Eliezer’s Blog – The Lord Will Provide

Sep 6, 2015 2735

The lesson that Abraham learned when God called him to sacrifice his son was that God will provide.

On the way there, Isaac asked his father,

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

For a sacrifice, three things were required. Wood, a fire, and a lamb. All of these things were usually carried with them. In the arid land of Caanan, there was not much wood, so they carried the wood. It was difficult to make fire from scratch, so they carried some fire as well. And most importantly, there could not be a sacrifice without a lamb.

Abraham answered,

“God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (Gen 22:7–8).

Then, after God had indeed provided a lamb for the sacrifice, the faithfulness of God so stuck in Abraham’s mind, that he called the place, Jehovah-jireh, which means, “The Lord Will Provide” (v.14).

Abraham’s journey to the place where God called him to sacrifice his son is a metaphor of the history of the God’s faithful men and women since the fall. The journey started in sadness and confusion, but it continued in faith, that God would provide a way out – a sacrifice. Throughout the Old Testament we see that faith reflected through all the ages, even in spite of a limited understanding of how God would provide salvation.

If the theme of the Old Testament is the hope that “The Lord Will Provide,” then the victorious cry of the New Testament is “The Lord Has Provided!”

You and I are living not in the time of shadowy, unrealised hopes, but in the time of its glorious fulfilment because of the cross and resurrection of Christ. And because the Father,

did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? – Rom 8:32.

Truly, the Lord has provided! We have not been left alone in confusion and helplessness. Whatever your situation may be, you can say with the psalmist David,

The LORD is my shepherd;

I have all that I need. – Psalms 23:1

Jehovah-jireh – The Lord Will Provide!

– Eliezer Gonzalez

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