The Beauty of the Word, The Glory of the Scriptures

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16, NKJV

Most, if not all readers of this blog are very familiar with this passage.  And why not?  It truly captures the essence of the Christian faith.  But let’s peel this passage back – just a little – and discover an amazing picture that God has given to those that desire to look…

There is a principle of Scripture interpretation called the “Law of First Mention”.  In the most basic terms, it means that every scriptural concept can be traced back to a first mention, and that this first occurrence holds a little extra special meaning.  So what does that have to do with John 3:16?  Well, let’s ask a simple question: Why did God give His Son?  The passage tells us that it was because He LOVED the world.  The passage, at its root, is about love.  So now let’s flash back a few centuries to the book of Genesis…

…Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”  And he said, “Here I am.”  Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”  Gen 22:1,2, NKJV (italics added for emphasis)

Did you know that this is the first occurrence of the word LOVE in the Bible?  Notice that the passage relates to a love that the Father has for his only son.  God is quite specific in telling Abraham to sacrifice the son that he loves.  But notice something else – God is not only specific about the son, but He is also specific about the place.  He tells Abraham to go to the land of Moriah.  Now, if you aren’t overly familiar with Moriah, don’t feel bad.  Most people have never heard of it.  But fortunately, God does not leave it at that.  Let’s fast forward a few hundred years to the time of Solomon:

Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.  2 Chron 3:1 NKJV

But we know that the “house of the Lord” (also known as Solomon’s Temple) was built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  So – the Land of Moriah is actually better known as Jerusalem!  So we can now see that God was actually sending Abraham to a place near Jerusalem to sacrifice his only son, the son that he loved!  Maybe this is beginning to sound familiar.  A Father sacrificing His Son near Jerusalem.  Let’s take a look:

And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha , where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.  John 19:17-19 NKJV

And this brings us full circle: for God SO loved the world that He gave His ONLY SON…  What God asked Abraham to do is the very thing that HE did thousands of years later.  And could it be that Jesus was crucified on the very spot that Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac?  What a wonderful picture that the Lord has given us in these passages!  The love of a Father for a Son being given for the love that the Father has for the World (you and me)!  What truly wondrous love the Father has for us!

Study Note: For those that would like to know a little more, this is an example of a scriptural principle known as “typology”.  A “type” is a person or thing that can be seen as a picture of someone or something else.  In this case, Isaac can be taken as a “type” of Christ.  Abraham is presented as a type of the Father God, and Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac as a type of Christ’s atoning death on the cross for our sins.  And within the passage in Genesis, there is more to be seen just under the surface; much more!  I’ll let you explore on your own, and we’ll revisit it in a future blog!

God’s blessings to you in your own study!

YouJi