We are walking our way through God’s Grand Story, recalling those things He has prepared. And we’re still in Genesis. But such blessings are found there!
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.
He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering
instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide.
And to this day it is said,
“On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided” (Gen 22:13-14).
This has long been one of the most fascinating events in the Old Testament. (Not to mention pivotal in the overarching redemptive narrative.) Gleaning from it richly prepares faith—because it reveals much about the antitype in future workings of God. But we will only look at a small portion of it today. Of particular importance is something found in the first verse of the same chapter:
Some time later God tested Abraham.
He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied (Gen 22:1).God tested Abraham. And Abraham passed the test. (So did Isaac, for that matter. He trusted his father, as he was bound and laid upon that altar.)
God asked Abraham for his son, but he believed God could, and would, raise him from the dead (Heb 11:17-19). So he went to the Mount of the Lord. And, on the third day, he was given back his son (Gen 22:4).
But far more magnificent to behold is God’s provision of the ram, the substitute that spared Abraham’s son.
By grace, through a faith that obeyed, God provided a substitute.
God provided the ram in place of Isaac that day. He provided the solution to his dilemma, lurking in the shadow of death.
God provides for every act of obedience.
And that is why Abraham proclaimed the name of the Lord, Yahweh Yir’eh, The Lord Will Provide.
God gave a word to Abraham. And he trusted and obeyed.
God can be trusted. And He can be trusted with your children, too.
Centuries later, another Firstborn Son would be asked to climb a mount—to be sacrificed upon a tree. But this time, He was the provision. He was the substitute. And, as Abraham believed, God was able to raise Him back from the dead—given back to the world three days later.
In Bethlehem’s stable, we see Yahweh Yir’eh provided yet again.
However, we can’t just look at the gift of God in Jesus’ birth. But also, the gift of God in His death. And resurrection.
In all things, God has provided.
He provided on that mount;
He provided in that shepherd’s field;
He provided on Calvary;
And through the Lord’s empty grave.
And He provides for you—right where you are today.
#GiftofGod #GodProvides #TheGiftOfJesus #PreparedAtChristmas