https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/SacrificeOfIssac.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Genesis 22:1-14<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. There are stories that cause some concern because they involve the concept of sacrificing\na human being to God.\n A. They cause concern because the Bible is very clear about God’s opinion on human\nsacrifices.\n
B. The slaying of humans invokes a death sentence – Genesis 9:5<\/p>\n C. False gods were worshiped with human sacrifices, but not the true God –\nDeuteronomy 12:29-32\n
1. Leviticus 18:21 – To do so would profane the Lord’s name<\/p>\n
2. Jeremiah 7:31, 32:35 – God never even thought of allowing such a thing<\/p>\n
II. Most are familiar with the sacrifice of Isaac – Genesis 22:1-14<\/p>\n
A. Abraham was asked to offer his only son to God.<\/p>\n 1. This was the child Abraham had waited 25 years for during his old age.\nIsaac was not born until Abraham had reached the age of 100.\n 2. This was the child through whom God had promised to bring great\nblessings upon Abraham. – Genesis 17:19\n
3. Here then are two contradictions in God’s command. <\/p>\n a. The child is to die before he has children. Yet, with this child’s\nchildren would be an everlasting covenant.\n
b. God abhors human sacrifices, yet He asks for one of Abraham<\/p>\n 4. It is these contradictions that hint there is something more here than the\nsimple obvious facts.\n a. Later we are told how Abraham resolved the conflict within\nhimself – Hebrews 11:17-19\n
b. Here Abraham demonstrates his great faith. <\/p>\n (1) He trusted God even when God seemed to contradict His\nown statements.\n
(2) It wasn’t a blind faith, but one that was well reasoned.<\/p>\n c. Abraham believed he would return with Isaac before he walked up\nthe mountain – Genesis 22:5\n
5. In truth, it is a foreshadowing of the later sacrifice of God’s only son<\/p>\n
B. Isaac was called the lamb for the offering – Genesis 22:7<\/p>\n
1. Jesus too was called the lamb of God – John 1:36<\/p>\n
2. Redeemed by the blood of a precious lamb – I Peter 1:18-19<\/p>\n
C. Isaac carried the wood for his own sacrifice – Genesis 22:6<\/p>\n
1. Jesus carried his own cross – John 19:17<\/p>\n
D. They traveled three days to the place of sacrifice<\/p>\n
1. Why so far?<\/p>\n a. Some see this as part of the test of Abraham’s faith. He was given\nplenty of time to change his mind.\n
b. Yet, perhaps there is something more here<\/p>\n 2. The place they went was a mountain in the land of Moriah, known as\nJehovah-jireh (The Lord will provide).\n a. Moriah is only mentioned one other place in the Bible. It was the\nmountain where the temple was built – II Chronicles 3:2\n b. Jesus died outside the gates of the city of Jerusalem. The city\nwhere the temple was located. Jesus died on a mountain of Moriah.\n
3. Abraham’s sacrifice began the day he left home. <\/p>\n a. He had given up his son Isaac for three days before he actually\nplaced Isaac on the altar – before God restored his son to him by\nhalting the sacrifice.\n
b. Jesus spent three days in the grave before God restored him to life.<\/p>\n
III. There is more here than we first notice.<\/p>\n
A. A story is being played out in advance of the real story.<\/p>\n
B. God asks for Isaac to be a burnt offering, but He did not require his actual death.<\/p>\n 1. Later in the Law of Moses, a burnt offering is one offered for sin –\nLeviticus 1:4\n 2. It is called a “soothing aroma” because it turned away God’s wrath –\nLeviticus 1:17\n 3. It was a whole offering because what was offered was completely given –\nDeuteronomy 33:10\n C. Yet, because Abraham had given over his son to God, it was an acceptable\noffering – Genesis 22:16-18\n
D. What we see is a foreshadow of God’s own offer of His Son for the world<\/p>\n
1. His sacrifice was sin offering – Hebrews 9:24-10:3; 13:10-14<\/p>\n 2. His sacrifice was a burnt offering, even though he was not burnt –\nEphesians 5:2, this is because he gave himself wholly over to God to\nappease God’s wrath.\n E. From before the foundations of the world, God planned a way to save you from\nthe sins you bound yourself in. He gave the ultimate sacrifice on your behalf – I\nPeter 1:18-21\n
F. What will you do with Jesus?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Genesis 22:1-14 I. There are stories that cause some concern because they involve the concept of sacrificing a human being to God. A. They cause concern because the Bible is very clear about God’s opinion on human sacrifices. B. The slaying of humans invokes a death sentence – Genesis 9:5 C. False gods…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[23,37,24,38,272],"class_list":["post-63413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-abraham","tag-apologetics","tag-isaac","tag-morality","tag-sacrifices"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62764,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/human-sacrifices\/","url_meta":{"origin":63413,"position":0},"title":"Human Sacrifices?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Judges 11:29-40 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are two stories that cause some concern because they involve the concept of sacrificing a human being to God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They cause concern because the Bible is very clear about God\u2019s opinion on human sacrifices. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The slaying of humans invokes a death\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92741,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-isaac-want-to-bless-esau\/","url_meta":{"origin":63413,"position":1},"title":"Why did Isaac want to bless Esau?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hey there. Regarding Genesis 27. Why does Isaac intend to bless Esau when the prophetic voice had already declared, \"The older shall serve the younger\" (Genesis 25:23)? Also, why does Isaac twice indicate that he suspects that Jacob is pulling a trick on him, yet does nothing? It seems\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":815,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-old-was-isaac-when-he-was-offered-up-to-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":63413,"position":2},"title":"How old was Isaac when he was offered up to God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How old was Isaac when he was to be sacrificed? Answer: The Bible does not give a specific age, but there are events surrounding Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac which gives us clues. Most scholars believe that Isaac was in his late teens or early twenties at the time of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":410,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/410-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":63413,"position":3},"title":"How were Isaac and Jacob blessed?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 19, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How were Isaac and Jacob blessed? Answer: In the times of the Old Testament children could inherit two things from their parents: property and a blessing. If your parents had three children, then on their death their property was divided four ways (one more than the number of living\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29388,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-mahalath-a-canaanite-and-did-esau-marry-her-to-get-back-at-his-father-isaac\/","url_meta":{"origin":63413,"position":4},"title":"Was Mahalath a Canaanite and did Esau marry her to get back at his father, Isaac?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was Mahalath a Canaanite and did Esau marry her to get back at his father, Isaac? Answer: \"When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a grief of mind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9561,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-isaac-come-off-of-the-mountain-with-abraham-after-the-sacrifice-of-the-ram\/","url_meta":{"origin":63413,"position":5},"title":"Did Isaac come off of the mountain with Abraham after the sacrifice of the ram?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Did Isaac come off of the mountain with Abraham after the sacrifice of the ram? Answer: The answer is logically \"yes.\" Isaac is mentioned many times after the sacrifice recorded in Genesis 22, so he must have come down from the mountain. In addition, before climbing the mountain, Abraham\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63413\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}