Today’s reading is Genesis 30:1-31:16, Matthew 10:1-23, Psalm 12:1-8, and Proverbs 3:13-15.  However, I am still in the previous chapter, Genesis 29.

As we see in verse 1 of Genesis 29, Jacob continued on his journey after his stop at Bethel and came to the land of the eastern people. Stop for a moment and read Genesis 29:1-14.

As Jacob was on his journey, he saw a well in a field. He was alert enough on his journey to see. He could have passed on by. He could have been looking down, feeling sorry for himself, thinking of his sore feet and heavy load. He could have given up and turned back. But he didn’t. He looked and he saw. What did he see? He saw a well. This watering hole was very significant considering his location. He was in the desert. Water in the desert comes few and far between. Water in the desert is more appreciated, more valuable, more enjoyable than water along the fertile roads.

I believe in these first verses we see significant symbolism, which we can drink for ourselves. First of all, on our spiritual journey, we must ask ourselves: Do we recognize the watering holes? Do we look and see the places along our journey that God provides for us to be refreshed? Do we realize He longs to quench our spiritual thirst? Will we stop at the wells along the way, or will we walk on by?

Maybe it is a Bible study, corporate or personal.

Maybe it is church involvement or Christian accountability with Christian friends.

Maybe it is worship in singing and praise and prayer, both corporate and private.

Maybe it is taking a break from the daily grind to stop and see the blessings around us … the blue skies, the refreshing wind before a summer storm, the unexpected flowers and smells, and even parking places close to the store.

It is my strong belief that it is all of the above that God lovingly brings our way as we walk down our life’s path. But will we look and will we see? Or will we keep our head down, rush from activity to activity, and complain and whine all along the way, saying, “Where’s God?!”

At the well, Jacob saw three flocks of sheep.  The fact that there were three flocks gives us a clue that God was up to something.  Remember that the number three is symbolic of holy perfection.What Jacob saw next was also symbolic of what was to come—a faint but significant thread in the tapestry God was weaving.

He saw a large stone.

A large stone, which covered the source of refreshment and nourishment that the sheep had to have in order to live.

A large stone that needed to be rolled away.

In verse three we find that when all the flocks were gathered—in other words, at just the right time—the shepherds rolled away the stone and watered the sheep.  This water provided life for the sheep.  Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

Do you see where I am going with this?  Jesus is referred to as the Great Shepherd.  We are referred to as the sheep of His pasture.

Romans 5:6 tells us that at just the right time, Christ, the Great Shepherd, died for us, the sheep of His pasture.  Jesus is referred to as the living water, and in John 4:14 He said,

            But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty any more. But the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within him unto (into, for) eternal life. (Amplified Bible)

Only Jesus can offer us this eternal and abundant life-giving spiritual water.  He can offer this to us because He rolled away the stone at His death and resurrection.

             But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

                                                                               Mark 16:4

But this simple passage in Genesis was before the final triumphant rolling took place.  Genesis 29:3 says, “When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.” This verse brings us back to Jacob’s present reality that in this story, the stone had to return to its place over the well.  The storyline was just being written, the tapestry still being woven. Jesus hadn’t come yet, but it was a glimpse.

Jacob then inquired of these earthly shepherds and found that they were from Haran. His rest stop along the journey had finally come! Little did he know that reaching his goal along the journey was not the end, only the beginning.

And so we should glean a valuable truth from this. We think “if only” I could get to this point in my life. “If only” I could achieve this goal or that dream. I am all for planning and having God-given dreams and goals. I have an abundance of them myself. But we must realize that the joy is in the journey. And it’s not over till we are over, and God is constantly writing our story and weaving His plan. This truth will help us to keep our dreams and goals from becoming idols.

What is an idol? An idol is anything that becomes the ultimate thing.  People, family, children, jobs, money, beauty, power … all can become idols.  A clean house can become an idol.  Perfectly behaved children can become an idol.  A relationship can become an idol.  Exercise or food can become an idol. Work, money, power, fame, can all become idols.  Anything other than God that becomes the ultimate thing is probably an idol.  Does that hurt?  It hurt me to write it.  Several things came to my mind that I need to examine to make sure I haven’t turned them into idols.  It is easy for good, even godly, things to become idols.  But God had some pretty strong things to say about idols.  So many of the renewed covenants of God’s people involved turning away from idols.

Now let’s look at Genesis 29:9-10 again:

            While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep.

                                                                                                 Genesis 29:9-10

What prompted his action?  He looked upon her with love; he saw her as family.  His response was an act of service, and not a simple one.  The NIV Study Bible says that Jacob’s action was “a feat of unusual strength for one man because the stone was very large.”

How ironic that the seed within him would eventually produce Another who would look on us with love, see us as family, and with extraordinary, unusual strength, roll away the ultimate stone.  Yes, Jesus was in the lineage of Jacob.  And what is our response to this?  Should we not look on others with love, see them as family members, and come to their rescue with unusual acts of service?  This is how we act like Jesus.  Today, ask the Lord what He would have you to do this week to love others.

Today’s reading is Genesis 28:1-29:35, Matthew 9:18-38, Psalm 11:1-7, and Proverbs 3:11-12.  As we continue our study of the difficult twins, Jacob and Esau, we find them in the aftermath of the blessing debacle. We find that Esau was now scrambling to make up for all the indifference he had shown toward his family.  Genesis 28:8 says, “It was now very clear to Esau that his father did not like the local Canaanite women.”  There is no telling how many times he had been told that.  But he wouldn’t listen.  It was only when he began to suffer the consequences of his squandering that he began listen.  But instead of really listening, he began to scramble.  Verse 9 tells us that Esau’s answer was to scramble and find a wife that may be acceptable.  But his scrambling to make it right did not make it right.  He visited his uncle Ishmael and requested to marry one of his daughters, in addition to the Canaanite women he already had.  So, in all points he was now attached and aligned with the unrighteous branch of the family line.  (Remember Noah’s proclamation about the Canaanites?  Remember the story of Ishmael?)  And time will show us that his unwise and unrighteous scrambling to make it right in his own way, led to many problems in future generations.

As for Jacob, he began to run.  He fled from Esau, who wanted to kill him, literally. Let’s look at Genesis 28:10-22:

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and He said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

He lay down to sleep, most definitely weary from the journey and weary from the deception. As he slept, he had a dream. In this dream, he saw a stairway. Now, in the old Sunday school/campfire songs we sang that it was a ladder. “We are climbing Jacob’s ladder….” But it wasn’t a ladder with rungs; it was more like a ziggurat with sloping stair sides. It was what the people were trying to build in the Tower of Babel. Of course, what we learned from that story was that we can’t get to God on our own. Our access to God through faith in Christ is a gift from Him, which we accept as ours. This stairway that Jacob saw was symbolic of an invitation. It was an invitation from the God of the universe to deceitful Jacob—the Lord offering to become Jacob’s God. On this stairway to heaven, Jacob saw angels ascending and descending on it. This was also acknowledged by Jesus in John 1:47-51:

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Look at verse 51 again: “You shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” When Jacob had his dream, he saw a stairway—the way to heaven. Angels were ascending and descending on the stairway. Jesus said that angels would ascend and descend on the Son of Man. Who is the Son of Man? Jesus! Why would angels ascend and descend on Him? Because He is the stairway! He is the bridge between earth and heaven, between God and man. He is the only Way, Truth, and Life! Once again, we see the foreshadowing of Jesus in this invitation between God and man. We all are extended that invitation! If you are a Christian, you have received and accepted His invitation. But even as Christians the Lord continues to extend many invitations to us. He invites us to share in His work, to spend holy time together, to experience the blessing of obedience and to walk by faith and not by sight. He invites us to lay down our burdens and follow Him. He invites us to abundant life. Today, will you accept His invitation?  Will you quit all the scrambling to make it right by yourself? God extends His invitation through Jesus to be Lord of your life and the blessed controller of all things.  That is an invitation we can’t afford to ignore.

Today’s reading includes Genesis 26:17-27:46, Matthew 9:1-17, Psalm 10:16-18, Proverbs 3:9-0.

Isaac, the promised child.  We know about his birth—finally, a son born to Abraham and Sarah!  We know about his youth—the object of sacrifice, though spared by God Himself.  We know about his adulthood—married Rebekah, who was unable to have children.  Isaac married when he was 40 years old (there’s that holy number of cleansing and preparation!)  and he pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife.  The Lord answered and Rebekah gave birth to twins!  The Lord gave a clue as to the troubles which lay ahead in Genesis 25:23

“And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations.  From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals.  One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”  Even in the womb, the brothers struggled against each other.  And the struggle continued throughout their lifetime, though in the end, they seemed to make peace with each other.”

 The story of Jacob and Esau was always confusing to me as a child.  I knew that Jacob was the chosen one.  God made that clear before they were born.  But I felt sorry for Esau.  I knew that the way Jacob tricked Isaac was wrong, and it was confusing to me that his mother, Rebekah, helped with the deception.  Honestly, it still is confusing.  But I have learned a few more things about the story since my Sunday school days. You see, Jacob was a deceiver. But Esau was a squanderer.  Esau was so wrapped up in what he wanted to do–hunting, fishing, and hanging out with the local Canaanite girls–that he didn’t seem to care much about the traditions of that time or of his family.

In the traditions of those days, the oldest son had a lot more privileges than the younger son did.  Esau was going to receive a lot more honor and material things when Isaac died.  But he didn’t seem to care about that.  One day, Esau told Jacob that if he would just give him a bowl of soup, he would give Jacob all of the rights of the first-born position.  That was not very wise of Esau, because Jacob did not forget the promise that Esau made. So, yes, Jacob was a deceiver, but he was not a thief.  Esau willing gave up his birthright for a bowl of soup.  Maybe that is why Rebekah was willing to help Jacob in the deception.  God had told her that Jacob would be in the higher place of honor, and Esau had willing squandered that place.

When I was young, I also wondered why Isaac did not just “take it back”.  Why did he not just make his words null and void and say the same thing over Esau.  Now, I don’t know all the traditions of the day.  But I have learned that in the rules of blessing, once given, it cannot be revoked.  But it can be mitigated—made less severe or painful.  To Esau’s painful plea, “Bless me—me too, my father… Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!”

And his earthly father did dig deep within himself and find another blessing to give to Esau.  He spoke of the reality to come and of hope at the end of the struggle.

“Your dwelling will be

    away from the earth’s richness,

    away from the dew of heaven above.

You will live by the sword

    and you will serve your brother.

But when you grow restless,

    you will throw his yoke

    from off your neck.”

Genesis 27:39

What is the lesson for us?  Both of these twins were sinful and selfish.  But there is a Redeemer to right all wrongs.  As we go through the Old Testament, we see each one glimpsing the consequences of their sin.  Have you been a deceiver?  I know we all do sometimes.  A glance at the perfect pictures and posts on Facebook make us all deceivers at times.  Let us repent.  Have you been a squander?  Have you squandered and ignored God’s blessings and calling on your life?  You may have missed out on some of the wonderful things God intended for you, however, if an earthly father can find another blessing for his wayward son, I know our perfect Heavenly Father can, too.

Jacob’s deception is what pushed him out the door and forced him to be on the road to Bethel, an important location in biblical days. He was actually running away from the consequences of his deceitfulness, but even in this, God worked His good plan. As Jacob was running from his self-inflicted troubles, he stopped for the night at Bethel. And tomorrow, we will learn more about how God got the attention of Jacob, the deceiver.

Today’s reading is Genesis 24:52-26:16, Matthew 8:18-34, Psalm 10:1-15, and Proverbs 3:7-8; but I confess my studying is still in Genesis 23.  There, we find Abraham in a sad moment.  Sarah, his beloved wife, the mother of his child of promise, had died.  They were in the land of Canaan when it happened, specifically at Hebron.  Hebron is mentioned 87 times in the Bible, and is the world’s oldest Jewish community.  We find out in Joshua 21 that Hebron was given to the Levites, the priests, and later God Himself gives Hebron to king David as the capital of his kingdom (2 Samuel 2:1).  Hebron is also known as one of the cities of refuge, a place where one could run to safety if they accidentally killed a man.

It was there Abraham mourned.  This is the first recorded moment in the Bible in which a man shed tears.  He mourned for the one he loved and it was right for him to do so.  It is right to mourn when we lose those things that are precious to us.

He went to the leaders of that area and said, “Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you.  Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial.”  Abraham had earned a reputation of respect throughout the land.  The leaders replied, “Listen, my Lord, you are an honored prince among us.  Choose the finest of our tombs and bury her there.  No one here will refuse to help you in this way.”

But Abraham refused.  He did not refuse out of pride.  He bowed low before them, indicating his respectful stance.  Scholars have many opinions as to why he refused.  Some say it was because he was a wealthy man and it was right and just for him to pay the full price.  He would not accept a handout when he had the ability to pay. In the end, Abraham paid an exorbitant price, 400 pieces of silver—the full price of the land and the cave in which he buried Sarah.

Abraham’s insistence upon paying the full, outrageous price could also have been another moment of realizing he could not be beholding to the Canaanites, lest they rule over him.

Matthew Henry points out that this was the first piece of property Abraham owned in the land God had promised.  He is referred to as a foreigner and stranger until this moment of purchase, but never after.  When you own land in a region, you earn the right be a legitimate part of the area.  He had finally invested in the land God had promised him.

Keith Krell, an associate professor at Moody Bible Institute, had this to say:  “It took a death for Abraham to begin possessing God’s promises. We possess the riches of God by our death with Jesus Christ (Eph 2:3-7). We must live daily with a view of death (Gal 6:14; Luke 9:23).”

It takes death to tap into the promises of God.  It is ironic that Abraham had to buy that which was already his.  In fact, the whole land was his—promised and given by God.  And yet, his buying what was already his is reflective of what God did on our behalf.

Colossians 1: 16 tells us, “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible…”  If you create something, it is rightfully yours.  The whole earth and everything in it is rightfully God’s. And yet, He bought back what was already his with the greatest payment of all—the blood of Jesus.  And once that payment is applied to His people, nothing can snatch them away.  It is rightfully His.  We are rightfully His when we place our trust and faith in the blood of Jesus and his resurrection–the full, outrageous payment.

Yes, it takes death to tap into the promises of God.  God promised in Genesis 3:15 that a Savior would come to crush the head of Satan.  But it took a death to tap into that promise.  The death of Jesus.  We, too, can tap into the many promises of God, but it will take a death on our part—dying to sin, dying to self.

Sometimes it takes a death to fully understand the promises of comfort and strength and peace that passes understanding.  If we don’t understand our need of those things, we can’t fully experience them.  Reach out to God in your grief, whether large or small grief.  You will find Him faithful.  Jesus died so you may experience this and all the promises of God.

Tapping into these promises during your days of death, when you are walking in the shadow of the valley of death, is an investment in your spiritual future.  You will know where to go when other griefs come.  You will own the promises and can go back and tap into them time and time again.

Abraham now owned a tiny piece of the land promised to him.  And this ownership would grow over time, throughout the generations.  It was in this land Abraham was also buried.  It was in this land Isaac and Rebekah and Jacob and Leah were buried.  The most important patriarchs and matriarchs of our faith were buried in that tiny plot of land that Abraham paid full price for.

Our faith, especially when we are walking in the valley of the shadow of death, is an investment into our future generations.  Just as a seed is buried before it can grow into a fruitful planting, so in every grief, God can bring about great glory, great fruitfulness for the future.

It is appropriate that our patriarchs of faith were buried in Hebron, the city of refuge.  For it is by faith that we, too find our refuge in Christ alone.  We, too, are guilty of manslaughter, as our sins killed Jesus.  And yet, He has paid the exorbitant price to save us and be our refuge.

The beautiful lyrics of Death Was Arrested, by North Point Insideout, sum up the truth and joy of Christ has done for us:

Alone in my sorrow dead in my sin

Lost without hope with no place to begin

Your love made a way to let mercy come in

When death was arrested and my life began

Ash was redeemed only beauty remains

My orphan heart was given a name

My mourning grew quiet my feet rose to dance

When death was arrested and my life began

Oh your grace so free

Washes over me

You have made me new

Now life begins with you

It’s your endless love

Pouring down on us

You have made us new

Now life begins with you

Released from my chains I’m a prisoner no more

My shame was a ransom he faithfully bore

He cancelled my debt and he called me his friend

When death was arrested and my life began

Our savior displayed on a criminal’s cross

Darkness rejoiced as though heaven had lost

But then Jesus arose with our freedom in hand

That’s when death was arrested and my life began

That’s when death was arrested and my life began

Oh we’re free free

Forever we’re free

Come join the song

Of all the redeemed

Yes we’re free free

Forever amen

When death was arrested

and my life began

Today’s reading includes Genesis 23:1-24:51, Matthew 8:1-17, Psalm 9:13-20, and Proverbs 3:1-6.  However, there is still so much good stuff in Genesis 22, I am camped out there today.

After Isaac was born, Abraham was very happy.   After many years of waiting, God had finally fulfilled His promise with his son, Isaac.  But one day, God asked Abraham to do something very difficult.  He told Abraham to take Isaac to the hills of Moriah, and offer him as a sacrifice.

When Abraham laid Isaac on that altar, he was offering his own flesh and blood.  He was offering himself.  If you are a parent, you understand how our children are such a huge part of us.  In fact, I am sure that Abraham would have been much happier to climb up on that pile of wood and set himself ablaze rather than to have to tie his Long-Awaited Promise to that altar.  And yet, he obeyed.

Truthfully, in the past I have simply ignored this story.  In the past, I felt a lot like a little boy in my Sunday school class. When I was teaching this story of Abraham and Isaac, at the point when God called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the little boy said, “Gosh, that was mean of God!”  I quickly tried to explain the reason so that he would understand.  Our misunderstanding sometimes causes us to question the character of God.  Since my heart is so in love with God, I don’t like that feeling of misunderstanding to surface, so I tend to just ignore that part of the Bible.  I am not proud to confess this.  It is not the right approach.

Thankfully, God has really been changing that in me in the past decade. If we truly understand the nature and character of God and His complete everlasting lovingkindness, mingled with a holy fierceness—then we won’t fear what the Bible says, as if somehow we would have to make excuses for God and Who He is.   Forgive me, Lord, for times I have felt the need to be God’s PR person, His image manager.  He doesn’t need me in that position.  We don’t need to manage His image; we need to realize that we were made in His image and need to be transformed to look more and more like Him.  When we feel misunderstanding arise, we should simply say, “Give me eyes to see and ears to hear.”  Jesus is in the business of making the blind to see and the deaf to hear.  He can do that literally or spiritually!

So that is what I did.  I asked him to help me to see, hear, and understand this story.  I read and studied and prayed.  And slowly, I had a different understanding of the “mean” story.  Let’s look at Genesis 22.

Genesis 22:1 says, “some time later…”  Some time later means that Abram had gotten some mileage in with God.  He had been walking with God for a while.  He had cut a covenant with God, God had changed his name to Abraham, which meant “Father of Many”; and that process of becoming the meaning of his name had begun because the promised son, Isaac, had been born. But we can’t assume that walking with God will keep us from pain or problems.  It won’t.  But it will give us strength and courage to face the pain and problems that will inevitably come.  God called, “Abraham!”  God called Abraham by name, by his new covenantal name.  And Abraham responded.  His immediate response was the response of a servant.

He had already learned that the faith-filled response is always “Here I am.”  Moses said it, Samuel said it, Isaiah said it, Abraham said it, and most importantly, Jesus said it.  “Here I am to do your will and to do it in your way.”  That is the only acceptable response.  The Holman Concise Bible Commentary puts it this way:

Within a few years the Lord tested Abraham by commanding him to offer his covenant son as a                         burnt offering.  The intent was to teach Abraham that covenant blessing requires total covenant commitment and obedience.  The narrative also stresses that covenant obedience brings fresh bestowal of covenant blessings. Abraham’s willingness to surrender his son guaranteed all the more the fulfillment of God’s promises to him. 

Again, look at Genesis 22:1: “Some time later, God tested…”  God tested, not tempted.  God does not tempt us, as we learn from James 1:13.  God tests us to confirm our faith, to burn off the impurities.  God wants to solidify in our minds our faith and our commitment.

After all those years, Abraham finally trusted God and His covenantal promises.  He had learned to trust God even when he didn’t understand everything.  So Abraham immediately obeyed God.  The next morning he set out on a three-day journey to the hills of Moriah with Isaac with some of his young servants, and plenty of wood for the altar.

When they arrived at the mountain that God had told him about, Abraham left the young men below and took Isaac and the wood with him.  Though he didn’t understand God’s request, he still obeyed.  He spoke in faith when he told his young servants, “You stay here; we are going on ahead to worship God, and we will come back to you.”  Hebrews 11:19 tells us that Abraham reasoned that even if God made him sacrifice Isaac, then surely He was powerful enough to bring him back to life again.  This is significant because it had not yet been recorded that God had actually done this.  This is before Jesus rose from the dead, before Jesus raised Lazarus or any others.  This was faith speaking.

As they were going up the mountain, Isaac asked Abraham, “Where is the lamb that we will use for the sacrifice?”  Abraham replied, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”  We see the importance of speaking out our faith.  Our words can derail our faith.  We must be careful what we speak.

When they arrived at the place God sent them, Abraham built an altar there.  He placed the wood on the altar. He tied up Isaac, his only son, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.  Just as Abraham had lifted up the knife in his hand, an angel of the Lord called from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”  In his toughest hour, God called him by name.

And Abraham said, “Here I am.”

God said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’”

Suddenly Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket.  In a foreshadowing of what was to come and at just the right time, God Himself provided the sacrifice needed.  So Abraham took the ram and offered it up as burnt offering instead of his son.

Now that may seem like a strange story to you.  Why would God tell Abraham to sacrifice his only son?  There are two reasons for God’s strange request:  A test of promise and A word of prophecy.

First, let’s look at A test of promise. Remember that God had made a covenant, or unending promise, with Abraham.  Now that God had given Abraham what He had promised, He needed to test Abraham’s heart to make sure that Isaac was not more important than God in Abraham’s heart.  God should always have first place in our hearts above everything and everyone else.  When Abraham obeyed God, even when He asked him to do something so hard, God knew that He had first place in Abraham’s heart.

Next, A word of prophecy:  A word of prophecy means God revealing His plans for the future.  It is sort of like previews at the movie theater.  At the beginning of the movie, you see clips of movies that are coming soon.  You don’t see the whole movie, just a little bit to encourage you to be excited about what is to come.  A word of prophecy is sort of like that.  Now, let’s remember some facts about the story:

• God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son as a sacrificial lamb.  This son had to carry the wood for the sacrifice.
• God told Abraham to go to the hills of Moriah.
• God told Abraham to travel for three days to get there.
• At just the right time, God Himself provided the needed sacrifice.

If we fast-forward in history, we see that this situation was a preview of what was to come.

• God sacrificed His only Son as a sacrificial lamb. He too had to carry His own wood, the cross.
• Jesus died on the cross, on one of the hills of Moriah.
• Jesus stayed dead for three days before he defeated sin and death forever at the Resurrection.
• At just the right time, God Himself provided the only acceptable sacrifice to cover our sin.

You see, God wasn’t really asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son.  God was telling the world that He was going to sacrifice His only Son, Jesus, because God loves the world so much! What in your life are you holding onto, scared to let go of?  Lay it down.  Offer it to God as a sacrifice, knowing that He can be trusted with the most sacred and precious treasures of your heart.