Genesis 22:4-8
4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6And 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. 7And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
When Isaac asks where the animal for the sacrifice is Abraham responds that God will provide one. This a typical parent answer to a difficult question asked by a child. It avoids the issue while satisfying the child. All parents do it.
But if we fail to see the theological impact of what Abraham says here we miss the point why this record was given to us. God will provide the Lamb. There is no doubt that this is intended to be a reference to Jesus Christ.
What son of what father is an adequate sacrifice for sin? There is only one, and that is Jesus Christ Himself. What son, sacrificed for any reason would be the aroma that is acceptable to God? There is only One. And we must never forget that it was never God’s intention for Isaac to be killed but it was always His intention for the Son of God to be.
God does not call us to do things that will have absolutely no power or fruit and that is exactly what all our efforts and sacrifice would produce in terms of fitting us for communion with God. How this should make us bow today.
God calls us to live in sinless perfect obedience to all His commandments. The penalty for disobedience is death. We are all sinners and cannot do anything to escape the just punishment for our sins. We are rebels from God. We do not want Him and even if we did, we could not reach Him. So He reaches us. That reach is Jesus Christ (Isaiah 59:16)
Our lives are a complete dependency upon Him. And that is a safe place, secure and sure. Bask in this today. He has provided the Lamb.
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