And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
8. provide himself ] Heb. see for himself, cf. Gen 41:33. Abraham’s words express his self-control and his faith, and have a reference to Gen 22:14. The provision by God of a lamb for a burnt-offering lies at the root of the interpretation of the present passage in its typical application to the Sacrifice of Christ. Cf. the mention of the Lamb in Joh 1:29; Joh 1:36; 1Pe 1:19; Rev 5:12. The present passage is the first Lesson for the morning of Good Friday.
so they went together ] In the brief words of this simple and moving description is compressed a world of intense feeling. Cf. a similar phrase in 2Ki 2:6; 2Ki 2:8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 22:8
God will provide Himself a lamb
Gods provision of a lamb in Christ
This incident shows us in what lies the value of that sacrifice, and with what feelings we should regard it.
I. THE SACRIFICE WHICH GOD APPROVES MUST RE OF HIS OWN APPOINTING.
II. THE SACRIFICE WHICH GOD HAS PROVIDED IS SUPREMELY WORTHY OF ACCEPTANCE, AND GRACIOUSLY SUITED TO OUR CONDITION.
1. It has reconciled us to God.
2. It has procured the forgiveness of sins.
3. It opens the way to endless bliss.
III. THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE SACRIFICE GOD HAS PROVIDED IS THE TURNING POINT OF A MANS SPIRITUAL HISTORY.
1. It includes all the rest–repentance, faith, love, obedience.
2. It gives efficiency to all the rest.
3. It is the true test of spiritual character.
Abrahams answer to his sons question
I. THERE IS THE IDEA OF SUBSTITUTION. This is the pivotal fact in the scheme of redemption.
II. THIS WAS AN ACT OF DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY,
III. THE FUNDAMENTAL DEFECT IN THE RELIGION OF NATURE. It affords no lamb to complete the sacrifice.
IV. THE IMMINENCE OF ISAACS PERIL SUGGESTS THE DANGER IN WHICH UNGODLY SINNERS CONSTANTLY LIVE.
V. MUCH MIGHT BE SAID OF ISAACS FAITH IN THIS TRANSACTION–his weakness, his submission to parental authority, &c.
VI. HERE IS THE FIRE GODS UNAPPEASED JUSTICE; AND HERE IS THE WOOD: YOUR UNHOLY MEAT AND LIFE; BUT WHERE IS THE LAMB? God demands worship. A sacrifice He will have; but, with those two factors, justice and sin, no acceptable offering can be made. Bring the Lamb of God to the altar of worship, or expect yourself to be immolated on that altar, a victim of His offended justice and His broken law! (E. O. Frierson, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. My son, God will provide himself a lamb] Here we find the same obedient unshaken faith for which this pattern of practical piety was ever remarkable. But we must not suppose that this was the language merely of faith and obedience; the patriarch spoke prophetically, and referred to that Lamb of God which HE had provided for himself, who in the fulness of time should take away the sin of the world, and of whom Isaac was a most expressive type. All the other lambs which had been offered from the foundation of the world had been such as MEN chose and MEN offered; but THIS was the Lamb which GOD had provided – emphatically, THE LAMB OF GOD.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
God will provide himself a lamb; either,
1. Literally, though I know not how; for his wisdom and power are infinite: or,
2. Mystically, as Christ, whose type Isaac was, is called a Lamb. Thus Abraham prudently reveals the matter to him by degrees, not all at once.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering,…. In which answer Abraham may have respect to the Messiah, the Lamb of God, Joh 1:29, whom he had provided in council and covenant before the world was; and who in promise, and type, and figure, was slain from the foundation of the world, Re 13:8; and whom in due time God would send into the world, Joh 10:36, and make him an offering for sin, Isa 53:10, and accept of him in the room and stead of his people: and this was a provision that could only be made by the Lord, and was the produce of his infinite wisdom, and the fruit of his grace, favour, and good will and of which Abraham had a clear sight and strong persuasion, see Joh 8:56; though as the words may be considered as a more direct answer to Isaac’s question, which related to the sacrifice now about to be offered, they may be regarded as a prophecy of Abraham’s, and of his faith in it, that God would, as in fact he did, provide a lamb or ram in the room of that he was called to offer; or he may mean Isaac himself, whom he was bid to take and offer, and so was a lamb of God’s providing; though he did not choose directly to say this, but puts him off with such an answer, suggesting that it was best for him to leave it with God, who, as he had called them to such service, would supply them with a proper sacrifice; and in speaking in this manner he might give room for Isaac to suspect what was intended, and so by degrees bring him to the knowledge of it. Some Jewish writers e say, that Abraham to this answer added in express terms,
“my son, thou art the lamb:”
so they went both of them together; they proceeded on in their journey until they came to the place they were directed to go. The Targum of Jonathan says,
“they went both of them with a perfect heart as one;”
the Jerusalem Targum is,
“with a quiet, easy, and composed mind or heart;”
and Jarchi,
“with a like heart;”
all intimating that Isaac was thoroughly acquainted with what was to be done, that he was to be the sacrifice, and that he heartily agreed to it, and that he and his father were of one mind in it, and that he went with the same will to be offered up, as his father did to offer him; and indeed the expression being repeated from Ge 22:6, seems to suggest something remarkable and worthy of attention.
e Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 31.)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
8. So they went both of them together. Here we perceive both the constancy of Abraham, and the modesty of his son. For Abraham is not rendered more remiss by this obstacles and the son does not persist in replying to his father’s answer. For he might easily have objected, Wherefore have we brought wood and the knife without a lamb, if God has commanded sacrifices to be made to him? But because he supposes that the victim has been omitted, for some valid reason, and not through his father’s forgetfulness, he acquiesces, and is silent.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
8. God will provide Hebrews, Elohim-jireh, God will see . See on Gen 22:14.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”
What a wealth of meaning is found in these words. ‘God will provide’. For Isaac they meant that his father believed that God would let him have a lamb from somewhere. But was he beginning to get a little uneasy? For Abraham it was a statement of belief that God would somehow make all things right. But for us it is far more significant. For we know that God did provide Himself as a Lamb for the offering, the Lamb of God Who would take away the sin of the world. And it makes us look at what this was costing Abraham, and realise how much it must have cost God. God did not ask Abraham to do something that He would not do Himself.
Gen 22:8 b
‘So they went both of them together.’
The repetition of the phrase (compare Gen 22:6) brings out the length of the journey in the mind of Abraham. It must have seemed that they went on and on. Getting ever nearer to the fateful place.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Reader! it is no interesting question, though perhaps not easily answered; did Abraham really know, that God had already provided a Lamb for a burnt-offering; even the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world? There are two passages in the scriptures, which seem to imply as much. Jesus hath given the one; and the Holy Ghost by his servant the apostle hath given the other. Joh 8:56 and Heb 11:17 . But Reader! whether Abraham in those distant ages, had such clear views of Jesus or not; what blessings, what privileges are ours, before whom the Lamb of God is not only provided, but hath fully taken away sin by his blood. Joh 1:29 ; Rev 13:8 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Ver. 8. God will provide himself a lamb. ] A pious and precious proverb; a much to be mused on, and made use of, when we are in an exigent, and see not whither to turn us. Then say, Deus viderit . God will with the temptation also give an issue. 1Co 10:13 Necesse est adesse divinum, ubi humanum cessat auxilium , saith Philo. Sciat etiam Celsitudo vestra , saith Luther in a letter to the Prince Elector of Saxony; b I would your Highness should well know that businesses are far otherwise carried and concluded in heaven than at the Diet at Noringberg, &c. And to Philip Melancthon he writes thus: Si nos ruemus, ruet Christus una, ille regnator mundi: et esto ruat, &c. Sed scribo haec frustra, quia tu secundum philosophiam vestram, has res ratione rogere, hoc est, ut ait ille, cum ratione insanire pergis, et occidis teipsum; nec vides prorsus extra manum tuam et consilium positam esse causam, etiam extra curam tuam velle agi. c
a Qui finxit alas papilioni, is curabit omnia .
b Scultet. Ann.
c Idem.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
provide. Hebrew. yireh = God will see or look out
Himself = for Himself.
a lamb. Hebrew the lamb.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Gen 18:14, 2Ch 25:9, Mat 19:26, Joh 1:29, Joh 1:36, 1Pe 1:19, 1Pe 1:20, Rev 5:6, Rev 5:12, Rev 7:14, Rev 13:8
Reciprocal: Gen 22:13 – behind Gen 22:14 – Jehovahjireh Exo 12:3 – take to Lev 1:3 – a burnt Num 23:3 – burnt
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 22:8. My son, God will provide himself a lamb This was the language either, 1st, Of his obedience; we must offer the lamb which God has appointed now to be offered; thus giving Isaac this general rule of submission to the divine will, to prepare him for the application of it to himself: or, 2d, Of his faith; whether he intended them so or not, the meaning of his words proved to be that a sacrifice was provided instead of Isaac. Thus, 1st, Christ, the great sacrifice of atonement, was of Gods providing: when none in heaven or earth could have found a lamb for that burnt-offering, God himself found the ransom. 2d, All our sacrifices of acknowledgment are of Gods providing too; it is he that prepares the heart. The broken and contrite spirit is a sacrifice of God, of his providing.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a {d} burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
(d) The only way to overcome all temptation is to rest on God’s providence.