Andy Davis preaches an expository sermon on Genesis 22. The main subject of the sermon is that God makes sacrificial provision for His people.
Andy Davis preaches an expository sermon on Genesis 22 on how God offers sacrificial provision for his people.
– SERMON TRANSCRIPT –
Introduction
We are looking for a fifth and final time this morning at Genesis 22. The first two sermons focused, on the human side, on Abraham and what it was like for him to offer his son Isaac in faith as a burnt offering. The next two focused on fourteen type prophecies that are fulfilled in the sacrifice in Genesis 22. Today we will look at one more type prophecy, specifically the place of the offering, and trace it across Scripture to see how “on the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite celebrations of the year. In December of 1620, the pilgrims came to cold Cape Cod. When they landed after a difficult voyage, they immediately got on their knees and gave thanks for God’s good provision in getting them there safely. They saw everything as coming to them from the hand of God. They were always looking for providence, for provision. But it was a very difficult experience. The harshness of the following winter almost destroyed their colony. Sickness ravaged them that winter. By the beginning of spring in 1621, half of their 102 members had perished. Of the 17 male heads of families, 10 died during the first infection. Of the 17 wives, only three were left after three months. Governor William Bradford wrote that the living were scarce able to bury the dead. At any given point, only six or seven people were healthy enough to do all the work of caring for the others, fetching firewood, cooking, washing “loathsome clothes” by hand.
These heroes, he said, did “all the homely and necessary offices for [the sick] which dainty and queasy stomachs cannot endure to hear named, and all this willingly and cheerfully, without grudging in the least.” Can you imagine the difficulties of making it through that first winter. The turning point for the colony began one Thursday, in the middle of March 1621, when they met an Indian named Tisquantum, also known as Squanto. Squanto was, they believed, a special instrument of God for their good beyond their expectation.
He had found his reason for living: these English were helpless in the ways of the wilderness and would not have survived without him. Squanto taught them how to catch eels — apparently they were very sweet for those who liked that kind of thing — how to stalk deer, how to plant pumpkins, how to refine maple syrup, how to discern both edible herbs and those that are good for medicine.
Perhaps the most important thing he did was teach them the native way of planting corn. They would put five kernels in a small shallow pit with three fish in a star-like pattern with the heads pointing in toward the kernels. They needed to guard the fields all the time, 24 hours a day, from the wolves who would try to dig up the fish. As a result, they ended up with 20 full acres of corn, which saved their lives the next winter. Squanto also taught them how to exploit the pelts of the beaver, which was in plentiful supply and in great demand throughout Europe. He taught them not only how to hunt them and prepare them, but also what were the best prices and how not to get taken for a ride by the traders.
The pilgrims rightly ascribed their health and their prosperity at the human level to Squanto, but ultimately as Bible-believing Christians, they ascribed it to Providence. They believed in the providence of God. They believed that the Bible teaches that God rules over all things, and that everything we have comes from his hand. They were not getting together at Thanksgiving to thank the native Americans. Though they were no doubt grateful, they were there to thank God because they believed in the doctrine of Providence.
“On the mountain of the Lord, there has been full provision for sin.”
As great as was the providence of God to them that first year and through the second winter, how much greater was the providence of God at Mount Moriah for them? On the mountain of the Lord, it has been provided. I get the joyful news of proclaiming that today. What better thing can there be than that? On the mountain of the Lord, there has been full provision for sin. Today’s sermon is a story of providence, a story that those first pilgrims would have enjoyed hearing, a story of God’s full provision for sin.
I. Abraham’s Walk by Faith
Original Call from Ur
The story begins with Abraham’s walk by faith, in which he was told, in effect, “Go to the land I will show you.” The whole thing began for Abraham in Genesis 12:1: “The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” It says in Hebrews 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” So it was also in this case. God called Abraham to go to a place he would show him, to follow by faith.
God’s Command
Genesis 22:1-2 says, “Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.’” The general region was chosen and selected by God, designated by him, but God also had a specific mountain that he had picked out, and it would be on that mountain that Isaac was to be sacrificed.
The Place Is Prominent
In the account, the place is prominent and very important. It is mentioned eight times in this account. Verse 2: “…go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Verse 3, after preparations were made: “…he set out for the place that God had told him about.” Verse 4:“On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.” Verse 5: “He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there.”
After the conversation about who will provide the lamb, in verses 8-9: “Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about…” Verse 14: “So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’” This is a striking and intense focus on this place. Scripture also indicates that God communicated to Abraham about the place as he went along: “…go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Evidently God revealed some things to Abraham so that when he reached the foot of the mountain, he knew that that was the place, because God had told him. The sacred mountain was named the Mountain of the Lord, given before the encounter. But by the end, Abraham gave it a more complete name: Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide.
II. The Key Lesson
Question and Reply
The whole Old Testament can be summed up in a central question, found in verse 7: “Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, … ‘The fire and wood are here,’ Isaac said, ‘but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’” Animal sacrifice was nothing more than a symbol. While waiting for fulfillment, the Old Testament question was always, “Where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” The central New Testament answer was given by John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.” This is the provision that is provided on the mountain of the Lord. Isaac asked the question, where is the lamb? Verse 8 (NIV) says, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’” The NIV is the only version that translates it that way literally in the Hebrew. The ESV translates well: “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” There is a subtle difference.
In effect, only God can atone or provide an atonement himself. He is the only one who can turn his own wrath away. No other created being could come up with an offering that could do it. God must, to use the technical theological term, propitiate himself. He must turn his own wrath away, and that is exactly what Abraham says: “God will provide for himself the lamb; no human offering can do it.”
The Meaning of the Word “Provide”
Let’s look at this word provide. It says “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” The simple meaning in English of the word “provide” is to make something available to meet a need. For example, the host provided his guests with water and towels so they could wash for the meal. In other words, he provided or gave them what they needed to meet the need. But the literal English meaning of the word provide comes from the Latin means pro — “before” — and videre — “to see”; to see ahead of time.
The host, knowing, or seeing, that his guests would need to wash up after their difficult journey, provided water and towels. The literal Hebrew verb in this verse means “God will see for himself the lamb for the burnt offering.” How? God’s vision transcends his history. He sees the end from the beginning. This message will make no sense if God has no accurate and perfect foreknowledge of the future, but he does.
It is not an accident that God’s provisions at Mount Moriah — the ram in the thicket, Solomon’s temple, and Christ’s cross and empty tomb — line up. God had chosen a place; he had seen the place ahead of time, before the foundation of the world. God was seeing Christ before Abraham and Isaac began their journey to Moriah. God was seeing Christ before Abraham and Isaac were born. God was seeing Christ before the world began. From eternity past, God saw the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. God will see the lamb for himself, my son. Behold the lamb.
III. The First Provision
The first provision at Mount Moriah was the ram in the thicket caught by its horns. It was provided by God. It would not do it all to send Abraham home with no sacrifice having been offered. That would have sent the wrong message. The right message is “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Isaac was a sinner. He needed a substitute. The right message is also, “The wages of sin is death” If Isaac won’t die, something must die; there must be a substitute.
The ram in the thicket was God’s provision for that. In order for a sinner to approach the thrice Holy God, there must be a blood penalty paid, as Hebrews 9:22 says: “… without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Either Isaac would die for his own sins or there would be some substitute, some provision. The ram in the thicket is clearly a substitute for Isaac. Genesis 22:13 says, “Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.” The ram took the place of the son.
The Key Lesson: “On the Mountain of the Lord It Will Be Provided”
Verse 14 gives the key lesson: “So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’” Abraham’s name for the sacred place was Jehovah Jireh, which could be read, “The Lord will see to it.” He will see what needs to be done and he will provide. This was the proverb. What was to be provided on the mountain of the Lord? A substitute for sins.
IV. The Second Provision
Holy Ground
The second provision happened in the unfolding of redemptive history. Abraham’s descendants were enslaved in a country not their own for 400 years. Just as God had told Abraham it would happen, so it happened in Genesis 15. In Abraham’s time, there was a pattern of holy ground. Abraham built altars as he would pilgrim through the promised land. Genesis 13:18 says, “So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.” That is holy ground, where he would set up an altar and go regularly to worship.
We see the same with Jacob when he made his journey to find his wife. As he was traveling, he stopped for the night and had a dream. In the dream, he saw a staircase extending from earth to Heaven, and from Heaven to earth, with angels ascending and descending on it. Genesis 28:16-17 says, “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.’”
He set up a pillar and poured oil on it. It was a commemoration that it was a holy place. Again, on Mount Sinai in the account of the burning bush, the angel of the Lord said to Moses in Exodus 3:5: “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
The Long Journey of God
After God brought his people out of Egypt, took them through the Red Sea, and destroyed Pharaoh and his army, He led them to Sinai and gave them the law, including provision for worship. One of the provisions for worship was the tabernacle. A tabernacle is a tent. A tent is portable. In the tent, God ordained the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, which was to contain the golden Ark of the Covenant. On the top of the Ark were cherubim. There the blood of the sacrifice was be poured. Above the Ark, God said, he would meet with the people on the basis of the blood that was poured out. So because the tabernacle moved, God was taking the journey (much longer than if they had simply obeyed in the first place) through the wilderness with his people. The pillars of cloud and fire also indicated that God was moving from place to place. As he went, he spoke to the people through Moses.
The One Place of Worship
In Deuteronomy, God said the traveling would stop when they entered the Promised Land, and there they would worship at the place where God would choose. Deuteronomy 12:4-6 says, “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way. But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.”
Throughout the book of Deuteronomy, this is a major theme. God commanded that three times a year, all of the Israelite males were to appear at that one place that God would choose from among the tribes, and there they would offer their sacrifices. In the time of Joshua, they conquered the land. In time, God selected the place, which was Jerusalem, the city of David. Jerusalem was a city of the Jebusite people, and it was tough to conquer. It was a citadel, a mountain fortress. The Jebusites mocked, “Even the lame and blind could defend against David,” but David was able to take it. He took the fortress, the City of Zion, and made it his own, his capital.
David’s Heart
Once David was established there, he built a beautiful, aromatic palace of cedar, but his heart was to build a house for the Lord. In 2 Samuel 7:2, “…he said to Nathan the prophet, ‘Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.’” He did not think that was right. He wanted to bring the Lord to Jerusalem, and he wanted to build a house, a permanent dwelling place, for the Lord, a resting place where the people of God could come with their offerings.
Nathan, the prophet, initially says in 2 Samuel 7:3, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you.” But God had different plans and spoke through Nathan again shortly thereafter. God told Nathan to tell David that he would not be the one to build a house for him. God had not asked for a palace of cedar. Instead, God would raise up David’s son, and he would be the one to build a house for God. There is a double meaning — the immediate fulfillment was Solomon, David’s biological son, who literally built the temple, a physical structure, the house of the Lord; but it is Jesus, the ultimate son of David, who builds the eternal house. And we are his house. Hebrews says, “We, believers are like living stones. And he is building his house and he has been building it for all this time.” God told David it would be his son who would build it. The question is, where should it be built?
David’s Sin
Eventually, David sinned greatly against the Lord. He decided to conduct a sinful census to number the fighting men, to find out how much military strength he had. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” [Psalm 20:7] David was not trusting that at that moment. It does not say directly why it was sinful, but it was, and Joab knew it was sinful. But David overruled Joab, his commander, and ordered him to count them. So Joab counted the military men.
Then God was greatly displeased with David. God was determined to punish David for the sinful census. He gave him one of three options — three years of famine, three months of fleeing from before your enemies, or three days of the sword of the Lord, a plague, with the angel of the Lord ravaging every part of Israel. David was in anguish — because of his sin other people would die — but he chose the third option. He said, “Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great.” 70,000 people died because of David’s sin. As heads of houses, pastors, leaders of countries, we must keep in mind that we may not directly suffers for our sin. Sometimes the punishment gets poured out on those we are responsible for.
1 Chronicles 21:15-18, 21:26-22:1 tells of the end of that plague: “And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, ‘Enough! Withdraw your hand.’ The angel of the LORD was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown. David said to God, ‘Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? O LORD my God, let your hand fall upon me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.’ Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. … David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. Then the LORD spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. The tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the desert, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD. Then David said, ‘The house of the LORD God is to be here, and also the altar of burnt offering for Israel.’”
The temple was to be built on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, where God had answered him with fire from heaven, and the plague had ended. Where was the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite? 2 Chronicles 3:1 says, “Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah…” This is why I am an inerrantist. I can base a whole sermon on one verse, 2 Chronicles 3:1. In one verse, it says that the temple was built on Mount Moriah on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. That was the location of the temple, God’s second provision on the mountain of the Lord.
What was provided? A semi-permanent dwelling place for the house of God, where lasting animal sacrifices could be offered, including the passover sacrifice. In the sanctuary, this magnificent temple of Solomon, the Holy of Holies was built out of gold. 2 Chronicles 3:8-9 says, “He built the Most Holy Place, its length corresponding to the width of the temple — twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents {That is, about 23 tons (about 21 metric tons)} of fine gold. The gold nails weighed fifty shekels. He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.” The Holy of Holies of Solomon’s temple was built with golden nails, but that was not the true holy of holies. God had ordained that the physical temple would be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians. The true holy of holies was built with iron nails, Roman nails, because of Christ’s body and the blood he shed there. That is the true Holy of Holies. That is the true sacrifice.
Solomon’s Prayer
Solomon prayed the prayer of dedication concerning the temple and the Holy of Holies. In 2 Chronicles 6:41-7:2, he said, “Now arise, O LORD God, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.” This was symbolic: God was going to come rest, so the glory cloud of God filled the temple that day, — a visible representation of the presence of God. God had stopped his journey and come into his resting place symbolically.
God’s Lasting But Temporary Provision
This was God’s lasting but temporary provision at Mount Moriah. There on Mount Moriah, God came to dwell in symbolic form, and there the Jews were to arrange themselves three times a year to offer their burn offerings. There on Mount Moriah, on the mountain of the Lord, God provided animal sacrifice, a temporary and symbolic provision. At Solomon’s temple on Mount Moriah, the mountain of the Lord, day after day, the priest stood and performed their ministry; day after day, they offered animal sacrifice. Leviticus 17:11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” However, Hebrews 10:3-4 says, “…those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Bulls and goats do not equal the value of a human being, and so therefore their blood is no permanent and final provision for sin. And so Isaac’s question still stands. Where is the lamb? Year after year, these priests offered their sacrifices, and it was just an annual reminder of wickedness and sinfulness. Where is the lamb?
V. The Final Provision
Christ’s Purpose
The Lord’s final provision of Mount Moriah was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world — Jesus, his own Son. Christ came into the world to die. That was not his only purpose, but it was his central purpose. He came to atone for sin. Hebrews 10:5-7 says, “…when Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, “Here I am — it is written about me in the scroll — I have come to do your will, O God.”’” God provided a human body for Jesus — the incarnation — which He lay down as an atoning sacrifice. His blood was necessary for the forgiveness of our sins.
“The Lord’s final provision of Mount Moriah was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world — Jesus, his own Son.”
What was the will of God for Christ’s body? John 10:17-18 says, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” Jesus was saying he had the power to die whenever he chose, and the power to live again whenever he chose he had a command from the Father to lay down his life. And so he would. Matthew 20:28 says, “…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
God’s Chosen Place
Was the place of Jesus’s sacrifice also determined and written? Mark 10:32-34 says, “They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. ‘We are going up to Jerusalem,’ he said, ‘and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.’” Jesus had to die in Jerusalem.
Luke 9:51 says, “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” That was the finish line of his earthly physical ministry, to die in Jerusalem. The time of Jesus’ death was set by prophecy — he would die at the time of the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb, since he was the passover lamb. The circumstances of his death were set by prophecy — he would die having been betrayed by a close friend for 30 pieces of silver and rejected by his own people. The manner of his death was set by prophecy — he would be pierced for our transgressions and lifted up like a bronze serpent, like Moses lifted up the bronze serpent on the stake. Do you think that God ordained the time, circumstances and manner of Christ’s death but left out the place? No. Jesus would die on Mount Moriah. Genesis 22:14 says, “to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’”
Where was Christ sacrificed? He was sacrificed at Golgotha. The word Golgotha simply means “the place of the skull,” (Matthew 27:33), but Golgotha was still in Jerusalem proper. It was still on Mount Moriah. Revelation 11:8 says, “[The two witnesses’] bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. Speaking of the sign written in three languages that Pilate had put on the cross that said, “Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews,” John 19:20 says, “…the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city…”
Hebrews 13:12 says, “Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.” Mount Moriah is a complex of mountains, like a ridge, so Jerusalem, the city is built on one section of it, but just outside the gate is where Jesus was crucified. The Roman soldiers would not have made a man who was to be crucified walk 10 or 15 miles. They would bring him just outside the city gate and crucify him as a warning to the people in the city. All of these signs point to God’s eternal provision. Jesus Christ was sacrificed for our sins.
Why does God do so much precision of time and manner and mode and place? So that you may be saved. So that people to the ends of the Earth can hear the story and marvel at the complexity of the threads that are woven together in this Gospel. It is beyond human ken. We cannot put something like this together. The quality is too high. Jesus did many miracles, not just one. And Jesus fulfilled many prophecies, not just one.
All Signs Point to God’s Eternal Provision: Jesus Christ, Sacrificed for Our Sins
Genesis 22:14 says, “…to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’” The greatest joy of my life is to tell you that on the mountain of the Lord, it has been provided. Jesus said “It is finished.” A full provision of sin was made when Jesus shed his blood, but that is not all — God did not leave Jesus dead on Mount Moriah. We still have some work to do — he must be raised from the dead. On the mountain of the Lord, a full provision must be made.
VI. The Rich Banquet
Isaiah’s Second Prophecy of the Mountain
These verses in Isaiah are so important to what I am presenting that they are printed in your bulletin. Isaiah 25:6-9 is the second significant prophecy concerning the mountain of the Lord. There are many more than that, but we will focus on the second one first: “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine — the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. In that day they will say, ‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.’” Twice it says, “On this mountain.” On what mountain? In context, it can be none other than the mountain of the Lord’s temple, using Isaiah’s language — it is Jerusalem, God’s holy hill, Mount Zion.
What will happen on this mountain? The Lord Almighty will spread a feast of rich food for all his people, with the highest quality food and drink. Isaiah was a visionary prophet. If you close your eyes and listen, you see images, but his images are spiritual. There is always a physical side to them, but he was using spiritual language — physical language to talk about a spiritual feast.
What is this rich feast, this banquet that he will spread? It is none other than the destruction of death. He will destroy the shroud that covers all nations, the sheet that enfolds all peoples. He will swallow up death forever. Where will he do it? On this mountain, Mount Moriah, Jesus Christ destroyed death forever by his crucifixion, but if he had not been raised from the dead on the third day, we could not say that death was destroyed. We need a resurrection. On this mountain also Jesus destroyed death forever by his resurrection.
Where was Jesus buried? On Mount Moriah. John 19:41-42 says, “At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.” Right there on Mount Moriah, he was buried, and therefore Isaiah 25:7-8 was fulfilled, because on that mountain, Jesus destroyed death forever by his resurrection from the dead.
Isaiah’s First and Last Prophecies of the Mountain
The first mention in Isaiah of the mountain of the Lord’s temple is in Isaiah 2. Here is where it gets final and complete, and the Gospel extends. Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, Mount Blanc the highest mountain in Europe, Mount McKinley the highest in North America. There are many mountains that are taller than Mount Moriah, but Mount Moriah is the chief among the mountains on earth.
Isaiah 2:1-3 says, “This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
What does Isaiah see concerning Judah and Jerusalem? At a certain point, the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established and all nations — the Gentiles — will go streaming to it. You may wonder why, then, isn’t there a pilgrimage like there is to Mecca? Jesus covered that in John 4: “Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you worship the Father, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
We do need to make a physical pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to Mount Moriah, because God is spirit. Because Jesus physically died and was raised from the dead, we can worship him right here in Durham, North Carolina. Amen. We do not need to physically go to any mountain, but still there is a streaming of the nations. People go there spiritually in their hearts and minds, understanding that the most important thing that has ever happened to them happened 2000 years before they were born. 2000 years before we were born, Jesus died on the cross. In my heart, I am at Mount Moriah, where it was provided for me. It is my only hope on the mountain, the Lord has provided for me, a sinner.
The final mention in Isaiah of the mountain, the Lord’s temple, is in Isaiah 66:19-20: “I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.”
They are all moving. Where are they going? They are going to the mountain of the Lord’s temple. Are they going there physically? We already answered that. Jesus said we do not need to go anywhere physically. But they are streaming there. This is the advance of the Gospel, beginning in Jerusalem, moving to the ends of the earth. Isaiah saw it. They are all going to the mountain of the Lord’s temple. Why? Because on the mountain of the Lord, it has been provided. That feast mentioned in Isaiah 25, that banquet of rich foods, is provision from the Lord.
Isaiah 55:1-2 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.”
VII. Review
God specified a specific place for Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. He said, “Go to the place I will show you” — Mount Moriah — and he led him right to it. That is the place Abraham designated as the mountain of the Lord, and he coined a phrase, a proverb saying, “On the mountain of the Lord, it will be provided.”
Before Israel entered the Promised Land, God told Israel through Moses in the book of Deuteronomy, you must not worship under any spreading tree or anywhere you want, but you must go to the place I choose, and there you must worship. Where was it? It was on Mount Moriah, where God ended the plague during the time of David’s sinful census, and where Solomon built the temple. But that was only God’s second provision on Mount Moriah, the temple of the Lord. He was still asking Isaac’s question, where is the lamb? And then John the Baptist points to him and says, “Behold the Lamb, see him, look at him, behold the Lamb” — he is God’s final provision of Mount Moriah. Jesus had to journey back to Mount Moriah, just like Abraham and Isaac did. He went there to die. What Abraham was asked to do, God the father did — he literally died, and he was raised from the dead on the third day. That is God’s final provision. And now survivors, messengers, are going out to the ends of the earth, to the coast lands and the distant islands who have not heard of God’s fame or seen his glory, and they are proclaiming that on the mountain of the Lord, it has been provided. Come and eat. The feast is spread. Come to the table, sit down and eat.
VIII. Applications
Trust in Christ and Thank Him for His Provision
If you are not a believer, I invite you to come sit down and eat by faith. Trust in Jesus Christ to be your atoning sacrifice for sin. There is no other. Those who are wavering concerning the Word of God, waver no longer. Who could ever have put something like this together? It is too intricate, too perfect. This is the word of God, not merely the word of man. Lose forever any doubt about a single verse in the Bible — like the lynch pin verse, 2 Chronicles 3:1, that the temple was built on Mount Moriah. Do not doubt the Word of God anymore. This week, when you are thanking him for provision and family and all of God’s good gifts — for every good and perfect gift comes down from above — thank him more than anything for this provision for your sin.
Andy Davis preaches an expository sermon on Genesis 22 on how God offers sacrificial provision for his people.
– SERMON TRANSCRIPT –
Introduction
We are looking for a fifth and final time this morning at Genesis 22. The first two sermons focused, on the human side, on Abraham and what it was like for him to offer his son Isaac in faith as a burnt offering. The next two focused on fourteen type prophecies that are fulfilled in the sacrifice in Genesis 22. Today we will look at one more type prophecy, specifically the place of the offering, and trace it across Scripture to see how “on the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite celebrations of the year. In December of 1620, the pilgrims came to cold Cape Cod. When they landed after a difficult voyage, they immediately got on their knees and gave thanks for God’s good provision in getting them there safely. They saw everything as coming to them from the hand of God. They were always looking for providence, for provision. But it was a very difficult experience. The harshness of the following winter almost destroyed their colony. Sickness ravaged them that winter. By the beginning of spring in 1621, half of their 102 members had perished. Of the 17 male heads of families, 10 died during the first infection. Of the 17 wives, only three were left after three months. Governor William Bradford wrote that the living were scarce able to bury the dead. At any given point, only six or seven people were healthy enough to do all the work of caring for the others, fetching firewood, cooking, washing “loathsome clothes” by hand.
These heroes, he said, did “all the homely and necessary offices for [the sick] which dainty and queasy stomachs cannot endure to hear named, and all this willingly and cheerfully, without grudging in the least.” Can you imagine the difficulties of making it through that first winter. The turning point for the colony began one Thursday, in the middle of March 1621, when they met an Indian named Tisquantum, also known as Squanto. Squanto was, they believed, a special instrument of God for their good beyond their expectation.
He had found his reason for living: these English were helpless in the ways of the wilderness and would not have survived without him. Squanto taught them how to catch eels — apparently they were very sweet for those who liked that kind of thing — how to stalk deer, how to plant pumpkins, how to refine maple syrup, how to discern both edible herbs and those that are good for medicine.
Perhaps the most important thing he did was teach them the native way of planting corn. They would put five kernels in a small shallow pit with three fish in a star-like pattern with the heads pointing in toward the kernels. They needed to guard the fields all the time, 24 hours a day, from the wolves who would try to dig up the fish. As a result, they ended up with 20 full acres of corn, which saved their lives the next winter. Squanto also taught them how to exploit the pelts of the beaver, which was in plentiful supply and in great demand throughout Europe. He taught them not only how to hunt them and prepare them, but also what were the best prices and how not to get taken for a ride by the traders.
The pilgrims rightly ascribed their health and their prosperity at the human level to Squanto, but ultimately as Bible-believing Christians, they ascribed it to Providence. They believed in the providence of God. They believed that the Bible teaches that God rules over all things, and that everything we have comes from his hand. They were not getting together at Thanksgiving to thank the native Americans. Though they were no doubt grateful, they were there to thank God because they believed in the doctrine of Providence.
“On the mountain of the Lord, there has been full provision for sin.”
As great as was the providence of God to them that first year and through the second winter, how much greater was the providence of God at Mount Moriah for them? On the mountain of the Lord, it has been provided. I get the joyful news of proclaiming that today. What better thing can there be than that? On the mountain of the Lord, there has been full provision for sin. Today’s sermon is a story of providence, a story that those first pilgrims would have enjoyed hearing, a story of God’s full provision for sin.
I. Abraham’s Walk by Faith
Original Call from Ur
The story begins with Abraham’s walk by faith, in which he was told, in effect, “Go to the land I will show you.” The whole thing began for Abraham in Genesis 12:1: “The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” It says in Hebrews 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” So it was also in this case. God called Abraham to go to a place he would show him, to follow by faith.
God’s Command
Genesis 22:1-2 says, “Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.’” The general region was chosen and selected by God, designated by him, but God also had a specific mountain that he had picked out, and it would be on that mountain that Isaac was to be sacrificed.
The Place Is Prominent
In the account, the place is prominent and very important. It is mentioned eight times in this account. Verse 2: “…go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Verse 3, after preparations were made: “…he set out for the place that God had told him about.” Verse 4:“On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.” Verse 5: “He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there.”
After the conversation about who will provide the lamb, in verses 8-9: “Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about…” Verse 14: “So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’” This is a striking and intense focus on this place. Scripture also indicates that God communicated to Abraham about the place as he went along: “…go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Evidently God revealed some things to Abraham so that when he reached the foot of the mountain, he knew that that was the place, because God had told him. The sacred mountain was named the Mountain of the Lord, given before the encounter. But by the end, Abraham gave it a more complete name: Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide.
II. The Key Lesson
Question and Reply
The whole Old Testament can be summed up in a central question, found in verse 7: “Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, … ‘The fire and wood are here,’ Isaac said, ‘but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’” Animal sacrifice was nothing more than a symbol. While waiting for fulfillment, the Old Testament question was always, “Where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” The central New Testament answer was given by John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.” This is the provision that is provided on the mountain of the Lord. Isaac asked the question, where is the lamb? Verse 8 (NIV) says, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’” The NIV is the only version that translates it that way literally in the Hebrew. The ESV translates well: “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” There is a subtle difference.
In effect, only God can atone or provide an atonement himself. He is the only one who can turn his own wrath away. No other created being could come up with an offering that could do it. God must, to use the technical theological term, propitiate himself. He must turn his own wrath away, and that is exactly what Abraham says: “God will provide for himself the lamb; no human offering can do it.”
The Meaning of the Word “Provide”
Let’s look at this word provide. It says “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” The simple meaning in English of the word “provide” is to make something available to meet a need. For example, the host provided his guests with water and towels so they could wash for the meal. In other words, he provided or gave them what they needed to meet the need. But the literal English meaning of the word provide comes from the Latin means pro — “before” — and videre — “to see”; to see ahead of time.
The host, knowing, or seeing, that his guests would need to wash up after their difficult journey, provided water and towels. The literal Hebrew verb in this verse means “God will see for himself the lamb for the burnt offering.” How? God’s vision transcends his history. He sees the end from the beginning. This message will make no sense if God has no accurate and perfect foreknowledge of the future, but he does.
It is not an accident that God’s provisions at Mount Moriah — the ram in the thicket, Solomon’s temple, and Christ’s cross and empty tomb — line up. God had chosen a place; he had seen the place ahead of time, before the foundation of the world. God was seeing Christ before Abraham and Isaac began their journey to Moriah. God was seeing Christ before Abraham and Isaac were born. God was seeing Christ before the world began. From eternity past, God saw the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. God will see the lamb for himself, my son. Behold the lamb.
III. The First Provision
The first provision at Mount Moriah was the ram in the thicket caught by its horns. It was provided by God. It would not do it all to send Abraham home with no sacrifice having been offered. That would have sent the wrong message. The right message is “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Isaac was a sinner. He needed a substitute. The right message is also, “The wages of sin is death” If Isaac won’t die, something must die; there must be a substitute.
The ram in the thicket was God’s provision for that. In order for a sinner to approach the thrice Holy God, there must be a blood penalty paid, as Hebrews 9:22 says: “… without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Either Isaac would die for his own sins or there would be some substitute, some provision. The ram in the thicket is clearly a substitute for Isaac. Genesis 22:13 says, “Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.” The ram took the place of the son.
The Key Lesson: “On the Mountain of the Lord It Will Be Provided”
Verse 14 gives the key lesson: “So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’” Abraham’s name for the sacred place was Jehovah Jireh, which could be read, “The Lord will see to it.” He will see what needs to be done and he will provide. This was the proverb. What was to be provided on the mountain of the Lord? A substitute for sins.
IV. The Second Provision
Holy Ground
The second provision happened in the unfolding of redemptive history. Abraham’s descendants were enslaved in a country not their own for 400 years. Just as God had told Abraham it would happen, so it happened in Genesis 15. In Abraham’s time, there was a pattern of holy ground. Abraham built altars as he would pilgrim through the promised land. Genesis 13:18 says, “So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.” That is holy ground, where he would set up an altar and go regularly to worship.
We see the same with Jacob when he made his journey to find his wife. As he was traveling, he stopped for the night and had a dream. In the dream, he saw a staircase extending from earth to Heaven, and from Heaven to earth, with angels ascending and descending on it. Genesis 28:16-17 says, “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.’”
He set up a pillar and poured oil on it. It was a commemoration that it was a holy place. Again, on Mount Sinai in the account of the burning bush, the angel of the Lord said to Moses in Exodus 3:5: “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
The Long Journey of God
After God brought his people out of Egypt, took them through the Red Sea, and destroyed Pharaoh and his army, He led them to Sinai and gave them the law, including provision for worship. One of the provisions for worship was the tabernacle. A tabernacle is a tent. A tent is portable. In the tent, God ordained the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, which was to contain the golden Ark of the Covenant. On the top of the Ark were cherubim. There the blood of the sacrifice was be poured. Above the Ark, God said, he would meet with the people on the basis of the blood that was poured out. So because the tabernacle moved, God was taking the journey (much longer than if they had simply obeyed in the first place) through the wilderness with his people. The pillars of cloud and fire also indicated that God was moving from place to place. As he went, he spoke to the people through Moses.
The One Place of Worship
In Deuteronomy, God said the traveling would stop when they entered the Promised Land, and there they would worship at the place where God would choose. Deuteronomy 12:4-6 says, “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way. But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.”
Throughout the book of Deuteronomy, this is a major theme. God commanded that three times a year, all of the Israelite males were to appear at that one place that God would choose from among the tribes, and there they would offer their sacrifices. In the time of Joshua, they conquered the land. In time, God selected the place, which was Jerusalem, the city of David. Jerusalem was a city of the Jebusite people, and it was tough to conquer. It was a citadel, a mountain fortress. The Jebusites mocked, “Even the lame and blind could defend against David,” but David was able to take it. He took the fortress, the City of Zion, and made it his own, his capital.
David’s Heart
Once David was established there, he built a beautiful, aromatic palace of cedar, but his heart was to build a house for the Lord. In 2 Samuel 7:2, “…he said to Nathan the prophet, ‘Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.’” He did not think that was right. He wanted to bring the Lord to Jerusalem, and he wanted to build a house, a permanent dwelling place, for the Lord, a resting place where the people of God could come with their offerings.
Nathan, the prophet, initially says in 2 Samuel 7:3, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you.” But God had different plans and spoke through Nathan again shortly thereafter. God told Nathan to tell David that he would not be the one to build a house for him. God had not asked for a palace of cedar. Instead, God would raise up David’s son, and he would be the one to build a house for God. There is a double meaning — the immediate fulfillment was Solomon, David’s biological son, who literally built the temple, a physical structure, the house of the Lord; but it is Jesus, the ultimate son of David, who builds the eternal house. And we are his house. Hebrews says, “We, believers are like living stones. And he is building his house and he has been building it for all this time.” God told David it would be his son who would build it. The question is, where should it be built?
David’s Sin
Eventually, David sinned greatly against the Lord. He decided to conduct a sinful census to number the fighting men, to find out how much military strength he had. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” [Psalm 20:7] David was not trusting that at that moment. It does not say directly why it was sinful, but it was, and Joab knew it was sinful. But David overruled Joab, his commander, and ordered him to count them. So Joab counted the military men.
Then God was greatly displeased with David. God was determined to punish David for the sinful census. He gave him one of three options — three years of famine, three months of fleeing from before your enemies, or three days of the sword of the Lord, a plague, with the angel of the Lord ravaging every part of Israel. David was in anguish — because of his sin other people would die — but he chose the third option. He said, “Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great.” 70,000 people died because of David’s sin. As heads of houses, pastors, leaders of countries, we must keep in mind that we may not directly suffers for our sin. Sometimes the punishment gets poured out on those we are responsible for.
1 Chronicles 21:15-18, 21:26-22:1 tells of the end of that plague: “And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, ‘Enough! Withdraw your hand.’ The angel of the LORD was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown. David said to God, ‘Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? O LORD my God, let your hand fall upon me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.’ Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. … David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. Then the LORD spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. The tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the desert, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD. Then David said, ‘The house of the LORD God is to be here, and also the altar of burnt offering for Israel.’”
The temple was to be built on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, where God had answered him with fire from heaven, and the plague had ended. Where was the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite? 2 Chronicles 3:1 says, “Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah…” This is why I am an inerrantist. I can base a whole sermon on one verse, 2 Chronicles 3:1. In one verse, it says that the temple was built on Mount Moriah on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. That was the location of the temple, God’s second provision on the mountain of the Lord.
What was provided? A semi-permanent dwelling place for the house of God, where lasting animal sacrifices could be offered, including the passover sacrifice. In the sanctuary, this magnificent temple of Solomon, the Holy of Holies was built out of gold. 2 Chronicles 3:8-9 says, “He built the Most Holy Place, its length corresponding to the width of the temple — twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents {That is, about 23 tons (about 21 metric tons)} of fine gold. The gold nails weighed fifty shekels. He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.” The Holy of Holies of Solomon’s temple was built with golden nails, but that was not the true holy of holies. God had ordained that the physical temple would be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians. The true holy of holies was built with iron nails, Roman nails, because of Christ’s body and the blood he shed there. That is the true Holy of Holies. That is the true sacrifice.
Solomon’s Prayer
Solomon prayed the prayer of dedication concerning the temple and the Holy of Holies. In 2 Chronicles 6:41-7:2, he said, “Now arise, O LORD God, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.” This was symbolic: God was going to come rest, so the glory cloud of God filled the temple that day, — a visible representation of the presence of God. God had stopped his journey and come into his resting place symbolically.
God’s Lasting But Temporary Provision
This was God’s lasting but temporary provision at Mount Moriah. There on Mount Moriah, God came to dwell in symbolic form, and there the Jews were to arrange themselves three times a year to offer their burn offerings. There on Mount Moriah, on the mountain of the Lord, God provided animal sacrifice, a temporary and symbolic provision. At Solomon’s temple on Mount Moriah, the mountain of the Lord, day after day, the priest stood and performed their ministry; day after day, they offered animal sacrifice. Leviticus 17:11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” However, Hebrews 10:3-4 says, “…those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Bulls and goats do not equal the value of a human being, and so therefore their blood is no permanent and final provision for sin. And so Isaac’s question still stands. Where is the lamb? Year after year, these priests offered their sacrifices, and it was just an annual reminder of wickedness and sinfulness. Where is the lamb?
V. The Final Provision
Christ’s Purpose
The Lord’s final provision of Mount Moriah was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world — Jesus, his own Son. Christ came into the world to die. That was not his only purpose, but it was his central purpose. He came to atone for sin. Hebrews 10:5-7 says, “…when Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, “Here I am — it is written about me in the scroll — I have come to do your will, O God.”’” God provided a human body for Jesus — the incarnation — which He lay down as an atoning sacrifice. His blood was necessary for the forgiveness of our sins.
“The Lord’s final provision of Mount Moriah was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world — Jesus, his own Son.”
What was the will of God for Christ’s body? John 10:17-18 says, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” Jesus was saying he had the power to die whenever he chose, and the power to live again whenever he chose he had a command from the Father to lay down his life. And so he would. Matthew 20:28 says, “…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
God’s Chosen Place
Was the place of Jesus’s sacrifice also determined and written? Mark 10:32-34 says, “They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. ‘We are going up to Jerusalem,’ he said, ‘and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.’” Jesus had to die in Jerusalem.
Luke 9:51 says, “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” That was the finish line of his earthly physical ministry, to die in Jerusalem. The time of Jesus’ death was set by prophecy — he would die at the time of the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb, since he was the passover lamb. The circumstances of his death were set by prophecy — he would die having been betrayed by a close friend for 30 pieces of silver and rejected by his own people. The manner of his death was set by prophecy — he would be pierced for our transgressions and lifted up like a bronze serpent, like Moses lifted up the bronze serpent on the stake. Do you think that God ordained the time, circumstances and manner of Christ’s death but left out the place? No. Jesus would die on Mount Moriah. Genesis 22:14 says, “to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’”
Where was Christ sacrificed? He was sacrificed at Golgotha. The word Golgotha simply means “the place of the skull,” (Matthew 27:33), but Golgotha was still in Jerusalem proper. It was still on Mount Moriah. Revelation 11:8 says, “[The two witnesses’] bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. Speaking of the sign written in three languages that Pilate had put on the cross that said, “Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews,” John 19:20 says, “…the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city…”
Hebrews 13:12 says, “Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.” Mount Moriah is a complex of mountains, like a ridge, so Jerusalem, the city is built on one section of it, but just outside the gate is where Jesus was crucified. The Roman soldiers would not have made a man who was to be crucified walk 10 or 15 miles. They would bring him just outside the city gate and crucify him as a warning to the people in the city. All of these signs point to God’s eternal provision. Jesus Christ was sacrificed for our sins.
Why does God do so much precision of time and manner and mode and place? So that you may be saved. So that people to the ends of the Earth can hear the story and marvel at the complexity of the threads that are woven together in this Gospel. It is beyond human ken. We cannot put something like this together. The quality is too high. Jesus did many miracles, not just one. And Jesus fulfilled many prophecies, not just one.
All Signs Point to God’s Eternal Provision: Jesus Christ, Sacrificed for Our Sins
Genesis 22:14 says, “…to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’” The greatest joy of my life is to tell you that on the mountain of the Lord, it has been provided. Jesus said “It is finished.” A full provision of sin was made when Jesus shed his blood, but that is not all — God did not leave Jesus dead on Mount Moriah. We still have some work to do — he must be raised from the dead. On the mountain of the Lord, a full provision must be made.
VI. The Rich Banquet
Isaiah’s Second Prophecy of the Mountain
These verses in Isaiah are so important to what I am presenting that they are printed in your bulletin. Isaiah 25:6-9 is the second significant prophecy concerning the mountain of the Lord. There are many more than that, but we will focus on the second one first: “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine — the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. In that day they will say, ‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.’” Twice it says, “On this mountain.” On what mountain? In context, it can be none other than the mountain of the Lord’s temple, using Isaiah’s language — it is Jerusalem, God’s holy hill, Mount Zion.
What will happen on this mountain? The Lord Almighty will spread a feast of rich food for all his people, with the highest quality food and drink. Isaiah was a visionary prophet. If you close your eyes and listen, you see images, but his images are spiritual. There is always a physical side to them, but he was using spiritual language — physical language to talk about a spiritual feast.
What is this rich feast, this banquet that he will spread? It is none other than the destruction of death. He will destroy the shroud that covers all nations, the sheet that enfolds all peoples. He will swallow up death forever. Where will he do it? On this mountain, Mount Moriah, Jesus Christ destroyed death forever by his crucifixion, but if he had not been raised from the dead on the third day, we could not say that death was destroyed. We need a resurrection. On this mountain also Jesus destroyed death forever by his resurrection.
Where was Jesus buried? On Mount Moriah. John 19:41-42 says, “At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.” Right there on Mount Moriah, he was buried, and therefore Isaiah 25:7-8 was fulfilled, because on that mountain, Jesus destroyed death forever by his resurrection from the dead.
Isaiah’s First and Last Prophecies of the Mountain
The first mention in Isaiah of the mountain of the Lord’s temple is in Isaiah 2. Here is where it gets final and complete, and the Gospel extends. Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, Mount Blanc the highest mountain in Europe, Mount McKinley the highest in North America. There are many mountains that are taller than Mount Moriah, but Mount Moriah is the chief among the mountains on earth.
Isaiah 2:1-3 says, “This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
What does Isaiah see concerning Judah and Jerusalem? At a certain point, the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established and all nations — the Gentiles — will go streaming to it. You may wonder why, then, isn’t there a pilgrimage like there is to Mecca? Jesus covered that in John 4: “Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you worship the Father, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
We do need to make a physical pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to Mount Moriah, because God is spirit. Because Jesus physically died and was raised from the dead, we can worship him right here in Durham, North Carolina. Amen. We do not need to physically go to any mountain, but still there is a streaming of the nations. People go there spiritually in their hearts and minds, understanding that the most important thing that has ever happened to them happened 2000 years before they were born. 2000 years before we were born, Jesus died on the cross. In my heart, I am at Mount Moriah, where it was provided for me. It is my only hope on the mountain, the Lord has provided for me, a sinner.
The final mention in Isaiah of the mountain, the Lord’s temple, is in Isaiah 66:19-20: “I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.”
They are all moving. Where are they going? They are going to the mountain of the Lord’s temple. Are they going there physically? We already answered that. Jesus said we do not need to go anywhere physically. But they are streaming there. This is the advance of the Gospel, beginning in Jerusalem, moving to the ends of the earth. Isaiah saw it. They are all going to the mountain of the Lord’s temple. Why? Because on the mountain of the Lord, it has been provided. That feast mentioned in Isaiah 25, that banquet of rich foods, is provision from the Lord.
Isaiah 55:1-2 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.”
VII. Review
God specified a specific place for Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. He said, “Go to the place I will show you” — Mount Moriah — and he led him right to it. That is the place Abraham designated as the mountain of the Lord, and he coined a phrase, a proverb saying, “On the mountain of the Lord, it will be provided.”
Before Israel entered the Promised Land, God told Israel through Moses in the book of Deuteronomy, you must not worship under any spreading tree or anywhere you want, but you must go to the place I choose, and there you must worship. Where was it? It was on Mount Moriah, where God ended the plague during the time of David’s sinful census, and where Solomon built the temple. But that was only God’s second provision on Mount Moriah, the temple of the Lord. He was still asking Isaac’s question, where is the lamb? And then John the Baptist points to him and says, “Behold the Lamb, see him, look at him, behold the Lamb” — he is God’s final provision of Mount Moriah. Jesus had to journey back to Mount Moriah, just like Abraham and Isaac did. He went there to die. What Abraham was asked to do, God the father did — he literally died, and he was raised from the dead on the third day. That is God’s final provision. And now survivors, messengers, are going out to the ends of the earth, to the coast lands and the distant islands who have not heard of God’s fame or seen his glory, and they are proclaiming that on the mountain of the Lord, it has been provided. Come and eat. The feast is spread. Come to the table, sit down and eat.
VIII. Applications
Trust in Christ and Thank Him for His Provision
If you are not a believer, I invite you to come sit down and eat by faith. Trust in Jesus Christ to be your atoning sacrifice for sin. There is no other. Those who are wavering concerning the Word of God, waver no longer. Who could ever have put something like this together? It is too intricate, too perfect. This is the word of God, not merely the word of man. Lose forever any doubt about a single verse in the Bible — like the lynch pin verse, 2 Chronicles 3:1, that the temple was built on Mount Moriah. Do not doubt the Word of God anymore. This week, when you are thanking him for provision and family and all of God’s good gifts — for every good and perfect gift comes down from above — thank him more than anything for this provision for your sin.
