He Will Provide
He was distraught and crying, as we sat at a table with other men who had recently lost their jobs. He told me that his wife would leave him if he didn’t have a job. But I told him I was confident that if he focused on his relationship with God, that God would provide for his marriage, his needs while he looked for employment, and his next job! In Genesis 22:1–14, Abraham put his full trust and faith in God to provide exactly what he needed, when he needed it. And God proved faithful…. once again! I pray that you will know God’s faithfulness to His promise never to leave you nor forsake you, and that whatever you need…. He will provide! Amen
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you. ” (Genesis 22:1-2)
Many of you who are familiar with the story of God’s promise to Abraham to give Him a son in his old age and His covenant to make Abraham’s offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky. So when you first read this scripture, you were probably screaming…..Wait! What kind of cruel joke is God playing on Abraham, telling him to take his only son and sacrifice him as a burnt offering? Not only was Isaac the only son Abraham and Sarah had, but God knew how much Abraham loved him! What was God doing by telling Abraham to sacrifice his only son, whom he loved?
Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded 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. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you. ”
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. 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 22:3–8)
We don’t see any hesitation on the part of Abraham to be obedient to God’s command. Early the next morning Abraham, Isaac and two of Abraham’s servants set off to the place where God told Abraham to make the sacrifice. When they reached Moriah, 2 things happened which give us clues to Abraham’s frame of mind. First, Abraham told his servants to wait there while he and Isaac went up to worship, saying “and then we will come back to you”. Second, when Isaac noted to Abraham that there was no apparent sacrifice for the burnt offering, Abraham replied “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son”. These 2 things demonstrate that Abraham was operating on total faith in God. Abraham believed God’s covenant that that his offspring would be more numerous than the stars in the sky. Abraham had walked with God and experienced God’s faithfulness over and over again. Despite what the circumstances looked like, he believed that God’s character wouldn’t allow Him to do anything but prove faithful to His promise yet again.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He 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 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. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided. (Genesis 22:9–14)
When Abraham and Isaac reached the place for the sacrifice, Abraham went about the business of preparing to do what God had told him to do. He built an altar, he arranged the wood on the altar and then he put Isaac on the altar. When he took the knife to kill his son, the angel of the LORD stopped him. A faithful God commended Abraham on his faithfulness and obedience to put God first. Then God provided a substitute to be the sacrifice and die in place of Isaac. Abraham saw a ram that was caught in a bush, and he took it and sacrificed it as a burnt offering. From this incident God and this place were called Jehovah Jireh (The LORD will provide).
What was God doing in this test of Abraham? God was modeling for Abraham and all of us, an act that would eventually come when God sacrificed Jesus, His only Son, whom He loved. Like the ram that God provided as a sacrifice to die in place of Isaac, God provided a substitution in the person of Jesus who died in our place to save us. We couldn’t save ourselves, so God provided for the salvation that we so desperately needed. Abraham never doubted that God would faithfully honor His promises because he experienced God’s faithfulness throughout his walk with Him. Abraham trusted God so deeply that he was obedient to sacrifice what he held most dear. What are you need of and what are you ready to trust God with? Whatever it is, He is faithful…. and He will provide.
Blessings, Rev. Glenn