The saving angel on Mount Moriah

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Text based on Genesis 22:1 to 19

1. The first climb up Mount Moria

How difficult the three-day walk to the mountainous region of Moriah must have been for Abraham. Not the route - but the destination, that is unimaginable for our time, what God demanded of Abraham back then: "Sacrifice your only son, whom you love."

The whole promise of the future was at stake here. Only from the New Testament can it be understood that this sacrificial act was about death and resurrection.

So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Genesis 22:3 (ESV)

Delay did not occur to the patriarch. He got up early, as if he had been invited to a meeting on the mountain. With a torn heart, he chopped wood for the sacrifice of his beloved son.

Abraham say “Here I am” three times.

• First, towards God: absolute obedience, strong trust. God spoke to him in various ways, so this voice was familiar to him. Abraham lived in a relationship of friendship with God.

• Secondly, towards his son: love and compassion. Abraham breaks the silence. When the son asks about the sacrifice, he quickly says: God will choose the sheep for the burnt offering, my son. And they both went together.

•  Third, to the angel of the Lord: Abraham passed the test. He saw not only the angel of God, but a representative, the ram in the bush.

His strong faith in the promise of God, he said: God will choose the sheep for a burnt offering. We want to return to you.

In the lexicon of the Bible. Obedience in Hebrew: listen carefully - be obedient internally - submit to - allow yourself to be persuaded. Obey: literally hear below. This expression summarizes both, inner hearing and the willingness of the heart.

 
2. The Sacrifice

Abraham builds a sacrificial altar with stones and places the wood on top. He binds his defenseless son and lays him on the wood of the altar.

With a trembling hand he raises the knife to sacrifice his son with a trembling heart. Then he hears his name: Abraham, Abraham! It was the saving angel of the Lord who fell into his arms and cried out: Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him.

Angels are messengers from God: When Jesus suffers from fear of death in Gethsemane, an angel from heaven also appears and strengthens him.

After the angel urged Abraham not to sacrifice his son, he gave him a very noble answer: Now I have recognized that you fear God.

Abraham trusted the Lord from his first step early in the morning to the slaughter of his son, that the Lord would give him his son alive. So he also says to his servants: We will come again.

Relieved and happy about the future, they return to their place in Bersheba, from where they had set out for the sacrifice.


3. The second climb up Mount Moria

A better victim is found in Isaac's place. The ram points to the divine mystery of substitution - The Lamb of God - who takes away the sin of the world. God saw a way out.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 (ESV)

Jesus a sacrifice that can make atonement for all time.

After the scourging and condemnation, Jesus also took the wood as a sacrifice and carried it to the same Mount Moriah and died on the cross for us.

There once stood an old, rough cross on Golgotha, always a symbol of suffering and woe; but I love the cross, because the Lord once hung there and I see the Lamb of God in him.

Refrain: I will treasure the old, rough cross until I see Jesus on the throne. I want to hold tight to the cross; one day I will receive a crown for it.
Songbook: I want to thank you.

Do we also have such trust in God? Our trust grows through. Faith experiences!

Author: Egon Waechter
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