6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
– Genesis 22:6-8
The passage above depicts a gripping conversation between a father and his son. Abraham has been commanded by God to offer his son as a burnt sacrifice and is carrying the load of that burden on his heart with every step he takes. His son, Isaac, is unaware of the Lord’s command to his father, and he asks a simple but profound question about the nature of this sacrifice.
“Where is the lamb?”
Isaac knew the characteristics of a burnt offering, if by no other means than just observing his father as a child. He had witnessed many times over how the lamb received the full expression of wrath upon the altar, spilling its blood and losing its life for the sake of the worshippers around it, and Isaac looked for one now again. But Isaac could never have known that on this day, God had sovereignly ordained for him to bear that burden.
Why would God ask such a thing to a man who, only shortly before this request, waited 25 years for God to keep His covenant with him by giving him a son, in fact this very boy, Isaac? The answer is in the manner and timing of God’s provision to Abraham. Jehovah Jireh, or The Lord Will Provide, supplied for every need of Abraham’s heart before, during, and after this excruciating test of his faith.
God’s provision in this moment of Abraham’s life strengthened his faith, and it paints a dramatically vivid picture for the New Testament believer today to take hope in the God we serve today. We can see, through the revealed Word of God, how He has already perfectly provided for us through the person and work of Jesus Christ, and how He will continue to do so in our lives today. Join us this Sunday as we gather to praise Him together and remember Him through the Communion meal. Praise be to the name of the Lord our God! Jehovah Jireh – The Lord Will Provide!
Soli Deo Gloria.
-Daniel