GOD HAS PROVIDED HIMSELF A LAMB!

ABRAHAM AND ISAAC:  

A PICTURE OF GOD AND JESUS, HIS SON!

Genesis 22:1-14 - And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham:  and he said, Behold, here I am.  And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom you love, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.  And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.  Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.  And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you, and Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.  And Isaac spoke 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.  And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.  And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.  And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham:  and he said, Here am I.  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him:  for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me.  And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns:  and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.  And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

Tempt - God does not tempt man (Jam. 1:13).  God knew what Abraham would do, so the test was to reveal to Abraham, and all of us, his love of, and his trust in, God.  In verse 12, it is the angel of the Lord that learns of Abraham's fear (respect for; reverence of) God.  

Thine only son - Abraham only had one son, Isaac!  When he sired Ishmael, his name was Abram (compare Gen. 16:16 with 21:3).  "Only Son" is a picture of Jesus (Jn. 3:16)!

Moriah - Moriah would become the Temple Mount about 1000 years later (2 Chron. 3:1) and Mount Calvary about 1000 years after that (Lk. 23:33).  The place of Abraham's offering was the same place of God's offering!

Clave - Isaac was to cut (cleave; prepare) the wood for the fire.  Isaac would carry the wood upon which he was to be sacrificed (v. 6).  Two thousand years later, Jesus would carry the wood upon which He was sacrificed for our sin!

The Lamb - Had not God provided "Himself" a lamb (v. 8, 13), Isaac would have been the sacrificed one.   Jesus is called "The Lamb of God" and "our Passover" in Jn. 1:29, 36; 1 Cor. 5:7!

Jehovah-Jireh - Notice, in verse 14, that the place of testing was called:  "Jehovah-Jireh" meaning "In the Mount of the LORD it shall be seen!"   God's love for humanity "was seen" on Mount Calvary!

JESUS DIED FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD (1 JN. 2:2)! 

TO GIVE US HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS (2 COR. 5:21)!

WARNING:

TRUST IN HIM WHILE THERE IS STILL TIME!