Of Sacrifice and Substitution

Genesis 22

Abraham and Sarah had waited many years for God to fulfill His promise. Trough Isaac, God's promise to Abraham and his descendants was to be fulfilled and the world would be blessed. It is in this setting that we see God test Abraham in a very surprising way. Abraham, after waiting so long for Isaac to arrive is instructed by God to sacrifice him.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” (Genesis 22:2) Stunning! But Abraham, whose faith has been tested and refined through the years sets out with his son to accomplish God’s command. Trust is the only answer that I can come up with. He must have through faith and trust determined that God would take care of the situation, in His own way.

You know the story, he sets out with his son and servants. He cuts the wood and sets off for the place that God would lead him to go. For three days they travel before they arrive at the place that God had designated. He tells the servants to wait while he and his son go to worship God. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” (Genesis 22:5) “We” will worship and “we” will come back. Abraham trusted God with his son and he trusted that whatever He was to do, his son would be with him when he returned. (read Hebrews 11:17-19)

That brings us to the topic of today’s discussion. They arrive at the spot and Abraham builds an alter and places the wood and his son on it. As Abraham raises his knife in preparation for the sacrifice, God steps in and stops him.  “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:12) In Isaacs place, God provides a substitute. God provides a ram to be sacrificed in his place. Take time to imagine the emotion of the moment; a father receives back His only son, a son climbs down from the alter unharmed. God provides. We benefit.

Throughout the Bible, the primary doctrines taught are those of sacrifice and substitution as the means appointed by God for taking away sin. In association with these is the need for obedient faith on our part to receive the benefit. Some confuse Isaac and the victim actually offered, making Isaac a “type” of the Son of God; after all he was the one and only son. However, Isaac was not slain and in fact he was part of the sinful human race. He was not fit to die as a sacrifice, the just for the unjust. Rather, Isaac was a representative of mankind; he was in need of atonement as well. But the animal, not of the human race, which God provided and Abraham sacrificed was in fact a “type” of “the Lamb of God”, that takes away the sins of the world. Isaac is the “type” of humanity, guilty of sin, deserving of death, but receiving the benefit of the God provided substitute.

All of this sounds remarkably familiar to Christians; God providing a substitute to receive the punishment that we deserve. Innocent blood shed to cover the sins of the guilty. “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” (Romans 5:7-9) Jesus died for us! He is our substitute and His sacrifice is all sufficient. Our part is obedient faith. God calls on us to place our faith in Him by believing that Jesus is God’s one and only Son. We are to repent (turn away from) of our sins and confess that Jesus is Lord, submitting to baptism as a means to contact the shed blood of our Savior. Then we are to live a life marked by faithfulness to Him. Get in on the gift; God provided the substitute to be sacrificed for you so that you could get off the alter and live eternally with Him. Think about it!