Genesis Chapter 22
Abraham Is Willing to Offer Isaac
A. God’s Command to Abraham and His Response
1. (Genesis 22:1–2) God Tests the Faith of Abraham
“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then 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.’”
God tested Abraham, not to produce faith but to reveal it. The Lord had been shaping Abraham’s faith over the years through trials and blessings, molding him into a man who fully trusted God. This test was the culmination of that process, exposing the depth of Abraham’s trust in God’s promises. As Charles Spurgeon wrote, “I cannot imagine a greater test than that which the Lord applied to Abraham. The Jews usually say that Abraham was tried ten times. Surely on this occasion he was tried ten times in one.”
When God called, Abraham immediately responded, “Here I am.” This simple yet profound statement reveals readiness and submission. Abraham was prepared to listen, obey, surrender, and be examined by God. A heart of faith does not argue with God’s call but stands ready to respond.
When God said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac,” it was significant that He referred to Isaac as Abraham’s only son. Though Abraham had another son, Ishmael, God’s covenant promise rested solely with Isaac. In God’s eyes, Ishmael had been set aside from the covenant line (Genesis 21:8–14). Spiritually and covenantally, Isaac alone was the son of promise.
This passage marks the first occurrence of the word “love” in the Bible: “your only son Isaac, whom you love.” This is no coincidence, for it appears in the context of a father’s love for his son and is tied to the concept of sacrificial offering. The Holy Spirit intentionally establishes this as a prophetic picture pointing forward to God the Father’s love for His Son, Jesus Christ, who would be offered as the ultimate sacrifice for sin.
Every phrase of God’s command must have pierced Abraham’s heart like a blade:
“Take now your son.”
“Your only son Isaac.”
“Whom you love.”
“Offer him there.”
“As a burnt offering.”
The burnt offering was not one where the victim was burned alive but where its life was first taken by sacrifice, and then its body was entirely consumed by fire as a symbol of total surrender to God.
Abraham, who had lived among the Canaanites, would have been familiar with their abominable practice of human sacrifice. Yet Abraham had always believed that Yahweh was different from the pagan gods of the land. When God commanded him to offer Isaac, Abraham may have wondered if the Lord was like the false gods around him. By the end of this test, however, Abraham would learn that Yahweh was utterly unlike them—He would ultimately provide the substitute Himself.
It is worth noting that the world has always resisted submission to divine command. Jack Smith, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, once wrote that if God told him to do such a thing, he would tell God to mind His own business. That sentiment reflects the attitude of fallen man toward the sovereignty of God.
Tragically, there have been deranged individuals who misunderstood this passage. For example, in 1993, a man named Andrew Cate committed a horrific act, claiming he was reenacting the story of Abraham and Isaac. Such actions are born of madness or demonic deception, not of faith. The biblical event of Genesis 22 was a unique, divinely orchestrated moment in redemptive history—never to be repeated. Its very conclusion proves that God never desired human sacrifice, but rather foreshadowed His own provision of the Lamb.
Another profound layer of the test is that it seemed to contradict God’s own promise. The Lord had declared, “In Isaac your seed shall be called” (Genesis 21:12). How could the covenant continue if Isaac was to die before having children? Abraham was being asked to reconcile obedience to God’s command with faith in God’s promise. This trial forced him to trust the Promiser rather than the promise itself. When believers cling to the promise rather than to the One who made it, they risk turning the blessing into an idol. Abraham had to learn that obedience to God is never in conflict with His ultimate plan. As Spurgeon wrote, “It is neither your business nor mine to fulfill God’s promise, nor to do the least wrong to produce the greatest good. To do evil that good may come is false morality, and wicked policy. For us is duty, for God is the fulfillment of His own promise.”
Finally, God commanded Abraham to go “to the land of Moriah… on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” The Lord specified a precise place for the test. Every detail was divinely ordered. The mountain range of Moriah would later include the site of Jerusalem, where the Temple would be built and, centuries later, where Jesus Christ would be crucified—the ultimate fulfillment of this prophetic picture.
2. (Genesis 22:3) Abraham’s Immediate Response of Faith
“So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and 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.”
Abraham’s response was immediate. He rose early in the morning, without delay or protest. The text gives no indication of hesitation or argument. Though the night before must have been filled with anguish, Abraham wasted no time in obeying. His faith was not dependent on his emotions or his understanding but upon his absolute trust in the character of God.
His obedience revealed several crucial truths about genuine faith. First, faith obeys even when it does not understand. Many demand full comprehension before obedience, but that posture elevates human reason above divine revelation. Second, faith obeys without consulting others. Abraham did not seek counsel or attempt to delay the inevitable through discussion. Third, faith obeys regardless of emotion. Scripture makes no mention of Abraham’s feelings, not because he was cold-hearted, but because he walked by faith and not by sight. As Spurgeon observed, “There is not a word of argument; not one solitary question that even looks like hesitation. ‘God is God,’ he seems to say, and it is not for me to ask Him why, or seek a reason for His bidding. He has said it: I will do it.”
Over decades, God had trained Abraham for this moment. The separation from Ishmael, the long years of waiting for Isaac, and every step of Abraham’s pilgrimage had prepared him for this supreme test. Each trial was part of God’s refining process, forging his faith to withstand even the most excruciating demand.
It is telling that Abraham personally “saddled his donkey” and “split the wood for the burnt offering.” Though he had many servants who could have done this work, he performed these tasks himself. His hands-on preparation demonstrated both reverence and resolve. Spurgeon captures the poignancy of this moment: “He was a sheik and a mighty man in his camp, but he became a wood-splitter, thinking no work menial if done for God, and reckoning the work too sacred for other hands. With splitting heart he cleaves the wood—wood for the burning of his heir! Wood for the sacrifice of his own dear child!”
Abraham then “went to the place of which God had told him.” Each step was deliberate and obedient. He did not substitute his own ideas or question God’s instructions. Even though it would have been far easier to offer himself in place of Isaac, Abraham obeyed exactly as commanded. His faith trusted that the God who had given Isaac miraculously could just as easily raise him from the dead if necessary (Hebrews 11:17–19).
B. Abraham’s Offering of Isaac
1. (Genesis 22:4–8) Abraham Journeys to the Place of Sacrifice with Isaac
“Then on the third day Abraham lifted 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.’ 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. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ Then he said, ‘Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ And Abraham said, ‘My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’ So the two of them went together.”
Abraham and Isaac traveled three long days before reaching the appointed place of sacrifice. This prolonged journey deepened the test of faith. The region of Moriah, mentioned here, is historically and biblically significant, for Second Chronicles 3:1 states, “Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.” This confirms that Mount Moriah, where Abraham was commanded to offer Isaac, is the same location that would later become Jerusalem — the very site where Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would be sacrificed for the sins of the world.
Abraham’s three-day journey gave him much time to wrestle within his heart and to meditate upon what God had commanded. As Spurgeon insightfully observed, “To be burnt quick to death upon the blazing fagot is comparatively an easy martyrdom, but to hang in chains roasting at a slow fire, to have the heart hour by hour pressed as in a vice, this it is that trieth faith; and this it was that Abraham endured through three long days.” Abraham suffered in the waiting, but his faith held firm.
When they arrived, Abraham told his servants, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” This is the first mention of the word worship in the Bible in direct relation to God. The Hebrew term shachah means “to bow down” or “to prostrate oneself.” Abraham and Isaac were not going to the mount for joyous singing but for reverent surrender to the will of God. True worship is not primarily about emotion, but submission. Abraham described his act of obedience — the most painful of his life — as worship.
Abraham’s faith shines through his words, “We will come back to you.” Though God had commanded him to offer Isaac, Abraham declared that both he and his son would return. This was not a guess or a hopeful statement, but a declaration of faith in God’s promise. He did not assume that God would halt the act at the last moment, but rather that God would raise Isaac from the dead if necessary. He trusted that God would remain faithful to His word in Genesis 21:12, where He said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”
As Spurgeon wrote, “If Isaac shall die, there is no other descendant left, and no probabilities of any other to succeed him; the light of Abraham will be quenched, and his name forgotten.” Yet Abraham’s faith rested in the power and integrity of God, not in human logic. He knew that God could do anything except break His word.
The New Testament confirms this interpretation in Hebrews 11:17–19, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.” Abraham’s faith in God’s power to resurrect his son prefigures the resurrection of Christ — a truth not yet seen in human history, but believed through divine promise.
Abraham then placed the wood of the burnt offering upon Isaac, who carried it up the hill himself. This act foreshadows Jesus Christ carrying His own cross up Calvary’s hill. The father laid the wood on the son — a vivid image of submission and obedience. Abraham took the fire and the knife, both instruments of death, demonstrating his complete willingness to obey God. As Spurgeon commented, “That knife was cutting into his own heart all the while, yet he took it. Unbelief would have left the knife at home, but genuine faith takes it.”
The phrase, “the two of them went together,” appears twice in this passage, emphasizing the unity of their purpose. Isaac went willingly, not by force. This agreement between father and son presents a profound picture of Christ’s submission to His Father’s will in John 10:17–18, “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
When Isaac asked, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham’s answer carried prophetic weight beyond his understanding: “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” That phrase echoes through the ages, ultimately answered when John the Baptist declared in John 1:29, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
At that moment, Abraham did not yet know how God would provide, but he trusted that He would. His faith was not shaken by a lack of explanation. Thousands of years before the crucifixion, God was already giving humanity a preview of His redemptive plan. The son of promise carried the wood of sacrifice, climbed the hill in obedience to his father, and trusted that resurrection would come. This scene is a prophetic shadow of the Gospel — the Father offering the Son, the Son bearing the wood, and the Son submitting to death in confidence that God would provide the sacrifice.
2. (Genesis 22:9) Isaac Willingly Lies Down on the Altar
“Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.”
When they reached the precise location God had appointed, Abraham built an altar and carefully arranged the wood. Every detail was deliberate. This was not a random spot, but a divinely designated place on Mount Moriah — the very place where, centuries later, the Temple would stand and where Jesus would be crucified outside the city walls.
Abraham then bound Isaac and laid him upon the wood. By this point, Abraham was well over one hundred years old, while Isaac was strong and capable of resisting. Yet Isaac made no attempt to flee or fight. He submitted himself willingly to his father’s will, mirroring the obedience of Christ in Philippians 2:8, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Many Jewish commentators suggest that Isaac may have been in his twenties or even early thirties during this event. Spurgeon observed, “The younger man, perhaps five-and-twenty — so Josephus thinks — possibly thirty-three years of age, and, if so, very manifestly the type of Christ, who was about that age when He came to die.” Whether Isaac was a youth or a grown man, the lesson remains clear: he willingly placed himself upon the altar.
When Isaac lay upon the wood, ready to be sacrificed, he displayed both faith and submission. His obedience paralleled his father’s. Just as Abraham trusted the promise of God, Isaac trusted the character of his father, who represented the God he served. Together, they embodied faith in action — the faith that obeys without understanding, that yields without resistance, and that believes in resurrection even in the shadow of death.
3. (Genesis 22:10–14) God’s Merciful Reprieve
“And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ So he said, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’ Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.’”
Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. This was no symbolic gesture nor mere act of ceremony. Abraham was fully prepared to carry out the command, believing that if he slew Isaac, God would raise him from the dead. His faith was not in the expectation that God would stop him, but in God’s power to keep His word even through death. His obedience was absolute, his trust unwavering. Spurgeon remarked, “Notice the obedience of this friend of God—it was no playing at giving up his son: it was really doing it. It was no talking about what he could do, and would do, perhaps, but his faith was practical and heroic.”
Some may wonder why God would issue such a command only to revoke it. Was it fair to demand such a thing from Abraham and then withhold the act? Yet the test was not about Isaac’s death—it was about Abraham’s devotion. God often takes the will for the deed among His people. When He finds in them a heart genuinely willing to make the sacrifice He asks, He frequently does not require it. The Lord values the obedient heart more than the completed act. In this way, a believer can live the life of a martyr without dying a martyr’s death. Obedience and surrender are matters of the will before they are matters of action.
Donald Barnhouse insightfully observed, “Often there are believers who wonder how they may know the will of God. We believe that ninety per cent of the knowing of the will of God consists in willingness to do it before it is known.” This willingness characterized Abraham’s life of faith—an immediate, unquestioning readiness to do what God required.
The Angel of the LORD then intervened, calling, “Abraham, Abraham!” Abraham’s repeated response, “Here I am,” again demonstrated that he stood ready before God in humility and obedience. The Angel of the LORD said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God.” With these words, God declared the purpose of the test fulfilled. Abraham’s reverent fear—his total trust and submission—had been proven. This moment forever set the God of Scripture apart from the pagan deities of Canaan, who demanded human sacrifice. The God of Abraham revealed that He takes no pleasure in human blood, but rather delights in faith and obedience.
When the Angel of the LORD said, “Since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me,” it revealed the personal identity of the One speaking. The Angel of the LORD in the Old Testament is often recognized as a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ Himself. God was not speaking through a messenger; He was speaking directly. The parallel between Abraham’s offering of Isaac and God the Father’s offering of His Son, Jesus Christ, could not be clearer.
As Abraham lifted his eyes, he saw behind him a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. God provided a substitute to die in Isaac’s place. This substitutionary sacrifice is a perfect foreshadowing of the Gospel: an innocent substitute takes the place of the condemned. As Second Corinthians 5:21 declares, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” God did not cancel the requirement for sacrifice, but He Himself provided the offering. Abraham took the ram and offered it up instead of his son. Here we see substitutionary atonement—one life given in place of another—prefiguring the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on Calvary.
Abraham then named the place “The-LORD-Will-Provide” (Jehovah Jireh). The naming of this place was profoundly significant. Abraham did not call it “Mount Trial,” “Mount Agony,” or “Mount Obedience.” He did not name it after his own faith or suffering, but after God’s faithfulness and provision. His focus was not on his ordeal but on God’s character. The name Jehovah Jireh reflects the truth that God Himself sees our need and provides for it. Spurgeon beautifully wrote, “Abraham says nothing about himself at all, but the praise is unto God, who sees and is seen; the record is, ‘Jehovah will provide.’ I like that self-ignoring; I pray that we, also, may have so much strength of faith that self may go to the wall.”
The phrase, “as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided,’” indicates that even in Moses’ day, the Israelites continued to speak of this sacred site as a testimony to God’s provision. This statement looked forward to the future fulfillment when, on that same mountain range of Moriah, God would provide the ultimate sacrifice—His own Son, the Lamb of God. As Spurgeon declared, “God provided a ram instead of Isaac. This was sufficient for the occasion as a type; but that which was typified by the ram is infinitely more glorious. In order to save us, God provided God. I cannot put it more simply. He did not provide an angel, nor a mere man, but God Himself.”
This event also subtly anticipates the resurrection of Christ. First Corinthians 15:4 proclaims that Christ “rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” One of those Scriptures is this very narrative. Isaac was “as good as dead” in Abraham’s heart from the moment God commanded the sacrifice, and he was “made alive” three days later when the Lord intervened. Thus, Isaac’s deliverance symbolically represents resurrection—life restored after death, by divine power.
The typology between Isaac and Jesus is striking and deliberate:
Both were deeply loved by their father.
Both willingly submitted to being offered.
Both carried the wood of their sacrifice up the hill.
Both were sacrificed (or nearly sacrificed) on the same mountain range.
Both were delivered from death on the third day.
Abraham’s faith pointed forward to the cross, where the Father would not stay His own hand. The knife that did not fall on Isaac would one day fall on Christ, and in that act, redemption would be provided for all mankind. As Abraham declared by naming that holy site, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” And indeed, on that same mount, two thousand years later, the promise was fulfilled—God provided Himself as the Lamb.
4. (Genesis 22:15–19) God Reconfirms His Promise to Abraham in Light of His Faith
“Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: ‘By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.’ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.”
After the act of obedience was complete, the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven. The same divine Messenger who had stayed Abraham’s hand now confirmed God’s covenant blessings with solemn authority. This Angel of the LORD is best understood as a Christophany—a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. The message that follows is spoken in the first person, “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD.” No created angel could swear by himself as the LORD; this was God Himself speaking. This appearance of Christ before His incarnation highlights the eternal unity of the Godhead in the unfolding plan of redemption. The very Son of God who would one day die as the substitute on Mount Moriah now affirmed the covenant promise given to Abraham.
God said, “Because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son.” This is the third time in this chapter that God refers to Isaac as Abraham’s “only son” (see Genesis 22:2 and 22:12). Isaac was not Abraham’s only son physically, but he was the unique son of promise—the covenant heir through whom God’s redemptive plan would be fulfilled. The repetition of this phrase draws a parallel to John 3:16, where Scripture says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Just as Abraham was willing to give his only son, God the Father actually gave His Son for our salvation. The picture is divinely intentional—Abraham’s willingness foreshadowed God’s ultimate sacrifice.
God then declared, “Blessing I will bless you.” Abraham’s faith had already been counted to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), but now his faith was publicly vindicated by his obedience. Faith and obedience are inseparably linked—true faith always acts. James writes in James 2:21–23, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God.” Abraham’s obedience was not the root of his salvation but the fruit of his faith.
The Lord continued, “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore.” This was a reaffirmation of the covenant promises made earlier in Genesis 12, 15, and 17. God’s promise to multiply Abraham’s descendants was twofold—physical and spiritual. Physically, it referred to the innumerable descendants through Isaac and Jacob who would become the nation of Israel. Spiritually, it pointed to those who would share Abraham’s faith, as Paul writes in Galatians 3:7, “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.”
The Lord’s comparison of Abraham’s descendants to “the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore” demonstrates His abundant generosity. Dr. Henry Morris noted that, by rough calculation, both the number of visible stars and the grains of sand on earth are roughly on the order of 10 to the 25th power—a staggering figure that reinforces the vastness of God’s promise.
God also promised that Abraham’s descendants “shall possess the gate of their enemies.” This statement refers to victory and dominion. In the ancient world, the “gate” of a city represented its power, security, and governance. To possess an enemy’s gate meant to conquer and rule over them. This prophetic promise looked forward not only to Israel’s physical victories in Canaan but also to the ultimate triumph of Christ, Abraham’s greatest Seed. Jesus declared in Matthew 16:18, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Just as Abraham’s seed would possess the gates of their enemies, so Christ’s victory secures eternal dominion over sin, death, and hell.
The covenant reaches its climax with the statement, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” This promise was first given in Genesis 12:3 and now reaffirmed in light of Abraham’s proven faith. The word seed here is singular, pointing prophetically to the Messiah. Paul confirms this interpretation in Galatians 3:16, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.” Through Jesus Christ, the ultimate Son of Abraham, the blessing of salvation would extend to all nations. Abraham’s faith thus becomes the foundation of the Gospel message itself—the justification of sinners by faith in the finished work of the promised Seed.
Abraham’s test of faith ended not in loss but in multiplied blessing. Because he did not withhold his only son, God poured out blessings beyond measure. As Spurgeon observed, “When you give God what He asks, He returns to you far more than you surrendered.” Abraham learned that obedience to God never results in ultimate loss; rather, it leads to eternal gain.
The passage concludes, “So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.” It is significant that Isaac is not mentioned as returning with him. Though the text clearly implies Isaac’s presence, his omission in the narrative serves a symbolic purpose. Isaac, as a type of Christ, disappears from the scene after the act of sacrifice—just as Jesus, after His crucifixion and resurrection, ascended to the Father. The next time Isaac appears in Scripture, it is when he meets his bride Rebekah (Genesis 24), just as Christ will one day return for His bride, the Church.
5. (Genesis 22:20–24) The Listing of Nahor’s Family
“Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, ‘Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.’ And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.”
Following the climactic test on Mount Moriah, Scripture records a genealogical update concerning Abraham’s brother, Nahor. The passage begins, “Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor.” When Abraham left Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:27–29), he also left behind his extended family. Here we see that God was still working providentially among Abraham’s kin.
The genealogy lists eight sons born to Milcah and four born to Nahor’s concubine, Reumah. The emphasis, however, falls upon Bethuel, the father of Rebekah. This brief mention anticipates the next major event in Abraham’s story: the marriage of Isaac. God’s promise to perpetuate the covenant line through Isaac begins to unfold as He prepares a wife for him from among Abraham’s own people.
This is the first mention of a concubine in Scripture. Matthew Poole explains, “A concubine was an inferior kind of wife, taken according to the common practice of those times, subject to the authority of the principal wife, and whose children had no right of inheritance, but were endowed with gifts.” Such arrangements were culturally acceptable in the ancient Near East, though never aligned with God’s original design for marriage.
God’s intent for marriage was established from the beginning, as recorded in Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Jesus reaffirmed this divine pattern in Matthew 19:4–6, saying, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Though polygamy and concubinage were tolerated in the patriarchal era, they were never part of God’s heart or perfect will. Every biblical account of a polygamous household—whether Abraham, Jacob, or David—reveals division, jealousy, and strife. God’s silence in judgment during this era was not approval but patience, as He progressively revealed His will through Scripture. His ultimate design remained one man joined to one woman in covenant unity.
The Test of Abraham’s Faith
The test Abraham faced was very real, not symbolic or hypothetical. God required him to give Isaac back to Himself, the very son through whom the covenant promise was to continue. This was not merely a trial of obedience, but a divine test designed to prove and refine Abraham’s faith. Ishmael had already been sent away, and now God asked for Isaac—the son of promise, the miracle child of Abraham’s old age. After decades of waiting for this child, Abraham was called to surrender him completely to God.
This kind of testing was not to destroy faith but to reveal it. As Hosea recorded, “I have also spoken by the prophets, and have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets” (Hosea 12:10, NKJV). God often uses figures and symbols in His dealings with mankind to communicate truth and foreshadow future realities.
Figures of Speech in Scripture
Simile: A resemblance or comparison using “like” or “as.” Examples include Genesis 25:25 and Matthew 7:24–27.
Allegory: A comparison by representation, in which the elements of the story symbolize deeper truths (Genesis 49:9; Galatians 4:22, 24).
Metaphor: A direct representation where one thing stands for another (Matthew 26:26).
Hypocatastasis: An implied resemblance or representation (Matthew 7:3–5; Matthew 15:13).
Type: A figure, symbol, or event that prefigures a future reality, usually fulfilled in Christ (Romans 5:14; Genesis 22, 24).
Analogy: A resemblance between things otherwise unlike, emphasizing spiritual correspondence.
In Scripture there are over two hundred cataloged figures of speech, each used to illuminate the depth of divine truth. Genesis 22 stands among the most powerful types in all of God’s Word—Abraham offering his only son as a prophetic picture of God offering His only Son for the sins of the world.
Abraham had waited one hundred years for this promised child, Isaac, a gift miraculously given in his old age. Yet now, God required that he give him back. Humanly speaking, this command must have seemed impossible and painful beyond comprehension. How could Abraham surrender the very child who embodied God’s covenant promise? Yet Abraham’s response was immediate obedience. He did not argue, delay, or negotiate. Over the years, through trials and failures, Abraham had learned to trust God’s word fully. His faith had been tested before, and now it was perfected in this act of total surrender.
Abraham obeyed because he trusted the character of God. He knew that God’s promises never fail. Since the Lord had clearly said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called” (Genesis 21:12), Abraham reasoned that if Isaac were to die, God would have to raise him from the dead to fulfill His promise. His faith rested on the certainty of God’s word and the power of resurrection. As the writer of Hebrews affirms, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac… concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense” (Hebrews 11:17–19, NKJV).
It was Abraham’s conviction in God’s faithfulness that saved Isaac. This is a vivid picture of Christian salvation. Just as Abraham’s faith was reckoned to him for righteousness, so too our salvation depends not on hearing about Christ, but on believing in Him personally. As Paul writes, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you… that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1, 3–4, NKJV). Faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ brings eternal life to those who believe.
In Genesis 22, God refers to Isaac as Abraham’s “only son” and introduces the word “love” for the first time in Scripture. This is no coincidence. The love between father and son in this passage foreshadows the love between God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, who was offered for the salvation of the world. The echo of John 3:16 resounds throughout this chapter: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The first mention of love in Scripture is thus tied directly to sacrifice—a father’s willingness to give his beloved son. This divine pattern would find its ultimate fulfillment at Calvary.
At the time of the offering, Isaac was not a small child, but likely around thirty years of age, old enough to resist if he wished. Yet the text says, “the two of them went together,” which literally means they were in agreement. Isaac’s submission mirrors the willing obedience of Christ in Gethsemane when He prayed, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42, NKJV). Isaac carried the wood for his own sacrifice, just as Christ carried the cross upon His shoulders up the hill of Calvary.
Abraham’s statement to his servants, “We will come again to you,” was not a hopeful expression but a declaration of faith. He was convinced that either God would spare Isaac or resurrect him. This conviction in resurrection was central to his faith and became the pattern for ours. Abraham’s unwavering trust in God’s power to raise Isaac from the dead is the same faith we place in the resurrection of Christ. It is faith in a God who brings life from death, hope from despair, and victory from apparent defeat.
In this extraordinary act, Abraham’s faith became a prophetic testimony of the Gospel itself. He believed God could do the impossible, that life could emerge from death, and that His promises would stand unbroken. The test of Mount Moriah reveals that genuine faith does not cling to the gift but to the Giver. Abraham trusted that even if Isaac were taken, God’s covenant and purpose would not fail.
Abraham Did Not Withhold His Son
Abraham’s act of obedience prefigured the greatest sacrifice in history. The patriarch’s willingness to offer Isaac foreshadowed what God Himself would one day do at Calvary. The Apostle Paul draws this very parallel when he writes, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32, NKJV). The Greek word translated “spare” is epheisato, meaning to withhold or refrain from harm. This same word appears in the Septuagint version of Genesis 22:12, where the Angel of the LORD says to Abraham, “Thou hast not spared (epheiso) thy beloved son.” The deliberate linguistic connection between Abraham’s act and the Father’s sacrifice reveals that the offering of Isaac was designed by God to be a prophetic type of the cross.
Abraham’s surrender of his “only son” looked forward to the day when God would not withhold His own Son. Where Abraham was stopped, the Father continued; the knife that was stayed on Moriah fell at Calvary. Abraham’s faith was a shadow of divine reality, a living prophecy fulfilled when Jesus Christ was delivered up for the sins of the world.
The Location of the Sacrifice
The geographical details of Genesis 22 carry profound prophetic meaning. God commanded Abraham to go to the “land of Moriah,” a region later identified as the site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 3:1). The law of Moses later prescribed that the animal offerings be slain “on the side of the altar northward before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar” (Leviticus 1:11, NKJV). Furthermore, in the case of the sin offering, the remains of the sacrifice were to be taken “without the camp unto a clean place” (Leviticus 4:12, NKJV).
These details point directly to the crucifixion of Christ. Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified, was located outside the city walls of Jerusalem and on the north side of the ancient Temple precincts—exactly matching the Levitical pattern. The offerings slain on the north side and taken outside the camp find their ultimate fulfillment in the Messiah who suffered “outside the gate.” As the author of Hebrews explains, “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Hebrews 13:12–13, NKJV).
God’s instructions to Abraham, therefore, were not arbitrary but prophetic. The very mountain range of Moriah foreshadowed the precise place where the Lamb of God would one day be slain. The same ground where Abraham built his altar would later see the Temple sacrifices—and ultimately the cross of Christ.
Prophecy of the Burial in Isaiah 53:9
The prophecy of the Messiah’s death and burial in Isaiah 53:9 also ties to this theme of divine provision: “And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.”
The Hebrew text reveals a striking duality. The word “wicked” is rasha (רְשָׁעִים), plural, referring to the company of evildoers among whom Christ was crucified. The word “rich” is ashiyr (עָשִׁיר), singular, referring to the rich man in whose tomb He was laid. The prophecy is precise: the Messiah would be associated with the wicked in His death but buried in the tomb of a rich man.
This verse does not primarily refer to the two thieves crucified beside Christ but rather to the burial location itself. Jesus was buried among the wicked—those whose graves surrounded the site—yet in a rich man’s tomb. Matthew 27:57–60 records its exact fulfillment: “Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.”
Every word of Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled literally. The tomb was clean and unused, belonging to a rich man, and located among the wicked dead of Jerusalem. The precise Hebrew grammar underscores both the plurality and singularity, testifying to the supernatural accuracy of God’s Word.
Prophetic Parallels Between Moriah and Calvary
The Father and the Son: Abraham offering Isaac foreshadowed the Father offering His Son.
The “Only Son”: Isaac was called Abraham’s only son; Jesus is God’s only begotten Son.
The Place of Sacrifice: Both occurred on the same mountain range—Moriah, later known as Calvary.
The Substitute: God provided a ram for Isaac; God provided Himself as the Lamb for humanity.
The Obedience: Isaac went willingly, just as Christ went willingly to the cross.
The Resurrection Foreshadowed: Isaac was received back “as from the dead”; Jesus rose literally from the dead on the third day.
Abraham’s altar pointed to the cross, his ram to the Lamb, his obedience to the Father’s love, and his faith to the believer’s salvation. Mount Moriah became the stage on which God first unveiled His redemptive plan—a plan completed at Golgotha, “the place of the skull,” where love and justice met perfectly.
The same God who spared Isaac provided His own Son as the substitute for mankind. As the hymn says, “Upon that cross of Jesus mine eye at times can see the very dying form of One who suffered there for me.”
Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea stands as one of the most remarkable figures surrounding the burial of Jesus Christ. Scripture reveals that he was “a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus” (Matthew 27:57, NKJV). He was a respected member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, yet unlike many of his peers, he had not consented to their plot to condemn Jesus. Luke 23:50–51 records, “Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God.”
Joseph’s decision to approach Pilate and request the body of Jesus was both courageous and costly. As a member of the Sanhedrin, his open association with Jesus would have shocked the Jewish leadership and likely ended his career, wealth, and influence among the religious elite. John 19:38–41 tells us that Joseph acted “secretly, for fear of the Jews,” because of the plots to kill those who defended Jesus. Yet when others fled in fear, Joseph stepped forward in faith. This once-secret disciple risked everything to ensure that the body of his Lord was given a proper and honorable burial.
His act fulfilled prophecy precisely as written in Isaiah 53:9, “And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.” The term “rich” (Hebrew ashiyr) refers directly to men of wealth such as Joseph. By providing his own new tomb, he became a crucial instrument in the divine plan, ensuring that Jesus would be buried “in a clean place” as required by the Mosaic law (Leviticus 4:12).
Golgotha
The place of Christ’s crucifixion, known as Golgotha, holds immense prophetic and theological significance. The name itself means “place of a skull” (Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). The site was located just outside the northern gate of Jerusalem—fulfilling the Levitical requirement that sin offerings be slain “on the side of the altar northward before the LORD” (Leviticus 1:11) and that the remains of certain sacrifices be carried “without the camp unto a clean place” (Leviticus 4:12).
Joseph’s new tomb was hewn out of solid rock near this very place of execution. It was “a new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock” (Matthew 27:60), situated adjacent to the hill where criminals were put to death. The rocky walls of this tomb provided the “clean place” demanded by Mosaic law. Thus, in perfect harmony with prophecy, Jesus’ body was laid in a rich man’s tomb within the vicinity of the condemned—“with the rich man and with the wicked”—as Isaiah 53:9 foretold.
The rocks that formed the partition between the tomb of Christ and the nearby graves of executed criminals were part of Golgotha itself. This fulfilled every nuance of the prophetic word. His tomb belonged to a rich man, yet it was carved into the same hill that served as the place of death for malefactors. In one stroke, prophecy joined the seemingly contradictory conditions: Christ’s grave was both “with the wicked” and “with the rich.”
The Garden Tomb
Centuries later, the precise site of the Lord’s burial was rediscovered—or more accurately, identified—as the Garden Tomb, which remarkably aligns with biblical and historical descriptions. This site was uncovered in 1883 by General Charles George Gordon, a man renowned for both his military and moral courage.
Born in 1833, Gordon began his military career as a second lieutenant in 1852. He distinguished himself in the Crimean War (1853–1856) and gained international fame for his role in suppressing the Taiping Rebellion in China in 1860, where he was nicknamed “Chinese Gordon.” From 1864 to 1874, he served on various diplomatic and engineering missions across England and Europe. In 1877, he was appointed Governor of Sudan, and later served the British government in India, China, Mauritius, and South Africa between 1880 and 1883.
During his time in Jerusalem in 1883, Gordon identified what he believed to be the authentic site of Christ’s tomb—an ancient rock-hewn sepulcher located in a garden just outside the Damascus Gate. This discovery matched every requirement outlined in Scripture: it was near the crucifixion site, cut into solid limestone, unused, and situated within a garden, just as John 19:41 states, “Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.”
Remarkably, the conditions required for the tomb had been summarized thirty-seven years earlier by Scottish theologian Andrew Bonar in his 1846 Commentary on Leviticus. In that work, Bonar described the prophetic and ceremonial features that must characterize the Messiah’s burial site—features that perfectly match the Garden Tomb later discovered by Gordon. The alignment between Bonar’s commentary and Gordon’s discovery stands as a striking confirmation of the accuracy of Scripture and the divine hand guiding both prophecy and history.
Today, the Garden Tomb remains a powerful testimony to the truth of the resurrection. Its quiet simplicity, cut from the same limestone ridge that once formed Golgotha, stands as a visible witness that the events recorded in the Gospels are not myths or legends but verifiable acts of divine intervention in human history.
At Golgotha, prophecy and reality converged. The Father did not spare His own Son. The Son bore the sins of the world outside the city walls, fulfilling the law and the prophets. He was buried with the rich and the wicked, yet in a tomb untouched by corruption. And on the third day, He rose—forever vindicating the faith of Abraham, the hope of Israel, and the salvation of all who believe.
