Dress Rehearsal

“I love you.”  “I love you MORE.”  It’s kind of a thing, to say that now, I guess.  Is it really possible in a relationship for one party to actually love the other more?  While you might think so or not, it’s tough to prove.  So God, in His infinite wisdom, knowing that it might be difficult for us to accept that HE loves us MORE, decided to let things play out and He let us watch.  Let’s look at the scene from Genesis 22:

God tested Abraham and said to him…”Take your son,” He said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” 

Wait a minute!  This is Abraham and Isaac.  This wasn’t a kid WITH promise, this was the child OF promise!  Abraham and his wife, Sarah, had to wait until Abe was 100 years old before God fulfilled His promise of providing a son.  And now, just when Isaac was likely in his teenage years, God is asking for Abraham to return him?  I know what you’re thinking if you have had teenagers, and while you may have thought you could kill your 15-year old, God was really serious about it in Isaac’s case.  So back to the story:

So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him …his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance…Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the sacrificial knife, and the two of them walked on together.  Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said…”The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Great question!  What would you ask if you were in Isaac’s place.  “Uh, Dad, what are we going to offer?”  At this point, I think Isaac realized that since his father is more than 110, he could have dropped the wood and ran, and there’d be no way his dad could catch him!  But Isaac was a dutiful and obedient son.  So he went on.

When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

OK, this is really going to happen!  But notice that Isaac let it all take place.  He willingly allowed himself to be placed on the wood and offered to God.

But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”…“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.” 

There you have it.  The Father was going to sacrifice his Son.  For three days as they traveled to Moriah, the Father had been in anguish because his Son had to perish as a sacrifice.  What love the Father had for his Son!  Oh, what love God had for both Abraham and Isaac.  Because here’s the rest of the story:

Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a (sacrifice) in place of his son.

So, did you catch it?  Do you see the picture?  A Father willing to offer His Only Son in sacrifice.  What actually happened in the land of Moriah that day?  A male sheep, crowned with thorns, offered on the wood of sacrifice in place of Isaac, on a mountain specified by God Himself.  In case you didn’t know, the land of Moriah is the area later centered around Jerusalem.  And I have no doubt that all this took place on a mount outside where the holy city would stand.  A place we now call Calvary.

Did the Father need this dress rehearsal to prepare to offer His Only Son for us?  No, but we did.  So we would believe He loves us MORE.

Jacob