Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah after years of waiting and hoping for Abraham and Sarah. Finally, this promised son had arrived. Can you picture just how much Sarah and Abraham adored him? They finally had their son, who would continue Abraham's line. Then, God tested Abraham's faith and called him to sacrifice his beloved son.
God tested Abraham’s faith in Genesis 22. He spoke to Abraham and said, “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you” (verse 2). Now, it is important to know here that God never intended for Isaac to be sacrificed. Instead, this was a test of Abraham’s obedience and faithfulness to God.
In a remarkable step of faith, Abraham took Isaac to sacrifice him on a mountain. His servants were there, too. When they were close to their destination, Abraham said to his servants, "The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back" (verse 5). Abraham expected to return from the mountain with his son. He knew that God was not going to require him to sacrifice his son, whom he had waited for for so long. When they were heading to make the sacrifice, Isaac noticed that they did not have a lamb to sacrifice. When he asked Abraham about it, Abraham said, "God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son" (verse 8). Abraham knew God had a plan. And He did. As Abraham was preparing to sacrifice Isaac, an angel suddenly stopped him. "'Don't lay a hand on the boy!' the angel said. 'Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son'" (verse 12). God was testing Abraham to see if he would be willing to sacrifice anything for Him. Abraham proved that he withheld nothing from God. Next, God provided a ram right in front of them caught up in a thicket for them to sacrifice.
Just as God provided for Abraham, He provides for you and me as well. Abraham proved His faithfulness to God by being willing to give up his son. God also proved His faithfulness by providing a ram in the thicket for Abraham and Isaac to sacrifice. God's faithfulness was a picture of what was to come. You see, years and years later, God provided Jesus as a sacrificial lamb to die for the sins of the world, taking our place. Abraham never sacrificed his son, but God did. Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice. We have to trust in God just as Abraham did. God always has a plan, and He always will provide.
Abraham trusted God because he knew God was going to provide a sacrifice. God provided a “ram in the thicket” for Abraham. Centuries later, God provided another ram in the thicket, Jesus, to be the sacrifice for us to rescue us from sin. Make plans to worship Him for all He has done for us this weekend at one of our services. He is so worthy of our worship.
1Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.
“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”
2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”
6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”
8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.
9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”
12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”
13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
15 Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven. 16 “This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that 17 I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. 18 And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”
19 Then they returned to the servants and traveled back to Beersheba, where Abraham continued to live.
20 Soon after this, Abraham heard that Milcah, his brother Nahor’s wife, had borne Nahor eight sons. 21 The oldest was named Uz, the next oldest was Buz, followed by Kemuel (the ancestor of the Arameans), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 (Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) In addition to these eight sons from Milcah, 24 Nahor had four other children from his concubine Reumah. Their names were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
