Genesis 22:8 Abraham said, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.’ So the two of them walked on together.
This verse comes right in the midst of one of the most disturbing stories in all the Bible. Abraham lived his long long life without any children and finally, at a very advanced age, God gave him a son, Isaac. Then God commands Abraham to bring that son to the top of a mountain and kill him - offer him as a sacrifice to God. Terrible on so many levels. So Abraham calls his son and brings him up the mountain. Isaac is a little confused as to why they brought the wood and things needed for starting a fire, but they didn't bring a lamb. Abraham says that God will provide the lamb.
What is meant by this? Is this Abraham avoiding saying the terrible thing - that you, Isaac, are going to be the lamb? Or does Abraham believe and trust that God will find a way out of this? I don't know. But that's ultimately what happens. God stops Abraham from killing Isaac and provides a lamb for the sacrifice. As a father (frankly, as a human being) that's how I choose to read this story: God never intended Isaac to die. God always intended a way out of the terrible situation. And Abraham saw that. Abraham saw that God would provide. That is amazing faith indeed.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
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