The title of this article makes a curious connection among “Abraham”, “Easter”, and “Hope”. This is of special interest to the three “Abrahamic faiths”, namely, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. These three major world religions affirm Abraham as their founding patriarch. A detailed account of Abraham’s life as a Prophet of Jehovah (Yahweh) is given in the Torah of the Holy Bible, and the Qur’an provides a shorter narrative. One event in Abraham’s life is of fundamental significance to these faiths: namely, God’s command that Abraham sacrifice his son Isaac (not named in the Qur’an). Many commentaries have been written on this episode by academics in these Abrahamic faiths. Unfortunately, Abraham’s key prophetic message in this event has gone unnoticed: that is, Abraham’s jubilation. Instead, intense horror has been expressed by some religious academics. For this reason, the entire Biblical account is quoted below.
Abraham’s Jubilation
The Biblical narrative concerning Abraham presents a prophet who is triumphant over human anguish by trusting God in a tormenting dilemma, and is jubilant in the pivotal prophecy concerning God’s atonement for mankind’s sin. The divinely authoritative accounts in Genesis 22:1-18 (Mosaic Torah) and in the New Testament (in the Holy Bible) reveal these fundamental truths. Jesus the Messiah, the preeminent Jew (as recorded in the New Testament – NT) and Yeshua (“salvation” of the Old Testament), said to the Jews in John 8:51-58 (NT) as they boasted of Abraham’s greatness:
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad (Greek translation: he saluted with great joy)… Before Abraham was, I am”. (KJ Translation; bold added).
In the Genesis account (below), Abraham prophetically “saw” the Messiah’s “day” (understood by Jews as the solemn Day of Atonement, corresponding with Messiah’s purpose of atonement). The New Testament clearly declares Abraham’s triumphant faith in Hebrews 11 (the “faith chapter”):
By faith Abraham, when he was tried (tested), offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten (first-born generated from marriage) son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting (having proved) that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. (11:17-19).
To paraphrase, Abraham obediently placed his son on the altar, bound and facing the menacing knife. Why? Because he was confident of two certainties: namely, that God would keep His promise of innumerable offspring from Isaac in the same miraculous way that Isaac had been conceived from “dead” (barren) Sarah; and that the entire drama was a living parable (“figure”) of the future human sacrifice and resurrection of God’s own incarnation as the “lamb for a burnt offering” (verse 8 below). Thus, Abraham’s obedience was not reluctant, but it was based on faith which was itself founded on the substantive miracles orchestrated by God for this expressed purpose! Such faith is not blind – it is the kind of faith which nullifies sadness and distress.
As you read the following Genesis account, pay attention to Abraham’s demeanor and to his very few words.
The Biblical Account: Genesis 22:1-18 (original meaning in parentheses).
1. After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2. He said, “Take your son, your only (heir by marriage) son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
3. So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
4. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
5. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
6. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.
7. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8. And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
12. He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know (have considered and approved) that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only (heir by marriage) son, from me.”
13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided (performed).”
15. And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven
16. and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only (heir by marriage) son,
17. I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your seed (single male offspring) as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your seed (single male offspring) shall possess the gate of his enemies,
18. and in your seed (single male offspring) shall all the nations (people groups) of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice (request).”
Here God presented a final test to Abraham before he was removed from the prophetic stage. The test is actually the vehicle for presenting Abraham’s final and most important prophesy: “God will present himself a lamb for a burnt offering”. God had already prepared Abraham to expect something miraculous in this trial: He had brought life (Isaac) out of death (Sarah’s barrenness into old age) as promised; God had shown Abraham that his and Sarah’s human unbelief and interference in divine matters created problems for them; God had promised that Isaac would be the ancestor of one special offspring who would be the blessing (savior/Yeshua in Hebrew/Aramaic) for all nations; God had already told Abraham to send Ishmael away, so all of Abraham’s hope for more descendants rested on Isaac being alive; and God had already removed Abraham from pagan roots and practices (including this distressing child sacrifice). Abraham therefore declared prophetically that Isaac will “come again” alive with him, and perhaps God will declare the meaning of it all. Hence, Abraham did not fall prey to sadness, hesitancy, argumentation, mourning, fear, and such emotions to which he was prone. He simply slept that night. He routinely awoke early the next morning, and systematically prepared firewood and other needs for a 3-day return journey to Mount Moriah (in present-day Jerusalem)!
Abraham told his two servants to wait while he and Isaac go up the mount to “worship, and come again”. Concerning the absence of a sacrificial lamb, he replied to Isaac: “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering”. Did he fully grasp the prophetic nature of this statement? Or rather, have readers and translators understood it? In the Hebrew/Aramaic grammar, the word “himself” is the direct object of the verb “provide”; and grammatically, it identifies with the juxtaposed “lamb“. Thus, the accurate meaning is not “for Himself” but rather “his own self” as the lamb. This is the jubilant truth that Abraham understood: God will present Himself as the lamb! (Astonishingly, this is the only direct reference in the Torah to John the Baptist’s “Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world”; John 1:29,36)! So, without reason to hesitate, he placed wood on Isaac’s back; he built the altar; he bound Isaac; and he placed him on the pyre. All this was done in quick succession without a word or emotion from either of them in spite of knowing the horrifying next steps: Isaac would be slain and cut into pieces and burnt on the pyre. But God intervened because this was not the human-equivalent lamb – only a live parable to be fulfilled in God’s appointed time (“fullness of the time”). So a ram was provided instead.
Abraham’s final prophetic statement is in the name he gave to the location: “Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen (performed)”. What “it” will be performed on Mt. Moriah in Abraham’s future? The true, human-equivalent sacrifice of God-incarnate Himself (Jesus the Messiah) – “the Lamb of God” – which is adequate for all of mankind’s sins throughout human history! Through this perfect sacrifice, “all nations” of the world will have access to God’s blessing (salvation; Yeshua) of eternal life in heaven.
Easter and Abraham’s Vision
Easter celebrates (1) the unconditional sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah as payment for the sins of mankind and (2) His arising from the dead, according to the scriptures. “… Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; … he was buried, and … he rose again the third day according to the scriptures … (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NT). According to which “scriptures”? The Old Testament (OT) prophesies from Adam to Malachi, more than thirty of which were fulfilled during this event. Within sixty years of His resurrection, when witnesses to these events were alive, John the Apostle wrote: “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you …” (1John 1:3; bold added for emphasis).
The Easter observance begins on Palm Sunday, celebrating the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (location of Mt. Moriah!). At the end of the fourth day, he was betrayed by Judas and arrested by the Jewish authorities after he had prayed in agony with “great drops of blood” (Luke 22:44). After an unlawful and hasty trial by the Jewish Tribunal (Sanhedrin), he was slain by failsafe Roman crucifixion, and his body was placed in a tomb. Three days later, on Resurrection Sunday, he arose alive just as he had promised his disciples! Easter celebrates both Jesus’ victory over death (the penalty for man’s sins) and his promise to His Followers: “because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19).
Jubilant Hope
My friend said that his patron saint had been good to him ever since he began to call upon her. (He forgot that he had lost two important elections, though). He was surprised by what God said about his fortune: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father …” (James 1:25). His good fortune did not mean that he was a child of God, because God “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Even the vilest criminal enjoys certain good things because God’s people preserve the earth. Then my friend said: “Well, I ask my patron saint just as I ask Mother Mary for favors, because they have special privileges with God, and they ask God on my behalf”. That sounded reasonable, but it is not so to God! In fact, God said that we are doing ourselves a disservice by doing this. He said that his children must go directly to Him because there is no other way to Him. Jesus said: “I am the way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). “Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). My friend was also surprised that Mary had no special privileges; she was favored by God for one purpose, that is, to present God incarnate upon earth. Beyond that favor, she was just another human being who needed salvation from her sins. The Bible says God is not a respecter of persons. This partly explains why the Lord Jesus addressed her simply as “woman” (John 2:4; 19:26). When Christ Jesus was told that his mother was searching for him, he answered: “Who is my mother? … whosoever shall do the will of my Father …, the same is my … mother” (Matthew 12:47-50).
Implications
We see that God led the Prophet Abraham to foresee and announce the incarnation, sacrificial death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. But Satan, the enemy of God and His people, is also busy attempting to distract us from that glorious truth. He sets up false prophets to distort, suppress, and
mock the prophetic Word of God. Thus, Jewish Rabbinic leaders have derided and dismissed this account and have substituted incoherent, hollow ideas. Self-appointed as leaders of the Jews in exile and without a temple and Levitical priests, they sought political power by supplanting hope in God. Their Rabbinic Torahs (written and oral) enslave the Jewish people, especially women. We invite our Jewish friends to honor Abraham’s prophet-hood by profiting from his prophesies. By God’s design, the temple veil that isolated them from God’s presence in the temple was torn miraculously from top to bottom at the very moment when Yeshua gave up His spirit on the cross! So now they can now come directly to Yahweh – Yeshua their High Priest in heaven be made complete! Their “dry bones” (Ezekiel 37:4-10 OT) will come alive through the resurrected Messiah!
Muslims observe Eid-ul-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) annually, when they sacrifice a ram to honor Abraham’s extreme willingness to obey God in this test. True children of Abraham will share his delight in the one perfect, acceptable, and eternal sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah (anointed for this purpose!). The Injil (NT) declares that:
“… it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins … we are sanctified (purified) through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all … But this man (incarnate God), after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. (Hebrews 10:4,10,12).
Our Muslim friends can now appreciate not only the faithfulness of Abraham, but also the faith which Abraham placed in the “Lamb of God” who paid the price for us once for all, thus abolishing all other sacrifices for sin. This same Messiah is the supreme one in all the universe – who is “such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Hebrews 8:1; Injil). Only a sinless human being (figuratively, a spotless lamb) could be accepted as a substitute for a guilty human being. That person was Jesus the Messiah according to the Bible and the Qur’an (Q 19:19; Q 3:36)! Easter will be most meaningful to you if you let Him stand in your place before the Last Day.
Your Moment of Decision
If you are drawn by this precious offer of salvation made by the God of Abraham, you are invited to come to the holy, resurrected Yeshua Hamashiach (Jesus the Messiah). You do not need a Priest or a Rabbi – He is your perfect High Priest who is always nearby and not separated from you by a veil. Speak to Him directly. Ask Him to wash your sin away with His cleansing blood and sanctify you as His child to live for Him. Thank Him for that miraculous gift of salvation and for a home in heaven which He has guaranteed.
As you do so, you will need spiritual food (God’s Word) for spiritual growth. Obtain a Bible and begin reading it: a good place to start is the book of John in the NT. Read it through several times. Then proceed through to the end. Our Jewish friends may start with the book of Matthew and proceed to the Torah (Genesis onward).
It will also be helpful for you to seek a mature Follower of Jesus or a fellowship of Followers of Jesus so that you can learn more about the God of the Bible and grow together in the faith. Please feel free to contact us for further guidance. Blessings to you from God Almighty.