CHANGE OF PLANS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Some time later, God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

Early the next morning, Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.

"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."

And the two of them went on together.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from Heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

“Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

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."

Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

Genesis 22:1-19

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Believers pride themselves on their faithfulness, right? It’s something we talk about a lot and we so desperately want to be obedient to whatever God might ask us to do.

But what if God asked us to sacrifice one of our own children? Would we really be able to do it?

These questions directly apply to our scripture passage for today as we find God issuing the ultimate test of faithful obedience to Abraham.

Now, we have examined Abraham’s life through several chapters so far and there has been mixed results when it comes to the way he has lived in God’s presence. We have seen him display an ability to be very faithful (left everything behind to go where God directed him to go) but we have also seen him display less than adequate faith in other instances such as when he laughed when God said he would bear a son with Sarah in their old age or his failure to trust God on two separate occasions when he and Sarah entered into the company of kings. You’ll remember that the couple instead chose to lie, covering up Sarah’s true relation to Abraham.

So as we see God testing Abraham, it was really a toss-up as to the way Abraham would God’s calling this time. Thankfully, we find him choosing the right path as we look at our verses for today.

Some time later, God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

Early the next morning, Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.

"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."

And the two of them went on together.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from Heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

“Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

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."

Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.  Genesis 22:1-19

As Chapter 22 opens, we see God tell Abraham to take his only beloved son, Isaac, to the “region of Moriah”. There, God told Abraham to “sacrifice” Isaac “as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

Of importance here, we don’t find Abraham questioning or debating God about the matter. Rather, we read where he gets up the next morning, saddles his donkey, and sets out with "two of his servants and his son Isaac." Before they departed for Moriah, there was some preparation needed. The scriptures tell us that Abraham "cut enough wood for the burnt offering” before setting “out for the place God had told him about”.

It’s really interesting to me that God’s act of grace and deliverance for Isaac, a pardon of sorts, happened on “the third day” of the trip when Abraham and those with him arrive at the place God called him to. We read where he orders his servants to stay with the donkey while he and Isaac go to worship, then he loads Isaac down with the wood for the burnt offering while he carries the fire and the knife.

In thinking about the walk Abraham and Isaac made, I can’t imagine how agonizing an experience this must have been for Abraham. His mind must have been awash with anxiety and agony, knowing that he was about to offer his only son up as a burnt offering to the Lord. It really was enough for anyone to just turn back and decide the task was just too much to handle.

But Abraham didn’t do that, did he? He didn’t waver but rather carried on with the task in hand through a steadfast obedience and trust in his God.

But then, we find Isaac speaking to his father and asking a question that had to rip Abraham’s heart in two.

“The fire and wood are here but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

Abraham’s answer should leave all of us in amazement because he simply gives a statement of faith in the midst of one of the most difficult moments imaginable.

"God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."

And he was right.

God did provide, ensuring this story had a happy ending for as we know, He had big plans for Isaac.

Back to the scriptures where we find that Abraham prepared an altar, arranged the wood, and bound Isaac before laying him on the altar and the wood pile. Then, with everything in place, he took the knife to sacrifice Isaac.

It was at that point that we find God intervening and changing the plan in a big way, saying:

"Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

And with that, Abraham looks up and sees a ram that God sent as a substitutionary sacrifice. Like Jesus would be later, God indeed had provided the lamb to die in the place of another and in this instance, Isaac’s life is spared.

Friends, through this test of Abraham’s faith, we find how we should respond to God when He calls us to do things. His actions showed an incredible, uncompromising submission to God’s will, even though it meant sacrificing his only son. We also see where Abraham has grown spiritually stronger in his walk with his Lord, refusing to repeat prior mistakes when he didn’t display the proper level of trust in God.

Indeed, through this story from the life of Abraham, we learn that God will test us and will watch to see how we respond. We also see where God blesses faithful, obedient living and shows mercy where needed.

God could very well have allowed Abraham to carry through with Isaac’s sacrifice but He didn’t. Instead, he intervened with a special change of plans, and indeed provide the lamb for the sacrifice, just as Abraham had promised his son.

In the end translation, we see where we as believers serve a loving, merciful, gracious, miraculously powerful God. May everything we do be done to His glory, in faithful obedience to His will and way.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.