#DailyDevotion Who Or What Are You Willing To Sacrifice To Show Your Love For God?
Genesis 22:1– After this God tested Abraham. “Abraham!” God said to him. “Yes,” he answered. 2“Take your only son Isaac, whom you love,” He said. “Go to the country of Moriah, and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the hills I will point out to you.” 3Early the next morning Abraham harnessed his donkey. He took two of his servants and his son Isaac with him. He cut the wood for the burnt offering. Then he started out for the place God told him about. 4On the third day Abraham looked and saw the place in the distance. 5Then Abraham said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go over there and worship. Then we’ll come back to you.” 6Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac while he took the fire and the knife in his hands. And both were walking together. 7Then Isaac said to his father, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “We have the fire and the wood,” said Isaac, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” 8“God will provide Himself with a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered.
After this? What is this? In the previous chapter Abraham had defeated the kings who kidnapped lot and Hagar and Ishmael were sent packing. Since this account deals with sacrificing Isaac, I’m going to go with the sending out of Hagar and his son Ishmael. God is going to test Abraham to see where his greatest love is, Sara and Isaac or Himself. Isaac was Abraham’s only son from his wife Sarah. The two were childless for forever. Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 91 when they had Isaac. Sarah only got pregnant through the promise of the LORD. In effect, Isaac was Abraham’s only-begotten son. Now the LORD who gave Isaac to him is commanding him to sacrifice Isaac. It must have been heart wrenching those three days to mount Moriah where he was to offer up Isaac. When the LORD gave the command, Isaac was good as dead because Abraham trusted the LORD, he feared and loved Him more than anything else.
In verse 5 Abraham tells his servant to remain where he left them and he and the boy would return after they worshiped. Now was Abraham just saying that? I don’t think so. The author of Hebrews doesn’t think so either. He writes in chapter 12, 19“God can even raise him from the dead.” And so, figuratively speaking, he did. Abraham in faith put the wood for the sacrifice on Isaac and carried it to the mount. This prefigured the Father putting the wood of the cross on his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ who was offered up as a sacrifice on the same mount that Christ Jesus was crucified upon. As we ponder the pain and anguish Abraham went through those 3 days we can see what the Father went through to offer up his son as a sacrifice for our sins, for you sins.
We needed a sacrifice for our sins that God the Father could and would accept. Indeed, on the mount the LORD would provide, the LORD provided for us the burnt offering for our sins. Jesus took upon himself not only our sins but the penalty for those sins, the eternal flames of the Lake of Fire where the damned are punished for all eternity during his suffering so you would not have to. For this we need to give him and the Father our thanks and praise.
We thank you Everlasting Father for providing for us the sacrifice you would accept for our sins, Jesus your only-begotten Son. Give us faith always to believe this so we may not receive what we deserve. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.