God Will Provide Yehovah Yireh

Bible Passage: Genesis 22:1-19

I. Introductory information:

1. Abraham was living in Beersheva which is about 102 kms from the Temple Mount
2. God gave Isaac to Abraham
3. God’s covenantal promises were going to be fulfilled through Isaac

II. God demands from Abraham an expensive burnt offering—Isaac his son (verses 1-2)

1. The purpose of this demand is to test Abraham (Gen 22:1)

a. Look at the expression “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you (verse 2)”
b. The test is about how much Abraham got attached to God’s blessing compared to his attachment to God
c. And, how serious his commitment to God!

2. From this narrative, the narrator shows us how “fear of God” and “obedience to God” go hand in hand from

III. According to the narrator, Abraham does not reason with God regarding His demand (verses 3-4)

1. Abraham showed no hesitancy to obey God’s demand how much ever big and expensive it might have
2. The passage does not indicate if Abraham agonized over the demand or bigness of the sacrifice (verse 3-4)

a. Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey
b. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac
c. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about
d. On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place in the distance (verse 4 they walked three days from Beersheba to Jerusalem)

3. Abraham calls his obedience “worship” (verse 5)
a. Abraham said to his servants, “You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there
b. We will worship and then return to you

4. All along Isaac had been silent but an active participant of his dad’s mission (verse 6)

a. Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac
b. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together
c. Isaac was not an ignorant baby boy; he was a young man who knew what he and his dad are upto (prefigures Jesus Christ)

5. Abraham teaches his son, Isaac, basic things about God, faith, and obedience

a. God will provide (verse 8)
b. Faith is to believe what God says and what He demands (verse 8)
c. Isaac did not seem to push back his dad’s plan to sacrifice him on the altar
d. Abraham tied up Isaac and placed him on the altar (verse 9) and reached out to his knife (verse 10)

6. God provided a substitution (verses 11-13)

a. A male sheep in the place of Isaac
b. Isaac was unharmed; almost died; but came back to life
c. God’s covenant promises would continue unharmed (15-18)
d. With what God provided, Isaac and his generations would like

7. Abraham calls this place “Jehovah Jireh”

a. It became a place where the Jews commemorated annually God’s substitutionary provision for Abraham and Isaac
b. They also commemorated Isaac being almost sacrificed and got His life back
c. During their commemoration, they would always remember “Jehovah Jireh”—ultimately, it’s the LORD who provides
d. Sacrificing an animal annually did not necessarily mean that they sacrificed it to God, but they reminded themselves that God would provide for them
e. The nation Israel was to be grateful that it’s because of the LORD’s provision they continue to exist

IV. Lessons

1. Faith obeys the word of God even if it conflicts with our understanding and our preferences
2. A true worshipper of God does not hold anything back from God, but obediently gives Him what He asks, by trusting that God will provide all his needs
3. Faith surrenders the best to God, holding nothing back

V. This incident and annual commemoration pointed to God putting up His Son, Jesus, on the cross

1. Romans 3:25 God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin (NLT)
2. Romans 8:31-32 God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
3. God provided the ram so that Isaac would like; in the same way, God provided Jesus that you and I will live

a. Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)
b. Jesus said that he came “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45)

Takeaway:

Give to God what He asks because God is the ultimate provider

1. Obey God without a protest
2. Give God without a question
3. Trust God completely for your provisions