Genesis 22:3 reads “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.” In this account, what would seem as a trivial piece of detail has a profound treasure hidden in it. It is about Abraham, the Father of Isaac, claving (chopping) the wood on which his son Isaac would be laid to be presented as a burnt offering to the Lord. Why is “wood for the burnt offering” important?
I will defer the coverage of the significance of the burnt offering when we get to the Levitical offerings, but for now, let us look at the significance of the “wood for the offering”. Rewind to the time, when Jesus walked the earth as a man. One of the journeys he took to fulfill his mission of reconciling God with man, was the via dolorosa or the way of suffering, when he walked carrying the wooden beams, claved from some tree to the place called Golgotha or Calvary. There he willingly offered himself as a sacrifice to God the Father, for man, which God accepted.
Points to ponder:
Jesus was laid on top the wooden Cross, his hands and legs nailed to the cross, and that was lifted up, for you and me. The Lord himself has prepared The Sacrifice (Zephaniah 1:7). The wooden Cross (tree) was one that God himself had claved for the salvation of mankind (Isaiah 53:4-6).
Genesis 22:3 (KJV)
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
