Sermon notes December 28th, 2025
GENESIS 22
We have just seen the miraculous birth of Isaac in the last chapter. Again, we have the process of time in scripture that in some cases is very difficult to pin down with exact accuracy. The point is, what was the age of Isaac at this point in scripture? I’ll give you the best I can find.
- The Bible doesn't state Isaac's exact age, but most scholars and traditions suggest he was a young man, not a young boy, likely in his late teens to late twenties, strong enough to carry the wood and potentially resist his father, with specific estimates ranging from 18 to 37 years old, with 25 (Josephus) and (Rabbinic Judaism)37 being common figures, emphasizing his willing faith. (I believe he was 33)
- He was old enough to ask questions, carry the wood for the fire, and be bound, indicating he wasn't a small child.
- The text describes him as a "lad" (Hebrew word: na'ar), which can mean a young man or servant, but the context points to maturity for the task.
- Ultimately, Isaac was a young adult, demonstrating faith by consenting to the act, rather than being a helpless child. Let’s look at the similarities to the Cross.
The Beloved, Only Son: Both Isaac (the chosen son of Sarah) and Jesus are presented as unique, beloved sons given by God for sacrifice.
The Father's Will: A father (Abraham/God the Father) commands the sacrifice of his beloved son.
The Journey & Mountain: Both journeys to sacrifice take days and end on a specific mountain (Moriah/Calvary), a place of divine appointment. They came into the place of Calvery riding on a donkey.
Carrying the Wood: Isaac carries the wood for his own burning (Gen 22:6), mirroring Jesus carrying his cross (John 19:17).
Submission & Willingness: Both sons submit quietly to their father's will, showing deep trust.
The Third Day: Abraham arrives on the third day (Gen 22:4), foreshadowing Jesus' resurrection on the third day.
The Substitute: A ram caught in a thicket (Gen 22:13) serves as the substitute for Isaac, just as Jesus becomes the ultimate sacrifice (the Lamb of God). The Substitute for you and me!!
Provision & Resurrection: Abraham's faith in God's provision for resurrection (Gen 22:8) points to God's ultimate plan through Christ's resurrection.
- Perhaps no scene in the Bible except Calvary itself is more poignant than this one, and none gives a clearer foreshadowing of the death of God’s only, beloved Son on the cross. The supreme test of Abraham’s faith came when God ordered him to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering in the land of Moriah. Actually, God had no intention of allowing Abraham to go through with it; He has always been opposed to human sacrifice. Moriah is the mountain range where Jerusalem is situated.
2 Chronicles 3:1 New King James Version
3 Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
- This is also the same mountain where Calvary stood.
God’s words, “your only son Isaac, whom you love,” must have pierced Abraham’s heart like ever-deepening wounds. Isaac was Abraham’s only son in the sense that he was the only son of promise—the unique son, the son of miraculous birth.
- There is also some first-time occurrence of words in the Bible, and it often sets the pattern for its usage throughout Scripture. “Love” (v. 2) and “worship” (v. 5) are first found here. Abraham’s love for his son is a faint picture of God’s love for the Lord Jesus.
- The sacrifice of Isaac was a picture of the greatest act of worship—the Savior’s self-sacrifice to accomplish the will of God.
Genesis 22 New King James Version
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now 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.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place a far off.
5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.
7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So, the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So, he said, “Here I am.”
12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So, Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,
16 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—
17 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.
- What does it mean to take possession of the gate of the enemy? Taking possession of the gate of the enemy implies exercising control over that city. It implies taking over a colony. It implies having a city, a colony or an empire yielding to the control of a colonizing external force
- The gates to a city, then, represented a point of power, a place to exercise control over that city. A military conqueror would try to get control of the gate in order to enter the city most easily. A king who had the hearts of the elders who sat in the gate would politically control the city. A person who organized and ran the commercial market and storehouses at the gate would control the economic life of the city—and its surrounding villages. At the gate ideas and policies flowed along with commerce. These ideas could result in the rising or falling of rulers and even nations. And that brings us to the modern day in which we live.
- In our lives—in our cities, states, nations—it often seems like an enemy of the Kingdom of God has possessed our “gates.” This enemy represents ideals and principal’s contrary to that of Heaven’s Kingdom. Yet it influences our business life, our cultural life, our social life, our political life, even our church life.
Genesis 22:18-24
18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
20 Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:
21 Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,
22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”
23 And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.