“GOD KNEW that His Mysterious Plan of Salvation could only be carried out if Abraham fully trusted Him. God had to be sure that Abraham would do anything He commanded. So, one day, the Lord told Abraham to make an offering to Him. Abraham greatly enjoyed making offerings to God. He had presented many of his animals as offerings to God, which were often simply called “offerings” or “sacrifices”. This was a way for Abraham to express to God: “I love You.” But this time, God didn’t want a sheep or a goat; He wanted Abraham to offer something greater – far greater. He wanted Abraham to offer his son, his only son, the son whom Abraham loved dearly – Isaac. “Put my son on the altar and sacrifice him as an offering?” How could God want him to do such a terrible thing? Abraham didn’t understand, but he knew that God was his Father and loved him.
Therefore, Abraham trusted Him. The next morning, Abraham and Isaac set out. They climbed the rocky slope toward the mountain. Isaac carried the wood on his back. His father carried the fire and the knife. “Father,” Isaac said, “we have everything except the lamb for the burnt offering.” “God will provide the lamb, my son,” Abraham replied. Then they set up an altar and placed the wood on it, then Abraham told his son to climb onto the pile of wood. Isaac didn’t understand, but he knew his father loved him. And he trusted his father. He climbed onto the altar to offer the sacrifice, and Abraham bound him to the wood. Isaac didn’t struggle or try to run away; he simply laid still and said nothing.
Everything was ready. Abraham took the knife. Tears filled his eyes. Pain filled his heart. His hands trembled. He raised the knife high – “STOP!” God commanded. “Do not harm the boy. I want him to live, not die. Now I know you love me because you have not withheld your only son from me.” It was as if Abraham’s heart leaped with joy. He untied Isaac and embraced him. Sobs wracked his body. The hot tears streamed down his face. For a long time, they stayed there, holding each other tightly, the boy and his father. Suddenly, Abraham saw a ram caught in the bushes – it was a sacrifice. God had provided what they needed at the exact right moment. The ram would die so that Isaac would not have to. So, Abraham offered the ram as a burnt offering in place of his son. And as they sat on the mountaintop, watching the fading flames in the cool night sky, surrounded by the twinkling stars, the Lord helped Abraham and Isaac understand something. God wanted His people to live, not die. He wanted to save them, not punish them. But they had to trust Him…”
(adapted from The Jesus Storybook Bible)
Perhaps reading the story of Abraham and Isaac found in Genesis 22, penned with skill and deep emotion by Sally Lloyd-Jones, we are all moved. Sally captures the emotion deep within the heart of a father faced with the challenge of offering up his dearest possession in what seems to be the most incomprehensible of ways. She also portrays two instances of absolute obedience in this story: Abraham’s obedience to God and Isaac’s obedience to Abraham. However, there is yet another instance of obedience we need to recognize, and this recognition will only come when we understand the meaning of the word “Jireh”. New Testament believers often associate the term “Jireh” with finances or money – a provision for material needs. But if we consider the context in which “Jireh” is first mentioned, here in Genesis 22, we understand that it refers to the provision of a “sacrifice” or “offering”. This provision took the form of a substitution. The ram was a substitution for Isaac. Sally Lloyd-Jones continues:
“Many years later, another Son would climb a mountain, carrying a wooden cross on His back. Just like Isaac, this Son would trust His Father and do what His Father asked. This Son would not struggle or run away. Who is this Son? He is the Son of God, His One and Only Son – the Son whom He dearly loves, the Lamb of God.”
This is the third instance of obedience that this passage of Scripture foreshadows when it says: “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” God did not need Abraham to offer Isaac, for He Himself would offer His One and Only Son on that mountain, at Golgotha, nearly 1,800 years later, to die for our sins. As it is written: “Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).
Genesis 22 was not written merely to praise the faith and obedience of our forefather of faith, but to help us understand that a “greater Isaac” will appear – Jesus Christ, the one and only sacrifice for all humanity. This “Isaac” would carry the wood up the mountain not only out of obedience to His Father but because of His love for humankind. Therefore, even knowing He would die for a world unworthy of His sacrifice, He still did it. Genesis 22 also reveals the heart of God. While Sally Lloyd-Jones clearly depicts the heart of Abraham, when we reach the end of this event in Genesis, do we not also see God’s heart? He appears twice to repeat this one sentence: What is it? – “You have not withheld your son.” God affirms this twice to Abraham. Was not God’s heart also filled with joy at that moment? He had found someone who could understand with what He would do. He had found someone who understood what it meant to give up your son, to let your son die. Later, the declaration of love in Romans 8:32 confirms this. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
This is the provision that Scripture speaks of. This is the provision that God speaks of. This is the provision that Abraham only “greeted from afar”: Jehovah Jireh – on the mountain of the LORD, it will be provided.
Not long after revealing Himself as Elohim in Genesis 1, God then revealed Himself as Jehovah Jireh. He created this world and all its people, yet He knew humanity would choose to turn away from Him, find their own way, and seek happiness according to their own understanding. Therefore, He made a provision. Understanding this, perhaps we will cease merely thanking God for providing our daily material needs or solely expecting that provision. His heart is to offer us the greatest and most necessary of provisions, and so we should thank Him for this greatest and most necessary of provisions.
