Bible Characters – Part 4

Series – June 2023 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Bible Characters
Gleanings From The Old Testament,Part 4

Abraham And Isaac In The Mount Of The LORD
And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” —Genesis 22:14 NKJV

God’s Own Provision
God takes care of man. He provides for all our needs, but in particular He provides for the most fundamental need man has known since the fall: the need for a sacrifice. Abraham must have understood this when he said to his son whom he was to offer, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (v.8).

God was the only One who could provide the sacrificial lamb, and it was primarily meant for God Himself: “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” This lamb was, so to speak, God’s own lamb, a figure of Christ as the appointed Lamb of God. The offering of Isaac was a type of Christ’s sacrifice – foreordained by God before the foundation of the world (see Jn. 1:29,36; 1 Pet. 1:19-20; Rev. 5:6).

This Lamb provided for all the needs of the sinner, who was totally unable to do so himself. But it also met all God’s holy demands. Indeed, by His sacrifice Christ glorified God in a unique way. The lamb that is brought to our attention in Genesis 22 was a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord (8:21; Lev. 1:9,13,17; Eph. 5:2). No one but God could provide for the need, and from the above-mentioned verse in 1 Peter it appears that He had provided for it even before He called the world into existence.

How great is our God who provided the sacrificial lamb! Adam and Eve had a similar experience when they were clothed with garments of skin in the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:21). God was the first One to bring a sacrifice, and He clothed the first human couple with the skins of the animal in order to cover their nakedness. In a symbolical way this covered their spiritual nakedness, that is, their sinful state before God. Abraham also experienced this when the Lord provided for his needs and directed his eyes toward a substitute for his son (22:13).

The Glories Of God’s Name
In remembrance of this wonderful provision Abraham called the name of that place The-LORD-Will-Provide, which is just one word in Hebrew: Jehovah-Jireh. Abraham used a compound name of the LORD which indicates that it is one of His glorious attributes to act in this way and provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering. This wonderful name of God is the first of a series of compound names that are revealed in the Old Testament:

• The-LORD-Will-Provide – Jehovah-Jireh (v.14).
• The-LORD-Who-Heals-You – Jehovah-Rophe (Ex. 15:26).
• The-LORD-Is-My-Banner – Jehovah-Nissi (Ex. 17:15).
• The-LORD-Who-Sanctifies-You – Jehovah-M’Qaddash (Ex. 31:13; Lev. 20:8, 21:8).
• The-LORD-Is-Peace – Jehovah-Shalom (Jud. 6:24).
• The-LORD-Of-Hosts – Jehovah-Sabaoth (1 Sam. 1:3,11).
• The-LORD-Is-My-Shepherd – Jehovah-Raah (Ps. 23:1).
• The-LORD-Our-Righteousness – Jehovah-Tsidkenu (Jer. 23:6, 33:16).
• The-LORD-Who-Strikes – Jehovah-Nakeh (Ezek. 7:9).
• The-LORD-Is-There – Jehovah-Shammah (48:35).

The first name shows that God provides for the most essential need of sinful man, the need for a Substitute. This is the basis on which God can reveal more of Himself and of the many aspects of His nature. The last name shows Him filling everything with His glorious presence: The-LORD-Is-There; and where He fills everything there is no room for sin any more, for God will be all in all (see 1 Cor. 15:20-28).

The Mount Of The LORD
Then we should also pay attention to the place where God revealed Himself in this way, where He made Himself known as the One providing the Lamb for a burnt offering. He did so in the Mount of the LORD. This is an important expression. God revealed Himself on this mountain, the place where Abraham found himself on the level of His thoughts, rather than in the plain of Jordan which Lot chose (Gen. 13:10-11). God called Abraham, as it were, into His heavenly presence. The same thing happened to the disciples who received divine teaching from the Lord Jesus on a mountain (Mt. 5:1). It was “on the holy mountain” (2 Pet. 1:18) where they saw His glory and were eyewitnesses of His majesty (consider vv.16-18).

Moreover, this mountain is described as “the Mount of the LORD.” We find the same expression in the book of Exodus where it is used in connection with God’s revelation on Mount Sinai. In the manner that Moses led the flock of his father-in-law through the desert to Horeb, the mountain of God, he also led the people of Israel through the wilderness to this mountain (Ex. 3:1, 18:5, 24:13).

Mount Sinai was the mountain where God sat enthroned, according to the book of Exodus. He desired to reveal Himself to the people He delivered from slavery to be His special treasure. So we are, as it were, on holy ground here, and like Moses we have to take off our shoes. Thus the people of Israel – and most importantly the priests – had to sanctify themselves in order to be able to meet God at the foot of the mountain (19:10-17).

Yet this expression, “the mountain of God,” does not only refer to Mount Sinai. It is also used for Mount Zion and for the temple mount, after the ark of the covenant, the visible sign of God’s presence, found a resting place there (see Ps. 15:1, 24:3, 48:1-2). This is very striking indeed with regard to the temple mount, for there is a clear connection between Genesis 22, 1 Chronicles 21–22 and 2 Chronicles 3. Abraham went to the land of Moriah to offer his son on one of the mountains of which God would tell him, while King David built his altar of burnt offering on Mount Moriah.

This was the place where atonement was made for a sinful people, the place of the altar of burnt offering for Israel, which enabled God to dwell in the midst of His people. Mount Moriah, where Abraham sacrificed his son, was the place of the altar of burnt offering for God’s people. This mountain therefore points to the location of Calvary, where God “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all” (Rom. 8:32).

In doing so He laid a just foundation for the future temple in the Spirit, the Church of the living God that was to be built after Christ’s resurrection from the dead!

By Hugo Bouter (adapted)

Look for Part 5 of this Series next month.