God Himself as a Lamb for the Burnt Offering

From the moment of our creation God has destined us for salvation through His Son and, consequently, through Himself. God has thus shaped and formed every moment of history to cultivate in our minds the climax of His Salvation. In this manner, every chapter, verse, word, and letter of the Old Testament is essential to our understanding of Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary. As Saint Augustine once said, “The New Testament is concealed in the Old Testament and the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament.” While the entire Old Testament is vital to our understanding of the New Testament, one particular parallel of Christ’s sacrifice is Genesis 22.

The story of Genesis 22 is one familiar to most Christians as a parallel for Christ’s passion. From the second verse we see phrases that are found in the New Testament. The parallels continue to develop as the passage moves along. Isaac wanders with his father and two other men for three days before reaching the place destined for his sacrifice (Genesis 22:4). Then, his father lays on him the wood upon which he will be sacrificed once the mountain in the land of Moriah has been climbed (Genesis 22:6). Upon reaching the mountain, Isaac allows himself to be bound as he freely submits to his father's will (Genesis 22:9). However, the real story of Genesis 22 more than just parallels the passion of Christ. Rather, it foretells of it in a very real manner.

In this entire passage, one verse in particular, Genesis 22:8, must be given special attention. In the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition the verse is translated as “Abraham said. ‘God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.’ So they went both of them together.” This verse is the climax of the passage, especially in the structure and diction of the statement.

It is very important that this verse reads the way it does. Abraham does not say “God will give us a sacrifice,” nor does he say “God will find us a sacrifice when the time is right.” Abraham says very explicitly “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” Abraham foreshadows that God will give Himself for the sacrifice. It is not that God will give someone else in His stead for the sacrifice. It is not that God will search through history and find someone suitable enough to be given up for the salvation of the world. Even forty-two generations prior to Christ, God, through Abraham, tells us that it will be Him that saves us.

The other essential foreshadow of this verse is the fact that God will sacrifice Himself as a “lamb for the burnt offering.” This foreshadow speaks of the severity of the sacrifice that God will have to endure for us; a lamb will endure the fire to save us. In fact, Christ did this for us. As a pure, innocent, and unblemished lamb He endured the fires of hell in our place. In addition to bearing the pain of the cross, He took upon Himself every sin of every man and suffered the punishment that should rightfully be ours. God provided Himself as the Lamb to be our burnt offering.

It is not surprising that Genesis 22 correlates so well to the passion of Christ. It is in reading the Old Testament in light of the New Testament that passages such as Genesis 22 are revealed in their full glory. It is in reading the Old Testament in light of the New Testament that we see God’s divine plan for our salvation stretch throughout all time and all history.