(Isaac carrying wood in his back up Mt. Moriah.)
25 years. 25 long years Abraham and Sarah waited for the son God promised them. Then, when Isaac was just a young boy, probably a young teenager, He asked Abraham to do something unbelievable: To take his only son and sacrifice him on Mt. Moriah!
Isaac was born to Abrahm and his wife, Sarah, who had not only been barren, she was now well past menopause. It was a bonafide miracle he was born at all. His name in Hebrew means "laughter," because Sarah, when she overheard The Angel telling her husband that the following year they would have a son, laughed at the prospect.
Abraham and Isaac traveled to Mt. Moriah with two of his young men. Upon their arrival, father and son left this who had accompanied them and climbed the mountain together. The young lad carried the wood on his back. Abraham bound his son, laid him on the altar and prepared to kill him. But God stayed his hand. His son was to be spared!
Incredibly, right behind him, a ram "just happened" to be caught in a thicket by his horns. Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it in Isaac's place, another story in and of itself. (See the link below for more on this topic: http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-very-unusual-request.html)
This is a beautiful picture of how Jesus, 2,000 years in the future, would climb another lonely hill in that very same range of mountains; the highest peak in fact: Mt. Zion. Unlike Isaac, however, He would not be spared but sacrificed for all of our sins.
(Isaac is spared.)
The Bible records that father and son went up the mountain but it doesn't record that Isaac came back down with his father, though obviously he did. The silence of scripture here speaks volumes. It's a picture of Our Jesus. He went up His mountain but He DIDN'T come down. He was died on the cruel cross, sacrificed as the Lamb of God, suffering the most awful kind of death that anyone could ever die.
Unlike any other man, He was mercilessly scourged before He was nailed to that cross. Pilate did that hoping that the Jewish leaders would call for His release. You see, it was against the law for a man to be both scourged and crucified. If someone was scourged, he could not be crucified. If he was sentenced to be crucified, he could not be scourged beforehand. But the Jewish leaders wouldn't relent so our Lord Jesus suffered BOTH!
Because Abraham demonstrated his trust in and faithfulness to God, He came to him 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.” (Genesis 22:15-18 NKJV)
Through this wonderful story of Abraham and Isaac the love of The Father for His Beloved Son, Jesus, is revealed. It is here in this very passage that the the word "love" (aháva in Hebrew) is mentioned for the first time.
For those who may not know, there exists in Bible exegesis something called "The law of first mention." It states that the first time any word or subject is mentioned or introduced in scripture it establishes an unchangeable pattern which remains constant in the mind of God. It's an indication that there is something very important to learn.
(God promises to bless Abraham and all his descendants.)
True to His word, God blessed Abraham with every possible blessing. They are still in effect. His descendants from that day to this continue to enjoy them. Yep. Yahweh, the covenant keeping One, has never and never will forget His people. When He makes a covenant, He honors it FOREVER.
Though the smallest of all races, the Jewish people have won the more Nobel prizes, made the more scientific breakthroughs and are the more successful in practically every walk of life than all others put together. It just so happens that the youngest billionaire in the world a Jewish boy named Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook!
Like them or not, they have a disproportionate ability to influence for good or evil. It's just the blessing of Abraham.
At the end of chapter 24, the Holy Spirit does that strange thing again, suddenly shifting gears in mid-stream. He totally jumps from Abraham's story and starts talking about the family of Nahor, his brother. Why?
Let's follow the story:
(For those who want to check out another example of the Holy Spirit and His "shifting gears," follow this link: http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/06/is-genesis-38-in-wrong-place.html).
"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 REBECCA. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah." (Genesis 22:20-24 NKJV)
See? Nahor. Very strange, isn't it? Ah, but the Holy Spirit is always up to something good! He wants to show you and I something to bless us!
Whenever a chapter ends like this, with someone's family history or genealogy, there's a hidden meaning for us to discover. Rebecca, Isaac's future wife, was born into his family. She was actually a cousin.
In the very next chapter, 23, God deals almost exclusively with Sarah's death, the purchase of land from Ephron, the Hittite, and her burial in the cave of Machpelah.
(Abraham sends his servant to procure a bride for Isaac.)
Does this theme sound familiar? It should! It is in this chapter that we find the second mention of the word, "love," appearing! Whereas chapter 22 contained the FIRST MENTION, which was of Our Father's love for His Son, chapter 24--the SECOND MENTION--is the story of The Son's love for His Bride!
Let's continue the story:
"...but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac....”
Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water." (Genesis 24:4, 10-11 NKJV)
(Rebecca draws water for Abraham’s servant.)
The servant did go; the servant did find favor; and he did find a bride for his master's son!
"So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”
(Genesis 24:22-23).
Thus, the unnamed servant found and met Rebecca and arranged with her family to bring her back to Isaac.
The Old Testament is the New concealed and the New is the Old revealed. Everything in the New Testament is hidden somewhere in the Old in types, stories, names, places and even the language itself. Right after the unnamed servant's camels were watered, "the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold."
The nose in Biblical typology depicts discernment while gold speaks of divine righteousness. The unnamed servant gave these "gifts of gold" to Rebecca who is a typology of the Church. These gifts are depictions of the gifts the Holy Spirit gives to US!
Since there were no planes, trains or automobiles back then, it took a long time to travel to Canaan. The journey back was a very lo-o-o-ong one, some 500 miles over very rugged terrain. No doubt as they stopped and camped each night, this servant who is not named regaled Rebecca with many stories about this wonderful Isaac she was to wed. Her name in Hebrew means "secured," by the way. Betcha her favorite topic was the story about the time he went up Mt. Moriah with his father and came "this close" to being sacrificed on that altar.
Well, by the time Rebecca arrived at their destination, no doubt she had fallen head over heels in love with Isaac, a man whom she had never met in person.
(Rebecca jumps off her camel.)
At long last they reached their destination. Genesis 24:64 in the English, the text reads like this: "Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel;" But in Hebrew, the word "dismounted" literally means she "fell" off her horse as Isaac caught her, according to rabbinical tradition. She couldn't get off her camel fast enough to run and jump into his arms!
You know, Church, this story is really all about us!! It's a beautiful picture of the Church and our relationship with Jesus. Isaac means "laughter" which tells us something else about our wonderful Savior. There's a lot of joy and laughter around him. He's a fun-loving guy!
But Who is the unnamed servant? Why, The Holy Spirit, of course! You see, while we have been here on earth, we also have been on a lo-o-o-ng wilderness journey. The unnamed servant was sent here, a far country, looking for a bride for Jesus. He came looking for you and me. He found us and secured a bride for The Son.
Along our journey in this wilderness, He has regaled us with beautiful stories of this wonderful Jesus. Like Rebecca, we, too, have never seen our Jesus in person. But because have heard so many wonderful stories about Him, we have fallen as MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIM and He is with us! We can't wait to jump off this "camel" into his waiting arms!
Along our journey in this wilderness, He has regaled us with beautiful stories of this wonderful Jesus. Like Rebecca, we, too, have never seen our Jesus in person. But because have heard so many wonderful stories about Him, we have fallen as MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIM and He is with us! We can't wait to jump off this "camel" into his waiting arms!
Isn't God good? It just blows me away that He wants you and I to know just how much we are loved by Him. And that, Church, is why He shared with all of us this beautiful story of Isaac and his Rebecca.
Follow this link to part three: http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/08/jacob-and-leah-patriarch-series-part-3.html
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