Jesus in Genesis: Abraham, Isaac, and the Ram

Genesis 22 provides a poignant type of Abraham as God the Father, and the sacrifice of His only begotten son, Jesus Christ. In verse 2, God says to Abraham:

Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

What is interesting about this passage is that Isaac is not Abraham’s only son. In Genesis 16, Hagar gives birth to Ishmael, Abraham’s first son. Could this be a mistake? No, because the Lord repeats His words twice more in Genesis:

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. (Genesis 2:12, emphasis added)

And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: (Genesis 2:16, emphasis added)

Then if you jump to Hebrews 11:17, the Lord provides another revealing statement:

By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son

You are probably very familiar with John 3:16, which says:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Do you see the connection? There is more. When Abraham goes up to the mountains of Moriah, he finds the place to sacrifice his son on the third day (Genesis 22:4). This typifies the resurrection of Christ Jesus on the third day (Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible). Isaac asks his father, where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham replies: My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.

In verse 13, Abraham looks up and sees a ram caught in the bushes by its horns, which he offers up as a burnt offering instead of his son. The Father provided a substitute for Isaac, foreshadowing the future event when the Lord provided His only begotten Son as the substitute to be sacrificed for our sins. The Father loves us so much that he allowed His Son to be publicly humiliated and brutally tortured. Then He suffered an agonizingly painful death upon a cross. That our lives would be lived for His glory pales in comparison as a way to show gratitude for His sacrifice.

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states that “the ram was caught and held by his horns in a thicket of briers, brambles, and thorns, or in the thick branches of the shrubs or bushes which grew upon the mount,” a type of our Lord Jesus who was forced to wear a crown of thorns on his head before His crucifixion (Matthew 27:29). 

Isn’t it incredible that we see God’s plan for man’s spirit salvation through the sacrifice of His Son right in the beginning of the Bible? When you study Scripture with the knowledge that everything in the New Testament is foreshadowed in the Old Testament, the Bible becomes a wonderful treasure chest. 

Every time you open it, there are many jewels to be found.