Genesis 4:3-8
Part 3
The Blood and The Lamb
Part 1
  The animal that God Himself slew, and which from this moment on in the history of man would become the symbol or type for a covering for sin, was a lamb. The act of God providing a covering for man is found in Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. The Holy Spirit through the absence of certain words as ‘killed, slew, slaughtered, sacrificed, put to death, ended the life of,’ partially reveals that words to describe what God did could not be humanly expressed nor felt by creatures of sin. How can anyone look into the depth of the heart of the Creator and express the emotions of the Creator of all things. Sin is not a light thing. Sin cost Adam his place, his sovereignty, and his state and standing before His Creator. Sin cost all of humanity — life. Sin brought death into the world. Sin brought suffering into the world. Sin brought pain and despair into the world. Sin affected not only humanity, but it stained all of creation, it marred and chained all animal life to exist in fear and violence.
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (Romans 8:20)
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22)
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)
  Sin changed the universe. Sin cost God that which is dearest and most precious to Him, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Death — faces every one; and sin brought death into the world. An innocent animal had it’s life taken, and it’s blood shed, and perished because of another’s willful act of disobedience. Through the harsh and cruel realty of death, the depth and tragedy of sin is constantly experienced by all humanity. And above it all the depth of the mercy and love of God in His acts and purpose to redeem mankind is unfathomable.
The reason for The Lamb
  There is a small phrase in Proverbs 27:26 that always takes my thoughts back to Genesis, ‘The lambs are for thy clothing,. .’ The very first mention of ‘lamb’ can be found in Genesis 22:7 in the Old Testament or the first part of the Bible.
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? (Genesis 22:7)
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:8)
  I stand amazed at the super of the natural in the supernatural language of God. Here in the math of the address of where God plants His thoughts and revelations we have a simple number structure of design and placement.
  (I know what you are thinking, that this is going a bit too far with the address numbers.) Verse numbering of the Old Testament did not come until Rabbi Nathan and later adapted into the Bible. The New Testament verse structure did not come into existence until Robert Stephens and was later published by him in 1551. My point in using them as spiritual types is that since the Scriptures were authored by God the Holy Spirit, He knew before the foundation of the world all about chapter and verse structure. He knew that the Holy Scriptures would be read in many different languages, and by many different cultures. He knew, and His knowledge did not end when the last word was penned. His revelation through His written word to man did not end when the last word was penned, please note that I said, ‘through His written word.’ I don’t want this to become a treatise on revelation, but I have to add this, what do you think Christianity is — it is revelation. Have you never read a section of Scripture many times and then in one second you see something that you never saw before, guess what, that is revelation. God reveals Himself to man, God reveals Himself to the new born child of God. And because of revelation, we understand that we have a relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit — that is Christianity, it is not a religion, it is revelation by God, and it is relationship with God. My God is BIG. He is quite able to use all (that is words, creations, numbers, types, and yes, even paragraph and verse structure) to reveal Himself. There is no end to the revelation of God.
  I cannot reinforce enough that we should approach the use of numbers cautiously and without obsession. As 8 notes of music can play many tunes, so also, numbers can reveal many lessons and types in their placement. It is not the numbers that we need to focus on but the One who is all-in-all. The numbers are but dots that lead and connect to a central theme. As the human body has electrical, magnetic, and chemicals relays and switches that control all that moves and flows within the body including fluids and blood; the Great Engineer, God Himself, has placed similar relays and switches such as types, numbers, word meanings that allow the student of the Word of God to travel through time from Genesis to Revelation. As the Word of God lives and breaths by the energy of the Holy Spirit, our bodies are examples of a self-contained battery system. We (our bodies) are the first batteries. We run by electricity, the chemicals within us develop electrical impulses (very basic explanation)— so we in reality are our own battery. Our nerve system can be considered the switches that maintain movement within our bodies. The Word of God is a huge battery system similar to our bodies — there is constant movement of life and light — all energizing and stimulating us to travel on to the next relay or to the next revealing of the Living Word by His written Word. 
Numbers 2 • 2 • 7
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? (Genesis 22:7) In this number location of ( 2 • 2 • 7 ) and ( 2 • 2 • 8) we see a double witness (2)(2) to the world (4) to the Perfection of all that God is, the self-existing one (7); and in language of words we have his father and My father and my son, a relationship; Here am I the existence of God the Father. Throughout this section of Genesis 22, we have types upon types, double types, types of numbers, types of places; for example, Mount Moriah (the place of sacrifice which is Jerusalem), 3 days journey, Abraham (the father about to sacrifice his son by believing that God would raise him from the dead), Isaac, (the obedient son) willing under the knife of his father to face death; the ram caught in the thicket (the thicket – the curse of sin on the earth, the crown of thorns on the Lord’s head on Calvary), etc. etc. But we will stay focused on the numerical structure of the locations of these types continued.
Number 2 • 2 • 8
  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:8)
  In ( 2 • 2 • 8) we have the double witness (2)(2) to the world (4) of 8, a new era, a new beginning, also encompasses resurrection, Now when [Jesus] was risen early the first [day] of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. (Mark 16:9) The first day of the week is also the 8th day. But there is no end to this . . . so let’s continue. In Genesis 22:8 God, through the Holy Spirit, reveals that He, God Himself will be the true Lamb. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: . . . (1 John 3:16) Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:28) It is the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father together working out the will of the Godhead to offer Himself a Lamb without spot or blemish — so they went both of them together. The mystery of the Oneness of God!
  We have another relay switch that takes us from Genesis 22 to Revelation 22. The Oneness of God, God the Father and God the Son as we view them in their final scene of Oneness in the last book of the Bible. In Genesis 22 we see Abraham (as an incomplete type of God the Father) placing his only son, Isaac (the imperfect type of Christ) on the altar as a sacrifice. Abraham and Isaac together (united in heart and heart) in this experience of obedience and faith – both of them together. The last book of the Bible witnesses (2) to us a scene of completion and fulfillment of the Oneness of the Godhead in Chapter 22. Coincidence? I think not! The Holy Spirit is also involved in type as the pure river of water of life that proceeds out of the throne. The phrase the throne of God and of the Lamb occurs only two (2) times in the entire Bible, and that is found in the following verses.
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1)
And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: (Revelation 22:3)
  To sum up the Genesis 22 connection to Revelation 22, the beautiful lesson of a father and son obeying God in faith that He is able to fulfill all of His promises. That Isaac (a type of the willing sacrificial lamb to come), by faith is joined in this act with his father and tied forever as the son of his love. We are not only shown the lamb to come in Isaac in Genesis 22, but we are shown the seed fulfilled in Revelation 22 sitting on His throne the throne of God and of the Lamb. From Genesis to Revelation, promises given and promises fulfilled, seed promised and seed fulfilled, the lamb promised and the Lamb sitting in His throne.
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten [son], (Hebrews 11:17)
Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: (Hebrews 11:18)
The Oneness of the Divine — God manifested in the flesh
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: (Colossians 1:15)
The Oneness of the Divine —in Creation
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:2)
The Oneness of the Divine – in power, in redemption, and in Majesty
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3)
The Oneness in the Blood of the Lamb
  Then we see the antitype of the lamb in very first mention of lamb in the second part of the Bible, the New Testament, The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the Lamb of God! I and [my] Father are one. (John 10:30)
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: (John 17:22)
  For this God [is] our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide [even] unto death. (Psalm 48:14) I love this verse in Psalm 48 because a guide is one who leads, one who goes before, one who prepares the way. A shepherd guides his flock, he does not drive them as cattle to the slaughter, but a shepherd walks among his sheep. Our God (our Shepherd and our Lamb) he will be our guide [even] unto death.
  The ‘lamb’ when followed through Scripture opens a door into a world of such beauty in the love of God, the heart of God, and the depths of His care for man that there are no words, or should I say there are not enough words. Let us see the words from the Spirit of God and what He has said about the Lamb, His shed blood, and the love of God from the heart of God.
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (1 John 3:16)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (Romans 3:25)
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7)
In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins: (Colossians 1:7)
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]. (Hebrews 9:12)
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: . (Hebrews 9:13)
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22)
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4)
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (Hebrews 10:5)
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. (Hebrews 10:6)
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. (Hebrews 10:7)
Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; (Hebrews 10:8)
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. (Hebrews 10:9)
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel. (Hebrews 12:24)
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, (Hebrews 13:20)
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (1 Peter 1:19)
The Blood and The Lamb
Part 2
  The first animal that was sacrificed to clothe sinful man was a lamb. The blood that flowed from this animal was to be a type of what God required from man, a sacrifice of blood to point to the blood that would flow from the veins of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22)
For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)
  There is an interesting correlation to the Book of Numbers in the Old Testament and the Book of the Revelation in the New Testament. Lamb is mentioned in each book 28 times. Twenty-eight (28) is a number that brings us to 4 and 7. The Book of Numbers is a book of just that — ‘numbers.’ It is the book of the children of Israel being numbered or counted twice, once in the beginning of their journey and then at the end of the journey, the book of their 39 years of wandering in the wilderness. (Note: the number 39 is counted at their departure from Sinai and until their last encampment before they crossed the river Jordan — it was a total of 40 years in the wilderness.) This is a teaser paragraph to stimulate you — in Part 3 we will go into the Book of Numbers and see the connection to the Book of the Revelation.
  There is much more to this, but I will go on to the Book of the Revelation, it also is a book of numbers, for instance; the number 4 occurs 29 times, the number 7 occurs 51 times, and I could go on and on. But let us stop and just consider the 28 times that the word lamb is mentioned in each book, or is it? When we combine the words ‘lamb’ and ‘lambs,’ we notice something very interesting. In the New Testament the word ‘lamb’ (as I said previously) occurs 32 times, 28 times in Revelation and 4 times in the following verses. Before proceeding to the Book of the Revelation, let us consider the lamb that is mentioned 4 times. God loves detail, He loves words, and numbers.
The Lamb Mentioned 4 times
—The Gospel of John (2x), Acts (1x), 1 Peter (1x) —
1. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.  (John 1:29)
  John presents Christ to us as the sin bearer, as the fulfillment of the first lamb slain being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, and the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Acts 2:23; Revelation 13:8) The Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ as that lamb foretold, and foreseen in ages past – the sin bearer.
2. And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! (John 1:36) Then again, John not only repeats his statement found in John 1:29, but we also see more in that this One walked among men and lived among men. God had not only sent His Son to be the sacrifice for sin, but the Lord Jesus Christ was the living, walking, breathing proof of the fulfillment of the promised seed. The Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ in His perfect walk among man – the perfect man in His sinless nature.
3. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: (Acts 8:32) The 3rd mention of lamb was the action of Philip opening the Scripture to show the connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament through the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 53. Christ is the bridge that we travel moving from Old to New and New to Old. He is the promise of the Old and the fulfillment in the New. Whether we use the word ‘lamb,’ ‘blood,’ ‘sacrifice,’ it is the suffering lamb that is brought before us. The Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, was the suffering Savior.
4. But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (1 Peter 1:19) This is the only recorded phrase of precious blood in all of Scripture. The value of the blood of Christ cannot be stated, but I believe that the following two verses is a mere fleeting shadow of what God the Father sees in His Son, that which is precious. And for those who are saved by His blood, there is a preciousness that words cannot be found to express what the heart and soul and spirit feels.
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. (1 Peter 2:6)
Unto you therefore which believe [he is] precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, (1 Peter 2:7)
To whom coming, [as unto] a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, [and] precious, (1 Peter 2:4)
  Herein the 4th mention of the lamb we have what the Lord Jesus Christ is to the Father, and to those who have been redeemed by His blood — His precious blood. The Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, was the precious, perfect sacrifice, without spot and without blemish.
  The Holy Spirit of God desires that we should see the 4 mentions of the Lamb before He is presented to us in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. So in summation:
1. The Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ as that lamb foretold, and foreseen in ages past — the sin Bearer. (John 1:29)
2. The Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ in His perfect walk among man – the perfect man in His sinless nature. (John 1:36)
3. The Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, was the suffering Savior. (Acts 8:32)
4. The Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, was the precious, perfect sacrifice, without spot and without blemish. (1 Peter 1:19)
  In the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ (which is often called the Revelation of St. John, but it is not) it is the Lord Jesus Christ who reveals Himself as the ancient of days, the Lamb, the Alpha and Omega, the Almighty, the great I AM, the Word of God, and much more. This last book can be seen in two different and yet complementary views: by the count from the Septuagint, it is the 66th book of Scripture and by the count of combining 3 sets of books as the Jewish count then this book can be the 63rd book. Both counts compliment the message of Scripture in the number 63 and in the number 66, but I feel a distraction coming on . . . so let’s get out of here!
This study will be continued in Genesis 4:3-8, Part 4
© Copyright 2016, Mary Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJV)