Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.  He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.  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.” – Genesis 22:13-14

A Substitute Ram as the LORD Provides

Did you long for a particular Christmas gift as a child?  Was there that one thing you desperately wished to open under the tree?  Depending on your generation, that special gift could be one of many things: a Barbie doll or GI Joe, a video game console, Hot Wheels, Legos, Squishmellow, or anything Star Wars.  There is something joyful about opening up the wrapped gift on Christmas morning and having that hope made into a reality.

For Abraham, that one hope was to be gifted a son.  Having a son was such a big wish at the top of his list, God had to repeat the promise to him again and again.  You may remember how his wife laughed, and how they tried to take matters into their own hands to provide an heir.  And yet God provided a son, according to his timetable, to carry on Abraham’s lineage and, even better, God’s promise to provide a Savior.  What a challenging request then in Genesis 22, to be tested and asked to sacrifice his one and only son.  

Our passage for today follows after Abraham and Isaac’s willing obedience to God’s instruction.  We find in God’s people hearts which reflect fear and love for God – even doing what he says when things don’t seem to make sense.  And we find in God, a mercy, care, and providence for his people.  

The angel of the LORD speaks from heaven before the sacrifice is carried out.  He blesses Abraham and speaks to the great gift God would give to the world through Abraham of a different one and only Son in verses 17-18,  “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, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

And there in the thicket, God provides a ram.  This year we have been learning about how God used his created creatures within the pages of Scripture to accomplish his good and saving plans for us.  Now in the month of December, we look forward to the coming Christ child, and in so doing, we look forward to God’s one and only Son who would enter our fallen world to take our sin to his cross.  He would be that needed sacrifice.

We find in Scripture a ram caught in the bushes who would take the place of the boy on the altar.  Here God provided substitution, sacrifice, and saving.  It would be on this Mt. Moriah years later many rams and animals would be sacrificed.  This very hilltop would house Solomon’s temple, where substitution and sacrifice would take place morning and evening and seemingly all hours between.  The temple sacrifices of rams and other animals would serve as a constant reminder of God’s promises, given to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, and to those worship attenders that God had not forgotten his promises to his people.  All nations on earth would be blessed by the one sacrifice needed for sin, through the coming Messiah.

And near Mt. Moriah stood another mountain height, one with a more ominous future.  In the same range, perhaps even in eyesight, stood Mt. Calvary.  Here the saving sacrifice of Jesus would take place at the precious cross.  Here sin would be paid for and life with God given as a free gift.  Here generations of God’s promises would be made complete in Christ.  Here would be our hope for forgiveness and eternal life with our God in heaven.  God has provided again.  This time through his one and only Son. 

That’s what makes our December joyful.  We look forward to Christmas, with it’s worship and gift giving and fun.  And yet as believers we also see in this season the Christ child.  We see God’s promises to substitute, sacrifice, and save us from our sins.  To recognize this truth by faith is a great gift.  Let’s share our hope and joy in Jesus all season long!  Our LORD has provided!