Over the last several weeks, we have been going through characters of the Bible and looking at them in depth to see what they can teach us. We’ve gone over Eve, Adam, Abel, Cain, and Noah, so this week we’re going to dive deep in to Abram—later called Abraham.
Now, we could have an entire book on what Abraham can teach us, but we’re going to look at the big lessons. The first one comes in Genesis chapter 12 verse 4. God told Abraham to leave his country and his family, to leave his father’s house and go to a land God will show him. God promised to make Abram a great nation, to bless him. And in the first part of verse 4, it says, “So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him…”
Then, in Genesis chapter 22, God tested Abraham’s faith. God told Abraham to take Isaac, his only son and offer him up as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. So, Abraham heads up the mountain. Now, I believe that Abraham had faith in God, that God knew what He was doing and that God would provide.
In verse 7 through 8, it says, “But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ‘My father!’
And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’
Then he said, ‘Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’
And Abraham said, ‘My son, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’ So the two of them went together.”
Abraham didn’t know how God would provide the lamb, or why God had asked him to do this, but Abraham trusted that God would provide.
Indeed, God did. When Abraham and Isaac got up the mountain, God offered them a ram. In verse 13, it says, “Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicken by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.”
Abraham had such faith in God, that whenever God asked him to do something, Abraham obeyed. He didn’t question God, but He listened and He believed that God knew what was best and would work everything out.
God did this to test Abraham’s faith. Would Abraham trust God in the midst of circumstances he didn’t fully understand?
Do you?
Do any of us?
When the storms of life rage around us, or things happen in our lives that we don’t understand, do we look to God in trust, knowing that He will provide and get us through? Or do we look at him with doubt and questions?
This scene with Abraham and Isaac and the offering is also a beautiful metaphor of what God does for us. God offered up His Only Son, Jesus Christ, who gave His life for us so that we could be saved from Sin. God once again provided, and this time, He provided the Perfect Lamb. Jesus was actually sacrificed—willingly, He gave His life, because He knew we could never be perfect enough to deserve to spend eternity with God. Yet, God wanted us to be with Him, so He made a Way—Jesus Christ.
Jesus rose again and now, if we believe and trust in Him, and repent of our sins, we will be saved and spend eternity with God forever.
Do you trust God through your difficult circumstances today?
