“When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

 

“Here I am,” he replied.

12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring[b] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

 

Our third testimony of Thanksgiving comes from the Father of all nations. Abraham prayed for a son for years and like Hannah his prayers were answered, but not through his wife’s slave when Ishmael was born, but through his wife, Sarah. God showed mercy to this old couple in answering their prayers years and years later until they thought they would stop praying. Ever been there?

 

When you feel like you might as well give up, God in His sovereignty answers in ways that we could not think possible.

 

Abraham’s thankfulness results in obedience. Hannah gave Samuel to serve the Lord in a temple, but God asked Abraham to do something far more costly. God wanted to him give his son up on the altar.

 

Abraham totally believing in a God who could do whatever He wanted demonstrated his faith by his willingness to put his son on the altar. This is a difference between dedication and sacrifice.

 

His testimony of thanksgiving is a short one- only 3 words. But no doubt those three words are filled with tears of joy and outpouring of his soul. “The Lord Provides.” He provides the son. He provides the ram. He provides a promise that the nation of Israel would come from that son.

 

Amazingly God carried out himself what He spared for Abraham. For God’s only Son was placed on the altar. But at Calvary there was no angel that stopped the crucifixion that night. For God did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all.

 

We can say like Abraham, “The Lord provides.” There in is the providing of a greater kingdom than even Israel. This is the promise of the Kingdom of God in which we may take part.

 

The Lord provides. And Abraham’s thanksgiving prayer is also ours carried out in Jesus.

 

Dale