Jesus, Abraham and Isaac
In Genesis 22, God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
Abraham climbs a mountain in the area of Moria (near modern day Jerusalem) with Isaac. His son lays down on a makeshift altar. Abraham raises a knife, but at the last minute a voice from Heaven tells him to stop. In a thicket, a ram is caught. The ram is sacrificed in Isaac’s place.
Biblical Typology
This method of biblical study was first explicitly seen in Paul’s Epistle of Romans.
Romans 5 v 14
Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol (type), a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.
Paul explains that Adam is a type or symbol of Christ.
Other examples of common types which point to Jesus include Moses, Joseph and Isaac.
Types of Jesus
In this story, we see Isaac as a type of Jesus. Isaac arrives at the mountain on a donkey. He carries wood up to the top. Similarly, Jesus arrives at Jerusalem on a donkey, and also carries the wooden cross to Calvary.
We also see that the ram caught in the thicket is a type of Jesus too. After all, He is the Lamb of God and wore a Crown of Thorns.
Abraham is a type of Jesus as well. As Abraham was the head of his clan, he would function as the high priest. Jesus is our High Priest.
Hebrews 6 v 20
Jesus has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Who is the Angel of the Lord?
Early Christians believed that the Angel of the Lord was not a type of Jesus, but actually Jesus Himself.
I won’t put forward the reasons why here, but this is a good article to discover more.
All About Jesus
This story is all about Jesus.
Not only is Jesus the Angel of the Lord who stops the sacrifice of the child, but Abraham (High Priest), Isaac (The Son) and the Ram (The Sacrifice) are all types of Christ.
Below is a picture describing this, using orthodox iconography. Three types of Jesus plus Jesus Himself are found in the one event.
The Thicket
The Hebrew word which we translate as thicket has a root word which means ‘interweave’. This word reminds me of how thorns and thistles grow. They entangling themselves with each other.
This thorn bush entraps the ram to be used as the substitute for Isaac.
Symbolically, this shows the curse can snare, capture and imprison.
The Never-Ending Sacrifice
So, in this story, we see Jesus (High Priest) sacrificing Jesus (Son), who is stopped by Jesus (Angel of the Lord), so Jesus (Ram) can be sacrificed in His place and return to His Father. And then Jesus (Angel of the Lord) stops Jesus (Son) being sacrificed by Jesus (High Priest) and provides Jesus (Ram) as a substitute, so Jesus (Son) can return to His Father. And so on, and so on
Feel free to reread that again. It’s a circular narrative.
Here is a picture to help explain what is going on here.
No matter who we start with in this picture, we always come back to the same point. And then continue round again.
Theologically speaking, this shows the cycle continues over and over again. Almost like the death of Jesus on the Cross is an eternal sacrifice. There is no need for anymore sacrifices to cover or atone for sin, as Christ’s sacrifice is made once and for all, for all time and throughout all eternity.
One other thing. I’ve just noticed the eyes in the orthodox icon and where they are looking.
Abraham is looking at the Angel of the Lord, who is looking at the Ram, who is looking at Isaac, who is looking at Abraham. It’s like a representation of the circular narrative.