Read with Me
Genesis 22:9-14 (HCSB)
When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
He replied, “Here I am.”
Then He said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.” Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide, so today it is said: “It will be provided on the LORD’s mountain.”
Listen with Me
Abraham and Isaac arrived at the precise spot God had indicated for the sacrifice, and the two of them built an altar of rough stones, and then laid the wood on top of it. Abraham’s ears were alert the whole time as he completed the task, listening for any direction from God.
Finally, the dreaded moment came when he had to explain to Isaac what God had commanded. Many tears were shed on both sides as Abraham tied up his “only son” and laid him on top of the wood. Then, he pulled the flint knife from his belt, the one which he had used to kill many sacrificial animals up to that point, and he held it to Isaac’s throat, steeling himself to make the fatal slice.
But just then, Abraham heard God’s voice calling his name from heaven. The knife slipped harmlessly from his fingers as he announced, “Here I am.” And he nearly fell over with the sudden release of tension from his body.
Abraham had passed the test, and God told him so right then. He had proven to God, to himself, and Isaac, that he would follow God’s commands to the letter, no matter what the cost to himself. Thus, he reaffirmed the covenant between himself and God.
But the altar had been prepared, and a sacrifice was appropriate. Abraham heard a noise behind him, and when he turned, he saw a ram tangled up in some bushes. This was the solution, the lamb that Abraham had told Isaac that God would provide (verse 8). So, the sacrifice was made, this time as a celebration.
As a commemoration of the event, Abraham named the place “The Lord Provides”, often transcribed as Jehovah Jirah, but in Hebrew Yahweh Yir’eh. Thus, whenever Abraham passed that place, or when he pointed it out to others, or even when he told the story to his friends and his children, he was reminded of God’s faithfulness, as well as his own.
Pray with Me
Father, it is very easy for us to take such firm hold of things of this world that they begin to take hold of us. Abraham was wealthy, but You didn’t ask him for a contribution of sheep or bulls. You demanded the one thing that had the tightest hold on his heart. Even though Abraham ultimately complied, it was a struggle to the very last moment. But he wasn’t going to allow that struggle to win, to take the blessing and the promise away from him. And in the end, You received the sacrifice of Isaac as if Abraham had completed it. From that moment, Isaac was no longer Abraham’s. He was Yours, bought with the blood of a lamb that You Yourself provided. Help me always to willingly give You full ownership of all things in my life, Lord, so that they never take hold of me, and so that I can use them for Your purposes, for Your glory. Amen.