The Lamb of God
" And
Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said,
Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where
is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together."
Sometimes, when things get tough we forget. I'm sure it was tempting for Abraham to forget at the moment when God "tested" him. After all, there were a couple of occasions when Abraham became forgetful--faithful as he was. Remember, his encouragement to Sarah to lie--first to Pharaoh, and then to Abimelech. Abraham had Sarah tell the same lie--that she was his sister--well, it was a half-truth (it was spoken with the intent to deceive), because of his fear. Abraham forgot God's providential care at those moments--he forgot His promise. Abraham forgot that there was a Covenant necessitating both his and Sarah's health and well-being. He didn't need to intervene, or lie to protect himself or Sarah. God was in control. If he didn't fully understand when he encountered Pharaoh, he certainly had it all laid out before he met Abimelech. In Genesis 17, God told Abraham, "As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.... Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year." Yet, when Abraham arrives in Gerar (chapter 20), he still forgot, and went back to his old ways and had Sarah tell that same tired tale to Abimelech.
Now, don't be too hard so Abraham. All of this was new to Him. God--one God, the Voice of God, and walking by faith were brand new and he had no experience in these matters. Abraham grew up among idolaters--I guess that's why God separated him, before He began to really manifest Himself in His life. It takes a long time for us to figure things out, to mature and become wise enough to stop depending on ourselves and begin to trust in Jehovah Jireh (the God Who will "see to it"). God will get done those things that we cannot--Romans 4:17 says, "...(as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, even God, Who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were." That is Who God Is, and what God does. He creates, and has creative power. He sees to things we can't see, handle, figure out, fathom, make, or even imagine. He did it for Abraham, and He still does it, today. Our problem is we spend so much time applying God's creative power to things that already exist in nature, things we can earn or obtain on our own if we try hard enough or want bad enough. That is not what His power or our faith in Him (or it) is for. Faith is about eternity (for example: Luke 17:5); we need faith to enable us to live righteously (forgiving and loving, etc. those who don't deserve it) in the earth, because we don't have to power or ability to do so on our own--it takes God to perform it in us. We need love--God is Love. Just try to live holy without love...it cannot be done. Self-righteousness, yes; holiness, NO.
Abraham was believing God, not simply for a son, but for a Son, through whom the entire world could receive salvation. By the end of Genesis, Jacob, the grandson of Abraham says, "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord." In other words, they have been waiting, and are still waiting for Jesus or in Hebrew, Yeshua (thy salvation=yshuw`ah). Although, Abraham, Jacob and all of the patriarchs received many earthly blessings, their true hearts desire and longing was for Yeshua. It was the salvation of Israel that they sought--and they knew that it wasn't only Israel that would be saved, but that through Israel, the Messiah (Yeshua Ha' Mashiach=Jesus Christ ) would come. They were looking for the Lamb of God.
There was no doubt in the mind of Abraham--or even Isaac that God would "see to it". Clearly, Abraham had raised Isaac to believe God. Isaac was not a small boy when they took that trip to Mount Moriah to sacrifice. It was Isaac who carried the wood (like Christ carried the cross), laid down on the altar (like Christ laid down His life for us) and allowed his aged father to bind him (Like Christ allowed Himself to be beaten, spit on, mocked and nailed to the cross), understanding fully the ritual of sacrifice. Scholars put Isaac's age anywhere from 17-37. The Talmud suggests he was about 37 years old at the time of this occurrence. We cannot dismiss the faith of Isaac. Abraham is the father of faith, certainly Isaac was a faithful son of faith. They both trusted in God's ability to provide a sacrifice or to restore Isaac to life, because God promised that Isaac was the son of the Covenant and he had not yet fulfilled his role. They rested on that promise as they prepared to obey God. I can only imagine the pain and anguish--the psychological strain that must have been felt then. Those final moments preceding the raising of the knife must have been horrendous for both, yet, they trusted God to keep His eternal word.
At the same time it was spiritually prophetic, it was supernatural. Supernatural, in that God met the immediate need and stopped Abraham from slaying Isaac and provided a natural lamb. Spiritually significant, in the fact that Abraham knew that a Lamb would come and stand in the gap, as the supreme Sacrifice for mankind. Abraham "saw" prophetically, what John beheld naturally, and we have dwelling within us, spiritually, leading us and guiding us toward perfection.
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
Sometimes, when things get tough we forget. I'm sure it was tempting for Abraham to forget at the moment when God "tested" him. After all, there were a couple of occasions when Abraham became forgetful--faithful as he was. Remember, his encouragement to Sarah to lie--first to Pharaoh, and then to Abimelech. Abraham had Sarah tell the same lie--that she was his sister--well, it was a half-truth (it was spoken with the intent to deceive), because of his fear. Abraham forgot God's providential care at those moments--he forgot His promise. Abraham forgot that there was a Covenant necessitating both his and Sarah's health and well-being. He didn't need to intervene, or lie to protect himself or Sarah. God was in control. If he didn't fully understand when he encountered Pharaoh, he certainly had it all laid out before he met Abimelech. In Genesis 17, God told Abraham, "As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.... Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year." Yet, when Abraham arrives in Gerar (chapter 20), he still forgot, and went back to his old ways and had Sarah tell that same tired tale to Abimelech.
Now, don't be too hard so Abraham. All of this was new to Him. God--one God, the Voice of God, and walking by faith were brand new and he had no experience in these matters. Abraham grew up among idolaters--I guess that's why God separated him, before He began to really manifest Himself in His life. It takes a long time for us to figure things out, to mature and become wise enough to stop depending on ourselves and begin to trust in Jehovah Jireh (the God Who will "see to it"). God will get done those things that we cannot--Romans 4:17 says, "...(as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, even God, Who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were." That is Who God Is, and what God does. He creates, and has creative power. He sees to things we can't see, handle, figure out, fathom, make, or even imagine. He did it for Abraham, and He still does it, today. Our problem is we spend so much time applying God's creative power to things that already exist in nature, things we can earn or obtain on our own if we try hard enough or want bad enough. That is not what His power or our faith in Him (or it) is for. Faith is about eternity (for example: Luke 17:5); we need faith to enable us to live righteously (forgiving and loving, etc. those who don't deserve it) in the earth, because we don't have to power or ability to do so on our own--it takes God to perform it in us. We need love--God is Love. Just try to live holy without love...it cannot be done. Self-righteousness, yes; holiness, NO.
Abraham was believing God, not simply for a son, but for a Son, through whom the entire world could receive salvation. By the end of Genesis, Jacob, the grandson of Abraham says, "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord." In other words, they have been waiting, and are still waiting for Jesus or in Hebrew, Yeshua (thy salvation=yshuw`ah). Although, Abraham, Jacob and all of the patriarchs received many earthly blessings, their true hearts desire and longing was for Yeshua. It was the salvation of Israel that they sought--and they knew that it wasn't only Israel that would be saved, but that through Israel, the Messiah (Yeshua Ha' Mashiach=Jesus Christ ) would come. They were looking for the Lamb of God.
There was no doubt in the mind of Abraham--or even Isaac that God would "see to it". Clearly, Abraham had raised Isaac to believe God. Isaac was not a small boy when they took that trip to Mount Moriah to sacrifice. It was Isaac who carried the wood (like Christ carried the cross), laid down on the altar (like Christ laid down His life for us) and allowed his aged father to bind him (Like Christ allowed Himself to be beaten, spit on, mocked and nailed to the cross), understanding fully the ritual of sacrifice. Scholars put Isaac's age anywhere from 17-37. The Talmud suggests he was about 37 years old at the time of this occurrence. We cannot dismiss the faith of Isaac. Abraham is the father of faith, certainly Isaac was a faithful son of faith. They both trusted in God's ability to provide a sacrifice or to restore Isaac to life, because God promised that Isaac was the son of the Covenant and he had not yet fulfilled his role. They rested on that promise as they prepared to obey God. I can only imagine the pain and anguish--the psychological strain that must have been felt then. Those final moments preceding the raising of the knife must have been horrendous for both, yet, they trusted God to keep His eternal word.
At the same time it was spiritually prophetic, it was supernatural. Supernatural, in that God met the immediate need and stopped Abraham from slaying Isaac and provided a natural lamb. Spiritually significant, in the fact that Abraham knew that a Lamb would come and stand in the gap, as the supreme Sacrifice for mankind. Abraham "saw" prophetically, what John beheld naturally, and we have dwelling within us, spiritually, leading us and guiding us toward perfection.
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
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