On the Mount of the Lord, He Was Provided

So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”;
as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”  Genesis 22:14

The Sacrifice of Isaac is not so much about Abraham or Isaac.  It is a portion of Scripture that is hard on the ears.  How could the Lord ask Abraham to sacrifice his son?  After everything that Abraham and Sarah had been through in waiting for the Lord to fulfill His promise, how could the Lord command such a thing of Abraham?  It is hard to hear such words and consider such a command.

However, the point of this account is not about Abraham or Isaac, but the heavenly Father, who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all!  What Yahweh commands Abraham to do and then prevents him from doing, He does Himself.  The Father willingly offers His Son as the sacrifice.  This Son was sacrificed for the sins of the people.  When Isaac asked where the lamb for the sacrifice was, Abraham responded in faith that the God Himself would provide the lamb.  And so He did.  For as the angel of the Lord prevented Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, He looked up to the see the ram that would be offered, foreshadowing the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

It is said that on the mount of the Lord, “it will be provided.”  And so it was.  For on Calvary’s holy mountain, the Lord provided the sacrifice for all people, for all time.  There on mount of the Lord, the Father did the unthinkable, what He stopped Abraham from doing, He offered His Son, His only Son, as the sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people.  During the Lententide, we are blessed to reflect on the lengths to which the Father went to save His fallen creation, by offering His Son, as the sacrifice in their place.  Thanks be to God that on the mount of the Lord, salvation was provided in His Son, in the sacrificial Lamb, Jesus!

Prayer - O God, since You promised faithful Abraham that he would be the father of a great multitude, You provided a substitute for his son Isaac. In the fullness of time, You sent Your Son, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, to lay down His life that we might live as faithful children of Abraham. Grant to all people a living trust in Your mercy; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen. 

Fraternally in Christ,
President Lee Hagan