Genesis 22:14
So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”
I would have loved to be in Abraham’s thoughts as he went up the mountain to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Was he worried? Was he silently mourning? Was he interceding as he had done for Sodom and Gomorrah? Or did he have unusual peace? Isaac, too, had questions of his own. While on their way, he asked his father where the lamb for the burnt offering was. Abraham prophetically replied, “God will provide for Himself an offering…” (Genesis 22:8). What baffles me with this story is the fact that Abraham still proceeded with the instruction God had given him. He was ready to slaughter his son when the angel of the LORD spoke and asked him to stop. God was pleased with his act of obedience and provided for a ram instead of Isaac. It is at this juncture that Abraham calls the name of the place, “The LORD will provide”.
Many years later, another Father would take His son up a mountain to offer Him as a sacrifice. Only that this time, the Father would not be stopped. Jesus became the lamb that God provided for Himself as a sacrifice atoning for the sins of the world. Just as Abraham was to offer his beloved son, so God offered His only beloved Son. God provided for the greatest need of mankind – salvation. With this in mind, then we have the confidence that God will not withhold from His children any good thing since He did not withhold His own Son. As Romans 8:32 puts it:
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?
Reflections
1. What is the most appropriate response to the God who has provided for our ultimate need?
