Genesis Chapter 22 "Jehovah-jireh" Part 2

"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. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Issac, 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." Genesis 22:1

Jehovah-jireh means the Lord will see or provide. Most people say 'the lord will provide'. Remember we are noticing the names of the Lord as we study to see how he reveals himself through his names.

Outline:
*Abraham is tempted to offer Issac v1
*He giveth proof of his faith and obedience v3
*The angel stayeth him v11
*Issac is exchanged with a ram v13
*The place is called Jehovah-jireh v14
*Abraham is blessed again v15
*The generation of Nahor unto Rebekah

A terrible test for a man of awesome faith. Abraham did not falter anyplace along the way. The way we flinch at this story may show our level of faith as compared to Abraham. Let's look at some key phrases.

v5 "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."

Notice the confidence that 'I and the lad will go...and come again...' Abraham knew that what ever the intervening events were, he and the lad would return because of the promise the Lord had made that Issac would carry out the promise of a strong nation.

Notice also Abraham's answer to Issac after Issac took inventory of what he carried and realized there was no sacrifice. v8 ...My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering..." Abraham was very specific here that God would provide a lamb for the offering.

What happened? An angel stayed Abraham's hand and behind him there was ...a ram caught in a thicket by his horns...v13.

So we see that Abraham passed the test and we learn a valuable lesson about the lamb being a substitute for Issac in this chapter and about the Lamb being a sacrifice for us in Luke.

I mentioned in previous lessons that we would see how God was teaching his people about a subsitute for sin. The lesson started when the innocent animals were sacrificed to make coats for Adam and Eve. It is being engrained into the people for we see that Issac knew there needed to be a sacrifice in order to have a burnt offering. It seems a given to us now looking back but then it was a new teaching, that of mankind being helplessly sinful but that a substitute to pay the penalty for sin could be offered and would be accepted in the place of mankind paying the penalty.

Proverbs 17:6 "Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers."