Genesis 22: Abraham Shines and Christ Foretold
God calls Abraham to take Issac, his “only” son, to a mountain in Moriah. This could well have been the same place where Jesus was crucified, but we don’t know for sure. Abraham expects a sacrifice will be provided but lo and behold it turns out he must kill Issac on an altar. And so Abraham prepares to strike the fatal blow but at the last instant, his hand is stayed by an angel. God is pleased by Abraham’s faith and promises him a nation or seed as great in number as the stars of heaven.
This is one of the most critical events in the Old Testament. Issac, the only son of Abraham, is cast as a type or symbol or prophecy of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In both cases God provides a “lamb”, the sacrifices are bound and placed on wood, and a host of other “coincidences”. Some think even that Issac and Jesus, who were products of a miraculous birth, may have been the same age or about 33 years old.
The number of stars in heaven can be looked at in two ways: one, is that there are in fact about 10 to the 23rd or 24th power stars or, two, that on a good night a person can see about 5000 stars. I personally think the metaphor is just a symbolic statement that means, “Abraham, you are going to have a lot of descendants”, both physical and spiritual.
Abraham was vindicated. Earlier he had made some serious errors of judgment but here he did the right thing without pause. And because of his behavior, we were given the “seed” or Jesus Christ who became our salvation. Adam failed his test and all men were cursed. Abraham passed his test and all men were blessed.
I only hope that if I am tested to such an extent that Abraham was, I won’t fail.