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THE BIRTH OF ISAAC AND THE BIRTH OF JESUS(SERMON #84 ON THE BOOK OF GENESIS) by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr. A sermon preached at the Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” (Hebrews 11:17-19). |
Abraham took his son Isaac to sacrifice him on Mount Moriah. Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead in a “figure.” That word “figure” is important. The Greek word is “parabŏlĕ.” It means a “symbol” or “type.” Thus we see that the sacrifice of Isaac was a type. But the author of Hebrews does not specifically tell us the antitype, or fulfillment, of the type. To discover that we must turn to Galatians 3:8 (p. 1243 in the Scofield Bible). Here we read that God “preached before the gospel unto Abraham.” From this we learn that the Gospel of Christ was the antitype, the fulfillment of “parabŏlĕ” or “symbol” given in the sacrifice of Isaac.
Now I will stop for a moment to explain typology. The Portable Seminary says, “New Testament typology draws attention to [a] point of similarity between a person, event or thing in the Old Testament and a person, event or thing in the New Testament” (p. 81). In this case, the type is the birth and sacrifice of Isaac – and the antitype (or fulfillment of the type) is the Gospel of Christ. It was through the birth, sacrifice and life of his son Isaac that God “preached before [beforehand] the gospel unto Abraham” (Galatians 3:8). The NASV translates the last three words “in a figure” this way – “as a type.” I only quote the NASV to show you that the word “type” can be used to translate “parabŏlĕ,” which is translated “figure” in the King James.
I hope I haven’t lost your attention, because this is really a very wonderful and interesting subject to study – the birth and sacrifice of Isaac compared with the birth and sacrifice of Christ! It is a real eye-opener to study the type and the antitype of Isaac and the Lord Jesus! I am relying here largely on the notes of Dr. J. Vernon McGee (Thru the Bible, vol. 1, Thomas Nelson, 1983), and the notes of Dr. M. R. DeHaan (Portraits of Christ in Genesis, Zondervan Publishing House, 1966).
1. First, both the birth of Isaac and the birth of Christ were prophesied before they were born.
God promised to give a son to Abraham when God called him out of Ur of the Chaldees. That was about 25 years before Isaac was born. That is the type.
The coming of Jesus was also prophesied before He was born. God said to the nation of Israel,
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son” (Isaiah 7:14).
That is the antitype, the fulfillment of the type.
2. Second, there was a long period of time between the promise and the fulfillment in both cases.
There was a period of about 25 years from the time God promised it until the birth of Isaac. The birth of Christ was prophesied hundreds of years before He was born. So, again, there is a type and an antitype, a promise and a fulfillment of it.
3. Third, the name of Isaac and the name of Jesus were both prophesied before they were born.
God said to Abraham, “Thou shalt call his name Isaac” (Genesis 17:19). The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and said, “She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). So, again, there is a parallel between Isaac (the type) and Jesus (the antitype).
4. Fourth, the announcement of their births seemed impossible to both of their mothers.
Sarah was ninety years old and Abraham was one hundred when Isaac was born. When Sarah was told she would bear a son, she “laughed within herself” and doubted that such a thing would happen.
When the angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary that she would have a Son named Jesus, Mary said, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (Luke 1:34).
And in both cases, the women were told that nothing is too hard for the Lord. To Sarah, the angel said, “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). To Mary, the angel said, “With God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37).
In both the type, and the antitype, in both cases, the announcement of the supernatural birth of their sons seemed impossible to their mothers, Sarah the mother of Isaac and Mary the mother of Jesus.
5. Fifth, both births occurred at God’s appointed time.
In Genesis 21:2 we are told, “Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time ['at the very time' God had promised him, NIV],” Genesis 21:2.
In Galatians 4:4, Paul said, “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Galatians 4:4).
Isaac was born at the “set time.” Jesus was born, “when the fulness of the time was come.” Both births occurred at God’s appointed time, both the type (Isaac) and the antitype (Jesus).
6. Sixth, the birth of Isaac and the birth of Jesus were both miracles.
Dr. McGee said, “Both births were miraculous. The birth of Isaac was a miraculous birth, and, certainly, the birth of the Lord Jesus” (ibid.). Dr. DeHaan said that the “miraculous birth of Isaac was an outstanding type of Jesus Christ and the absolute faith in the Virgin Birth…Isaac then, as a type of Christ, is first and foremost a figure, a shadow, and a prophecy of the Virgin Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ…The birth of Isaac, the Son of Abraham, was a miracle, for Isaac was born when Abraham was totally impotent at the age of one hundred, and Sarah was completely barren at the age of ninety. But God had promised to Abraham and Sarah a son, and a seed which would become the blessing of the whole world…we are told that both Abraham and Sarah were old and senile and Sarah laughed at the promise of a son. Then God replied:
Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son (Genesis 18:14).
And so it was. When God had performed the miracle of rejuvenation on Abraham and Sarah, He fulfilled His promise. It was not too hard for the Lord.
And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him (Genesis 21:1, 2).”
(M. R. DeHaan, M.D., ibid., p. 126).
The birth of Isaac and the birth of Jesus were both miracles, the type and the antitype.
7. Seventh, both Isaac and Jesus were a joy to their fathers.
Genesis 21:3 says, “Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.” The name “Isaac” means laughter. Sarah had laughed in unbelief at the announcement of his birth. And Abraham laughed for joy at the birth of his son. He laughed with such happiness that he named the baby “laughter.” That is what the name of Isaac means!
Likewise, when Jesus was baptized, God said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Both sons, Isaac and Jesus, were a joy to their fathers!
8. Eighth, both sons were obedient to their fathers, even unto death.
Tonight I will tell you about Isaac following his father to be killed on Mount Moriah, obedient to Abraham even unto death. Dr. McGee said, “That was true of Isaac, and it was certainly true of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a marvelous picture of the birth and life of Christ in the birth and life of Isaac” (McGee, ibid.).
“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” (Genesis 22:9, 10).
But you will have to come back tonight to hear the rest of the story.
In the 21st and 22nd chapters of Genesis, we have in the birth and life of Isaac a remarkable prototype of the birth and life of our Saviour, Jesus, who is called the Christ.
Now, here are some applications of this account.
1. First, Isaac is a clear prophetic picture of the coming Saviour, Jesus. The resurrected Christ said,
“O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken…And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:25, 27).
Again, Christ said, “All things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures” (Luke 24:44, 45).
Christ said Moses spoke of Him. That is certainly true in the 22nd chapter of Genesis, where Isaac is such a clear type of Christ. Dr. McGee said, “This chapter compares with Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. The first time I saw in [Genesis 22] these great truths which depict the cross of Christ, it was breathtaking. Not only in the birth of Isaac, but…also in the sacrifice of Isaac, there is a strange [and wonderful] similarity to the life of our Lord” (McGee, ibid., p. 90).
A study of the types of Christ in the Old Testament gives us a great deal of knowledge about Him. We begin to see that Jesus Christ is the main theme of the whole Bible – both the Old Testament and the New Testament. We see that there is no more important subject than the Gospel of Christ. I wish many modern preachers would see this, for they seldom preach whole sermons on the Gospel today. Yet the Apostle Paul, the greatest preacher of all time, could say, “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (I Corinthians 2:2). The great truths of Christ’s death on the Cross for our sins should be the main thing we think about when reading in the Old and New Testaments – for the Gospel of Christ is the main subject of the entire Bible!
2. Second, the test of Abraham, when God told him to sacrifice Isaac, is a clear picture of the tests God sends to every Christian. I will speak much more about that tonight in my sermon on “Life Lessons from Abraham and Isaac.” You will be tested. What will you be willing to give up for God? What will you sacrifice in your life to please Him? The great missionary C. T. Studd (1860-1931) said,
Only one life,
‘Twill soon be past;
Only what’s done for Christ
Will last
(C. T. Studd).
3. Third, God promised the births of both Isaac and Jesus long before they were born. Their parents had to wait a long time for the answer. So it is with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in true revival. We often read in church history how people who prayed for revival usually had to wait and wait before the answer came. Don’t stop praying for it, no matter how long you have to pray. Others may laugh at us for not giving up. But when God finally sends down the revival power, we will laugh with joy as Abraham laughed – at 100 years old, when God finally answered his prayers and gave him the son of promise! Jesus said, “How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:13). “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?” (Luke 18:7).
4. Fourth, all the preparation we have seen – God sending Isaac to Abraham, preparing the way for Jesus to come – for Him to die on the Cross to pay for our sins – to shed His Blood to cleanse us from sin – to rise bodily from the grave to give us life – all that preparation shows how important it is to God to save you from your sin. And since it was that important to God, it should be important to you as well. Strive to enter in to Jesus. Strive to come to Him and trust Him. Jesus will save you and pardon all your sins the moment you trust Him, for He came to seek and save a lost person like you! Trust Jesus and His Blood will cleanse you from all sin!
Amen! Dr. Chan, please lead us in prayer.
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(END OF SERMON)
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Scripture Read Before the Sermon by Mr. Abel Prudhomme: Hebrews 11:17-19.
Solo Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith:
“Nor Silver Nor Gold” (by James M. Gray, 1851-1935).
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THE OUTLINE OF THE BIRTH OF ISAAC AND THE BIRTH OF JESUS (SERMON #84 ON THE BOOK OF GENESIS) by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr. “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” (Hebrews 11:17-19). (Galatians 3:8) 1. First, both the birth of Isaac and the birth of Christ were 2. Second, there was a long period of time between the promise and 3. Third, the name of Isaac and the name of Jesus were both 4. Fourth, the announcement of their births seemed impossible to both 5. Fifth, both births occurred at God’s appointed time, Genesis 21:2; 6. Sixth, the birth of Isaac and the birth of Jesus were both miracles, 7. Seventh, both Isaac and Jesus were a joy to their fathers, 8. Eighth, both sons were obedient to their fathers, even unto death, (Luke 24:25, 27, 44, 45; I Corinthians 2:2; Luke 11:13; 18:7) |