The story in Genesis of Abraham sacrificing Isaac is what is informing this conception. I dont think Abraham could have anticipated that on the fateful day when God asked him to go into a foreign land, along with the promise of the blessing of descendents as numerous as the stars in the sky, he would ask him to make the hardest decision that a human could possibly make. To choose between his Lord and his son, which the Lord had provided him. To those unfamiliar with the story, God granted Abraham his heart's desire, a son from his wife Sarah, but later on, God asks Abraham to sacrifice this son, Isaac, to him on a mountain.
Abraham dutifully goes to the mountain with every intention of doing what God asks and before he is about to plunge his knife into Isaac, the hand of God comes out of the heavens and stops Abraham. God tells Abraham to stop and not to harm Isaac:
“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."
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." - Genesis 22:13-20
This story is both amazing and difficult for me in many ways. First, as a normal person, I would like to know what God wants me to do, and all the outcomes and possibilities that will happen as a result of it. I want to be able to “skip to the end” of God's story for me not only know my path, but to know everything on it. However, in spite of this I consider that when God first told Abraham to go to that land, he didn't tell him “Oh, and 45 years from know I'm gonna ask you to kill your only son and not give you any reason why that you could comprehend”
There are many reason why God reveals things to us a little at a time. It really is because he wont allow us to be tempted, or even have knowledge of more than we can endure. But going further, God asks each and every one of us to make a similar sacrifice in our life. and we cannot anticipate the amazing outcome that comes as a result. Abraham did not withold the most precious thing in his life from God, yet how could he possibly anticipate that his decision would be what God wanted all along to fufill not only their covenant, but help provide salvation for us?
That is why I latched onto the image of the sacrificial Ram. It is an adult, unlike the lamb, caught up in the thicket of thorns and briars by its horns, the very things that give it is strength and glory. Likewise, Jesus Christ as a man and as God took the very thing that gave him glory, his divinity and sovereignty, and sacrificed it, caught up in the humiliation of a crown of thorns that tore his skin and the mockery of turture in order to become our provision. God provided a Ram, and he provided Himself. Abraham responded in obedience to God's sovereignty as His Lord and gave up his only son, and God responded to his love for us and gave up His only Son, who was Himself.
This story was initially challenging to me as I was younger because I thought it was a very cruel thing for God to ask Abraham to do. However, being more and more aware of the extent of God's grace, this story now makes me fearful that I might love something and desire it more than my desire to obey God. However, one thing sticks in my mind. What would have been the tipping point for me in this story is when Isaac looks at his dad and asks where the sacrifice is. Abraham, with no certainty of what would happen, responds, "The Lord will provide"
Its amazing that these simple words that to our view, did not really inspire confidence, is the key takeaway from this story. The Lord will provide, especially when we are not sure what it is that He will do or that would happen. I can only hope and pray that I can have the strength, or the weakness, to say those same words. Abraham is our father in faith, let us follow his example, however imperfect, to do God's will.
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