Introduction: Nothing had ever died. When God warned Adam
and Eve in the book of Genesis that they would die if they
ate from a certain tree, did they understand death? How
could they? Closely tied to understanding death is
understanding how the death of a lamb is related to our sin
problem. The theory underlying our Bible discussion this
week is that the meaning of death and the lamb grow as we
follow their development in the Bible. Not only does the
understanding grow, but it is never disconnected from the
earliest Biblical meanings. Sound a little complex? Let’s
plunge into our study of the Bible and see what we can
understand of God’s will!
I. Death
A. Read Genesis 2:8-9. God created a garden in Eden
where He placed the man He had created. Why would
God plant a death tree there – the “tree of
knowledge of good and evil?” (We previously
discussed that this was an agree-upon contest
between Jesus and Satan, just like the agreed-upon
contest over Job found in Job chapter 1.)
B. Read Genesis 2:15-17. Adam knew there was a Tree
of Life and a Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
If he ate fruit from the latter, he would die.
What do you think Adam understood about this
distinction between death and life? (Adam
understood that he needed to eat from the Tree of
Life to continue living. Do you think Adam thought
that if he ate from the Death Tree he would slowly
begin to die – like contracting a terminal
disease? (The Hebrew word (yom) underlying “in the
day” you shall surely die (verse 17) can be
understood to be a period of time. He might have
thought it was a progressive thing, like eating
from the Tree of Life.))
C. Read Genesis 3:2-7.Does this reinforce the idea of
a slow death? (Yes. They did not fall over dead
immediately,)
D. Read Genesis 3:24. What does this suggest about
the immediacy of death?
E. Read Genesis 4:1-5. If you were Cain would you
have been angry? Is this discrimination against
Cain’s profession? Is this arbitrary? (Unless
Cain understood the greater issue, this would seem
to be arbitrary.)
F. Read Genesis 4:6-8. Explain why Cain would kill
Abel? Why not try to attack God for His arbitrary
rule?
G. Let’s go back and re-read Genesis 4:1. What hopes
do you think Eve had for Cain, her first born? (If
she understood in general terms the plan of
salvation, she might have thought he was the
coming savior.)
1. What do Adam and Eve now understand about
death after Abel’s murder? (First, it is
absolutely terrible. It ends plans and dreams.
Second, it can be very sudden.)
II. Those Who Aid Death
A. Read again Genesis 3:4-5. At the time they sinned,
what did Adam and Eve think about Satan? What kind
of a role did he have in their world?
B. Read Genesis 3:12-13. Are Adam and Eve taking
personal responsibility for their sin? Or are they
blaming the serpent and God?
C. Re-read Genesis 4:8. Who do you think Adam and Eve
are blaming for the death of their first-born?
(Conscientious parents tend to say, “What should I
have done better to avoid this outcome for my
child?”)
D. Read Genesis 4:10-14. How do you think Adam and
Eve reacted to this? (We see that Cain followed in
the professional footsteps of his father. Cain has
now lost his profession, and Adam and Eve have
lost both their children!)
1. If you asked Adam and Eve for their definition
of death, what do you think they would say?
(Death is not just the loss of a life. It is
the loss of many positive things connected to
life.)
III. The Lamb.
A. Read Genesis 22:1-2. Notice this states that God
“tested” Abraham. If you were Abraham, what kind
of a test would you consider this to be? (It would
be a test of whether I understood God’s rules, and
two of those rules were that you did not kill your
children or offer them as a sacrifice.)
1. Read Leviticus 18:21, Leviticus 20:3, and
Deuteronomy 12:31. Is there a way to reconcile
these texts with God’s command to Abraham?
2. Read Genesis 21:12. What about this promise?
How does it fit into this test?
B. Read Genesis 22:3. Apparently, Abraham did not
look at this the way I do. Why did Abraham rise
“early in the morning” to go do this terrible
thing? (My guess is that he did not want to
discuss it with his wife. It shows Abraham is
quick to obey.)
C. Read Genesis 22:4-5. We need to see if we can
resolve this. We now have Abraham apparently lying
to the two young men that he would return with
Isaac. I’m not willing to accept that Abraham was
willing to kill and lie. What is going through his
mind? (The answer is in the Bible. Read
Hebrews 11:17-19. Abraham believed that if God commanded
this of him, God would raise Isaac from the dead!)
1. What does this teach us about the Biblical
understanding of death?
D. Read Genesis 22:7. Why didn’t Isaac notice this
problem this three days ago? (This is such an
obvious omission that I think God kept him from
noticing it before.)
E. Read Genesis 22:8. Wait a minute. Is this answer
consistent with the statement in Hebrews that God
would raise Isaac back to life?
1. Read John 1:29. Is Abraham referring to this?
That Jesus will bring us back to life?
F. Read Genesis 22:9. Isaac willingly laid down on
the altar. What kind of conversation do you think
passed between Abraham and Isaac?
1. Remember that Abraham has previously told
Isaac that God would provide the lamb. That
seems at this point to be untrue.
2. Do you think that Abraham explained his idea
to Isaac that God would raise him back to
life?
3. If you were Isaac, would you have gone along
with this?
G. Earlier in this section, I had you read Bible
texts that appeared to directly contradict what
God instructed Abraham to do. You read God’s
promise to Abraham that was also contradicted by
what Abraham was told to do. Does the solution in
Hebrews 11:19 resolve all the conflicts?
H. Read Genesis 22:10-12. Why did God do this? Is
this really a test of Abraham’s faith? Or is it
more of an illustration of the faith that we
should have in God? (It is obviously a test of
Abraham’s faith. The greater lesson is what God is
willing to do for us. He gave His Son as a
sacrifice for us.)
I. Read Genesis 22:13-14. Does this affirm what
Abraham told Isaac in Genesis 22:8 – that God would provide?
(It turns out to be all true! Abraham did not violate God’s commands,
and he told the truth.)
J. This is rather difficult story for us to process.
It seemed that God violated His commands and His
promise. Abraham would not think that God would
provide a lamb, if Isaac was the lamb. Yet it is
all neatly resolved at the end! What are the
lessons that we are to learn about death and the
lamb? (Death is a terrible, wrenching, reality.
The true solution, the death of Jesus the Lamb, is
a terrible reality for God. The great news is that
God works it all out in the end!)
K. Friend, have you considered what your sins have
caused God to suffer? Would you have liked to be
in the position of Abraham (or Isaac)? Do not
ignore God’s great sacrifice for you. Decide
today, right now, that you will accept the
sacrifice made for you at so great a cost.
IV. Next week: Images from Marriage.
Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are
from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within
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but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this
link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the
Holy Spirit as you study.
