Take your son, your only son, whom you love, and sacrifice him on mount Moriah

The Scripture tells us that there are things in the Old Testament that are shadows of things then to come, shadows, pictures for those who have eyes to see, of what God was about to do (Hebrews 10:1). The story in Genesis 22:1-14 is one of them. God is testing Abraham, whose name mean “father of nations.” He tells him to take his one and only, and beloved son Isaac, through whom the dream of his name would be fulfilled, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on mount Moriah. As the story unfolds is it clear that God had no intention of letting Abraham go through with it. At the last minute God stays his hand and provides a ram for the sacrifice. On the journey Isaac ask where is the lamb for the sacrifice. And Abraham speaks prophetically that God will Himself provide the Lamb (John 1:35). When it is all over, Abraham calls the place Jehovah Jireh which means the Lord will provide.

Some have interpreted this as God showing Abraham that He does not require child sacrifice, a common practice at the time. This is indeed a Biblical truth (Micah 6:7), but it seems to me this would be a rather cruel way to teach that lesson. It probably seems cruel in any case, but what I see is Abraham's propensity to take things out of God’s hands to try and make the dream work (see Genesis 16:1-4). After this Abraham would never be an over anxious parent, nor would he try to live out his dream vicariously through his son. All these things are dysfunction with negative consequences on generations to come. The New Testament also gives insight into the amazing faith of Abraham, who had concluded “God was able to raise him up, even from the dead” (Hebrews 11:19).

I don’t know if you have a dream this morning, but I do. God had planted Abraham’s dream in his heart when he was 75, but he was 99 before he even started to see the fulfillment. Abraham had suffered through the death of his dream for almost a quarter of a century. He had tried to make it happen in his flesh, with disastrous results. Been there, bought the T-shirt! God, who is faithful, had finally come through for Him, and now his faith was strong and he could say to the servants while still on the journey “I and the lad will return” (Genesis 22:5). There seems to be something of a pattern in the way God deals with us in these things. He gives us a dream which is followed by a long delay, and the dream may even die. He is testing us, and has a purpose in the delay. When a seed dies there is no visible growth for a long time. But the seed is germinating, and we should not in our impatience dig it up and throw it away!

Father, when you told Abraham to take his son, his only son whom he loved ... You were clearly showing us that You know how easily we get too attached to things. I remember an illustration that we need to hold onto our dreams and things in life like we would a little yellow bird. If we hold to tight we will crust it, if we hold to loosely it will fly away. Perhaps You were helping Abraham to come into balance. But in any case Lord I ask this morning for myself and all those reading this, that You help us to hold onto our dreams in the right way. Thank You Lord that unlike with Abraham, You did not spare Your Son, but offered Him up as the true and spotless Lamb of God to save us. Thank You Lord in Jesus Name Amen