“And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked.And, behold, a ram behind him was entangled in a thicket by its horns.And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Will See; so that it is said until this day, In the mount of Jehovah it will be seen.” Gen. 22:13-14 (Read verses 1-19)
What a test of Abraham’s love for God and his faith that God both could and would keep His promise to bless him and fulfill His promises to send the Messiah and Savior through Isaac! Think of it. After waiting more than 25 years for God to keep His promise and give him a son through Sarah, God then told Abraham to take this son, his only son Isaac, and offer him up as a burnt sacrifice to the LORD God!
And Abraham obeyed (cf. Hebrews 11:17-19). He took his son Isaac to the mountains of Moriah and to the specific mountain which God named for him. On the way, Isaac even asked his father of the sacrificial lamb. Abraham had the fire and the knife, but no lamb. Abraham told Isaac, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering” (v. 8).
And when there at the mountain which would later be the site of Jerusalem and the temple (2 Chronicles 3:1), the place where God’s own Son was later sacrificed for the sins of the world, Abraham bound his son Isaac, laid him on the altar and was about to kill him with the knife when the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and stopped him.
Then “Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked. And, behold, a ram behind him was entangled in a thicket by its horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.”
God indeed provided a sacrificial lamb to be offered up in the place of Abraham’s son Isaac, the father of Israel and a spiritual father of all who hold the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And Abraham offered up this lamb in the stead of his son.
Abraham called the place “Jehovah-jireh,” or “Jehovah will see,” because there Jehovah saw and provided a sacrifice to be offered up in Isaac’s stead. And though we deserved to be put to death for our sins on that cross of Golgotha, on Mt. Calvary, Jehovah again saw and provided for our greatest need by sending His only-begotten Son to take our place and suffer our just punishment. Jesus is that Lamb of God who was sacrificed for us upon the cross and took away the sin of the world (cf. John 1:29). And He rose again that we might be assured of forgiveness for all our sins and life everlasting (cf. Romans 4:25)!
We come to Mt. Calvary with our sins and a sentence of death, but God stops us from paying the debt of our sins, spares us from eternal death and punishment and provides a sacrifice for us - His own dear Son. In Him we have forgiveness and life!
Thank You gracious LORD for providing a sacrifice for our sins - Your only-begotten Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Amen.
[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture taken from Green's Modern King James Version (MKJV), Copyright 1993 by Jay P. Green Sr., All rights reserved.]
News, Pages 4 on 02/29/2012