Advent 2009:: The Coming JOY Wednesday

Wednesday Joy::

In Genesis 22, you find the story of Abraham and Isaac. You might know this story. Abraham is over 100 years old when the story takes place, and his son Isaac is just a boy. God has promised Abraham that he will be the father of God’s people. Isaac is the beginning of the fulfillment of that promise.

Then God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Sin is a big deal to God, and in the Old Testament times, God’s people offered sacrifices to appease the wrath of God toward sin. So Abraham trusted God and resolved to surrender his promising-fulfilling son.

The Bible says that Abraham traveled to a mountain and bound his son on an altar and took a knife to slaughter him. As the knife in Abraham’s hand reached its apex, an angel of the Lord commanded him to stop.

In the moments between the command to sacrifice Isaac and the command to stop, Abraham had to be filled with fear. As a father, this story always brings great sorrow to my heart. One of my greatest fears is the loss of one of my children. The scriptures say there were four days from the command to sacrifice until the command to stop. Fear had to grip Abraham. He had to have fear of God, fear of people and what would they think of him, fear of Isaac’s mother, fear of being misunderstood, and fear of the culture having a backlash at God and blaming him for this death. Fear gripped that man on that journey to that mountain.

Imagine what had to be running through Abraham’s mind for those 96 hours. Think on it deeply. Think also on the joy that filled his heart when God stopped the sacrifice. God provided a ram that was nearby to be the sacrifice. Abraham called the name of that place, "The LORD will provide," as it is said to this day.

The Lord will provide, and has provided. Celebrate the joy that God has provided for you today.