Hebrews 11:17-19: By Faith Abraham, When He Was Tried
2023-08-19
This passage recalls the story of when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac his son as a burnt offering. Consider Genesis 22.
God Did Tempt Abraham (Genesis 22)
So Abraham was tempted. When God tempts someone, He is not doing it to make them fall. “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” (James 1:13-14). He “tempts” us to build us and make us stronger. He is not trying to make us stumble, for He loves us. His intentions are always good toward His people. In this whole narrative, we see that Abraham’s faith was made stronger.
Here, Abraham had to choose between his love for Isaac and for God. He had to trust Him that God would do something great. He already knew that Isaac was the promised heir. He did not know what was going to happen, but God was going to make it right somehow.
Abraham was going to the land of Moriah (Genesis 22:2). This is where the Angel of the Lord was set to destroy Jerusalem because of David’s census, but David offered a sacrifice before it happened. David then bought the entire area from Ornan the Jebusite, and it became the site of the temple mount. This was an area where sacrifices were made for the forgiveness of sins. However, most importantly, these events signified Jesus’ death, which appeased God’s wrath and forgave us for all our sins.
How far do we take this prophetic analogy? They rode in on a donkey.
Notice that Abraham came to Moriah on the third day (Genesis 22:4). The third day is significant throughout the Bible. “Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight” (Hosea 6:1-2). The whale vomited Jonah out, otherwise without hope, after three days and three nights. After three days and three nights of fasting, Esther went to her death sentence before the king, but he extended that scepter and granted mercy, saving the queen’s life. Likewise here, three days after Isaac’s death sentence, the boy walked away unharmed from the sacrificial knife. Three days after presumed death came life. Three days after Jesus’ actual death came eternal life.
When the father and son went off alone to the place, he told their traveling companions they would “come again to you.” The verb is in the plural. Abraham, a man of integrity, said that he and his son would return. He knew that Isaac would survive or revive from this sacrifice.
Again, Abraham told his son about the sacrifice’s whereabouts, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together” (Genesis 22:8). God was going to provide something. He said this right before binding his son.
God provided a ram instead of Isaac. Here is your doctrine of substitution. The ram died instead of Isaac. The place became known as Jehovahjireh: “Jehovah will see.” “In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen” (Genesis 22:14). It was seen there, wasn’t it? Today, we should call the place, “Jehovah saw” because in the mount of the LORD it was seen. Jesus Christ was that replacement, not the ram.
Notice the repetition of the phrase, “thine only son.” No discussion of Ishmael. Isaac was that son of promise. If there were a thousand sons, Isaac would be the only son, for Christ was His descendant, and everything hinges on that Son. This Son would be the blessing to the entire world.
Then we get to a little genealogy. Why here? Because of this: “And Bethuel begat Rebekah” (Genesis 22:23). When Isaac was redeemed from death, we see the announcement of his wife. After Jesus Christ was resurrected, His wife was also announced, the church.
Hebrews 11:17
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, (Hebrews 11:17)
We see that all the while Abraham was preparing for the offering of his son, he did it by faith. He could not tangibly see all that would happen. He knew that God said Isaac was the son of promise, for whom he waited 100 years, and that he had to sacrifice him. All the years of waiting, only to sacrifice his son? Imagine waiting for something for an entire lifetime, only to have it forcibly taken away. Well, this was more than a “something”; this was a person whom Abraham loved very much. With limited information, the patriarch trusted God with the details and moved forward with God’s plan.
Isaac was Abraham’s only begotten son. Consider the discussion here.
Hebrews 11:18
Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: (Hebrews 11:18)
This is a quotation from Genesis 21:12. Consider Genesis 21:8-14. In the previous passage, we saw the birth, circumcision, and naming of Isaac, which means laughter. Both Abraham and Sarah laughed at the thought of having a child at an old age, and they laughed with joy when he was born.
Now here in this passage, we see Isaac is weaned. In Genesis 21:9, we see that Ishmael, a 14-year-old boy, was “mocking” Isaac. This “mocking” is the same root as “laughter” and it is a play on words with the name of “Isaac.” Sarah was angry that this son, whose existence probably made her envious and angry for 14 years, mocked her own son who was the one of promise. She wanted him and his mother out of the house. Then we get to the verse of interest: “And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called” (Genesis 21:12).
There was to be no confusion about Abraham’s heir; Isaac was the son of promise. To ensure Isaac’s position, Ishmael did leave with his mother, and God looked after them. Future sons were also sent away: “But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country” (Genesis 25:6).
With this, we see the faith of Abraham at work. Abraham had already sent Ishmael away. If Isaac were to die, who would be his heir and son of promise?
Hebrews 11:19
Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. (Hebrews 11:19)
With everything discussed so far, Abraham at least thought that if he sacrificed Isaac, God could bring him back. We saw evidence of this when Abraham said to his young men that he would return with Isaac. We also saw it when he told Isaac that God would provide a lamb. Abraham was a man of integrity. He was not lying to them. He believed that God would do something to intervene with this sacrifice.
So it was fulfilled, as Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56).
This sacrifice of Isaac was a picture of what Jesus fulfilled. See the discussion on the word for “figure” here.