Genesis 18-23: Come Follow Me with Sam

 Genesis 18-23 has a lot. It gets into some pretty crazy stuff. I was really tempted to talk about Sodom and Gomorrah, as many of us live in the world and there is a lot to learn from these chapters, but one single verse caught my attention more than all the other happenings in the reading this week.


God will provide himself a lamb

In the sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac, Isaac asks, 'where is the lamb for a burnt offering'. Abraham responds in  Genesis 22:8

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

Abraham is saying that God will provide, but read it again and see if there is a double entendre.

8 And Abraham said, My son (Isaac), God will provide himself  a alamb (His Son, Christ) for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 

Is this what Abraham meant when he said it? I obviously couldn't say, this is just what struck me while I was reading it. I do know that many scholars agree that Isaac by that time was a full grown man, and Abraham was old. This means that Isaac had to be willing, and Abraham had to explain what was happening so that Isaac would do it.

Picture with me in this hypothetical example, a way that Abraham could have done it. 

Isaac asks 'where is the lamb for a burnt offering?'

Abraham says 'Son, lets take a rest for a minute. I need to explain something to you today.'

They move off the mountain path and Abraham begins to explain.

"Isaac, do you believe in God?"

   ~"Yes, father, you know I believe in God."

"Isaac, do you believe everything holy men and angels have told us about His Son, Jesus Christ?"

    ~"Yes, I believe everything our fathers and you, my father have prophesied."

"Isaac, my son, my only son. One day, God, our God, will provide Himself a lamb of His Son, His only Son. Today, for reasons I don't yet comprehend, God has asked us to understand in a small way what that really means. Are you understanding what I'm saying Isaac?"

   ~"Yes, father, I understand now why we didn't bring a lamb today."

so they went both of them together.

As you probably well know, an angel stopped Abraham's hand at the last minute and told him the test was his willingness, not the actual sacrifice. We have the words of the angel in the scriptures. In this hypothetical scenario of how I imagine it played out, I imagine the angel also explaining

"You wondered why today, God asked you to understand, in a small way, what it really means to lose your only Son. It is because now millions can read your story, and understand, in their own small way, what it means for them."



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