Getting Job-ed
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” Genesis 22:1-14 ESV
First off, I apologize for such a lengthy passage. But after reading it again, I couldn’t find one place to shorten it. Writing this article, I’m near tears because of the realities that are in this. What an amazing concept we see in this passage. We could spend days, if not weeks or years on this passage alone- so just know we will not be able to answer all the questions this passage brings up. But what I want us to talk about is that God was providing the sacrifice to appease His wrath.
What’s this all about?
Interestingly enough, at the time this passage was written by Moses to the Israelites heading toward the promised land, child sacrifice was quite common in the other religions and cultures in the area. But this would have been especially perplexing to Abraham in that Isaac is his only child (legitimate child with Sarah, that’s another discussion) and that he was the child of promise through which the whole world would someday be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3; 17:6-7, 16-21). How could God promise to use Isaac to create a nation of people and also bless the world through him but then command Isaac to be sacrificed? Scripture states that Abraham had faith in God that He would either raise Isaac from the dead or provide a sacrifice because of His promise to create a nation of people and to also bless the world through Isaac (Hebrews 11:17-19). Abraham believed in God to be faithful to His promises.
The LORD provides a Lamb…
Oh, how easy it is to dumb down this passage and just make it about God providing for our material needs! He does that at times (and other times withholds our wants), but this passage is about much, much more. When God calls Abraham to sacrifice His one and only son (sound familiar? John 3:16), God plans to provide the Lamb in place of committing a sin that the other nations are doing (child sacrifice). God provides the Lamb to take the place of our punishment that is deserved by God’s wrath. God provides it. Not human willingness, power, or ability. God is the only One that can satisfy His own wrath. What a beautiful picture! How precious Christmas should be to us! The LORD provides us the Lamb through Christ! “‘…Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'” John 1:29 ESV.
-Austin
