[97]Providing himself with wood to be used for the fire, Abraham and his son and servants journeyed for three days from the plains of Mamre to Moriah; and arriving there, he at once prepared for the burnt-offering.  Isaac was not aware of the purpose of his father to offer him; so he said to his father:  “Behold the fire and the wood:  but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering.”  Abraham then informed his son that he was to be the offering.  Then he bound Isaac and laid him upon the altar and stretched forth his hand and took the knife with which to slay his son.  This was a great test to Abraham’s faith.  Isaac was his only son and he loved him dearly; but Jehovah had commanded him to offer him up as a sacrifice, and because of his love for Jehovah he proceeded to obey God’s command.  As he raised his hand to strike dead his only beloved son, “the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him:  for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me”.  When Abraham looked he saw a ram caught in a thicket nearby and he took the ram and offered it for a burnt-offering.

[98]Then “the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”—­Genesis 22:15-18.

[99]In this wonderful picture Abraham was a type of Jehovah, while Isaac was a type of Jesus, the beloved Son of Jehovah.  Abraham’s offering his beloved son on the altar, pictured how God in due time would offer his only beloved Son as a great sacrifice that mankind might be redeemed from death and have an opportunity to live.  Abraham did not, as indeed he could not, understand God’s purposes, for the reason that Jehovah did not reveal them to him; but he knew that God had here made a covenant with him and bound it with his oath; and that by these two certain and unchangeable things, his word and his oath, God would carry out his covenant in due time, and that covenant would result in the blessing of all the families and nations of earth.

[100]The word covenant means contract; and it is the solemn form for expressing a compact, agreement, or contract between parties, or particularly on the part of one whereby he promises to do a certain thing.  With Jehovah a covenant or a contract is sacred and inviolate, because Jehovah changes not. (Malachi 3:6) Having promised it, he will fulfill it. (Hebrews 6:18) It is always necessary that there be two parties to a contract.  There may be more.  Where one party only is bound to do a certain thing that contract is called unilateral, or one-sided; and where both parties are bound to perform certain things, the contract is called bilateral, or two-sided.