The Lamb for You and Me - Genesis 22

The Lord Jesus made a statement about Abraham in John 8:56 that is a key to Genesis 22. Jesus said, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad." Now, how could Abraham, who lived centuries before the birth and ministry of the Lord Jesus, ever rejoice in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ? Well, certainly he saw the Lord Jesus in His birth when Isaac was born. Isaac was born miraculously—not a virgin birth, as with our Lord, but a miraculous birth. It came at the right time, came in the right manner, came because of the power—the resurrection power—of God. He saw the Lord Jesus Christ in Isaac's obedience to the death on the altar in Genesis 22. Now, Isaac did not die, but in a figure, according to Hebrews 11, in a figure, in a type, Isaac died and was raised from the dead, just like our Lord Jesus. And then, of course, in Genesis 24, we have a bride for Isaac, and so Abraham saw the bride for his son. And so Abraham saw our Lord’s day and rejoiced. I wonder, have you seen by faith the Lord Jesus Christ, and do you have His joy? 

Now, in Genesis 22, a very familiar chapter, Abraham takes his son Isaac and goes up to Mount Moriah, builds an altar, puts him on the altar, and is about to kill him when the Angel of the Lord stops him and God provides a ram to die for Isaac. Now, this chapter can be read on many different levels. It's a picture of testing—Abraham was certainly being tested by the Lord. The Lord tests us to bring out the best in us, and the devil tempts us to bring out the worst in us. It's a picture of how to handle suffering—have you ever thought of suffering as an act of worship? Abraham did. But Genesis 22, based on John 8:56, is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have Abraham, the loving father, willing to give his son. We have Isaac, the obedient son, willing to give his life. And in this event, we see Calvary. 

Now, in the Bible, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ is presented to us as substitution—not just as an example. You aren't saved by an example. You can bring a healthy person into a hospital ward and say, "Here's a great example of health"—that won't make people well. You can bring a brilliant person into a school where people are backward—that won't make them brilliant. No, we aren't saved by an example, although our Lord is an example for us to follow. The Lord Jesus did not die as an example, He did not die as a martyr. Martyrs are not forsaken by the Lord; Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" God doesn't forsake His martyrs. No, our Lord Jesus died as a substitute. Throughout Scripture, substitution is the emphasis when it comes to salvation. Somebody has to die in my place: the innocent dying for the guilty, the holy dying for the sinful. It all started, of course, in Genesis 3 when God killed animals and made coats of skin to clothe Adam and Eve. They had tried to clothe themselves with aprons made of leaves; God wouldn’t accept that. God said, "No, there has to be the shedding of blood." Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission for sin. And all through Scripture runs this crimson line of sacrifice and substitution. Jesus said He was going to give Himself as a ransom for many, Mark 10:45; He was going to pay a price. Now, lay hold of this: if you're going to be saved, you're going to be saved by a Savior, not who is an example or a teacher or a martyr, but a substitute. He took our place.

Now, Genesis 22, let's notice some discoveries about Calvary as we look at Abraham and Isaac going up to Mount Moriah. Discovery number one: we see the Father and the Son going together. This is the love that planned the cross. "And it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, 'Abraham.' And he said, 'Here I am.' And He said, 'Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.' So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son, and he split the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.'" Notice the faith there: "We will come back to you." "So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them went together." I like that little word "together." The two of them went together. The love that planned the cross. Now, we emphasize the love of God the Father—"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son"—but notice the love between the Father and the Son. Isaac was the beloved son: "your only son Isaac, whom you love." "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son," but notice they both went together, verse 6. In verse 8, "and the two of them went together." Please keep in mind that God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit work together. Both of them together. All of this was planned—your salvation, Calvary—before the foundation of the world. Acts 2:23, talking about Jesus, Peter says, "Him, being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God." All of this was planned beforehand. God works His plan, doesn't He? The Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth at the right time, in the right way, for the right purpose. "When the fullness of the time was come, God sent His Son." I would remind you that Jesus and the Father worked together all through His earthly ministry, climaxing with His sacrifice on the cross. John 10:17, Jesus says, "Therefore my Father loves me." That's a beautiful statement. "Therefore my Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again." We see the Father and the Son going together—the love that planned the cross. Jesus, in His high priestly prayer, said, "Father, glorify your Son... I have finished the work which you have given me to do," John 17:4. "God spared not His own Son," says Romans 8:32. "He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all." The Father and the Son going together—the love that planned the cross.

Secondly, let's look at the fire. You’ll notice in verse 6 that Abraham has the fire in his hand. The holiness that demanded the cross. The holiness that demanded the cross. Now, there are two frightening things in the father's hand: fire and a knife. That's interesting. The knife is the instrument of death; the fire is a symbol of divine judgment. God would send fire from heaven to bring judgment. When the sacrifice was first laid on the altar at the tabernacle, fire came down from heaven to devour it. When the sacrifices were made at the temple, fire came down from heaven to devour it. The fire speaks of divine holiness and judgment; the knife speaks of death. Now, the Lord Jesus died—He actually died. You see, you and I are not going to die in the same way He did. The Bible says we’re going to go to sleep. Because He died, He took the sting out of death. He turned death from an enemy into an instrument of accomplishing His will. You and I are going to go to sleep in the Lord Jesus; we’re going to have "departure," which means to go to be with the Lord Jesus. Now, this fire is the holiness of God. "Our God is a consuming fire," Deuteronomy 4:24. "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." This is repeated in the book of Hebrews 12:29: "Our God is a consuming fire." God cannot tolerate sin. Now, I'm wondering here if this fire has gotten through to your soul and your heart. Do you realize the holiness of God? God is light; in Him is no darkness at all, 1 John 1:5. Now, when Jesus went to the cross, He experienced the fire and the knife—not literally, of course, but spiritually speaking. He felt the fires of hell. He cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Now, the only place in all the universe where people are forsaken is hell. To put it rather bluntly, He experienced my hell. Calvary is proof that there is a place called hell. Whether we die in an auto accident or die of old age in our bed or die of some sickness, that's in the hands of God. But what happens after death—that's your decision. The knife you may not be able to escape, but the fire you can escape. And it's not just going to be a little torch; it's going to be a furnace of fire. In fact, John in the book of Revelation calls it a lake of fire. The Father and the Son—the love that planned the cross. The fire—the holiness that demanded the cross. 

Now, let's look at the wood. I think that the wood symbolizes the sin that required the cross. I recall hearing Dr. R.T. Ketcham, now home with the Lord, a great preacher, preaching on this passage, and he pointed out that this wood became a burden for Isaac. Now, Jesus did not carry the cross all the way to Calvary. You know why? He wasn't guilty. The prisoners carried the cross because they were guilty. But Jesus wasn't guilty. He started to carry it, and then it was given to Simon the Cyrenian. The Lord Jesus Christ did not carry the cross, but He did carry our sins. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all," Isaiah 53:6. Look at verse 6: "So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son." He carried the wood as a burden. Now, what does that wood symbolize? Well, I agree with Dr. Ketcham: it symbolizes to me the sin that Jesus bore for me. Sin is fuel for the fire of God. The Lord Jesus Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree, 1 Peter 2:24. He was made sin for us, 2 Corinthians 5:21. It's interesting to notice that wood is never again mentioned in Genesis, anywhere after this particular passage. Our sins are taken away; our sins are buried in the depths of the sea. 

Fourthly, the ram. Isaac did not die. Here the image, of course, has to change because Isaac could not die for somebody's sins. Jesus did die. No one could take the place of the Lord Jesus; there was none other good enough to pay the price for sin. He only could unlock the gates of heaven and let us in. The ram took the place of the son. Verse 13: "Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns." And so this ram became a substitute for Isaac. Now, it seems like a contradiction when Abraham said in verse 8, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." God did not provide the lamb; He provided a ram. However, the ram was a substitute. The answer is in John 1:29: "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Who is the lamb that Abraham said God would provide? That lamb is Jesus. "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." 

Now, Exodus 12, the circle gets bigger. We’ve had the sacrifice for the individual there in Genesis 3 and in Genesis 22. Now, in Exodus 12, we have the sacrifice for the household. Nine times in Exodus 12, you'll find "household" or "house." The setting, of course, is Egypt. The Jews are about to be delivered; it's the first Passover. "Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 'This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.'" A brand-new beginning. You know, when you meet the Lamb of God, it's a brand-new beginning. He takes away your sin, you're born again, it's a fresh new start with a new life and a new hope and a new future. The Jews actually had two calendars: they had a civil calendar that started in October, and a religious calendar that started in April. And here we're going to have the beginning of their religious calendar. "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.'" That is between the evenings, as it were. "'And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head and its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.'" 

There's nothing really complicated about this feast, the Feast of Passover. In chapter 11, the lamb is needed. Then in Exodus 12:1-5, the lamb is chosen. Verses 6 and 7, the lamb is slain. In verses 8 through 20, the lamb is eaten. The lamb is needed. Why? Because death is coming. My, what a picture of our world system today! There in the land of Egypt—bondage. Oh, how people are in bondage today! Bondage to sin. People think that sin means liberty: "I can do what I want to do." Oh, you can, but you can't change the consequences. You can jump off the roof of a tall building and say, "I'm free to fall," but you aren't free to live when you get to the other end. You cannot change the consequences. Bondage, darkness—death came at night. Oh, the darkness in our world today! Moral darkness. You read the newspapers, your heart gets so heavy at the moral darkness, the spiritual darkness. Bondage and darkness and death. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23. "The wages of sin is death," Romans 6:23. You'll notice that death came to the firstborn. God does not accept our first birth. You can go through Scripture and find that God rejects the first birth and chooses the second birth. He rejected Cain and chose Abel. He rejected Ishmael, Abraham’s firstborn, and chose Isaac. He rejected Esau and chose Jacob. And He will not accept my first birth; my first birth brings death. There has to be a second birth. The lamb was needed because death was coming to Egypt. Isn't it rather interesting? A meek little lamb was worth more than all of the wealth of Egypt. All of the money in Pharaoh's vaults could not purchase salvation. All of the strength in Pharaoh's army could not hold back the angel of death. All of the wisdom in the universities down in Egypt could not solve the problem. There's only one solution: the death of a lamb, the shedding of the blood, the applying of the blood to the door. The lamb needed. The lamb is needed today. Thank God the lamb has been slain, the blood has been applied, and you by faith in Jesus Christ can begin a new life. When God looks at you, does He see the blood applied in your life? Oh, the love that drew salvation's plan! Oh, the grace that brought it down to man! Oh, the mighty, mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary!