Ishmael and Isaac - The Lord will provide.

The Offering of Isaac

22 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. ⁵ Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

⁹ Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” ¹³ Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. ¹⁴ Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”

¹⁵ Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, ¹⁶ and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. ¹⁸ In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” ¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.

There are a number of things we see in this account from Genesis 22 in the Old Testament reading from the One Year Bible. There is of course first the element of Isaac being a type or representation of Christ. Abraham was asked to; Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”  When Isaac asked about the lack of a sacrifice Abraham responded; “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.

John 3:16 says  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Isaac was a prophetic foreshadow of Christ. Isaac was the child of promise to Abraham, through whom all people would be blessed. Christ is the promise to the world, by whom all people are redeemed.

We see also in this account, the faith of Abraham. Abraham was given the promise many years earlier. He had walked through tests of his faith, including having a son, Ishmael, from his wife's hand maid Hagar. Abraham had believed the promise of God, but thought he needed to help God make it happen. Ishmael became a stumbling block, a competitor to the son of promise, Isaac. Abraham had previously needed to send Hagar and Ishmael away so the inheritence and the promise could be fulfilled in Isaac. Now in this account Abraham is asked to sacrifice the child of promise. Isaac had been born to Abraham at an age well beyond normal child bearing age for Sarah, so Abraham knew that there would not be another child. Isaac was truly the son of promise. Let's look at a few indications of the faith of Abraham, beyond simply his obedient response to go as God had called him to go. In the course of their journey, when they come to the place where they can see the mountain site,   Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” He did not know how this thing was going to play out, but he trusted God that whatever would happen he and Isaac would both return. Again when Isaac asks about the sacrifice Abraham's response in faith is; “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. God will provide, in the end that is the name Abraham gave to the site.  Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.” Abraham continued in faith up to the point of raising the knife, God rewarded his faith and showed him the ram which he provided.

What we can take from this text for our own lives is this. We, like Abraham, need to fully trust God to fulfill His promise to and for us. We need to trust His will and His timing, walking only in what He calls us to do. We will indeed, like Abraham, be required to walk away from our Ishmaels. We will need to choose the promise of God over all the things we have created by our own hand. Some of these things may be evil or bad, certainly of those it is easy to see why we need to rid ourselves of them. Others though may be good. They just aren't God. Jesus says in Matthew 10:37;

"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

Other gospel accounts say he who does not hate his father or mother... it really though is more accurately described in the Matthew version. We simply are called and required to love Jesus, God first and foremost. "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' (Matthew 22:37)

What is more difficult than giving up our Ishmaels, anything and everything that could compete with the promise of God for our lives, is that we too may be required to offer up our Isaacs. Many of us have waited a lifetime for the promise of God to truly come to fruition in our lives. We certainly may have created some Ishmaels along the way. But, even as we see the plan of God, His will for our lives finally coming together, God may require us to offer it up to Him. It is not that God wants to take the promise from us. He really wants to know that He can fully trust us to trust Him.  God said to Abraham;  because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed

That is the promise that He has for us too. He will bless and greatly multiply the promise He has given us when we give it fully to Him.

Jesus says in John 10:10  I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Paul says in Romans 12:1-2  I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 

The abundant life God promises and gives is a life sacrificed and offered back to Him.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus the Promise, Holy Spirit, thank You for all You have done and have promised to do. Today I surrender and offer up everything I have and everything I am to you. I determine today to walk away from and seperate myself form the Ishmaels in my life , from all that I have created by my own hand, both the evil and the good, all that would hinder the true promise in and for my life. I also give back to You my Isaac, the thing that You have called me to and promised for me. I trust You fully. Like Abraham, I don't fully know or understand how You are going to work this out. But what I do know and trust is  "The Lord Will Provide"

Thank You. Amen