and annual sacrifices were still being made at Herod’s Temple.  The real sacrifice for the sin of mankind was made close by at the  mountain called The Place of the Skull or Golgotha very close at hand but just outside the city gates of Jerusalem.  Hebrews 13:11-14 says,

“ For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp”.  So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.  Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.  For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come”.

The author of Hebrews saw that Jesus suffered “just outside the gate.”  We too must go to Christ and join with him outside the gate.  There was no room for Christ to die inside the gate at the place where Abraham sacrificed Isaac and where the sacrifices pointing toward his sacrifice for us were carried out by religion.  Legalism also usurps the place rightfully belonging to God and reality.

It is amazing to me that God saved Abraham from actually having to sacrifice his son.  Instead God provided a replacement for Abraham.  It is further amazing to me that when it came to God making the sacrifice of his only begotten (or unique) son, there was absolutely no possibility for a replacement.  Instead, God did what he prevented Abraham from having to do.  There was no ram or lamb or other sacrifice for Jesus Christ.  Only the sinless blood of Jesus would do to cover the sins of mankind.  There were no replacements and no substitutes.  Only the real thing would do.

Therefore the name “It will be provided” is the appropriate name for what happened and what would happen in the future.  God would provide his only son for sins.  Man could not do it.  Man was a sinner.  Instead, God provided the sacrifice on man’s behalf.  God redeemed man from his trespasses and his sins.  God made provision for mankind’s fatal error in the Garden and God paid the price for mankind’s error.

The resurrection was pictured by Isaac walking away from his “near death” experience.  However, in the case of Christ, the sacrifice had to be actually made.  There were no substitutes.  As John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son….”  The love of God for us was not just in words but in deeds.  There was a real sacrifice of the ONLY begotten son.  Only real death and real sinless blood would work.  Man can only sit back and watch like Abraham did when God struck a covenant with him.

Atonement and Reconciliation

We have previously discussed atonement and will discuss it again here and in future editions.  Remember the “atonement” brings us back to God.  It is “at-one-ment.”  We also use the word “reconciliation.”  We were separated from God through our sins.  God reconciled man to himself through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ which was pictured in the past by the sacrifice of blood (and life) from sinless animals.  These sacrifices were a promise of the real sacrifice which was made through the sacrifice of Christ.

Through the sacrifice of Christ, God reconciled the world to himself.  Jesus who knew no sin had to become sin for us.  At the same time, we who were sinners, put on the righteousness of God.  There is an exchange.  Christ bears our sin and we are restored to relationship with God.  We can put on the coats of righteousness.  We no longer are consigned to wear the fig-leaves of our own efforts, or the skins of animals which died so that we might be covered.  Instead, we are clothed by the Lamb of God and our covering is now the garments of praise and the clothing of righteousness.

Our reconciliation to God through Christ, who is both the son of Man and the Son of God, is described at 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 which says:

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself

and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is in Christ

God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their

trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

We implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,

so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.

Human Sacrifice in the Old Testament

God graciously gives salvation.  God gave his only son, Jesus Christ, to make provision for us.  Satan and religion demand religious acts and demand sacrifice of innocent blood.  However, that innocent blood often involves the innocent blood of real people and real children. 

Satan comes to “kill, steal and destroy.”  (1 Peter 5:8).  Satan hates people.  Perhaps it is because mankind is granted the opportunity of fellowship with God which is a situation which Satan has already despised and rejected.  There is no mercy and no kindness in Satan.  Instead there is hatred, jealousy, pride and the vices of the flesh.

There have always been alternative religions to Judaism and Christianity.  Satan has an alternative.  There is an alternative church, alternative nations, alternative leaders and alternative religions.

During the time of the Hebrews, God warned the Jews not to adopt the religious practices of the surrounding people who worshipped false gods.  Instead of listening and obeying God, the Jewish people in many instances turned to the religious practices of their pagan neighbors.

Some of these religions involved the worship of Baal and the worship of Molech and these religions required the sacrifice of children.

Despite the account of Abraham and Isaac, God was very clear about the sacrifice of children as required by false religions.   Both the Moabites, Canaanites, and Phoenicians all worshiped gods such as Baal and Molech who required the sacrifice of children, especially the first born.  In Israel, the first born was dedicated to God.

The Levitical law prohibited the sacrifice of children.  Leviticus 18:27 says, “You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.”  Deuteronomy 12:31 says, “You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.”  Leviticus 20:2 states, “You shall also say to the sons of Israel: Any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech, shall surely be put to death….” 

The Israelites prostituted themselves with the gods of their neighbors.  They adopted their foreign gods, they also adopted idolatrous practices like human sacrifice.  Part of these practices included having their sons and daughters “pass through the fire.”  (See 2 Kings 17:17), We have some indication of what “passing through the fire” meant from Carthaginian sacrificial practices in North Africa where small children were placed on the extended arms of the Bull God Molech and rolled down into a pit of fire to their death as drums were beat loudly to extinguish the crying of the children.

The sacrifices of children also occurred in Judah especially after Solomon allowed his pagan wives to build altars for their foreign religions.  Some of the Kings of Judah accepted these false religions and practiced child sacrifice as well.  We know that King Ahaz of Judah (Son of King Joram) made his son pass through the fire.  (See 2 Kings 16:3 and 2 Chronicles 28:3).  Likewise evil king Manasseh of Judah caused his son to pass through the fire. (2 Kings:21:6 and 2 Chronicles 33:6).

Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel attributed child sacrifice as being one of the many things which brought God’s judgment upon Israel and Judah.  (See Jer. 7:31; Jer. 32:35; Ezek. 16:21; 20:31).

In Jeremiah 19:5 God says that the Jews, “… have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind….”

When it comes to the sacrifice of children, secular materialism through such practices as abortion, has made the flow of innocent blood by pagan religions seem paltry by comparison.  In the past, God has Judged nations due to the sacrifice of innocent blood.  It seems to me to be unreasonable that God would judge the evil practices of the past and then excuse them today because the practices are advocated by secularists as opposed to pagan religions.

Conclusion

In summary, Satan has come to enslave mankind through the imposition of impossible demands.  He delights in killing, stealing and destroying.  Satan delights in the death of the innocent.    There is no mercy in Satan or in the law.  In these pagan religions, you give of your first born.  Your children and your flesh and blood are demanded.  In Christianity, we are saved by grace.  You do not provide the sacrifice which brings peace with God.  Instead, it is the Lord who provides the ram to redeem Isaac and it is God who provides his son the Lamb of God for your redemption. 

In our next edition of Locusts and Honey we will take a look at the Passover Lamb.