“Isaac said: where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Genesis 22:7
I can’t imagine the emotions of this scene. Here was Abraham climbing the mountain with his one and only beloved son carrying a load of wood on his back. The son who God gifted to he and his wife in old age, and promised would have offspring more numerous than the stars (Genesis 15:5), now needed to be sacrificed? Abraham must have had uncertainty creep into his mind the closer they got to the summit. “Sacrifce my son?!” “I waited so long, we just started to bond.” God’s command didn’t seem logical, but Abraham still sensed God’s love.
Isaac, probably just approaching his teens full of promise and enthusiasm, wasn’t sure how the journey would end, but he knew his father wouldn’t lead him astray. Then the unimaginable happens. Abraham takes Isaac, maybe hugs him one last time, binds his arms and legs so he can’t move, and lays him on top of the wood. The sacrifice to the Lord is ready.
As Abraham raises the knife for the strike, he hears it – “baaaaaaaah….” The sacrificial lamb is provided by God. Abraham’s answer to the question Isaac asked is revealed before his eyes - “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (Genesis 22:8)
When the Jewish people observed the first Passover meal during their deliverance from bondage in Egypt, they were required to sacrifice an unblemished lamb. When Jesus began his ministry, John the Baptist called Him “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:2). As the last 72 hours of Jesus’ life slipped-away, thousands of Jews descended upon Jerusalem to partake in the Passover Festival and sacrificial ritual. Little did the throngs know that THE LAMB was present and would soon be slain for them.
God hates death. What he wanted from Abraham was a heart dependent on His plan and purpose. And God wants us to have hearts that trust Him, regardless of how difficult life becomes. I pray as Good Friday approaches that you will be reminded of the sacrifice of the one perfect man who died for all of us – so that we can one day live in eternity with Him.
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