Growing up, going to Sunday School and church, I remember learning this story, but I don’t remember responding to it. It was always at arms length and it never made the trip from my head to my heart. And maybe that’s because of that word that I used above – “story” – and I left it as a story and never considered it as real events in real lives. That changed after we had our first child, a son.
I remember sitting with my son on my lap reading my devotions and coming to this passage of scripture. I had to stop. I couldn’t imagine being asked what Abraham was asked to do. I couldn’t imagine making the walk up the mountain. I couldn’t imagine putting the wood on my son’s back. But Abraham didn’t imagine it. He did it. And because he did he received the promise that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through his offspring.
Fast forward to about 30 A.D. It was Friday of Passover and Jesus, God’s one and only Son, stands condemned before Pilate and the crowd. Can you imagine the Father’s heart? Can you see what He has asked His Son to do? Can you imagine Jesus walking up the hill? Can you imagine him with the wood on His back? What God asked Abraham to do, He Himself did giving His Son. Only God followed through and Jesus died, while Isaac lived. And because God did this He fulfilled the promise that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through Abraham’s offspring – Jesus, son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Abraham offered Isaac in faith. He knew that Isaac was the child of the promise. He knew that Isaac would be his heir. Hebrews tells us that Abraham reckoned that God could return his son from the dead. Interestingly, that is exactly what God did. He figuratively returned Isaac from the dead by actually rescuing him from the knife and fire, and by providing a ram for a proper sacrifice. He actually returned Jesus from the dead by raising Him up on the third day.
Prophecies usually happen as God gives His Word to a prophet who then speaks that Word to an audience. Occasionally God also gave actions to prophets that served as visual prophecies. God used Abraham and Isaac to give a prophecy through actions, and living picture of what He Himself would do with His Son in order to redeem mankind and bless the world.
There is no indication that Abraham understood these events as prophecy. I have often wondered what Isaac’s thoughts on the experience was, but the Bible gives no hints on that either. It would be more than two-thousand years before God fulfilled this prophecy. But he had already begun to bless the world through Abraham’s Offspring. As Abraham, Isaac, and their descendants lived trusting the promises God credited their faith to them as righteousness. Forgiveness of sins was theirs through faith.
Today it is almost two-thousand years since God sacrificed His one and only Son for us. As we live in faith, our sins are forgiven, too. I can’t help but wonder though; have we fully understood what the Father has done for us? Has this knowledge traveled from our heads to our hearts and changed our lives? I suggest that today is a good day to ponder anew what the Lord has done because He loves us.
Father, You gave Your only Son as the Sacrifice to pay for our sins. Words fail to communicate what that means to me and for my life! Help me cherish Jesus’ sacrifice every day and share Your love. Amen.
I remember sitting with my son on my lap reading my devotions and coming to this passage of scripture. I had to stop. I couldn’t imagine being asked what Abraham was asked to do. I couldn’t imagine making the walk up the mountain. I couldn’t imagine putting the wood on my son’s back. But Abraham didn’t imagine it. He did it. And because he did he received the promise that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through his offspring.
Fast forward to about 30 A.D. It was Friday of Passover and Jesus, God’s one and only Son, stands condemned before Pilate and the crowd. Can you imagine the Father’s heart? Can you see what He has asked His Son to do? Can you imagine Jesus walking up the hill? Can you imagine him with the wood on His back? What God asked Abraham to do, He Himself did giving His Son. Only God followed through and Jesus died, while Isaac lived. And because God did this He fulfilled the promise that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through Abraham’s offspring – Jesus, son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Abraham offered Isaac in faith. He knew that Isaac was the child of the promise. He knew that Isaac would be his heir. Hebrews tells us that Abraham reckoned that God could return his son from the dead. Interestingly, that is exactly what God did. He figuratively returned Isaac from the dead by actually rescuing him from the knife and fire, and by providing a ram for a proper sacrifice. He actually returned Jesus from the dead by raising Him up on the third day.
Prophecies usually happen as God gives His Word to a prophet who then speaks that Word to an audience. Occasionally God also gave actions to prophets that served as visual prophecies. God used Abraham and Isaac to give a prophecy through actions, and living picture of what He Himself would do with His Son in order to redeem mankind and bless the world.
There is no indication that Abraham understood these events as prophecy. I have often wondered what Isaac’s thoughts on the experience was, but the Bible gives no hints on that either. It would be more than two-thousand years before God fulfilled this prophecy. But he had already begun to bless the world through Abraham’s Offspring. As Abraham, Isaac, and their descendants lived trusting the promises God credited their faith to them as righteousness. Forgiveness of sins was theirs through faith.
Today it is almost two-thousand years since God sacrificed His one and only Son for us. As we live in faith, our sins are forgiven, too. I can’t help but wonder though; have we fully understood what the Father has done for us? Has this knowledge traveled from our heads to our hearts and changed our lives? I suggest that today is a good day to ponder anew what the Lord has done because He loves us.
Father, You gave Your only Son as the Sacrifice to pay for our sins. Words fail to communicate what that means to me and for my life! Help me cherish Jesus’ sacrifice every day and share Your love. Amen.
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