God reveals himself to be a God who is not troubled by the contradictions, which seem to trouble humans. First, he waited until Sarah’s womb was, for all intents and purposes, dead. She was unable to have a child. Nevertheless, it was when Sarah’s womb was dead, that God chose to give Isaac to Abraham through his wife, Sarah (Genesis 17:15-17; 18:10-12, 14)! Secondly, since he banished and disinherited his son, Ishmael, all the promises that the Lord made to Abraham were tied up in Isaac and his descendants (cp. Genesis 17:19). However, what if Isaac died, not having an heir, what would become of the promises God made to Abraham? This is the contradiction that Abraham had to face. Would he trust his own wisdom, or would he trust the promise the Lord made to him?
A comparison of Genesis 17:17 to Genesis 23:1 would indicate that Isaac was about 37 years old when Sarah died. If we understand that Jesus was 33 years old, when he bore the cross to his death, then perhaps we can conclude that Isaac was about 33, when he bore the wood for the burnt offering to be sacrificed on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:2, 6).[1] This would put a context on the event that would show, it was as much a test for Isaac, as it was for Abraham. Isaac, who at this point in time was much stronger, physically, than his father, Abraham, had to be submissive to his father’s will in order for the whole matter to conclude as it did!
When they had come to the place, which God had told him, Abraham built an altar and laid the wood upon it. Then he bound his son, Isaac, and laid him upon the wood on the altar (Genesis 22:9). Such a thing presumes Isaac’s submission, if, indeed, he was a man, himself, about the age of 33. If this is logical and true up to this point, then it also logical to believe that, sometime between leaving the two servants and arriving at Mount Moriah, Abraham had told Isaac, what he was about to do and why. Therefore, Isaac wasn’t an ignorant participant in the event. He had to have known and understood, what was taking place, if, indeed, as a man of 33 and stronger than his aged father, he was a willing participant in the affair.
Up to this point both Abraham and Isaac believed the whole event of the human sacrifice had to be completed, because Abraham raised his hand, taking a knife to slay his son, but just prior to his taking his son’s life, he was stopped (Genesis 22:10-11)! The Angel of the Lord called out to Abraham from heaven, and he prevented him from slaying Isaac (Genesis 22:11-12). The text says: “Now, I know that you fear God…” Didn’t God know this before the event took place? Of course, he did. However, the Hebrew word (yada; H3045) also expresses the idea of knowing by experience. That is, Abraham had to go through the whole act, up to the point of slaying Isaac, in order to bring him to understand that God does not require human sacrifice for worship. Human sacrifice was a part of man’s religious practice during the age in which Abraham lived, and it is not beyond the realm of probability that Abraham’s own brother, Haran, was sacrificed as part of the worship of Terah, his father (cp. Genesis 11:28).
The Hebrew in the text (Genesis 11:28) has Haran slain (H4138) before (H5921 and H6440) his father (Terah). There are two Hebrew words that are together translated into before.[2] First, it is ‘al (H5921), which has the meaning: “on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of…” The second is paniym (H6440), which means “face, presence… in front of, etc.” In other words, it can be said that Haran, Abraham’s eldest brother (Lot’s father) was slain “in front of” or in the “presence” of Terah; and he was slain “according to” or “on behalf of” Terah, his father (Genesis 11:28), vis-à-vis as a human sacrifice (cp. Joshua 24:2). This kind of thing had to be stopped, but it was a tradition of men, vis-à-vis a practice according to man’s wisdom (cp. Romans 1:21-22), which men had come to believe was a good thing to do, to express one’s devotion to his god. Thus, by stopping Abraham in the very act, it is revealed that God is not like this. He doesn’t desire, nor does he approve of human sacrifice.
With joy that wasn’t known or understood until Jesus’ day (cp. John 8:56), Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw a ram caught by his horns in a thicket, so he used the ram as a burnt offering instead of Isaac, his son (Genesis 22:13). Therefore, Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh, which is Mount Moriah in Jerusalem (Mount Olives). The name means: In the mount of the Lord, it will be seen (Genesis 22:14). What will be seen? The Substitution, will be seen, vis-à-vis the crucifixion of the Lord, Jesus!
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[1] This, admittedly is conjecture. Isaac could have been considerably younger, but old enough to carry the wood for the fire on his back for a considerable distance. Thus, implying his strength was greater than that of Abraham’s. Certainly, if he were a mere child, Abraham or one of his servants would have carried the burden.
[2] See Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions for “before” (H5921 and H6440) at Genesis 11:28.
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