God Himself Will Provide the Lamb

Sometime later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” (Genesis 22:1-2, NIV 1984).

My Musings – What would you do? We know what Abraham did. “Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. (Genesis 22:3, NIV 1984).

Years earlier, Abraham went when God said go, without any clear direction of where or what. Here, God was more specific. “The region of Moriah,” and sacrifice “your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love.” The same God (there is no other) who told Abraham, “‘a son coming from your own body will be your heir.’ He [God] took him [Abraham] outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be. You will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” (Genesis 15:4-5, 17:19, NIV 1984).

What thoughts would be going through your mind? We know what thoughts were going through Abraham’s mind. “As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, ‘Father?’ Yes, my son?’ Abraham replied. ‘The fire and wood are here,’ Isaac said, ‘but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together.” (Genesis 22:6–8, NIV 1984).

But was he merely trying to put Isaac’s mind at ease? And if God did not provide, how far would he be willing to go? “He [Abraham] bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord [likely an Old Testament appearance of Christ] called out to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. ‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ he said. ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.’ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.” (Genesis 22:9–13, NIV 1984).

Three things are noteworty.

God kept His promise. “I will establish my covenant with [Isaac] as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.”

Abraham kept His faith. “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6, NIV 1984).

God provided. “God Himself [provided] the lamb.”

My Advice – Earlier, the question was, “what would you do?” We may just as well ask, “what would God do?” We don’t have to wonder, for we know what God did. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NIV 1984).

People often tell their, children, grandchildren, and people who work for them, “I would not ask you to do anything I would not be willing to do myself.” Abraham was prepared to do what God asked him to do, sacrifice his only son Isaac. God willingly sacrificed His only Son. He “[provided] the lamb.” Just as important, the “lamb” willingly laid down His life.

An important “footnote” to the story about Abraham and Isaac. “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.” (Hebrew 11:19, NIV 1984). But more importantly, “the God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead.” (Acts 5:30, NIV 1984), and literally received all who believe “back from death.“

The questions now come full circle. What will you do? My advice? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31, NIV 1984). The voice that stayed Abraham’s hand, is calling out to any who would respond. For those who do, the hand of God’s judgment will be stayed, because judgment has already been served.