Genesis 22:6 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.

7 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?

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

9 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.

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

13 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.

14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

MEMORY VERSE: But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. —Philippians 4:19

CENTRAL THOUGHT: God revealed Himself to Abraham and Isaac as Jehovah-jireh, “The Lord Who provides,” or “The Lord will see to it,” when He called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham obeyed, but God intervened and provided a substitute, sparing Isaac’s life and establishing a precious, prophetic truth which was fulfilled in Christ.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Genesis 22:14 “In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen”: “In Genesis 22:8, Abraham had said “Elohim-jireh,” God will provide. He now uses Jehovah as the equivalent of Elohim. It is added that hence arose a proverb “In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen,” or rather, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided. The verb literally means to see, or, to see to a thing, and the sense of the proverb plainly is that in man’s necessity God will Himself see to it, and provide due help and deliverance” (Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers). “On the mount of Abraham’s sacrifice Jehovah would afterwards reveal himself for the salvation of his people, as he then interposed for the help of Abraham—a prophecy which was afterwards fulfilled in the manifestations of the Divine glory given in the Solomonic temple and in the incarnation of Jesus Christ” (Pulpit Commentary).

LESSON BACKGROUND

The scriptures in our lesson were taken from Genesis 22, which opens with God putting Abraham to the test by saying, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, 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.” It took several days for Abraham, Isaac and the accompanying servants to make the journey. Apparently, Abraham explained nothing about his mission to his son, who is supposed by many scholars to have been between twenty-five and thirty-six years old. Presently Abraham told his two servants to remain with the pack animals while he and Isaac finished their mission. “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again unto you.” In Hebrews 11:17-19 we are told that Abraham’s faith persuaded him that when he obeyed God and took the life of his son, God would bring Isaac back to life again. He affirmed his faith when he told the men, “We will be back.”

The scene is touching as Isaac bears the wood on his back, Abraham takes the knife and the coals for the fire and together they approach the appointed place. In a tender dialogue, Isaac questions his father about the lamb to be offered and Abraham answers, stating not only his unwavering confidence, trust and faith in the revealed character of God, but a prophetic utterance of a vision of the supreme sacrifice that God would provide for all mankind. I wonder if he does so with a tremor in his voice and tears streaming down his face!

As the altar is being built, at some point Abraham reveals to Isaac the awful truth. Isaac could either flee or resist. He does neither, but typifying the future Messiah laying down His own life, Isaac, without violence or murmuring, willingly offers himself upon the altar. “Isaac was now fully offered both by his father and by himself. The father yields up the son, the son gives up his life; on both sides, as far as will and purpose could go, the sacrifice was complete” (Clarke’s Commentary).

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck

DISCUSSION:

1. A Type: List the ways in which Isaac typifies Christ.
2. A Shadow: In what way was the place (Mount Moriah) typical as well?
3. Giving Proof: In what ways did Abraham show/state his faith?
4. Looking Forward: In what statement did Abraham utter prophecy?
5. MY Jehovah Jireh: Share personal experiences where Jehovah-jireh revealed Himself to you.

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

“It was not God’s intention that Isaac should actually be sacrificed, yet nobler blood than that of animals, in due time, was to be shed for sin, even the blood of the only begotten Son of God. But in the meanwhile God would not in any case have human sacrifices used. Another sacrifice is provided. Reference must be had to the promised Messiah, the blessed Seed. Christ was sacrificed in our stead, as this ram instead of Isaac, and his death was our discharge. And observe, that the temple, the place of sacrifice, was afterwards built upon this same mount Moriah; and Calvary, where Christ was crucified, was near. A new name was given to that place, for the encouragement of all believers, to the end of the world, cheerfully to trust in God, and obey him. Jehovah-jireh, the Lord will provide; probably alluding to what Abraham had said, God will provide himself a lamb. The Lord will always have his eye upon his people, in their straits and distresses, that he may give them seasonable help” (Matthew Henry).

I don’t think we can ever fully comprehend the wonderful truths presented by this momentous event. We must first be made aware of the deep, unreachable NEED of mankind for a sacrifice, a substitute, for sin. We must grasp the vastness of the statement, “God will provide himself a sacrifice.” What did it take for God to fulfill this need? The emotion that moves us in this story is magnified when we think of what it took for Christ to lay down His life for us. “And when I think of God, His Son not sparing…”

Have you ever felt God calling you to do the impossible, the unthinkable? Another precious truth here is when we, like Abraham, move resolutely in obedience toward the place where we feel it will be impossible to complete the task, the ability to perform is given. God provides. Sometimes when our obedience is fulfilled totally, in our mind and in our will, God receives it as completed and pulls us back, just in time, from the loss we felt was so impossible to bear. Other times, He does allow us to go through what we felt we could not endure. God still provides. He provides strength and grace beyond ourselves. As you progress on your Christian journey, no doubt you will experience both situations.

Paul had experienced this, which is why he could state so triumphantly and confidently, “My God will supply,” as found in our memory verse today. In order for us to know God as Jehovah-jireh we will need to go through these places of surrender to God’s will. Let us not draw back, but go on to the perfections of faith which will be given to us at the revelation of our Jehovah-jireh.

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck

REFLECTIONS

There are many instances throughout history where God provided for those who trusted in him. We are often inspired by the testimonies of the patriarchs of old, missionaries of yesteryears and saints of today who stood firm on the word of God and experienced firsthand his faithfulness.

These are the stories that inspire us and encourage us along our spiritual journey. As they followed God’s leading, He was faithful to them; and as we follow His leading, He will be faithful to us as well. For God is no respecter of persons and what He has done for others He’ll do for us.

When, at God’s request, we offer what we have to Him, as in the simple story of the boy with the fish and the loaves, He multiplies our offerings exponentially for our benefit and for the provision of those around us. He proves to us that He is our provider and that we can trust Him.

However, trusting God is not committing some reckless act of sacrifice while trying to prove our devotion to Him. The only true sacrifice that we have is that of obedience—the sacrifice of our will. It is really all we have to offer. It is the one thing that is wholly ours and the one thing over which we have complete control. Obedience is simply the submission of our will to the will of a higher authority.

Abraham did not arbitrarily decide he was offering his son. He didn’t initiate the terms of the sacrifice, God did. Abraham simply obeyed. It was in this obedience that he proved his love for God and his faith in God’s ability to provide.

These stories are not works of fiction, they are the recordings of facts. They’re biographies of God’s faithfulness written by the saints who saw His works and proved him. We all have a story of our interaction with God. How will your story read?

—Bro. Darrell Johnson