Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael – The types of…

Abraham – the Father

Isaac – the Son

Ishmael – You and me

Let’s take another story and run the characters through our truth filters. In Genesis 17, the Lord positions Abraham for the news that Isaac will be born. Here is the story thus far:

• Abram’s name is changed to Abraham and Sarai’s is changed to Sarah.
• Abraham is 99 and Sarah is around 89.
• When Abram was 86, Ishmael was born through the handmaid Hagar.
• Three angels/messengers show up promise Abraham and Sarah a son
• They laugh; notice how the angels handle it…
• They pose a question back to the doubting couple. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
• Sodom and Gomorrah are about to be destroyed.
• Abraham pleads before the Lord in behalf of the cities.
• The Lord already knows the outcome, but instead of telling Abraham to be quiet and listen, he invites Abraham into His space and seeks to understand Abraham’s concern and desire.
• Abraham thinks he is negotiating with the Lord, the Lord is listening and teaching . Notice the Lord doesn’t try to prove anything to Abraham.
• Abraham soon discovers the truth and is saddened with the reality but content with the situation.
• Isaac is born and grows into a fine man.

From here the story has incredible meaning to each of us. Abraham is perhaps the only prophet in the scriptures that types of our Father in Heaven. All other prophets type of the Son.

Here is the story of Abraham and his sons.

• After Isaac is born, angry and hurt feelings arise between Hagar and Ishmael towards Sarah and Isaac. They mock Sarah and the Lord commands Abraham to cast them out.
• With heavy heart Abraham obeys and sends Hagar and his son Ishmael into the wilderness, with a high probability they will not survive.
• They suffer in the wilderness and when they are about to perish, Ishmael prays for help, and an angel saves them.
• Abraham, having lost one son is now commanded to sacrifice his other son on an altar.
• They travel to Mt. Moriah, (the future site of the Temple) to perform the sacrifice.
• They travel three days in the wilderness.
• At the base of Moriah, Isaac carries the wood for the altar up the hill.
• An angel saves Isaac from sacrifice.

Let’s analyze what happened in this story. Abraham is the type of our Father in Heaven. Isaac is a type of the Savior, and Ishmael is a type of mankind. Each of us.

Abraham first sends his son, Ishmael, away into the lone and dreary world, with no hope of returning. But an angel saves him, after he prays. Adam is sent into the lone and dreary world and commanded to offer sacrifices on an altar, and an angel explains why. One sin is all it takes to render each us of unworthy to return to our Father in Heaven.

The altar signifies Jehovah or in this case, Isaac.

After Ishmael had been sent to his death, Isaac is sent to his apparent death. We know that Ishmael did not perish, in fact, it is through Isaac that his seed will be saved.

In this story, we are Ishmael, each one of us. We were sent to earth before the Lord that we might be tested in the wilderness to determine if we would call upon the name of the Lord to be saved.

Now for the filters of truth as it pertains to Hagar and Ishmael, a type of us all:

The Official truth:   Hagar was the handmaid of Sarah, from Egypt. She seemed obedient and willing to obey.

The Ground truth:   Hagar didn’t much like her servant’s position. She envied Sarah and mocked her regularly.

The Underground truth: Hagar and perhaps Ishmael were full of pride and anger. Something about them was toxic enough that God commanded Abraham to send them away. Reconciliation was apparently not possible because their behavior was so addictive, and their pride so ripe, that repentance and reconciliation was not possible.

Recap: Abraham sends two sons to their death. We are the first son sent away and we can be redeemed by the second son. What is keeping us from returning to our Father? What underground pride or weakness do we need to address in order to live the Celestial law?