While Abraham and Isaac were traveling on together, Isaac asked a question. He saw that his father had the fire and the knife, and he himself was carrying the wood, but he asked, “Where is the Lamb for a burnt offering?” How this question must have touched Abraham’s heart, but his faith was unshaken as his beautiful reply shows us. He said, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” Isaac accepted the answer in perfect confidence, and they both went on quietly together. Surely this would remind us of the garden of Gethsemane. There we hear God’s Son saying, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). If that cup of judgment had passed from Him, we would have all been lost eternally. He only could bear it for us, and so in obedience to His Father’s will, He took that cup, which we had filled with our sins, and drank it to the last dark drop. He bore all the judgment for those who believe, and there is none left for us because He said, “It is finished.” If the reader of these lines is unsaved, why not bow before Him now and thank Him for the work of redemption He has finished for you?
A Way of Escape
At last Abraham and Isaac came to the place of which God had told them. Abraham built the altar, set the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son upon it. Then with unfaltering faith he took the knife to slay his son, but just at that moment God called to him from heaven saying, “Abraham, Abraham ... Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me.” God was faithful and made a way of escape for Abraham in the temptation (see 1 Corinthians 10:13). The knife did not fall on Isaac, for a substitute was provided. Yes, there was a ram near which Abraham took and offered up in the stead of his son. Every type falls short of the perfection of the work of Christ, for there was no substitute to take His place. He was the Substitute Himself, and the sword did fall upon Him. He was the Lamb of God’s own providing, and He could not escape as Isaac did, or we would be lost eternally. No one else could be a sacrifice for sin but He, and so He died that we might live.
God’s Provision and Promise
Abraham then called the place “Jehovah-Jireh,” which means, “The Lord will provide.” It was in this very place (Mount Moriah) that Solomon’s temple was built. This shows us that the ground of all worship is always and only founded upon the finished work of Christ, which Abraham’s sacrifice typified. The only right way of coming into the presence of God is given us in Hebrews 10:19, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.”
God appeared to Abraham the second time making the promise that, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” This word, “thy seed,” refers to Christ through whom all nations will receive blessing. In the Old Testament God dealt particularly with Israel, but since the work of redemption is completed, the gospel can be preached to “whosoever will.” After this Abraham returned to Beersheba (the well of the oath). Now we, too, can “Draw water out of the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3), for all our blessings come to us through Christ.
Further Meditation
1. How did God make a way of escape for Abraham?
2. The Lord Jesus being made a Substitute for us is one of the fabulous truths of Scripture. How does the cleansing of the leper in Leviticus 14 present that truth beautifully?
3. The pamphlet The Divine Ground of Gathering by J. Brereton makes an interesting application of this same story from Genesis 22. You would no doubt find it simple and profitable reading.