The traditional Torah reading for this Holy Day is called the Akedah, the Binding of Isaac, and it is in Genesis 23. This passage is also well-known as being messianic, indicating the way the Messiah will show obedience to his father and that he will be a sacrifice.
If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.
Let’s have a quickie review of the Akedah: Abraham is told by God to sacrifice Isaac, and he is led to Mount Moriah. Isaac asks Abraham where the lamb for the sacrifice is, and Abraham tells him that God will provide the lamb; but we all know by now Isaac is starting to feel like he might be the lamb. By the way, Isaac was more likely a grown man at that time than some young child.
OK, so they get there, Isaac gets on the rock, lets Abe tie him up, and waits for the final blow. Just as Abe is about to strike him with the knife, an angel tells Abe to hold off- this was just a test. There was a ram caught in a bush, so Abe sacrifices the ram, which is why we use a ram’s horn for the shofar, as a memorial to that ram.
The messianic aspect here is pretty obvious- a son is sacrificed by a father to show obedience to God, even unto death. Just as Isaac was willing to die to obey his father, Abraham, Yeshua the Messiah was willing to die to obey his father, God Almighty. The difference is that Isaac’s sacrifice was never meant to be fulfilled, but was a test of Abraham’s faith, whereas Yeshua’s sacrifice had to be completed, in order that all people may receive forgiveness of sin and be saved.
You know what? We are always told of the faithfulness of Abraham, but what about Isaac? Don’t you think he was pretty faithful, as well as obedient, by letting himself be tied up and killed?
I believe that the Akedah is not the only story of a father and son that is messianic; there is an anti-messianic story in the Bible, which we find happening about a thousand years later.
In 2 Samuel, chapters 15-20, we read how King David’s son, Absalom, rebelled against his father and tried to take the kingdom from him. He started by influencing the people at the gate, telling them that if he was judge, he would make sure they got fair treatment, sort of implying they can’t count on that from David. He acts friendly to them, and eventually turns many who were loyal to David over to Absalom. Once he had enough followers, including many in the army, he lied to his father to get permission to go to Hebron to make sacrifice, but once there he proclaimed himself king. David, upon hearing this, immediately fled the city. In time, Absalom’s followers went to war with David’s followers, and Absalom was killed by Joab, the commander of the army.
Here’s something interesting: we know that the anti-Messiah will first appear to be a man of peace, then when the time is right, he will turn and show his true colors. Well, in Hebrew, the name Absalom means “father of peace”.
So, we have Isaac, son of the father of nations, who obediently allowed himself to be sacrificed, and we have Absalom, son of the king of nations, who defied and rebelled against his father, trying to steal his father’s rulership.
Sound somewhat familiar? Yeshua, the obedient son of God, allows himself (as did Isaac) to be sacrificed, in order that all humanity may be saved, but the Anti-Messiah, the son of Satan, (as with Absalom) wants to steal the kingdom from God by causing all humanity to sin, thereby making it impossible for anyone to be with God.
Today, Christianity presents Jesus Christ as an Absalom, a rebellious son, telling us to ignore his father’s commandments, and has even gone as far as to present Jesus AS God, himself, so that they pray to and worship Jesus, essentially rejecting God the father.
But many Christians, as well as most Messianic Jews, know that Yeshua is, and requires us to be, obedient to his father’s commandments, teaching us the true, spiritual meaning of those commandments. That is the fulfillment of the New Covenant (the REAL one, in Jeremiah 31:31), which is when God said he will write his Torah on our hearts, and all will know him.
During this new year, let us strive to be more like an Isaac, obedient to our Father (the one in heaven), which means to be obedient to his Torah, and less like an Absalom, rebelling against our Father (yeah, I still mean the one in Heaven) by rejecting his Torah.
That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot, and Shanah Tovah!
