#105 - Kyle Thompson // Willing to be Sacrificed

The story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah reveals profound foreshadowing of Christ's sacrifice when Abraham discovers a ram caught by its horns in a thicket of thorns—essentially wearing a "crown of thorns" as the substitutionary sacrifice God provided.

• Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his promised son Isaac on Mount Moriah
• Isaac was likely a teenager or young adult who willingly submitted to being sacrificed
• God stopped Abraham at the critical moment, providing a ram caught in thorns instead
• The ram caught by its horns in thorny bushes previews Christ's crown of thorns
• This substitutionary sacrifice points to Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice God would provide
• Abraham's declaration that "God will provide the lamb" was prophetically fulfilled

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Transcript

Welcome to Daily Blade

Speaker 1 0:01

Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .

Journey to Golgotha Begins

Speaker 2 0:20

All right , guys , this week I'm taking you on a journey to Golgotha . Yesterday we discussed the life of Abraham , and Abraham and Isaac traveling to Mount Moriah , as described in Genesis 22 . So we ended with Isaac asking his father where the lamb for their burnt offering was , and Abraham answering that God was going to provide one . So let's go ahead and pick back up in Genesis 22 , verse

Abraham Prepares to Sacrifice Isaac

Speaker 2 0:39

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 . Okay , so you know , even right now , as a man with sons , this is just very hard for me to read . Okay , since having sons , this is just all very , very hard for me to kind of look at and get through , even though I know how it ends . And so yesterday we talked about the fact that Isaac is likely a teenager , if not older , at this point , and Abraham is well over 100 years old . So Joby actually pointed this out in a recent sermon that Isaac was certainly old enough to where , if he couldn't whoop his dad , he probably could whoop his dad , but at the very very least he could outrun his you know beyond elderly father . Because , you know , let's say , let's say he was the wimpiest young man of all time , the wimpiest teenager or early 20 year old , whatever dude of all time . He was capable of outrunning a man that's well over a hundred years old . Right , he could get away . So why is that fact important ? Because this implies that Isaac was willing to be sacrificed , even if he did not understand why . Because his father told him to Think about that .

Speaker 2 1:54

Verse 10, . Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son . Now remember , guys , abraham had previously handed this knife to Isaac to carry , knowing full well that he planned to use it very soon to cut his promised son's throat at the altar .

God Provides a Substitute

Speaker 2 2:09

So , verse 11, . But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said Abraham , abraham . And he said here I am . He said do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him , for now I know that you fear God , seeing you have not withheld your son , your only son , from me . I mean again , such a dramatic moment , I mean this has been depicted in a million different ways the hand is in the air , he's ready to go and he's told not to Right . And you just got to think in this moment . Abraham and Isaac , both must have felt a tremendous amount of relief . But let's go and pick back up in verse 13 . And Abraham lifted up . But let's go and pick back up in verse 13 . Provided , and the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said by myself , I have sworn , declares the Lord . Because you have done this and have not withheld your son , your only son , I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore , and your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies , and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed , because you have obeyed my voice . So Abraham returned to his young men and they arose and went together to Beersheba , and Abraham lived at Beersheba .

Speaker 2 3:32

Okay , so a lot of ink has been spilled over the years about this story . Many people have tried to explain all the intricacies of it . Right , many have debated the character and nature of God based on the details of the story . But I want to key in on something that you know just recently was revealed to me . Right , it just recently occurred to me To set the scene again .

Speaker 2 3:50

Abraham was told by God to go to Mount Moriah , to take his promised son with him and to kill him , sacrifice him on the altar to God . They make a three-day journey together , abraham knowing what is to come and Isaac having no clue . They go up on the mountain . Isaac gets everything set up before he realizes that they don't have a lamb for the burnt offering . Abraham , non-verbally , and perhaps verbally , reveals to Isaac that he was to be the sacrifice . Isaac is bound and Abraham takes the knife and prepares to cut his son's throat . An angel from God stops Abraham and says that he has now proven that he indeed fears God , because he was even willing to sacrifice his only son .

Speaker 2 4:28

So let's go back to verse 13 . I'll read it here . 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 .

The Ram's Crown of Thorns

Speaker 2 4:44

So what is a ram ? It's an adult male lamb . What is a thicket ? It is an incredibly dense growth of shrubs and underbrush . What does an incredibly dense growth of shrubs and underbrush include Thorns and underbrush include thorns . What was caught in the thorns of the thicket ? The head of the adult male lamb . Thorns covered the head of the sacrificial lamb that God provided as a substitutionary payment for sin debt . You could even call it a crown of thorns . Come back tomorrow .

Episode Closing

Speaker 1 5:30

Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go . If you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .