RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2021-02-26	How Abraham Knew God Would Provide A Lamb (Ge.22:8)
		Gen 22:8  And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." So the two of them went together. For years Abraham had an immature faith. When God called him he was told to leave his father and family, but he took his father and nephew with him. He lied twice about his wife, calling her his sister out of fear. The event with Hagar was not an act of faith to be sure. However Abraham grew in faith and learned to trust the Lord (Ge.15:6). God promised Abraham innumerable descendants (Ge.15:5). Abraham believed God. But years passed and Abraham and Sarah did not have any descendants. Abraham and Sarah decided to help God keep His promise by suggesting to make Eliezer his heir (Ge.15:3), and to take Hagar as his wife (Ge.16). Of course neither of these plans were part of God's plans. God further specified that Sarah would have a son, and his name would be Isaac (Ge.17:19). Isaac would be the covenant son through whom God would keep His promises (Ge.17:21). As God promised, Isaac was born (Ge.21:1-2). Years later God tested Abraham by telling him to take Isaac to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him to the Lord (Ge.22:2). This had to be a difficult request for Abraham. Nevertheless Abraham started off in the morning to do exactly what God had told him to do (Ge.22:3-6). As they were making the journey, Isaac observed that there is no lamb for the sacrifice and he asked his father about it (Ge.22:7). Listen to Abraham's response. “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Ge.22:8). They arrived at the right place, and Abraham bound his son Isaac, and was preparing to kill him (Ge.22:9-10). The author of Hebrews tells us Abraham thought about his willingness to kill his son, and how God could provide Himself a lamb. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abraham exercised faith when he considered that God was able to raise people from the dead (He.11:19). God promised Abraham that Isaac would be the covenant son to fulfill his promises through him. God kept His promise by the miraculous birth of Isaac. Because Abraham had seen the faithfulness of God in the past, he trusted God knew what He was doing. Before Abraham could bring down the knife to strike his son, the angel or messenger of the Lord called out to him to not actually kill his son (Ge.22:11-12). Abraham had passed the test from God. Of course God already knew what Abraham would do. So this test was for Abraham's benefit. And God never intended for Abraham to actually kill his son Isaac. God wanted to show to Abraham that no matter how difficult the circumstances, he could trust God. The story continues in that a ram was caught in a thicket nearby, and Abraham offered it as a sacrifice instead of Isaac (Ge.22:13). Abraham by faith knew God would raise Isaac from the dead to fulfill His promise (He.11:19). God has promised that we would be raised from the dead (Jb.19:25-27; Ps.16:9-10; Da.12:2; Ro.8:23-24; 1Th.4:13-18). Abraham had the past experience by the miracle of Isaac's birth. We have the past experience by the miracle of Christ's resurrection. Part of growing in our relationship with God is increasing in confidence that He is able and willing to accomplish what He has said. May that be our daily commission. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

An Independent and Evangelical Church

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