The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible – Part Five Continued - F Dec 31, 2017 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/2017-12-31_Word-of-God-Pt-5.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ge 22:9 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. We will conclude Part 5 of our survey by looking at the events on Mount Moriah and beyond. Sunday December 31st 2017 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part Five Continued - F ‘Get Out…..And Come’ 1). Joh 8:56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." We had seen last time that the Lord had made this extraordinary statement concerning Abraham – that some 2000 years before Christ’s advent and some 4000 years before its fulfillment, Abraham had seen the Lord’s day/Day – the day of His sacrifice and the day of His resurrection and the Day of the Lord, the 7th Day, that which the Lord’s death and resurrection would make possible. a). And we had discovered that Abraham had seen the Lord’s day/Day through the gospel that was preached to him - Ga 3:8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. b). And contextually these verses from Galatians, speaking of ‘the gospel’ would be a reference to the gospel of the glory of Christ, that which Paul called ‘my gospel’, the good news concerning the Word of the Kingdom. c). Abraham was already eternally saved before he left Ur of the Chaldeans, so he did not need to hear the gospel of grace, but being eternally saved he could receive the good news of Christ’s Kingdom glory. d). And by comparing scripture with scripture we can know for sure that this is what he heard - Heb 11:9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. The city Abraham was waiting, and is still waiting for, is the New Jerusalem, and it is impossible to separate waiting for the New Jerusalem from waiting for Christ’s Kingdom rule as the two are inextricably connected. e). With all this in mind let’s also not forget what God had said to Abraham before the destruction of the cities of the plain - Ge 18:17 And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18 "since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." Although, contextually this statement would take us to the destruction of the cities of the plain, let’s also remember that this event established a type for the destruction of Gentile world power at the end of the Tribulation, preceding the Kingdom. That which God was revealing to Abraham goes beyond just His immediate action and must be seen within the overall scope of His promises to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob - within the context of gospel that was preached to Abraham. f). And so, that which took place on Mount Moriah between Abraham and Isaac must be understood by viewing it through the lens of the gospel of the glory of Christ that had been preached to Abraham beforehand. g). Abraham knew that God’s Son would be born by supernatural means just as Isaac was – he knew that God’s Son would die on the same mountain where Isaac was to be sacrificed – he knew that God’s Son would be raised on the 3rd day as his son would be and he knew that the death and shed blood of God’s Son and His resurrection were necessary for the gospel preached to him to be fulfilled, all of which because of the type, made the sacrifice and resurrection of Isaac an imperative and a sublime act of faith. 2). Ge 22:9 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. God’s Son, our Savior willingly went to the cross and was fixed firmly to it with nails - Isa 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. And this is typified through Isaac willingly allowing himself to be bound and laid upon the wood on the altar. And really, there is no need to try to find an explanation for Isaac’s willingness to be the sacrifice beyond the fact that the type and the antitype will correspond with one another exactly. a). And as Abraham stretched out his hand to slay his son the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and staid his hand. b). Isaac himself was never going to be killed on Mount Moriah for a very simple scriptural reason. Although he was the son of promise and his birth was orchestrated by supernatural means, it was Abraham and not God who was his father. Isaac, like us all, had a sin nature and his death could not atone for his own sin or anyone else’s. There was only one Man who would accomplish this, the only begotten Son of the Father, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, the One whom Isaac typified. c). Only this One, God’s only begotten Son, could pay the price that the atonement for sin would require - Heb 9:12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. And it is the Christ, the One who would die in our stead who is then pictured through the ram caught in the thicket - Joh 19:5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, "Behold the Man!" d). And it is the ram who died in Isaac’s place – a substitutionary death, first seen in the past in the Garden - Ge 3:21 ¶ Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. A substitutionary death anticipating the Passover lambs in the future – Ex 12:5 'Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 'Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. All pointing to Christ, our Passover, our substitute, who would die in our place 2000 years beyond Abraham’s lifetime - Joh 1:29 ¶ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! e). But, let’s make no mistake. Isaac did die that day and was raised from the dead on the 3rd day. God accepted the ram in Isaac’s stead, but from God’s perspective Isaac had died and resurrection had taken place – the type and the antitype corresponding exactly. f). And this foreshadows what happened on the night of Passover in Egypt - Ex 12:12 'For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Ex 12:23 "For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 1Co 5:7b……………..For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Ge 22:14 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." And we might praise the Lord that He provided for Himself a Lamb as an offering for our sin. g). And Abraham receiving Isaac back from the dead is exactly what scripture records - Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. 3). Ge 22:15 ¶ 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. 18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." And it is immediately after the sacrifice of Isaac that the promise to Abraham is re-affirmed, with the added detail that Abraham’s descendants, both the ‘stars of the heaven’ [the heavenly realm of the Kingdom – the Church] and ‘the sand which is on the seashore’ [the earthly realm of the Kingdom - Israel] ‘shall possess the gate of their enemy’. a). We will remember from the account of Lot that the gate of a city is the place where the governance of that city was transacted and so to ‘possess the gate of their enemies’ would be to take the place of governance from them, to rule in their stead. b). For those who are the descendants of Abraham by faith, to whom the Kingdom of the heavens is being offered, the ‘Church’, our enemies are Satan and his fallen angels who currently rule from the heavens over the earth. c). But, the clear statement of scripture is that this present system of rulership will be replaced by Christ, the Seed of Abraham, and His co-heirs and they will rule from the heavens in Satan’s stead. d). For those who are the physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, the nation of Israel, they have the same enemies whose actions are more directly seen through the worldwide rule of the Gentile nations and their persecution of God’s chosen people. e). But again, the clear statement of scripture is that Gentile world power will be overthrown, and Israel will rule at the head of the nations from Jerusalem. f). And once the physical descendants of Abraham through repentance and in obedience occupy their rightful place with respect to the nations and fulfill the purpose for which they were called into existence, to be God’s firstborn son, His witness throughout the earth, then both spiritual and material blessing will flow from them to the nations, something that has never yet been seen. g). And we see, from the verses in Genesis, that this will be brought to pass because Abraham obeyed the voice of the Lord, because he had faith to the saving of the soul; setting his mind on things above and not on things on the earth. h). And Abraham’s obedience on Mount Moriah in one sense foreshadowed Israel’s future obedience on the same mountain in Jerusalem 2000 years later when they slew the Passover Lamb, Israel’s only Son, in accordance with the voice of the Lord, even though they did so unwittingly - Ex 12:5 'Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 'Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And the nation’s action in this respect, both the killing of the Passover Lamb and the killing of their King, has made certain beyond any doubt, the coming Kingdom of Christ, the overthrow of the present system of rulership, and the blessing of the nations – all in accord with God’s stated purpose from the beginning - Ge 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion…………………….. Ge 12:1 ¶ Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Power Point – Slides 1-3 4). Ge 22:19 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: And so, the type continues to unfold. a). The first thing we will want to note here is that ‘Abraham returned to his young men’, there is no mention of Isaac returning with him. b). Now, from an entirely natural perspective we would know that Isaac did not stay on the mountain, and there is no reason to suppose that he did not return to Beersheba with his father. c). So, the question we would want to ask is why in the composition of the written account in the scriptures does God deliberately make no mention of Isaac? We would know by now that this is not an oversight. d). And the answer to the question is an easy one, it is to preserve the integrity of the type. e). Following the Lord’s resurrection and ascension He remains in a distant place, at the right hand of His Father, until He comes forth to meet His Bride halfway between His home and her home - 1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. And in the type, that points to this, we do not see Isaac again from Genesis Chapter 22 until Genesis Chapter 24 when he comes forth to meet Rebekah, halfway between his home and hers - Ge 24:62 ¶ Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. 64 Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; 65 for she had said to the servant, "Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took a veil and covered herself. f). And the result of Abraham’s oldest servant completing his mission is found in - Ge 24:67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Here is the picture of the Bride of Christ becoming the Wife of Christ, having been previously removed from His body at the Judgment Seat and presented back to Him following the resurrection/rapture, just as is set out with Adam and his wife in foundation – Ge 2:23 And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. g). And so, with the Man, the Christ, now complete with His Wife and the Wife now complete with her Husband, rulership in the 7th Day will begin – Ru 4:9 ¶ And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi. 10 "Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day." Joh 2:1 ¶ On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 5). And so, God does not hide from Abraham what He is doing and through Abraham He does not hide it from us either, providing that we have eyes to see and ears to hear. a). Ge 21:1 ¶ And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. As we have previously seen, the miraculous birth of Isaac provides the type for the miraculous birth of our Lord - Lu 1:34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" 35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. It is through Divine intervention with respect to a childless womb that results in the birth of Isaac and the One he typifies, the Christ. And it is because of Isaac’s miraculous birth that it is possible for Mary to bring forth the Christ. b). The miraculous birth of Isaac provides the beginning point for a sequence of events that the Lord requires us to know and understand. c). This sequence of events is not exhaustive in and of itself, but does provide a panoramic timeframe that is invaluable in our understanding of the scriptures. d). And so, once again, the birth of Isaac pictures the birth of the Christ. e). The next event we need to see is the sacrifice of Isaac, pointing to the sacrifice of the Christ, which we have seen in Genesis Chapter 22 - Ge 22:8 And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." f). If Abraham is a type of God the Father, then Sarah is a type of the nation of Israel, the Wife of Jehovah, who brought forth the Promised Son. And in Genesis Chapter 23 we see - Ge 23:1 ¶ Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. The death of Sarah pictures the ‘death’, the setting aside of Israel, following the Lord’s death and resurrection as He turns His attention to the Church during the 2000 years of this present dispensation - Ac 28:27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them."' 28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!" 29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. g). And that which is to take place during the 2000 years of this dispensation is set out in the type presented in Genesis Chapter 24 – Ge 24:2 So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please, put your hand under my thigh, 3 "and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 "but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac." Just as Abraham’s oldest servant went to Abraham’s family to find a bride for Isaac, the young woman being the granddaughter of Milcah, whose name is derived from a word meaning ‘queen’, so God the Father’s ‘oldest servant’, the Holy Spirit, has been sent into the world to search out a Bride for God’s Son, amongst the eternally saved, God’s family and this Bride is destined to become Christ’s Consort Queen. This is where we find ourselves today, and this is going on amongst us even now. h). Then beyond the acquisition of the Bride for God’s Son the account of Abraham takes us to the conclusion of the matter, the Millennial Kingdom, in Genesis Chapter 25 - Ge 25:1 ¶ Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah. 2 And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Here then is God the Father, again taking a wife, a wife whose name, ‘Keturah’ means the sweet-smelling aroma of an offering for sin, picturing Israel in repentance, restored, healed and fruitful, such as she has never been before. Here then is the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham, the fulfillment of His purpose set out in Genesis Chapter 1, the fulfillment of the gospel preached to Abraham and to us – and we will be there in that Day when that seen in Genesis Chapters 24 and 25 is brought to pass. Whatever we do let us be ready for it; let us be neither casual nor complacent, nor let us lean on our own understanding, but rather, let us trust the Lord as our father Abraham did so that we may rejoice in seeing the Lord’s Day – 1Pe 1:13 ¶ Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; Power Point – Slides 4-6 We will move on next time – if the Lord is willing. The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible – Part Five Continued - F Dec 31, 2017 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/2017-12-31_Word-of-God-Pt-5.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ge 22:9 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. We will conclude Part 5 of our survey by looking at the events on Mount Moriah and beyond. Sunday December 31st 2017 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part Five Continued - F ‘Get Out…..And Come’ 1). Joh 8:56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." We had seen last time that the Lord had made this extraordinary statement concerning Abraham – that some 2000 years before Christ’s advent and some 4000 years before its fulfillment, Abraham had seen the Lord’s day/Day – the day of His sacrifice and the day of His resurrection and the Day of the Lord, the 7th Day, that which the Lord’s death and resurrection would make possible. a). And we had discovered that Abraham had seen the Lord’s day/Day through the gospel that was preached to him - Ga 3:8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. b). And contextually these verses from Galatians, speaking of ‘the gospel’ would be a reference to the gospel of the glory of Christ, that which Paul called ‘my gospel’, the good news concerning the Word of the Kingdom. c). Abraham was already eternally saved before he left Ur of the Chaldeans, so he did not need to hear the gospel of grace, but being eternally saved he could receive the good news of Christ’s Kingdom glory. d). And by comparing scripture with scripture we can know for sure that this is what he heard - Heb 11:9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. The city Abraham was waiting, and is still waiting for, is the New Jerusalem, and it is impossible to separate waiting for the New Jerusalem from waiting for Christ’s Kingdom rule as the two are inextricably connected. e). With all this in mind let’s also not forget what God had said to Abraham before the destruction of the cities of the plain - Ge 18:17 And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18 "since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." Although, contextually this statement would take us to the destruction of the cities of the plain, let’s also remember that this event established a type for the destruction of Gentile world power at the end of the Tribulation, preceding the Kingdom. That which God was revealing to Abraham goes beyond just His immediate action and must be seen within the overall scope of His promises to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob - within the context of gospel that was preached to Abraham. f). And so, that which took place on Mount Moriah between Abraham and Isaac must be understood by viewing it through the lens of the gospel of the glory of Christ that had been preached to Abraham beforehand. g). Abraham knew that God’s Son would be born by supernatural means just as Isaac was – he knew that God’s Son would die on the same mountain where Isaac was to be sacrificed – he knew that God’s Son would be raised on the 3rd day as his son would be and he knew that the death and shed blood of God’s Son and His resurrection were necessary for the gospel preached to him to be fulfilled, all of which because of the type, made the sacrifice and resurrection of Isaac an imperative and a sublime act of faith. 2). Ge 22:9 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. God’s Son, our Savior willingly went to the cross and was fixed firmly to it with nails - Isa 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. And this is typified through Isaac willingly allowing himself to be bound and laid upon the wood on the altar. And really, there is no need to try to find an explanation for Isaac’s willingness to be the sacrifice beyond the fact that the type and the antitype will correspond with one another exactly. a). And as Abraham stretched out his hand to slay his son the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and staid his hand. b). Isaac himself was never going to be killed on Mount Moriah for a very simple scriptural reason. Although he was the son of promise and his birth was orchestrated by supernatural means, it was Abraham and not God who was his father. Isaac, like us all, had a sin nature and his death could not atone for his own sin or anyone else’s. There was only one Man who would accomplish this, the only begotten Son of the Father, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, the One whom Isaac typified. c). Only this One, God’s only begotten Son, could pay the price that the atonement for sin would require - Heb 9:12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. And it is the Christ, the One who would die in our stead who is then pictured through the ram caught in the thicket - Joh 19:5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, "Behold the Man!" d). And it is the ram who died in Isaac’s place – a substitutionary death, first seen in the past in the Garden - Ge 3:21 ¶ Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. A substitutionary death anticipating the Passover lambs in the future – Ex 12:5 'Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 'Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. All pointing to Christ, our Passover, our substitute, who would die in our place 2000 years beyond Abraham’s lifetime - Joh 1:29 ¶ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! e). But, let’s make no mistake. Isaac did die that day and was raised from the dead on the 3rd day. God accepted the ram in Isaac’s stead, but from God’s perspective Isaac had died and resurrection had taken place – the type and the antitype corresponding exactly. f). And this foreshadows what happened on the night of Passover in Egypt - Ex 12:12 'For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Ex 12:23 "For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 1Co 5:7b……………..For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Ge 22:14 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." And we might praise the Lord that He provided for Himself a Lamb as an offering for our sin. g). And Abraham receiving Isaac back from the dead is exactly what scripture records - Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. 3). Ge 22:15 ¶ 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. 18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." And it is immediately after the sacrifice of Isaac that the promise to Abraham is re-affirmed, with the added detail that Abraham’s descendants, both the ‘stars of the heaven’ [the heavenly realm of the Kingdom – the Church] and ‘the sand which is on the seashore’ [the earthly realm of the Kingdom - Israel] ‘shall possess the gate of their enemy’. a). We will remember from the account of Lot that the gate of a city is the place where the governance of that city was transacted and so to ‘possess the gate of their enemies’ would be to take the place of governance from them, to rule in their stead. b). For those who are the descendants of Abraham by faith, to whom the Kingdom of the heavens is being offered, the ‘Church’, our enemies are Satan and his fallen angels who currently rule from the heavens over the earth. c). But, the clear statement of scripture is that this present system of rulership will be replaced by Christ, the Seed of Abraham, and His co-heirs and they will rule from the heavens in Satan’s stead. d). For those who are the physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, the nation of Israel, they have the same enemies whose actions are more directly seen through the worldwide rule of the Gentile nations and their persecution of God’s chosen people. e). But again, the clear statement of scripture is that Gentile world power will be overthrown, and Israel will rule at the head of the nations from Jerusalem. f). And once the physical descendants of Abraham through repentance and in obedience occupy their rightful place with respect to the nations and fulfill the purpose for which they were called into existence, to be God’s firstborn son, His witness throughout the earth, then both spiritual and material blessing will flow from them to the nations, something that has never yet been seen. g). And we see, from the verses in Genesis, that this will be brought to pass because Abraham obeyed the voice of the Lord, because he had faith to the saving of the soul; setting his mind on things above and not on things on the earth. h). And Abraham’s obedience on Mount Moriah in one sense foreshadowed Israel’s future obedience on the same mountain in Jerusalem 2000 years later when they slew the Passover Lamb, Israel’s only Son, in accordance with the voice of the Lord, even though they did so unwittingly - Ex 12:5 'Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 'Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And the nation’s action in this respect, both the killing of the Passover Lamb and the killing of their King, has made certain beyond any doubt, the coming Kingdom of Christ, the overthrow of the present system of rulership, and the blessing of the nations – all in accord with God’s stated purpose from the beginning - Ge 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion…………………….. Ge 12:1 ¶ Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Power Point – Slides 1-3 4). Ge 22:19 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: And so, the type continues to unfold. a). The first thing we will want to note here is that ‘Abraham returned to his young men’, there is no mention of Isaac returning with him. b). Now, from an entirely natural perspective we would know that Isaac did not stay on the mountain, and there is no reason to suppose that he did not return to Beersheba with his father. c). So, the question we would want to ask is why in the composition of the written account in the scriptures does God deliberately make no mention of Isaac? We would know by now that this is not an oversight. d). And the answer to the question is an easy one, it is to preserve the integrity of the type. e). Following the Lord’s resurrection and ascension He remains in a distant place, at the right hand of His Father, until He comes forth to meet His Bride halfway between His home and her home - 1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. And in the type, that points to this, we do not see Isaac again from Genesis Chapter 22 until Genesis Chapter 24 when he comes forth to meet Rebekah, halfway between his home and hers - Ge 24:62 ¶ Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. 64 Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; 65 for she had said to the servant, "Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took a veil and covered herself. f). And the result of Abraham’s oldest servant completing his mission is found in - Ge 24:67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Here is the picture of the Bride of Christ becoming the Wife of Christ, having been previously removed from His body at the Judgment Seat and presented back to Him following the resurrection/rapture, just as is set out with Adam and his wife in foundation – Ge 2:23 And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. g). And so, with the Man, the Christ, now complete with His Wife and the Wife now complete with her Husband, rulership in the 7th Day will begin – Ru 4:9 ¶ And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi. 10 "Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day." Joh 2:1 ¶ On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 5). And so, God does not hide from Abraham what He is doing and through Abraham He does not hide it from us either, providing that we have eyes to see and ears to hear. a). Ge 21:1 ¶ And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. As we have previously seen, the miraculous birth of Isaac provides the type for the miraculous birth of our Lord - Lu 1:34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" 35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. It is through Divine intervention with respect to a childless womb that results in the birth of Isaac and the One he typifies, the Christ. And it is because of Isaac’s miraculous birth that it is possible for Mary to bring forth the Christ. b). The miraculous birth of Isaac provides the beginning point for a sequence of events that the Lord requires us to know and understand. c). This sequence of events is not exhaustive in and of itself, but does provide a panoramic timeframe that is invaluable in our understanding of the scriptures. d). And so, once again, the birth of Isaac pictures the birth of the Christ. e). The next event we need to see is the sacrifice of Isaac, pointing to the sacrifice of the Christ, which we have seen in Genesis Chapter 22 - Ge 22:8 And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." f). If Abraham is a type of God the Father, then Sarah is a type of the nation of Israel, the Wife of Jehovah, who brought forth the Promised Son. And in Genesis Chapter 23 we see - Ge 23:1 ¶ Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. The death of Sarah pictures the ‘death’, the setting aside of Israel, following the Lord’s death and resurrection as He turns His attention to the Church during the 2000 years of this present dispensation - Ac 28:27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them."' 28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!" 29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. g). And that which is to take place during the 2000 years of this dispensation is set out in the type presented in Genesis Chapter 24 – Ge 24:2 So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please, put your hand under my thigh, 3 "and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 "but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac." Just as Abraham’s oldest servant went to Abraham’s family to find a bride for Isaac, the young woman being the granddaughter of Milcah, whose name is derived from a word meaning ‘queen’, so God the Father’s ‘oldest servant’, the Holy Spirit, has been sent into the world to search out a Bride for God’s Son, amongst the eternally saved, God’s family and this Bride is destined to become Christ’s Consort Queen. This is where we find ourselves today, and this is going on amongst us even now. h). Then beyond the acquisition of the Bride for God’s Son the account of Abraham takes us to the conclusion of the matter, the Millennial Kingdom, in Genesis Chapter 25 - Ge 25:1 ¶ Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah. 2 And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Here then is God the Father, again taking a wife, a wife whose name, ‘Keturah’ means the sweet-smelling aroma of an offering for sin, picturing Israel in repentance, restored, healed and fruitful, such as she has never been before. Here then is the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham, the fulfillment of His purpose set out in Genesis Chapter 1, the fulfillment of the gospel preached to Abraham and to us – and we will be there in that Day when that seen in Genesis Chapters 24 and 25 is brought to pass. Whatever we do let us be ready for it; let us be neither casual nor complacent, nor let us lean on our own understanding, but rather, let us trust the Lord as our father Abraham did so that we may rejoice in seeing the Lord’s Day – 1Pe 1:13 ¶ Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; Power Point – Slides 4-6 We will move on next time – if the Lord is willing.