The ultimate purpose of the Savior was to provide a way for us to overcome mortality and provide us a choice between good and evil. As we learn good and shed evil, the Savior’s atonement gives us new life. The atonement symbolism of the Messiah’s death and resurrection was foreshadowed since the beginning of time. Therefore, more understanding of the past can provide us with a larger picture that gives a better perspective on the present and a clearer understanding of the future.
That symbolism begins with Adam as he was immersed, it was an act of being born again.
"As an everlasting covenant, baptism began on this earth with Adam (Moses 6:64-67) and has continued ever since whenever the Lord has had a people on earth. (D. & C. 20:23-28; 84:26-28.) It was not a new rite introduced by John the Baptist and adopted by Christ and his followers. The Jews were baptizing their proselytes long before John, as is well attested from secular sources. The Inspired Version of the Bible, the Book of Moses being a part thereof contains ample evidence of the practice of baptism in Old Testament times. The part of the Book of Mormon of the pre-Christian Era contains some of the best information we have relative to this eternal law." (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, Pg.71)
"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:4)
The experience of Abraham being saved and subsequently Isaac being saved from sacrifice is one of the most powerful symbols of the Savior’s atonement. Both father and son shared powerful experiences of being saved.
"And as they lifted up their hands upon me, that they might offer me up and take away my life, behold, I lifted up my voice unto the Lord my God, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and he filled me with the vision of the Almighty, and the angel of his presence stood by me, and immediately unloosed my bands; And his voice was unto me: Abraham, Abraham, behold, my name is Jehovah, and I have heard thee, and have come down to deliver thee, and to take thee away from thy father's house, and from all thy kinsfolk, into a strange land which thou knowest not of . . ." (Abraham 1:15-16)
Abraham was brought to the "Crossroads of the East" and there was promised a posterity like the "sands of the sea," yet Sarah was barren. Miraculously, even after the "time of women" had passed, Sarah conceives and bears a child. The miracle may have evoked laughter from the neighbors. Truly, it evoked delight from the almost centenarians Abraham and Sarah. The laughter of joy spilled from their mouths as God’s promised word was fulfilled and they brought forth new life.
That one child was named Yitzhak, (Isaac in English). The name means laughter, delight and humor in Hebrew. Jewish tradition insists that withing his early thirties, Isaac obediently followed his father Abraham who was instructed to take this miracle son and offer him as a human sacrifice.
The appointed event was to take place at Mount Moriah, "Moreh-Yah," (to be taught of Jehovah). From what followed, a dialogue that we can imagine to be repeated again and again, teaches us the real lesson of two humble and obedient Godly men who are taught the atonement. There are patterns that teach the ultimate sacrifice of the Lord. Please note the three chiasmi with the "Lord" in the center.
The first chiasmus is "Here am I" that sandwiches "God will provide himself a lamb."
The second chiasmus is "angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven" that sandwiches "ram caught in the thicket."
The third chiamus has "hast not withheld thy son" sandwiching "Jehovahjireh."
The imagery of these chiasmi teaches that God will provide his son the Lamb of God, who will take upon himself the sins that we are all caught in so that we can see Jehovah, God’s son who will take us to his and our Father in Heaven.
"And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, 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: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou dearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abrahams lifted up his eyes, and looked, and beheld behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven 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 22:7-18)
Abraham and Isaac apparently knew that Isaac was a symbol of God's firstborn son, a substitute was found as a ram in the thicket. Ever since, other substitutes were offered as a symbol of Him that would pay for our sins as we repent. A more expanded look at sacrifices as symbols can be seen from the following excerpts of the forthcoming book, HOLY LANDS REVEALED. Also, the HOLY LANDS REVEALED video, number four, Israel at Worship coincides with the following text.
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BIBLICAL SACRIFICES
Study of ancient biblical sacrifices is not usually considered exciting reading. The Bible has many details that in today’s cultures seem unnecessary. Let’s go back to examine a few details, and see if we can relate the symbolisms and meanings to our modern religious understanding.
Abraham’s Sacrifices: Twenty centuries before Jesus, Abraham, living in the Ur of Chaldees, had a difficult relationship with his father, Terah. He was taken in by the idol worshiping prevalent in that area. Various gods were idolized as people made statues and doted on works of wood and metal. (Add glass to the wood and metal, and it might look like a TV today!) Idol worshiping included human sacrifice. Abraham was about to be offered when at the last moment the real God, the Father in Heaven, saved him from that pagan practice. God brought him out of the land of the Chaldees to the Crossroads of the East. There Abraham was to have a great family.
GENESIS 13:14-16 And the Lord said unto Abram, . . .
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Some might consider it unfortunate (or even a mistake) that he married a woman, although very beautiful, who could not bear children. After years of pleading with the Lord and then with the Lord’s permission, Sarah gave Abraham her handmaids: Hagar (who bore a son named Ishmael, which means heard of God) and Keturah (who bore six children). They began to fulfill the prophecy of a great posterity.
And Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. GENESIS 16:15
Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. GENESIS 25:1
The Arabs are considered descendants of Hagar. It is also considered that the Bedouin and the Druze of today may descend from Keturah and her six children.
A Miracle Son: When Sarah was ninety years old, an angel appeared to Abraham to announce that she would yet bear a son. Apparently she laughed; surely she at ninety and Abraham at ninety-nine could not have a child! (Can you imagine what the neighbors might have said?) However, the impossible became possible, and God blessed them exceedingly. They had a son (an only son between them), which they named Yitzhak (Isaac in English), which means laughter, joy.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? GENESIS 18:12-13
Raising this miracle child must have been a great joy. Jewish rabbinical tradition tells us that Isaac was in his early thirties when God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a human sacrifice. What a contrast to the very thing that the same God had saved Abraham from years before! Remember, human sacrifice was a pagan custom Abraham had fled from in Ur.
Isaac to be Sacrificed: God instructed Abraham to go to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his firstborn son of Sarah, his wife. Mount Moriah was given as the place of sacrifice, though it is very close to the Mount of Olives that is much higher. High places were usually selected as the sacrificial places. The name Moriah is derived from the words moreh, teacher, and Yah, the shortened version of the word Jehovah. Names ending with the sound "ah" often refer to Jehovah, such as Elijah, Micah, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and so on. The word Jehovah is not spoken in Hebrew, it means "I AM." There is also no conjugation of the words to be in the first person (I am is not said in Hebrew). So, Mount Moriah may mean to be taught of Jehovah. This is an appropriate metaphor, a lesson giving us insight to this unusual event.
Sacrifices were done by quickly drawing the blade across the blood and breath of an unblemished, firstborn animal. This was the biblical instruction and probably the most humane way of rendering the animal lifeless.
An Angel Stops the Sacrifice: Before the blood and breath of Isaac was taken, an angel commanded Abraham to stop. God would provide a lamb for the sacrifice. Abraham and Isaac found a substitute ram in the thicket and offered it instead.
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said,
. . . Lay not thine hand upon the lad, . . .
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. GENESIS 22:10-13
Substitute Sacrifices: From that time on other substitute animals , always firstborn and unblemished, were sacrificed on Mount Moriah. Interestingly, the sacrifice was always done on the northern side of the Temple altar .
And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar. LEVITICUS 1:11
THE PLACE OF A SKULL
A Place of Crucifixion: Today on the northern end of the Temple Mount stands an abandoned quarry with caves that give it a grotesque skull-like look. Many people consider this the Place of a Skull, Calvary or Golgotha. They feel this is where the "Lamb of God," the firstborn Son of God, was sacrificed when he was crucified.
And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: JOHN 19:17
This Place of a Skull looks like the location described as the crucifixion site in the New Testament. However, some scholars and Christians have only recently recognized and identified it as such. Later we will discuss it in more detail and also describe an empty first-century Jewish tomb also close by.
THE PURPOSE OF TEMPLES " \l 2The remarkable symbolisms of time, places, and events seemed to have foreshadowed the Messiah, the Holy One of Israel. Abraham’s life was chiastic: First to be offered as a human sacrifice and then to be saved, later to be commanded to offer his own son as a sacrifice and then to have him saved. All to teach that God, also on Mount Moriah, was to offer his Son as a sacrifice to save us all.
Atonement Instruction: It is apparent that the Temple, later built on Mount Moriah, was to teach about the Atonement for all people. It is inevitable that the Savior will return to the house of the Lord and restore it as a place of worship and teaching.
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. MALACHI 3:1
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The final hours of the Savior’s mortal life fulfill his reason, his purpose, his ultimate mission. This is reviewed in the following lesson.
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