Genesis 22-24
Day 21: Genesis 22-24 Notes & Takeaways
We start off today’s reading with Abraham being tested. Now this test was not one to produce faith in Abraham but to reveal his faith. God called Abraham and he answered, “Here I am” (Gen 22:1). Abraham’s statement is one of a person who is ready. Ready to obey, ready to learn, ready to listen, ready to surrender everything to God. Abraham was then asked by God to “sacrifice him there as a burnt offering” (Gen 22:2).
Abraham and Isaac went to the mountain and this was about a 3 day walk and what has to be noted is so many of the things that point us to Jesus in chapter 22. The three days journey points us to 3 days after Jesus’ death. When they get to the mountain, they leave the servants behind and only Isaac and Abraham go up the mountain and they take the wood, the fire, and the knife. The knife is significant because the knife was to kill Isaac. Abraham brought it faithfully knowing how he would have to use it. Isaac knew that if he did use it, God’s promise would be fulfilled through Isaac and therefore he would bring him back from the dead if necessary. There was a lot of faith revealing itself throughout this story.
We must note that twice the word lamb is used. Once when Isaac asks where the lamb is for the burnt offering is in verse 7 and again when Abraham answers that God himself will provide the lamb in verse 8. (Gen 22:7-8) The word lamb brings us back to Jesus. He was like a lamb that is led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7). He is the one that John the Baptist testified about when he said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29).
Another important aspect to notice is the faith and trust of Isaac not only for God but for his father. Isaac was about 33 years old (around the same age as Jesus when he died on the cross) when Abraham placed him on the wood and bound him. His father was more than 100 years old. He could’ve easily fought off Abraham but he willingly allowed himself to be put up on the altar (just as Jesus willingly died on the cross for us). He probably understood what was happening but didn't fight it. He trusted and had faith that whatever his father was doing was because he was being directed by God. And if God called him to do it, he had a plan for it all, so he knew he was in good hands.
“The younger man, perhaps five-and-twenty — so Josephus thinks — possibly thirty-three years of age, and, if so, very manifestly the type of Christ, who was about that age when he came to die.” (Spurgeon)
As Abraham reaches out his hand, takes the knife to slay his son, the angel of the Lord (preincarnate Lord Jesus) calls out to him to stop him. When the Lord calls out Abraham’s name, once again he replies with, “Here I am” (Gen 22:11). This reminds me of all the amazing, faithful men in the Bible who also answered God the same way:
Jacob (Genesis 31:11)
Moses (Exodus 3:4)
Samuel (1 Sam 3:4)
Isaiah (Isaiah 6:8)
Ananias (Acts 9:10)
Are you ready to say here I am if God calls you?
Abraham knew there were pagan gods who were offered human sacrifices, but know he knew that his God was nothing like them. Our God doesn’t want a human sacrifice, he just wants a willing heart.
“You have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me [Gen 22:12]: Abraham displayed his heart towards God in that he was willing to give up his only son. God displays His heart towards us in the same way, by giving His only begotten Son (John 3:16).
i. When God asked Abraham for the ultimate demonstration of love and commitment, He asked for Abraham’s son. When God the Father wanted to show us the ultimate demonstration of His love and commitment to us, He gave us His Son. We can say to the LORD, “Now I know that You love me, seeing You have not withheld Your Son, Your only Son from me.”” (Enduring Word Commentary)
Abraham then saw the ram and sacrificed it instead. Therefore, he called the mountain “The Lord will provide” or Jehovah Jireh (Gen 22:14). Note that Abraham names it based on what the Lord did and not what he actually went through or experienced. He ignores himself and makes it about God.
God responds by reconfirming his promise to Abraham in Gen 22:16-18. What a wonderful ending to what must’ve been three very stressful days. I loved chapter 22! So many things pointing to Jesus. Did you notice these?
We move on to chapter 23 where we see the death of Sarah. Sarah lived to be 127 years old.
“Nowhere in the Bible are we told to look to Mary the mother of Jesus as an example of a godly woman. Twice we are told to look to Sarah as such an example (Isaiah 51:1-2 and 1 Peter 3:3-6). (Enduring Word commentary)
We see that Abraham mourned for her, just as we mourn for those we love once they pass. But, even when we mourn, we don’t mourn as the unbelievers do, because we know that those we love, who have accepted Christ and lived for him, will move from this life into his presence (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). We have hope of a better life to come than the one we have now. That should give us comfort even in times of death.
We proceed with our reading with Abraham negotiating for a piece of land for Sarah’s burial site. In ancient customs the purchaser and seller would go back and forth by the seller first offering it for free out of kindness and the buyer insisting to pay for it, until they would negotiate a fair price. With such customs in place, Abraham purchases the cave of Macpelah from Ephron for four hundred shekels of silver. This was a special place for him, for he had built an altar to the Lord there before (Genesis 13:18). This would also be the place where he would be buried and later Isaac.
In chapter 24, the final chapter of today’s reading we see another ancient custom: the solemn oath. Abraham is now very old, wealthy, and very blessed. He sends his entrusted senior servant, Eliezer (Gen 15:2), of his household to find a wife for Isaac from his Abraham’s family in Ur of the Chaldees. He did not want a wife from the land he was in as they were Canaanites and did not serve their God YHWH.
Therefore, he sends his senior servant on a special mission and makes him do a solemn oath by placing his hand under his thigh and swearing by the “LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth” (Gen 24:3). The oath was an ancient custom that is similar to swearing with our hand on the Bible or a right hand raised in our modern times.
“The thigh was considered the source of posterity in the ancient world. Or, more properly, the “loins” or the testicles. The phrase “under the thigh” could be a euphemism for “on the loins.” There are two reasons why someone would take an oath in this manner: 1) Abraham had been promised a “seed” by God, and this covenantal blessing was passed on to his son and grandson. Abraham made his trusted servant swear “on the seed of Abraham” that he would find a wife for Isaac. 2) Abraham had received circumcision as the sign of the covenant (Genesis 17:10). Our custom is to swear on a Bible; the Hebrew custom was to swear on circumcision, the mark of God’s covenant. The idea of swearing on one’s loins is found in other cultures, as well. The English word testify is directly related to the word testicles.
Jewish tradition also offers a different interpretation. According to Rabbi Ibn Ezra, the phrase “under the thigh” means literally that. For someone to allow his hand to be sat on was a sign of submission to authority. If this is the symbolism, then Joseph was showing his obedience to his father by placing his hand under Jacob’s thigh.” (GotQuestions.org)
Commentator Adam Clarke stated in The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, with A Commentary and Critical Notes,
“The person binding himself put his hand under the thigh of the person to whom he was to be bound; i.e., he put his hand on the part that bore the mark of circumcision, the sign of God’s covenant… Our ideas of delicacy may revolt from the rite used on this occasion; but, when the nature of the covenant is considered, of which circumcision was the sign, we shall at once perceive that this rite could not be used without producing sentiments of reverence and godly fear, as the contracting party must know that the God of this covenant was a consuming fire.”
The only way he was free from this oath was if the woman was unwilling to come back with him, but that even in that case, he should not take Isaac back to the country God told him to leave. Luckily for him, God was in control of it all. Before his servant was even finished praying God answered his prayers. Which reminds us of Isaiah 65:24. God blessed the mission and he came back with Rebekah. Rebekah was “the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor” (Gen 22:20-24). This would have made Rebekah a great-niece to Abraham and second cousin to Isaac. His travels sent him 900 miles away (1,450 kilometers) but he only stayed one night and returned the next day with her. He knew his mission was urgent and he did not want to delay. Rebekah’s faith is shown through her own words, “I will go” (Gen 24:58).
Rebekah and Isaac are then married in his mother Sarah’s tent and he found comfort after her death through that marriage. God provided a wife right when he needed it and the most wonderful part about it was that the word of God says, and Isaac loved her. It wasn’t just any other arranged marriage, it was perfectly arranged by God, the perfect woman for Isaac to love and to be loved by.
Tomorrow we move on to chapters 25-27 in Genesis. I hope you’re learning a lot and enjoying it all at the same time. I know I am! Make sure to follow RF on Instagram, and join our FB Group to stay up to date for our upcoming weekly zoom sessions!
