God Will Provide Himself a Lamb

The Story

Abraham had waited twenty-five years for his son Isaac. Every promise God had made him, that his family would become a great nation, rested on this one boy.

Then God gave Abraham the hardest command of his life: take Isaac, your only son, whom you love, to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering.

Abraham got up early the next morning. He saddled his donkey, cut the wood, and set out with Isaac and two servants. On the third day, he saw the mountain in the distance. He told the servants, “Abide ye here… and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” Both of us will come back.

As they climbed, Isaac carried the wood. Abraham carried the fire and the knife. Then Isaac asked the question that must have pierced his father’s heart: “Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb?”

Abraham answered, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb.”

At the top, Abraham built the altar and laid Isaac on the wood. But as he raised the knife, the angel of the Lord called out, “Abraham, Abraham… lay not thine hand upon the lad.” Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. He offered the ram instead of his son, and he named that place Jehovah-jireh: The Lord will provide.

Reflection