GENESIS 22

GOD TESTS ABRAHAM + PROVIDES A SACRIFICIAL LAMB  

God tells Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. This is devastating to Abraham; Isaac is his only son through Sarah. But Abraham is faithful to God’s commands and carries wood up a mountain to build an altar. Abraham lays his beloved son on the wood to sacrifice. As Abraham is about to kill Isaac, an angel of the Lord tells him not to sacrifice his son. God wanted to know that Abraham was willing to offer his son, but did not require Isaac’s death. 

The angel tells Abraham that God will provide a lamb. Abraham sees a ram stuck in the bushes nearby and offers the animal as a burnt offering to God.

This story serves as a prophecy of the crucifixion of Jesus. Just as the angel said, God does provide a lamb, Jesus the sacrificial lamb and God’s only Son, and takes away the sin of the world through His sacrifice. 

Because Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac, God blesses him and tells him that his offspring will be as many as the sand on the beach and the stars in the sky. 

Genesis 22:8 - Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.