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 �My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning, therefore my hand shall be over thee,� 1 the Lord told Abraham. The Lord was with Abraham, starting from youth, when an angel saved him from destruction at the hands of heathens in the land of Ur. From then on, Abraham determined to be obedient, saying, �Thou didst send thine angel to deliver me from the gods of Elkenah, and I will do well to hearken unto thy voice.� 2 Abraham married Sarah, and departed to Egypt. There he walked and talked with God. The Lord said, �Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord.� 3 �My son, my son,� the Lord said, (and his hand was stretched out). Thus ... Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another, 4 and He taught Abraham all about the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement. God loved Abraham, and prepared him well for the ordeal that lay ahead of him. He appeared to him in a vision, saying, �Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.� 5 And Abraham believed the Lord, and trusted Him. From the time of Adam, people knew that the blood sacrifices they offered were a type*, or similitude*, of the sacrifice of Christ. Knowing the plan of salvation helped Abraham pass the supreme test of faith and obedience which the Lord required of him. So great was his faith and trust in his Heavenly Father, that when Isaac questioned him, Abraham was able to answer, �My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.� 6 It was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son. 7 Most readers of the Old Testament can immediately see the similarities between the test of Abraham and the sacrifice of the Father, but many miss the precise detail of this similitude that God used to teach about the future sacrifice of his only Son. The following are some of these significant details. Abraham obviously was a type* or similitude of the Father. Abram means �exalted father�, and Abraham means �father of a great multitude�. Both are names appropriate of Heavenly father. Isaac was a type* of the Son of God. He had a miraculous birth. The Lord not only asked Abraham to perform the act of similitude of His own future actions but indicated that it had to be �upon one of the mountains I will tell thee of�. This place was Moriah, in the same area where the Father would make the sacrifice of his Son. Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon his son's back. Some have seen this action as a similarity to Christ�s carrying of the cross upon his shoulders on the way to his crucifixion.8 Dinner Talk: How can we apply this similitude to ourselves? 1. This similitude gives us an insight into the feelings of our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed his Son. At some point in time, we as parents may be required to watch our own children suffer� this, either as consequences of their own unwise choices, or perhaps even circumstances due to no fault of their own. At that time, we are faced with the realization that we cannot pass through the trial on their behalf. Only they can endure the tribulation, but we can exercise our own faith to empower them to pass the test. 2. Neither Abraham nor Isaac were given the option to choose what their sacrifice would be. Nor do we choose the sacrifices that may be required of us. We may or may not be required to give our life as a sacrifice, but we must be willing to make that ultimate sacrifice if God requires that kind of obedience. However, God has already provided the Lamb. The Atonement makes it possible for us to make our own sacrifices acceptable unto the Lord, if we live a life of faith, obedience, humility, and service. 1,2. Book of Abraham, p.32,33 3. Gen. 18:19 4. Abraham., p. 35 5. Gen. 15:1 6. Gen. 22:8 7. Book of Mormon, p. 124 8. Old Testament Student Manual, p.77 Clarke, Bible Commentary, 1:39 |
