Genesis 22:9-14 "And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen."
Much is said about the faith of Abraham, but we do not often consider the trust that Isaac displayed. The scripture does not tell us how old Isaac was, but it does leave some things for us to consider. In verse five of this chapter, Abraham refers to Isaac as a “lad,” and we think of a lad as a young boy. According to Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, the word translated as lad could also mean a young man.
There are some things in this narrative that would seem to indicate that Isaac was indeed a young man, and a strong young man at that. Isaac carried the wood for the burnt offering on his own back up a mountain. This does not sound like the feat of a little boy, but rather of a strong young man. With that thought, it seems to me that Isaac was in agreement with his father, Abraham.
If he was indeed a young man, then it is conceivable that he could have resisted Abraham. Yet, the scripture does not indicate that Isaac resisted being bound upon the altar that Abraham built. As a grown young man, Isaac would likely have had to willingly let Abraham lay him on that altar. Isaac displays the same unwavering faith in this that we see in Abraham.
Abraham picked up the knife and was ready to take Isaac’s life. At this point, Isaac had to know that he was expected to be the sacrifice. As all of this was in motion, the angel (messenger) of the LORD called out to Abraham from heaven. He stopped Abraham from taking Isaac’s life and testified that he (the angel) knew that Abraham feared (revered) God. Notice that “the” angel said that Abraham had not withheld Isaac from him (the angel).
The angel that spoke there to Abraham was a manifestation of Jesus Christ, the Messenger (Word) of God. Being of the Godhead, He could certainly speak of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac unto Him as being God. Abraham’s prophecy that God would provide himself a lamb was given a physical foreshadowing at this point. Abraham looked, and there was a ram caught in the underbrush by his horns. Abrahm offered the ram as a burnt offering instead of Isaac.
Dear ones, God SENT His son Jesus to be the sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:9). Jesus was the only one who was strong enough to bear the cross of our sins and appease the just demands of His Father. Just as the ram was caught by his horns (which represented his power) in the thicket, Jesus was “caught” in the thicket of the sins of His children because He was the only one with the power to put away sin. As was foreshadowed by Isaac, Jesus did not try to resist His Father but rather prayed “not my will, but Thine be done (Luke 22:42).” Just as Abraham declared when he called the name of that place Jehovahjireh, the LORD indeed saw to the redemption of His people in the mount of the LORD!