The first few chapters of Genesis tell of the creation of Adam and Eve and the paradise known as the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve are deceived by the lies of the Serpent and commit the first sin of humankind. They must face the consequences of their actions, and are removed from the Garden of Eden. After their disobedience of God’s rule, they become aware that they are naked. God makes clothing for them to cover their nakedness out of the “skins” of an animal. Now it does not say specifically what animal’s skin was used, but it would seem very fitting to me that it was the skin of a sheep or goat. This killing of an animal by God is the first recorded death in the Bible. The animal is sacrificed to provide a covering for Adam and Eve’s nakedness and establishes the theme that an innocent’s blood must be shed for the covering of sin to occur. “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife...” Genesis 3:21. This is a graphic image of the gospel message at its most basic...a blood sacrifice is required for the remission of sin. In fact, this is in my opinion part of the passage in Genesis known as the “proto euangelion,” the “first gospel,” because it is the first occurrence in the Bible of the gospel message. "And I (God) will put enmity between you (the Serpent) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He (Jesus) shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” Genesis 3:15. Verse 21 completes the gospel theme stated earlier in verse 15. Satan the Serpent of old will strike Jesus on the heel (His temporary death on the cross), but Jesus will strike Satan on the head (by overcoming death and the grave), through the shedding of His precious blood on the cross which was sufficient to cover all sin. “... and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Heb. 9:22
“The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.” Genesis 3:21-24
Abraham was told by God to take his son Isaac and go to a place on one of the mountains of Moriah which He would show to him. There, Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac as the Lord had instructed. Abraham obeyed, and took his son to the place that God showed him. Isaac carried the wood up the hill on his back for the burnt offering sacrifice, not realizing that he himself was the sacrifice. Abraham was instructed by God to construct an altar on this mountain that his own son would be sacrificed on. As Abraham was preparing to kill his own son, the Lord stopped him and provided a substitution, a ram caught in a thicket. In the same way, Jesus carried the wood of His own sacrifice (the cross) up a mountain in the land of Moriah. Here, His father also had prepared an altar for the sacrifice of His own Son. This sacrifice however would reconcile all men back to God, once and for all time. Many believe that the place on Mount Moriah where God instructed Abraham to build an altar was the “temple mount” in Jerusalem where the Jewish temple once stood. However, it makes much more sense to me that the offering of Isaac and the providing of a substitute sacrifice (a ram) in Isaac’s place was the same place where the Lamb of God (Jesus) willingly offered Himself up as our substitutionary sacrifice, on a mountain in Moriah known as Golgotha.
“(The Lord) said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” ... On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. ... Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.” Gen. 22:2-13
The Feast of Passover commemorates the deliverance of the Children of Israel from Egypt. The Lord told Moses to have the Children of Israel choose a lamb without any blemish, kill it, and brush the lamb’s blood on the top and sides of the doorway to their houses. The Lord would send the angel of death that night to kill the firstborn of Egypt, but would pass over those under the blood of the lamb in their houses. The Passover observance each year includes each family choosing a lamb and closely observing it for four days to confirm it is without blemish and spotless. At twilight on the day of Passover they were to kill the lamb as a sacrifice. Jesus was chosen on Palm Sunday by the Jews as He entered Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowds shouted “Hosanna!” The people of Israel observed Jesus for four days and found no imperfection in Him as He went to the temple courtyard each day and taught. On the exact day of Passover, the 14th of Nisan at twilight, Jesus was crucified on a cross at Golgotha. At the very same exact moment all over Jerusalem, the Passover lambs were being killed as well. Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth refers to Christ as the Paschal lamb, making this connection clear. “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.” I Cor. 5:7
“Now the LORD said to Moses ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household … Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.” Exodus 12:1-6
The highest holy day of Judaism, and the most important of the Feasts of the Lord is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). On this day, the High Priest makes sacrificial offerings for himself first, and then all the people’s sins. The priest was to choose two goats, one to act as the “scapegoat” and the other as the sacrificial goat. The sacrificial goat was chosen to represent the Children of Israel in the sin offering. The goat was sacrificed, and the blood taken through the veil separating the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies and sprinkled on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant. The scapegoat (Aza’zel) is two Jewish words which can roughly be translated as “goat” and “to go away.” This was a description of the scapegoat’s purpose, to go away into the wilderness. The priest would place his hands on the head of the goat and signify the transferring of all the sins of the people onto the goat. The goat would then be driven out of the camp and into the wilderness, and not allowed to return. We still use this word even today to refer to placing the blame on another party and thereby making them the “scapegoat.” Jesus the Messiah was symbolized in the roles of both of these goats. He was the chosen sacrifice for all the people, at whose death the veil was split in two. Then Jesus, acting as our High Priest, entered into the heavenly Holy of Holies to offer His own blood of sacrifice to be sprinkled on the mercy seat before God. Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews uses this exact analogy in chapters 9 and 10. “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience…” Heb. 10:19-22. The scapegoat is also a type of the Savior, Jesus, who is chosen to bear the sins of all the people and is sent away into the wilderness. “He Himself bore our sins…” I Peter 2:24. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” I Cor. 5:21.
“He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering ... He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat. “Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and ... sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins … “When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat. Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness … the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities…” Lev. 16:5-22
In the book of Revelation alone, there are thirty (30) references to Jesus as the “Lamb.” Revelation means “unveiling”, and it is not the Revelation of John, but instead the Revelation of Jesus Christ. As such, we are shown the history of the church in the first 3 chapters, leading up and to the rapture of the church. Chapter four begins with the rapture, and the opening of the seven sealed scroll by the Lamb of God who is worthy to open it. The very first seal which is opened introduces the antichrist which initiates the seven year tribulation period. The entire book of Revelation deals with the future end times events that lead to the final new heaven and new earth being established. It makes perfect sense that Jesus is referred to over and over again as the “worthy Lamb of God” since it was His act of sacrifice on the cross that brings the church into existence and provides a way back to God for sinful mankind. Christ as the Lamb also is the loving Good Shepherd which seeks out that which is lost, the chosen people (the Jews) and brings them once again into the safety of the sheepfold with Him during the tribulation period. Lastly, the Lamb of God returns at the end of the tribulation during the battle of Armageddon as the conquering King, and then rules from Jerusalem during the one thousand year millennial kingdom. The very last chapter in the book of Revelation ends with a new heaven and new earth, and “the throne of God and of the Lamb” being at the center of it all. “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb” Rev. 22:1.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, Amen.
“... behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.” And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.” Rev. 5:5-14
