4. The Test And The Type (Genesis 22:1-15) Series

Good morning! Please open your Bibles to Genesis 22. We are going to be looking at one of the most well- known stories in the entire Old Testament. This is where God tells Abraham to take his son Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering on the mountain God will show him.

We are going to read the entire story in a moment, but before we do, I’d like you to look at the chapter heading for Genesis 22. Not every Bible has chapter headings. They weren’t part of the original text, so the chapter headings represent what a group of editors determined was the most important them of that section.

So if your Bible has chapter headings, what does yours say this chapter is about? If you look at the six most popular translations—ESV, CSB, NASB, NIV, NKJV, and NLT, they are split exactly in half. Three of them emphasize Abraham being tested, and three of them emphasize Isaac being sacrificed.

This morning, I want to talk about both facets of the story. We will look at the testing of Abraham and the lessons we can learn from that, and then we will look at Isaac’s sacrifice, and how it points to Christ. I’m going to use what might be a new word for some of you: typology. Biblical typology or “a type” is a person or thing in the Old Testament that foreshadows a person or thing in the New Testament.

So keep your Bibles open to Genesis 22, as we look at both the test of Abraham and the type of Christ—how the almost-sacrifice of Isaac pointed to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus. Let’s pray together, and we will get started.

[Pray]

I will be honest with you. The story of Abraham offering Isaac as a sacrifice is both horrifying and terrifying. It’s horrifying because you have to ask the question, would God ever tell anyone to sacrifice their child to Him? And the answer is no. Nowhere in the Bible does God approve of or demand child sacrifice.

There was a god worshiped by the Ammonites called Molech. He was represented as having the head of an ox and the body of a man. Idols to Molech were hollow bronze statues that had an opening at the base in which you could build a fire. Molech was worshiped by sacrificing children in the fire.

Over and over in the book of Leviticus, worship of Molech is 100% condemned. Leviticus 18:1 says,

21 You shall not give any of your children to offer them[a] to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

Even with the warnings, the people of Israel still sacrificed to Molech. Hundreds of years after Moses, King Solomon himself built an altar for Molech (1 Kings 11:7), and King Ahaz of Israel and King Menasseh of Judah even sacrificed their own children to Molech.

God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, gave this as one of the reasons God allowed Judah to be captured and exiled to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC:

35 They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

Now, we know all of this from God’s word. It is crystal clear in Scripture that God considers every human life to be sacred.

And because today is the day Southern Baptists have designated as Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, I have to say it again: God calls the sacrifice of children an abomination. A detestable practice.

But it’s a practice that hundreds of thousands of people still engage in today. In 2020, the estimated number of abortions performed in the United States was between 600,000 and 900,000. We are still sacrificing our children today. It may not be to a bronze idol. It may be the altar of convenience—that this isn’t a good time in your life for you to have a baby. Or the altar of your reputation—what would people say? Or maybe you have children but you don’t spend any time with them. You are sacrificing them on the altar of your own career. Or your own leisure pursuits. This isn’t just moms. Dads, we do it too.

We know God’s heart on the matter. But keep in mind that Abraham lived before the Bible was written down. At this point in history, Abraham is still learning about God’s character. He doesn’t know yet that God would never ask this of him. So it is a real test.

Verse 1: “After these things, God tested Abraham. And he said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take 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.”