Read Genesis 22:1-19 at Bible Gateway.
Gen 22:1-19 is a strong paragraph found in annual cycle vayeria, “and he appeared”, Gen 18:1-22:24:
Gen 21:33-22:19
1a) Gen 21:33-34 {p} Abraham dwelt in Beersheba;
1b) Gen 22:1-2, God: Go to Moriah and offer your only son Isaac as a burnt offering;
1c) Gen 22:3-9, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering;
1a) Gen 22:3-6, Abraham went to the place / laid the wood on Isaac his son;
central axis) Gen 22:7-8, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering;
2a) Gen 22:9, They came to the place / laid Isaac his son on the wood;
central axis) Gen 22:10, Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son;
2c) Gen 22:11-15, Abraham called the name of the place, The LORD will provide;
1a) Gen 22:11-12, The Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven;
central axis) Gen 22:13-14, Abraham beheld the ram + called the name of the place, The LORD will provide;
2a) Gen 22:15, The Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven;
2b) Gen 22:16-18, God: Because you have not withheld your only son Isaac, blessing, because you have obeyed;
2a) Gen 22:19 {p} Abraham returned to Beersheba and dwelt there.
The central axis of the entire chiasm, is Abraham’s obedience. He is the father of all who believe (Rom 4:11), and he is also the father of all who obey!
The signs of Messiah in the Akedah include:
God calls Isaac Abraham’s only son, more than once, (vs. 2 and 12), even though Isaac was not Abraham’s only son; Ishmael was also Abraham’s son. God was not being inaccurate, but prophesying of Messiah as His only Son with Isaac as the prophetic type.
The father is called upon to offer his only son as a sacrifice (vs. 2).
The place of sacrifice and resurrection (by type) was a journey of three days (vs. 4).
Abraham fully expected Isaac to be raised from the dead after the sacrifice, as he told the young men they would both return (vs. 5). And in a manner of speaking, Isaac was raised from the dead – his death was certain, but he received his life through miraculous intervention (vs. 12). This is the messianic sign of resurrection and life in Torah.
The wood for the sacrifice was laid upon Isaac to bear to the place of sacrifice (vs. 6).
God Himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice (vs. 8).
Isaac, as a young man of 25 years, could have resisted Abraham, as an old man of 125 years, if he so chose, when his father bound him to the altar. But he submitted himself willingly to the will of his father (vs. 9).
And although this sign of Messiah is not specifically in the Akedah, it was not physically or naturally possible for Isaac’s mother to bear a son, and yet she received the son of the promise by the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit, just as Mary the mother of Jesus also did.
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