Friday, September 08, 2006

Genesis 22

We were taught from Genesis 22 today in chapel and challenged to trust the LORD in the way Abraham exemplified. There I was also reminded of how common it is (and especially was in my church background) to see Christ-typology in Isaac and/or the ram. I suspect the typology runs deeper than that though;

Jesus 'is' Isaac the only son who went willingly to be sacrificed (Isaac remains passive throughout Genesis 22).

Jesus 'is' Abraham - totally obedient to the LORD thus winning the benefits of the covenant for his family and all the families of the earth (cf. Genesis 26 vs. 5 where Isaac receives the covenant promise on the basis of Abraham's obedience, not his own, a verse which probably refers back to Abraham's obedience in ch 22, especially given vs. 16-18. Thanks to Thomas Renz for first pointing this out to me).

(NB: Thus we are brought into covenant blessing by Christ's passive (dying on the cross) and active (fulfilling the demands of the LORD) obedience? Or is that splitting hairs? )

Jesus 'is' the lamb provided by God so that the sons of Abraham might live

Jesus 'is' the mountain of the LORD/temple (the mountain of Genesis 22 was later the site for the temple) where provision is made.

And finally, as pointed out this morning, Jesus is the LORD (this one's not typology because he actually is the LORD) who demands that his people love him more than their family (cf. 22:12 with Luke 14:26).

No doubt there are others I have missed.

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