The Binding and Lifting Up of Isaac
[Yeshua said] “… ‘Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’ Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to Him.’ Yeshua answered and said, This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.’ This He said, signifying by what death He would die. The people answered Him, ‘We have heard from the Torah that the Messiah remains forever; and how can You say, “The Son of Man must be lifted up.” Who is this Son of Man?’”
John 12:28-34
Introduction
- We have seen how the ‘Angel ofHaShem’ [Mal’ak HaShem] is HaShem, somehow, in human form. This is important in the progressive revelation to understand the ultimate purpose of Messiah: for G-d to dwell with His people. The Mal’ak HaShem plays a role in the account of the ‘binding of Isaac’.
- The account of Genesis 22 is called ‘the Akeidah’. That name is literally is meant to remind us of the ‘striping’ (binding) of Isaac. It is traditionally known as the 10th and final testing of Abraham.
- The Akeidah is the clearest typology of Yeshua’s death, burial, and resurrection. In the progressive revelation of Messiah, it also teaches an important principle: One can be offered for another. Rashi, the medieval sage, sees the Akeidah as the greatest evidence of that fact.
Words and Phrases
- 22:2: “Take now”: lach-na: Please take. A request, not a command.
- 22:2: “whom you love”: ahav’ta (from ahav). First usage in Scripture. Deut 5:6-10, Deut 6:5: ahav is always tested/proven. It is not an emotion. Did Abraham love Isaac, or did Abraham love G-d?
- 22:2: “burnt offering”: olah. From the root which means to ‘rise up’. i.e. aliyah etc. It is the point of ascension into the Presence of G-d of a stand-in.
- 22:2: “Moriah”: Moriyah. From ra’ah (seen, manifested) and Yah. Seen by G-d. The mem prefix adds continuation. Where G-d keeps seeing.1Kings 8:29; 9:3.
- 22:4 “third day”: bayom ha-sh’lishi. Ex 19:11-16, Esther 5:1: bayom ha-sh’lishi is the point of no return.
- 22:4: “lifted up his eyes” (and saw) “the place” [hamakom]. “lifted up his eyes” (behold) the ram. Gen 18:2; Gen 24:63; Num 24:2; Josh 5:13: The focus of expectation.
- 22:4: hamakom [the Place]: Gen 22:14; 28:16; 32:2; 32:30; Deut 22:11: haMakom – is the ‘Place’ of His dwelling, where He meets with man. After 1Kings 8:29 - The Temple Mount.
- 22:8: “provide for Himself”: yire-lo. From ra’ah. Make it visible and manifest. Real in the fullest sense.
- 22:9: “the Place which G-d had told him of”: haMakom.
- 22:9: “bound Isaac his son”: akod. From akad. To make strips, by implication, to bind. The Akeidah of Isaac. The “striping”. In 22:9 stem = qal, mood = imperfect, which implies ongoing consequences to the action.
- 22:13: “lifted up his eyes and behold behind him”: achar. Behind, before, later. Gen 5:4 (9 times in this genealogy). Gen 48:4. To come after.
- 22:14: “HaShem will provide”: HaShem yir’eh. The name of the Place is “HaShem makes it visible and manifest”.
Typology
- Connection between ahav and olah. Olah is NOT a ‘burnt offering’ – this is only the second time in Torah olah is used (1st = Gen 8:20 with Noah). Vayikra [Leviticus] makes this abundantly clear. An olah is an act of love for G-d. Death of the object of sacrifice is not the goal – its life is: the life in the blood.
- Lev 1:1-5; Lev 17:11-14: The blood represents the life. An olah’s life was ‘sent up’ to G-d going in the place of the offerer – to bring one near to G-d. An atonement, a covering – as if the offerer was covered or ‘clothed’ with the olah in ascending into the presence of HaShem. It was voluntary, out of love alone.
- Isaac, the loved, was to ascend to G-d, proving Abraham’s love for G-d.
- The land of Moriyah. Eastern most ridge of the three mountains that make up Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is the southern end, Golgotha the northern end.
- The ‘third day’ – the point of no return. It is where Abraham was completely committed. He was not hoping for a ‘stay’ – G-d would not change his mind.
- When Abraham akod Isaac it was with the complete intention of offering his blood as an olah – he did not assume G-d would stop him. James 2:21-22; Heb 11:17-19: The act of olah was as good as done, Abraham was wholly committed to it. Because of this, tradition indicates that Isaac was ‘dead’ for an instant as the knife was raised.
- Isaac (at least figuratively) ascended as an olah. The ultimate Olah, in the form of the ‘Angel ofHaShem’ [Mal’ak HaShem] calls from heaven – having ascended. John 3:14; 12:32-34.
- When Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw achar [later] – he saw a ‘ram’. 1Peter 1:18-20; John 8:56-58. Tradition holds that the ‘ram’ existed at the creation. Rev 13:8 indicates that the ultimate ‘Ram’ always existed.
The Dance Parable
- How does what we learned relate to our Parable of the ‘Dance’ with Messiah so far? How can we participate in the ‘dance’ with Messiah – and this not simply be ‘knowledge’ about Him?
- To see what someone does, is to know something about them. We learned much about Abraham and Isaac in this account, but as the Akeidah of Isaac foreshadows the olah of Yeshua what do we learn of Him?
- What should our response be? He is calling you, vayikra.
Summary
- G-d who loves us, offered His only Son as an olah. So that through His ascension we might be brought into the Presence of the Almighty. It is the life of Yeshua the Messiah that is portrayed in the Akeidah of Isaac.
- The lesson also teaches about our response. Like Abraham, who with full commitment willingly offers Isaac. Isaac, who willingly offers his neck to the blade.
- Is your life offered up as an olah? It can’t truly, for it is not without blemish – but it can be by the merit of the olah of Yeshua.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of G-d, that ye present your bodies a living (olah), holy, acceptable unto G-d, which is your reasonable (avodah).”
Romans 12:1