Genesis 22:11-13 "And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. (12) And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. (13) And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son."
"And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built
an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid
him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took
the knife to slay his son." (Genesis 22:9-10) Can you even begin to
imagine what was going through his mind as he was about to plunge the knife
into Isaac? God had fulfilled His promise to give a son. We are looking
back upon this instance, but Abraham was in the moment. "Lord, you
promised me a son and you gave him to me. Lord, you promised through Isaac to
give a nation. Now, Lord, even though I don't understand as you are telling me
to offer him back to you, I do believe you are faithful to your promises. So,
Lord, however you choose to accomplish this, I am trusting you."
Yes, I can write those words as I sit here in the comfort of my home. I
can write those words because I know the outcome. You can also. But Abraham
could not have known what was about to happen. Even though he did tell Isaac
that God would provide Himself a lamb for the burnt offering. Whatever was
going through his mind, Abraham was set upon following the direction of the
Lord. "Almighty God, I give my son back into your hand and I trust
your intention and action upon my life." And for us today, "Lord
whatever you are asking, I want to be submissive to your will."
Yes, we know God provided the ram to be offered in the stead of Isaac. God
never intended for Abraham to follow through, for He knew what was going to
happen. He knew Abraham was willing, by faith, to do what he was told. This was
not in order for God to find out what Abraham would do. No, this was for
Abraham to see what God would do for him. "Abraham lifted up his
eyes and looked..." What did he see? Well, it's obvious he saw
the ram caught in the thicket. He saw that God indeed provided that ram to take
the place of Isaac. But when you and I look at the complete picture, we can see
that Abraham saw well beyond that moment. Jesus tells us what Abraham saw when
he lifted up his eyes: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he
saw it, and was glad." (John 8:56) I don't know to what extent
Abraham was able to see, but he obviously saw the unconditional love and
absolute faithfulness of the Almighty God. He saw that God would indeed
"provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering." John announced that
ultimate Lamb of God as being our precious Lord Jesus Christ. Praise
God, that Lamb was God's "burnt offering in our stead."