The Perfect Sacrifice
When studying the Bible it pays to look at each and every word that is
written therein. Samuel was one of those who held the Word of God in such
high esteem.
1 Samuel 3:19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and DID
LET NONE OF HIS (Gods) WORDS FALL TO THE GROUND.
It is when we hold God's words in such reverence that He reveals to us the
deep truths of that are in His Word. In looking at the story of Abraham's
willingness to offer Isaac his son we find hidden in the wording the
greatest truth of the Bible.
Genesis 22:1-12 And it came to pass after these things, that God
did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I
am. 2 And he said, 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. 3 And Abraham
rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young
men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering,
and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on
the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And
Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the
lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. 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.
Have you spotted it? I admit I had read this passage many times before it
hit me. Oh my, what an astounding truth. This is the truth that the whole
world needs to embrace. If we can grasp it; if we will allow it to permeate
the innermost recesses of our being we can never be the same again.
Notice the story is of Abraham taking his son Isaac to put him to death for
a sacrifice to God. God has commanded him to do this to test his faith. God
has never intended that Abraham go through with this but it is to teach
Abraham something and you and I something. The journey is over 3 days long
and the lad keeps wondering. Where is the animal that my father is going to
sacrifice? They come to the mount. "Where is the sacrifice?". Up the hill
they go. Isaac is saying to himself "I've got the wood and dad has the
knife, but where is the sacrifice?" They reach the top and Isaac can contain
himself no longer. "Dad, where is the sacrifice?" It is in the answer that
Abraham gives to Isaac in verse 8 that we find the greatest truth of the
Bible. It is not in the fact that God is going to spare Isaac and use a ram
instead. It is not that Abraham was willing to go all the way with God and
it is not in Isaac's willingness to be the ultimate sacrifice.
The greatest truth in the Bible is found in just 4 words in verse 8.
"GOD WILL PROVIDE HIMSELF". Do you realize the truth that
is revealed here. Verse 8 would have made perfect sense if the word
"himself" had been omitted. The truth of God's word would not have suffered
at all. God did provide a ram which is a grown lamb. The insertion of the
word "himself" is deliberate. It is there, under the inspiration of God, to
reveal in the Old Testament a truth unknown until after the crucifixion.
John wrote "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with
God and the Word was God." (Jn. 1:1) In John 1:14 we find written "And the
Word was made flesh--". We find in Matthew 1:23 "Behold, a virgin shall be
with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name
Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, GOD WITH US." In 1 Tim. 3:26 we find
written "--GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH--".
The greatest truth of the Bible then is this. God robed Himself in mortal
flesh to become the "Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world"(John 1:29. God loved us so much that He died in our
place in the person of Jesus Christ. GOD PROVIDED HIMSELF as that perfect
sinless sacrifice.
Lord, I ask you to reveal your great truths to all of us that we may grow
thereby. Oh Lord my God I thank you for being willing to die in my place for
my sin that I might enjoy your great glory and beauty throughout eternity.
Oh my God if there is anyone who reads this that has not embraced this
greatest of all truths, I pray that you will speak to their heart and bear
witness to your truth. In Jesus matchless name. AMEN
This study presented by Brother Dwight.
Feel free to share these with your loved ones.
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