Scripture Passage For Today
GENESIS 21:8-23:20, GENESIS 11:32, GENESIS 24:1-67
Scripture
Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the LORD will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.” (Genesis 22:14 NLT)
Observation
Today’s reading involves one of the greatest stories of faith in all the Scriptures, (IMHO!). Abraham, at God’s direction, takes Isaac to Mt Moriah to offer him to the Lord as a sacrifice. Yes, that direction from God is incredibly perplexing. Given that the Scriptures strictly prohibit child sacrifice (a forbidden practice of some heathen nations) why would God ask such a thing?
I’d only observe that many of the Lord’s directives seem perplexing taken on their own. Send leprous Naham to wash in Israel’s muddy Jordan River when beautiful streams already exist in his homeland—why? Point Peter and his hoard of experienced fishing buddies back out into the Sea of Galilee after a fruitless night’s fishing, this time with instructions to let their nets down on the other side of the boat—why? Direct the Missionary-Evangelist Paul the Apostle back to Jerusalem where, by the Spirit of God, he understands that nothing but trouble awaits—why?
I suspect that—if we’re open at all to the Lord’s direction—it won’t be unusual to receive direction from Him that runs counter to our intuition. Through the prophet Isaiah, God says this about the uniqueness of His ways…
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
(Isaiah 55:9 NIV)
The challenge is to hear (“My sheep listen to my voice,” Jesus says—John 10:27). The encouragement from this passage is that God is always at work in ways that honor those who honor His voice, and ways that supply what’s needed to accomplish His will. Someone has suggested that for every step Abraham and Isaac took up one side of Mt. Moriah, at God’s direction, a ram was marching up the other side. For every step of obedience, there was a divine step of supply.
Today, then, I want to hear…and obey…so that God’s supply can advance God’s purpose through me.
7 comments:
Thank you Pastor for good thoughts and word for today, I needed to hear that.
Great lessons. "Someone has suggested that for every step Abraham and Isaac took up one side of Mt. Moriah, at God’s direction, a ram was marching up the other side. For every step of obedience, there was a divine step of supply." I am asking,"was the ram for opposition or for supplies?" There are medifores or word pictures that confuse me. Darn. But I do want to learn.
By all means, in this case the ram was God's supply--a sacrificial offering as a substitute for Isaac (not unlike Jesus' substitutionary sacrifice in our place!).
pastor, We always look at this as Abrahams obedience to Gods comand, but what abut Issac? I heard somewhere that he was a twenty something year old man at the time. If it were I, I doubt that I would let someone drag me up a mountain tie me up, throw me on a pile of sticks and offer me, as a sacrifice. The only explanation He ever got was God will provide. And that was enough for him. Praise God.
If we will do the difficult things He asks of us.....then He can do the impossible.
In reference to the question of Isaac's obedience. If Abraham was your father would you question his judgement? Obedience is a powerful precedence to our God-given destiny. That is what I am learning in all these scriptures.
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