Isaac Typifies Christ
This study of the similarities between Isaac and Jesus Christ is not intended to be a comprehensive comparison of all the ways they are similar. For a study of all their similarities see our Sunday school lesson in Genesis 21 The Birth of Isaac. In this study we will see that Isaac typifies Christ, particularly when he was offered as a sacrifice in Genesis 22. Isaac typifies Christ:
Isaac was the only begotten son of Abraham (and Sarah), Gen 22:2, Heb 11:17.
Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God, Jn 3:16.
Isaac was offered on one of the mountains of Moriah, Gen 22:2.
Jesus Christ was offered on Mount Calvary, Lk 23:33.
Mount Moriah is where Solomon built the temple, 2 Chr 3:1. No doubt, the mountain upon which Isaac was offered was the same mountain upon which Jesus Christ was crucified. Gen 22:14, “In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen”. Golgotha, Mk 15:22, can be seen from the platform of the Temple Mount.
Isaac was to be a burnt offering to God, Gen 22:2, 6.
Jesus Christ was an offering and sacrifice to God, Eph 5:2. And his soul was in hell during the three days that his body was in the grave, Acts 2:27, 31. There is fire in hell, Lk 16:24.
Isaac bore the wood for the burnt offering, Gen 22:6.
Jesus Christ bore his cross, Jn 19:17. Simon the Cyrenian carried the cross for Jesus the rest of the way, Lk 23:26.
Isaac was to be slain with a knife, Gen 22:6.
Jesus Christ was pierced with a spear, Jn 19:34.
Isaac was to be offered as a lamb, Gen 22:7.
Jesus Christ was offered as a lamb, 1 Pet 1:18-19.
No doubt, Isaac typifies Christ. The foreshadowing of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Gen 22 is much greater than is apparent by simply studying the similarities between the two.
Notice what Abraham said when he left the ass with the two young men who rode with them to Moriah. In Gen 22:5, he said, “Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder, and worship, and come again to you”. “I and the lad” (plural) is the subject of all three verbs. We will “go yonder”. We will “worship”. And we will “come again to you”.
Abraham understood something that isn’t readily apparent until you understand that he knew Isaac was coming back down that mountain with him.
Abraham realized that for God to fulfill his promise that his seed would multiply as the stars of heaven, Isaac would have to live to marry and have children.
God was going to do one of two things on that mountain. Either God was going to provide a substitute so that Isaac wouldn’t be sacrificed. Or God was going to raise Isaac from the dead after he was offered as burnt sacrifice.
In Gen 22:8, Abraham said to Isaac, “God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering”. He didn’t say, “God will provide a lamb for himself”. He said, “God will provide himself”. Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh, 1 Tim 3:16, and HE is the Lamb of God, Jn 1:29. God himself is the substitute.
Jesus referred to what Abraham “saw” when he realized that God might provide a substitute. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”, Jn 8:56. In fact, God did provide a substitute for Isaac on that mountain, Gen 22:13, but he provided a greater substitute for us on Calvary.
But Abraham also knew that if God didn’t provide a substitute ram, he was going to raise Isaac from the dead. In Heb 11:17-19, Abraham accounted “that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure”. This is the foreshadowing of the resurrection of Jesus Christ following his substitutionary sacrifice for our sins.
Abraham knew when he and Isaac ascended that mountain that they were coming back down that mountain together. As they say, “There’s more than meet’s the eye” when you see how Isaac typifies Christ.
To study the prior lesson, see Sarah Typifies Mary. To study the next lesson, see Jacob Typifies a Christian.