In the previous two posts, we have looked at the record of Avraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, his greatly-beloved son, Yitzchak, at the command of YHWH (the incident is know, to Jews, as the Akedah), and of Yitzchak's willingness to be sacrificed; and at some of the interpretations provided by the secularists and the Jewish communities.
In this post, I wish to share something about the Christian view of the Akedah which is, basically, that it was a type, or foreshadowing (see part 2) of the ultimate sacrifice of Yeshua. For those who have placed their trust in that same Yeshua, the Akedah is much more than the record of an incident that took place millennia ago.
Let's look at this in a fairly chronological order, and from a typological perspective.
1. YHWH issues His command - expresses His will - to Avraham, to sacrifice his beloved son.
Son of Avraham: "[YHWH] said, 'Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Yitz’chak; and go to the land of Moriyah. There you are to offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain that I will point out to you.'" (Gen.22:2).
Son of God: "... it pleased YHWH to crush Him with illness, to see if He would present himself as a guilt offering." (Is.53:10; see Jn.3:16).
2. The sons accept the Father's will.
Yitzchak does not rebel, or struggle against his father, but allows himself to be bound, and laid upn the altar. (Gen.22:6-11).
Yeshua affirms "... not My will, but Yours, be done." to His Father, in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Lk.22:42; see Is.53:7), and allows Himself to be bound, and nailed, to the cross. (Lk.23:33, inter al).
3. The sons carry the wood.
Yitzchak carries the wood as he and Avraham ascend the mountain (Gen.22:6)
Yeshua carries the wooden stake as He struggles, physically, toward Golgotha. (Jn.19:7).
4. God provides a substitute.
"God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." Avraham says to Yitzchak, in response to his son's enquiry. (Gen.22:8). "[He] went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son." (Gen.22:13).
God, Himself, provided "God’s Lamb! The One Who is taking away the sin of the world!" (Jn.1:29).
5. Loved ones grieve for three days.
Isaac was all but dead, in Abraham’s
heart and mind during their three-day journey to Mount Moriyah.
Yeshua was dead. His followers
grieved during His three days in the tomb.
6. Faith in a resurrection.
Of Yitzchak. The early Jewish sage, Rabbi Eliezer (c.40-120), writes that Avraham believed in the resurrection of the dead:
"When Avraham Avinu (our father) put the knife to Yitzchak's neck, Yitzchak's soul flew away and left him. In effect, he died.
"When Avraham then heard the Heavenly Voice proclaim 'Send forth not your hand against the lad', the soul returned into Yitzchak's body. Yitzchak thus personally experienced the phenomenon of Techiyas haMeisim (resurrection of the dead).
"At that moment, Yitzchak opened his mouth and recited the blessing: 'Blessed art Thou Who brings the dead back to life.'" (Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer, ch.31. See also Heb.11:17-19).
Of Yeshua. Even although the apostles mourned His death while He lay in the tomb, "With great power the emissaries continued testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Yeshua," (Acts 4:33).
Both Jews and Christians agree that gen.22 is a magnificent example of a father/son relationship of love, obedience, sacrifice, and faith. In fact, earlier this week, Jewish communities worldwide (the Diaspora) will have read this passage as they celebrated Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year); and they will have recited prayers seeking forgiveness (selichot). In some of these prayers, the Jewish people appeal to God's mercy with Avraham during the Akedah, as they seek His forgiveness for themselves today.
The Akedah, in the minds of the Rabbis, was an act of such magnitude that Jewish people continue to call out to God for forgiveness, based on the faith-filled act of Avraham, and the selfless offering of himself, by Yitzchak.
The Gospel News is that believers can claim the forgiveness won for us, at Calvary, when Yeshua submitted Himself to the death that we deserved. He paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt that we could not pay.
"... He [Yeshua] did not enter heaven to offer Himself over and over again, like the cohen hagadol [High Priest] who enters the Holiest Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer death many times — from the founding of the universe on. But as it is, He has appeared once at the end of the ages in order to do away with sin through the sacrifice of Himself." (Heb.9:25-26).
Have you come before Him, in repentance and faith, and received the new life that He offers? The ball, as is often said, is in your court!
No comments:
Post a Comment