Las week we looked at the background details in the spiritual realm which started the chain of events regarding Mount Moriah. We saw satan accusing Abraham, reminding Yahweh of Abraham’s life for the past fifty years. We also read how Ishmael bragged about following God when Abraham was told to circumcise him. What we don’t really see until now is how Sarah treated her son, in almost a smothering way. I do suppose cultures were different and Sarah herself was quite old, but to be so attached to Isaac, and emotionally dependent on his being close is very unusual to us today. It shows the intensity of her love for him but also we realize how different Abraham and Sarah were compared to us today. We see Abraham wanting to obey God, having to lie to Sarah, and then deal with satan along the way. From this we can also learn how to rebuke satan, the way Abraham did.
Jasher 23:3And Abraham said within himself, How shall I separate my son Isaac from Sarah his mother, in order to bring him up for a burnt offering before the Lord?4And Abraham came into the tent, and he sat before Sarah his wife, and he spoke these words to her,5My son Isaac is grown up and he has not for some time studied the service of his God, now tomorrow I will go and bring him to Shem, and Eber his son, and there he will learn the ways of the Lord, for they will teach him to know the Lord as well as to know that when he prayeth continually before the Lord, he will answer him, therefore there he will know the way of serving the Lord his God.
Shem and Eber were still alive and teaching the ways of the Lord so they were a good excuse for Abraham to separate Isaac from Sarah. This is similar to our children going to college; however Isaac is 37 and just leaving the nest. Later Isaac does go to live with Shem and Eber to learn the ways of God and lives with them for three years.
Jasher 23:6And Sarah said, Thou hast spoken well, go my lord and do unto him as thou hast said, but remove him not at a great distance from me, neither let him remain there too long, for my soul is bound within his soul.7And Abraham said unto Sarah, My daughter, let us pray to the Lord our God that he may do good with us.8And Sarah took her son Isaac and he abode all that night with her, and she kissed and embraced him, and gave him instructions till morning.9And she said to him, O my son, how can my soul separate itself from thee? And she still kissed him and embraced him, and she gave Abraham instructions concerning him.10And Sarah said to Abraham, O my lord, I pray thee take heed of thy son, and place thine eyes over him, for I have no other son nor daughter but him.11O forsake him not. If he be hungry give him bread, and if he be thirsty give him water to drink; do not let him go on foot, neither let him sit in the sun.12Neither let him go by himself in the road, neither force him from whatever he may desire, but do unto him as he may say to thee.13And Sarah wept bitterly the whole night on account of Isaac, and she gave him instructions till morning.14And in the morning Sarah selected a very fine and beautiful garment from those garments which she had in the house, that Abimelech had given to her.15And she dressed Isaac her son therewith, and she put a turban upon his head, and she enclosed a precious stone in the top of the turban, and she gave them provision for the road, and they went forth, and Isaac went with his father Abraham, and some of their servants accompanied them to see them off the road.16And Sarah went out with them, and she accompanied them upon the road to see them off, and they said to her, Return to the tent.17And when Sarah heard the words of her son Isaac she wept bitterly, and Abraham her husband wept with her, and their son wept with them a great weeping; also those who went with them wept greatly.18And Sarah caught hold of her son Isaac, and she held him in her arms, and she embraced him and continued to weep with him, and Sarah said, Who knoweth if after this day I shall ever see thee again?19And they still wept together, Abraham, Sarah and Isaac, and all those that accompanied them on the road wept with them, and Sarah afterward turned away from her son, weeping bitterly, and all her men servants and maid servants returned with her to the tent.
What drama, this would make a great movie. We have to remember that the Hollywood versions of the bible add these types of scenes into the history but are not found in historical records. Yet these historical records are true and we don’t see them on the big screen. I think satan wants to hide the truth and make up lies when he can. Yet this incident really paints satan out to be evil as we will see in a few weeks when we come back to Sarah. I’m sure satan likes limiting the parts of history that make him look bad.
Jasher 23:20And Abraham went with Isaac his son to bring him up as an offering before the Lord, as He had commanded him.21And Abraham took two of his young men with him, Ishmael the son of Hagar and Eliezer his servant, and they went together with them, and whilst they were walking in the road the young men spoke these words to themselves,22And Ishmael said to Eliezer, Now my father Abraham is going with Isaac to bring him up for a burnt offering to the Lord, as He commanded him.23Now when he returneth he will give unto me all that he possesses, to inherit after him, for I am his first born.24And Eliezer answered Ishmael and said, Surely Abraham did cast thee away with thy mother, and swear that thou shouldst not inherit any thing of all he possesses, and to whom will he give all that he has, with all his treasures, but unto me his servant, who has been faithful in his house, who has served him night and day, and has done all that he desired me? to me will he bequeath at his death all that he possesses.
Contentions between Ishmael and Eliezer are interesting; they truly believed that Isaac would not return. I would guess Ishmael remembered the conversation he had with Isaac, where Isaac said that he would be a burnt offering for God if God wanted. Eliezer however was a very faithful servent, who if we remember followed Abraham from the days of Nimrod, when Abraham was thrown into the fire. Then he saved Abraham’s life when Nimrod had a dream and decided to kill Abraham, telling Abraham to hide out with Noah and Shem. Eliezer also followed Abraham every place he moved and went to Sodom to check on Lot for Sarah. By far Eliezer was more faithful then Ishmael.
Jasher 23:25And whilst Abraham was proceeding with his son Isaac along the road, Satan came and appeared to Abraham in the figure of a very aged man, humble and of contrite spirit, and he approached Abraham and said to him, Art thou silly or brutish, that thou goest to do this thing this day to thine only son?26For God gave thee a son in thy latter days, in thy old age, and wilt thou go and slaughter him this day because he committed no violence, and wilt thou cause the soul of thine only son to perish from the earth?27Dost thou not know and understand that this thing cannot be from the Lord? for the Lord cannot do unto man such evil upon earth to say to him, Go slaughter thy child.28And Abraham heard this and knew that it was the word of Satan who endeavored to draw him aside from the way of the Lord, but Abraham would not hearken to the voice of Satan, and Abraham rebuked him so that he went away.
Abraham rebukes satan and he leaves. But he wasn’t gone for good. Isn’t it interesting how satan first accuses Abraham that he’s forgotten God and hasn’t worshipped him since Isaac’s weaning, then he sets up the scenario, and then he tries to get Abraham to not go through with it.
Jasher 23:29And Satan returned and came to Isaac; and he appeared unto Isaac in the figure of a young man comely and well favored.30And he approached Isaac and said unto him, Dost thou not know and understand that thy old silly father bringeth thee to the slaughter this day for naught?31Now therefore, my son, do not listen nor attend to him, for he is a silly old man, and let not thy precious soul and beautiful figure be lost from the earth.32And Isaac heard this, and said unto Abraham, Hast thou heard, my father, that which this man has spoken? even thus has he spoken.33And Abraham answered his son Isaac and said to him, Take heed of him and do not listen to his words, nor attend to him, for he is Satan, endeavoring to draw us aside this day from the commands of God.34And Abraham still rebuked Satan, and Satan went from them, and seeing he could not prevail over them he hid himself from them, and he went and passed before them in the road; and he transformed himself to a large brook of water in the road, and Abraham and Isaac and his two young men reached that place, and they saw a brook large and powerful as the mighty waters.35And they entered the brook and passed through it, and the waters at first reached their legs.36And they went deeper in the brook and the waters reached up to their necks, and they were all terrified on account of the water; and whilst they were going over the brook Abraham recognized that place, and he knew that there was no water there before.37And Abraham said to his son Isaac, I know this place in which there was no brook nor water, now therefore it is this Satan who does all this to us, to draw us aside this day from the commands of God.38And Abraham rebuked him and said unto him, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, begone from us for we go by the commands of God.39And Satan was terrified at the voice of Abraham, and he went away from them, and the place again became dry land as it was at first.
Three times Abraham rebuked satan, I would guess the reason satan was terrified was because Abraham finally became annoyed enough to forcefully say “we go by the commands of God”. Sometimes we have to be forceful as well in rebuking satan. We also have to not become weary in rebuking him, no matter how many times he comes back.
Jasher 23:40And Abraham went with Isaac toward the place that God had told him.41And on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place at a distance which God had told him of.42And a pillar of fire appeared to him that reached from the earth to heaven, and a cloud of glory upon the mountain, and the glory of the Lord was seen in the cloud.43And Abraham said to Isaac, My son, dost thou see in that mountain, which we perceive at a distance, that which I see upon it?44And Isaac answered and said unto his father, I see and lo a pillar of fire and a cloud, and the glory of the Lord is seen upon the cloud.45And Abraham knew that his son Isaac was accepted before the Lord for a burnt offering.46And Abraham said unto Eliezer and unto Ishmael his son, Do you also see that which we see upon the mountain which is at a distance?47And they answered and said, We see nothing more than like the other mountains of the earth. And Abraham knew that they were not accepted before the Lord to go with them, and Abraham said to them, Abide ye here with the ass whilst I and Isaac my son will go to yonder mount and worship there before the Lord and then return to you.48And Eliezer and Ishmael remained in that place, as Abraham had commanded.49And Abraham took wood for a burnt offering and placed it upon his son Isaac, and he took the fire and the knife, and they both went to that place.
God shows Abraham a pillar of fire and a cloud of glory, this must certainly encourage his heart after satan tried to get Abraham to doubt God. It must have been difficult for Ishmael and Eliezer to stay behind and wait for Abraham, but I imagine when they saw both return there were mixed reactions. Ishmael was probably disappointed he was not going to inherit Abraham’s wealth, and Eliezer was probably glad Isaac was still alive.
Jubilees does not add much to the story. But Josephus adds insight to these events.
Josephus CHAPTER 13. CONCERNING ISAAC THE LEGITIMATE SON OF ABRAHAM.
Josephus 13:2. Now Abraham thought that it was not right to disobey God in any thing, but that he was obliged to serve him in every circumstance of life, since all creatures that live enjoy their life by his providence, and the kindness he bestows on them. Accordingly he concealed this command of God, and his own intentions about the slaughter of his son, from his wife, as also from every one of his servants, otherwise he should have been hindered from his obedience to God; and he took Isaac, together with two of his servants, and laying what things were necessary for a sacrifice upon an ass, he went away to the mountain. Now the two servants went along with him two days; but on the third day, as soon as he saw the mountain, he left those servants that were with him till then in the plain, and, having his son alone with him, he came to the mountain. It was that mountain upon which king David afterwards built the temple. Now they had brought with them every thing necessary for a sacrifice, excepting the animal that was to be offered only. Now Isaac was twenty-five years old. And as he was building the altar, he asked his father what he was about to offer, since there was no animal there for an oblation : - to which it was answered, "That God would provide himself an oblation, he being able to make a plentiful provision for men out of what they have not, and to deprive others of what they already have, when they put too much trust therein; that therefore, if God pleased to be present and propitious at this sacrifice, he would provide himself an oblation."
Josephus puts Isaacs’ age at 25 but Jasher puts his age at 37, which I think is more accurate as Sarah dies shortly after this incident and is 127 yrs old. She was 90 when Isaac was born. The bible also tells us that Isaac was 40 when he took Rebekah as a wife, giving him three years with Shem and Eber from the age of 37.
Genesis again gives us the summation of these events.
Gen 22:1-12 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.2 And he said, 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.3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you,6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
I have a great amount of respect for Abraham, listening and obeying God even when it seemed ridiculous and absurd. This is one way we are accounted as the sons of God, when we listen and obey God even when it doesn’t seem right in our understanding. I’m sure it didn’t seem right to the Apostle Paul to fight wild beasts, but he didn’t die.
1 Cor 15:31-32 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.KJV
Paul was thrown to the lions in Ephesus. I’ve been to the amphitheatre in Ephesus and have seen where the lions were kept before being let into the arena to eat the people the government officials threw in with them. It would not have been pretty for Paul unless in doing this God protected him and caused him to live, which would have brought the Christian Message to light. But look at Paul’s words, what advantage is there if the dead are not raised? Either Abraham believed Isaac would be raised to life again or if he wasn’t he would raised in death to be with God. I think it was a very difficult walk up that mountain for Abraham, but I believe he was convinced it would be alright either way, just as Paul was convinced that the dead would live in Christ. This is where we need to be in our faith, that we die daily and that we are convinced even if we are placed on an altar of sacrifice or thrown to lions that we will be alright in the end. Abraham believed it was not right to disobey God in anything but he was obliged to serve him in every circumstance of life. It is interesting that David would build the temple in that very place, the place that reminds us of our obedience to God.
I like the way The Message bible states Paul’s point
1 Cor 15:30-33And why do you think I keep risking my neck in this dangerous work? 31 I look death in the face practically every day I live. Do you think I'd do this if I wasn't convinced of your resurrection and mine as guaranteed by the resurrected Messiah Jesus? 32 Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn't be the end of me? Not on your life! It's resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there's no resurrection, "We eat, we drink, the next day we die," and that's all there is to it. 33 But don't fool yourselves. Don't let yourselves be poisoned by this anti-resurrection loose talk. "Bad company ruins good manners." (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
Paul’s point is wonderful; it is resurrection, resurrection, resurrection! We cannot fear death. Isaac was a type of Jesus. The Father sacrificed His Son, for us. Jesus the Messiah arose, therefore we have that guarantee, that if we confess Jesus as Lord we will be saved. There may be a day when we face a very difficult time. We have to remember if we are submitted to God, it will all be fine, whether we live or die, it will be alright. Can we be like Isaac and submit to the plans of God? We will see satan twice more in this story, hindering Abraham and his family.
