Have you ever noticed that often the letters in the word “LORD” are all capitalized? Other times the Bible only capitalizes the first letter. However, both “the LORD” and “the Lord” refer to God. Why is there a difference?
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A mysterious being called “the angel of the LORD” is an important character in the story of the binding of Isaac. Genesis 22 is not the first time the angel of the LORD has appeared (Gen 16), but this is the earliest indication that he was not an ordinary angel. The angel of the LORD makes lots of appearances in the Old Testament. Who is he and what is special about him?
If you haven’t read Genesis 22:10-17 recently, take a moment to read it now. If you were paying attention as you read, you probably noticed that the angel’s language kept shifting back and forth. He starts out by speaking of himself, but by the end of his sentence he seems to be referring to himself as if he was God.
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According to 2 Chronicles 3:1, Solomon built the first temple on Mount Moriah. As we noted in the previous post, some people confuse Mount Moriah with the mountain where Isaac was bound. As we noted, there is zero scriptural support to conclude that Isaac was bound at the site of the future temple. This conflation has led some people to assert that Jesus was sacrificed on Mount Moriah.
It is true that His crucifixion was near Mount Moriah, but we can be sure it didn’t take place on Mount Moriah. If the crucifixion were on Mount Moriah His cross would have been on the Temple Mount. The New Testament is clear that His crucifixion happened outside the city (Jn 19:20, Heb 13:12). Since the Temple Mount (aka Mount Moriah) was inside the city walls, we can be confident the sacrifice of Jesus didn’t happen there. Besides this, it would have been unthinkable to the Jews to conduct a crucifixion in the sacred temple precincts.
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The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is a very special place to both Jews and Christians. It was the location of Solomon’s Temple and the site where the temple was rebuilt after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon. According to Jewish tradition, this is also the place where Abraham bound Isaac.
7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); (2 Pet. 2:7–8 ESV)
Three times in two verses Peter says that Lot was righteous. Yet, if the only commentary we had on Lot’s life came from Genesis, I doubt that we’d describe him as a righteous man. His “accomplishments” include: