Personalities of the Old Testament #9 - Isaac "A Type of Jesus"

 In Today’s Bible Study, I want to look at Isaac, the son of Abraham.  Isaac is the “Son of the Promise.”  He’s the one that God said:

Romans 9:7 NKJV

nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "IN ISAAC YOUR SEED SHALL BE CALLED."

It’s through Isaac that all of God’s promises to Abraham would begin:

1)      I will make you a great nation (Gen 12:2)

2)      I will bless you and make your name great (Gen 12:2)

3)      I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you (Gen 12:3)

4)      In you all the families of the earth will be blessed (Gen 12:3)

5)      To your descendant I will give this land (Gen 12:7)

Here, though is what I want to look at.  We already looked at this through Abraham’s faith but now I want to look at it with regard to Isaac.  In Old Testament there are a number of people that are considered to be a “TYPE” of Jesus.  This is a person that foreshadows some aspect of Jesus.  For example:

·       Adam is a type of Christ because both were representatives of humanity, but while Adam brought sin, Jesus brought salvation.

• The Passover Lamb is a type of Christ, as its blood saved Israel from death, just as Jesus’ sacrifice brings eternal life.
• Jonah spending three days in the belly of the fish foreshadows Jesus’ three days in the tomb before His resurrection.

Those things, “which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (Col 2:17)

As we look at Isaac, we can see that in one experience in his life, he is a type of Jesus.  That’s what I want to look at today!  So, let’s begin with the story of God’s call and we will work from there:

Genesis 22:2 NKJV

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."

I want you to see the ways in which Isaac is a type of Jesus so as we go through the story we will break it down.

Only Begotten Son

God told Abraham, "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." 

Isaac was Abraham’s only son, just like Jesus was the “only begotten Son of God.”

John 3:16 NKJV

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.

This is the first way in which Isaac is a type of Jesus.  Both were only begotten sons that were to be sacrificed.  Now look at this:

Genesis 22:3-6 NKJV

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. 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.

Carrying the Wood

Abraham gave Isaac the wood for the burnt offering.  Isaac carried it up the mountain to the place where the altar was built.

Jesus carried His cross to Golgotha (Calvary):

John 19:16-17 NKJV

Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,

So, both Jesus and Isaac carried the methods of their execution upon themselves.

The Promised Son

Abraham was seventy-five years old when God called him out of Haran.  It was then that God promised him descendants:

Genesis 12:1-3NKJV

Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

The inference of this statement is that Abraham’s descendants would become a great nation.  But Abraham was childless and his wife was barren.  So, in a sense God was promising him a son to carry on his lineage.  Then there was this:

Genesis 15:3-4 NKJV

Then Abram said, "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed, one born in my house is my heir!" And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir."

God tells him, “…but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir."  This is a definite promise of a son.  God is making a promise of a son.

There was another son whom was promised by God.  Here’s God speaking through Isaiah:

Isaiah 9:6-7 NKJV

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Abraham waited twenty-five years for the son of God’s promise.  This prophecy by Isaiah was made approximately seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth.  So Jesus is also a promised Son.

A Sacrificial Offering

Genesis 22:2 NKJV

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 has called Abraham to “offer him there as a burnt offering.” This is a call to offer his son as a sacrifice.  Abraham in his obedience gave his only “begotten” son.  Although Ishmael was his son, also, Isaac was his only legitimate son.

God also gave His Only begotten Son:

John 3:16 NKJV

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.

Hebrews 9:28 NIV

so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

In the same way that Abraham freely gave his son for a Sacrifice, God also freely gave His Son for a sacrifice. 

Substitutionary Sacrifice

Isaac was spared when God gave a Ram (lamb) as a substitution for Isaac.

Genesis 22:13 NKJV

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.

The Ram was killed so that Isaac would be saved.  Look at the following verses about Jesus:

Isaiah 53:5 NIV

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Hebrews 9:28 NIV

so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Jesus was sacrificed as a substitute for us.  He was the “Lamb of God.” Offered freely for us.  A substitutionary sacrifice.

Resurrection

Hebrews 11:17-19 NKJV

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 was tested by God in all of this.  Go was testing his faith.  We discussed that in our last study, as we talked about Abraham’s regained faith. He understood and was confident that God could and would raise Isaac from the dead, in order to fulfill his promises to Abraham.

Luke 24:44-46 NIV

He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

There are a number of prophecies concerning Jesus’ death and resurrection.  His death was the fulfillment of these promises.  In the same way that the lamb offered in stead of Isaac was the fulfillment of promises that God made to Abraham.  I am sure that the prophets spoke as confidently of God’s fulfillment of these promises as Abraham did.

Submitted to Father’s Will

Do you remember that I said last time that Isaac must have had great faith, because he willingly submitted to Abraham tying him up and setting him on the altar.  He didn’t fight, he didn’t run, he just allowed Abraham to prepare him to be the sacrificial lamb.  He submitted to his father’s will in this sacrifice.  This is a powerful example of faith and obedience.  He was willing to submit to death to obey his father.

Jesus, when his time to be betrayed came to pass, He went to Gethsemane to pray.  Three times He went to His knees and said this prayer:

 Luke 22:42 NKJV

saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."

He is submitting to His Father’s will.  He is obedient in the same way that Isaac was obedient. 

So, after looking at this comparison you can see how Isaac is a foreshadowing, a picture, of Jesus in the Old Testament.  They both:

1)      Were the Only Begotten Son

2)      Carried the Method of Their Execution

3)      Were Promised Sons

4)      Were to be a Sacrifice

5)      Substitionary Sacrifice

6)      Resurrected (Isaac Figuratively, Jesus Literally)

7)      Submitted to Their Father’s Will

 

 

Personalities of the Old Testament #5 - Noah Part 2 "The Obedient Man"

 We want to continue our study on “Old Testament Personalities.”  We’ll be looking at the second part of our study on the personality of Noah.  If you remember las week’s study, we found that Noah found favor with God.  He was the only righteous man, in the world at that time.  We discussed that Noah was accounted as righteous because of his faith.  In the same way that Abel and Enoch were righteous because of their faith. 

We also saw that God preserves the righteous and doesn’t destroy the righteous along with the wicked.  Noah was preserved because of his righteousness.  God destroyed the wicked but did NOT destroy Noah.  He was a preacher of righteousness for one hundred-twenty years.

Today, I want to look at the flood and Noah’s reaction to God’s warnings and his behavior.

Obedience

Genesis 6:13NKJV

And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

God is warning Noah of His intentions.  People have become wicked.  Remember we talked about this when we said that two lineages descended from Adam: Seth, (The Lineage of Jesus), and from Cain (The Lineage of Wickedness).  Noah has descended from Seth and is found to be the only righteous man in the world.  So, God wants to deliver him, and through him, preserve the lineage of Jesus. So, He warns him and gives him these instructions:

Genesis 6:14-16 NKJV

Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

God also told him to take two of every animal, male and female, and seven of certain types, mostly for sacrifice, as well as:

Genesis 6:21 NKJV

And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them."

Look at Noah’s response to these things:

Genesis 6:22 NKJV

Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

Noah was obedient to God’s direction.  God places value on obedience.  Look at this:

1 Samuel 15:22 NKJV

So Samuel said: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

This scripture above takes place in the life of King Saul.  God had commanded him to utterly destroy the Amalekites and all of their livestock.  Saul had his own ideas and kept some livestock back saying that he wanted to sacrifice them, but this was not what God commanded him.  Look at what Samuel says to him about it:

1 Samel 15:17 NKJV

So Samuel said, "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel?

“When you were little in your own eyes…”  Obedience is a sign of humility toward God.  We talk a lot about doing God’s will rather than our own.  How difficult is that for us?  As we’ve seen with Saul, we can easily call our will God’s will. God calls that rebellion and stubbornness:

1 Samuel 15:23 NKJV

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king."

Saul didn’t do everything God had commanded, Noah on the other hand, “according to all that God commanded, so he did.”  We need to examine our own behavior, are we acting according to all God has commanded, or according to our own will?  Are we humble enough to put aside our own will for God’s?

We’re Christians, followers of Christ, we should desire to be Christ-like. 

Luke 22:42 NKJV

saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done."

This is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, looking ahead to His crucifixion… “Not My will, but Yours be done.”  Is that your prayer?

A Covenant with God

Genesis 8:1 NKJV

Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.

The flood was judgment on the earth.  It was God’s judgment on the wickedness that had sprung up in the world.  As we spoke about last week God doesn’t judge the righteous with the wicked so Noah was preserved to continue humanity.

After the judgment, the death of all living things on the face of the earth except those God had preserved in the ark, God turned his mind back to Noah and his family.

Genesis 8:15-18 NKJV

Then God spoke to Noah, saying, "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him.

This is about a year after the flood began.  It had rained for forty days, but the ground had to dry sufficiently for them to go out. 

Noah’s first act after leaving the ark was to build an altar to thank and honor God:

 

Genesis 8:20 NKJV

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

The first thing Noah did was to worship God.  He didn’t build a home for himself.  He built an altar to praise and thank God for his deliverance.  He’s acknowledging God’s sovereignty, protection and mercy.  God could have completely destroyed every single living thing on the planet, but He didn’t.  He wasn’t finished with us. 

We often cry out to God for mercy, for help, and for deliverance.  Usually, though, these are help to deliver us from problems we’ve created for ourselves.  Noah expresses his extreme gratitude for god’s preservation and deliverance from the judgment of the flood.  It is an example for us to remember to express gratitude for what God has delivered us from.  Look now at God’s reaction to this sacrifice:

Genesis 8:21-22 NKJV

And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease."

God was soothed by the smell of the offering.  He’s pleased with what Noah has done here and he makes a covenant with Noah.  He says that He will never destroy every living being from the earth again.

Even during the tribulation, not everyone will be killed in the judgments.

It’s interesting that, even though God knows and understands men’s hearts, He makes this pledge.  “Although the imagination (or desire) of man’s heart is evil, from his youth…”  This is the essence of God’s forgiveness and mercy.  He knows who we are.  He knows our hearts and yet He chooses to forgive, anyway, knowing we will sin again.

Genesis 9:9-11 NKJV

"And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."

God told Noah, and his sons to go and be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.  We are all descendants of Noah.  Every human being can trace their ancestry back to that family.

Acts 17:26-27 NKJV

And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

This covenant that God made with Noah is still in force today.

Summary of Noah

1.       Noah found favor with God – This descendant of mankind from Seth.  He was righteous by his faith.  He was a preacher of righteousness.  We are made righteous by our faith in Jesus.  Salvation comes through faith.

2.      God preserves the righteous - Noah was preserved because God doesn’t judge the righteous with the wicked. 

3.      The Flood – God’s judgment on the earth and the wickedness of mankind.  God called on Noah to prepare for the coming judgment.  We need to prepare for God’s call on our lives.

4.      Obedience – Noah was obedient to God’s commands.  He put God’s will first in all that he did.

5.      A Covenant with God – Noah’s first act out of the ark was to build an altar and thank God for his deliverance.  God made a covenant with him that He will not completely destroy all living things in judgment again. 

Noah is a lesson for us in our thoughts and behavior toward God.