TYPES AND SHADOWS | 03 | The Ram Sacrifice
Perhaps one of the most astonishing stories in Genesis is the story of Abraham’s great test. I’ve been familiar with this tale for most of my life, reading it as a kid and looking at pictures in Bible storybooks.
Still, I was not familiar with the depth of mysteries contained in this simple story until adulthood. Today, we are taking a trip to Genesis 22:1–19. See HERE.
Abraham and Isaac: The Father and The Son
In the first episode of TYPES AND SHADOWS, we reflected on the story of Isaac’s wedding in Genesis 24 and explained how Abraham and Isaac have a relationship that reflects some truth about God’s relationship with Jesus Christ.
Seeing that today’s lesson takes place even before this event, perhaps we should have kicked off from here. It is important to remember just how significant Isaac was in Abraham’s life.
Isaac was a focal point of God’s relationship with Abraham during the early years. He was promised a son and waited for the son for more than two decades before the fulfilment of the promise.
We also need to recognize that at this point in Abraham’s life, Isaac was already a growing young man. This is evident in his ability to carry the wood and to have a conversation with his father about the sacrifice (see verses 6–8). Isaac was old enough to be familiar with the requirements for sacrifices and had most likely sacrificed to God with his father before this time.
The first reason for pointing out the above is to emphasize the relationship that must have developed between Father and Son. I am not saying it would have been easy to sacrifice Isaac as a baby, but, one cannot compare Abraham’s attachment to baby Isaac to the attachment he must have developed with the son as a young man.
Yet, Abraham was willing to give Him up for God. Abraham was stopped by God in the act (verse 10) and even the book of Hebrews 11:18–19 tells us that he believed that God was able to raise him from the dead.
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. — Genesis 22:6–8 (English Standard Version)
The second reason for pointing out my earlier observation is to speak about an unsung hero in this story — Isaac. It is easy to notice Abraham’s willingness to make the sacrifice but we often forget that Isaac was also willing to die. Regardless of the answer that Abraham gave Isaac, it must become abundantly clear to Isaac that he was the object of sacrifice as they progressed on the journey. Still, he offered himself.
This relationship between these two men is a shadow of the relationship between our heavenly father and Jesus Christ. God sent Jesus to us, but we must never forget that Jesus also willingly gave himself for us.
Mount Moriah, The Temple & Golgotha
The story starts with God telling Abraham to journey to Mount Moriah to sacrifice Isaac to God. Little did Abraham know (or perhaps He did as we will come to see) how significant this place will become in history. Various historical and theological conversations can be had around the subject of Mount Moriah but for the sake of this writing, I will mention two of significance.
Firstly, it is important to note that Solomon built the temple on this Mountain.
Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. — 2 Chronicles 3:1 (King James Version)
Secondly, the crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus took place in the same region of Moriah. In verse 14 of this story, Abraham says this:
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 first half of that statement spoke about what God had done. However, the second half of the statement speaks of something that God was going to do in future. This further shows us beautiful similarities between Isaac and Jesus because over 2000 years before Jesus’s death, Isaac also carried the wood that was to be used to sacrifice him.
On a final note, these three significant events represent three times when God affirms his commitment to a specific set of people and assures them of his presence.
For Abraham, it was the place of assurance of his covenant with him and his descendants. For Solomon, it was an assurance of his presence with the people of Israel. For our Lord Jesus Christ, it was the place where the price for our sins was paid and we received access to the presence and promises of God all who believe.
The Ram in The Thicket
Most Christians are familiar with the description of Jesus as ‘lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world’. We also need to point out that Abraham and Isaac both referred to a lamb. Still, it is quite curious that God sent a ram and not a lamb.
Before we speak about this, the primary focus of this section is the message of substitution. Isaac in this story has dual representation — Jesus and the rest of humanity. We have already examined him as a shadow of Jesus.
On the human front, Isaac was replaced on the sacrificial altar by the ram in the same way that Christ took our place on the cross. Christ bore the entire wrath of God and took the punishment for our sins.
Circling back to the ram, it is important to remember that young sheep are called lambs. Adult male sheep are rams and female sheep are ewes. God sent a ram because He was not sending a child to die for us but a mature son.
It is also worthy of note that horns usually represented kingship and glory in the culture and society of the time of Christ.
Therefore, the same way the horns of the ram were caught in a thicket; a crown of thorns was placed on the head of our Saviour as He paid the ultimate price for our sins.
