Our Ram

The year was 1859 BC. Abraham was 137 years old and Isaac was 37. Isaac was the treasure of his parents because his birth had been miraculous. But now, God asked Abraham to display his faith in the coming Messiah and offer his son for a burnt offering on Mt. Moriah.

As they walked together up the hill, Isaac asked, “Father, here is the fire and wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “My son, God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” And He did.

When the altar was ready, Abraham bound Isaac and lifted the knife. But God spared Isaac by providing a ram that caught in the nearby thickets. The enactment of the Cross was done. Abraham called the name of that place, “Jehovah-Jireh” meaning, “In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen (fulfilled).”

Two-thousand years later, Jesus died on that same mount Moriah, also called Mt. Calvary, for the sins of the world. And the Bible says, “God, who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things” (Romans 8:32). Jesus is our Ram of Substitution, taking our penalty of sin, in exchange for His righteousness and eternal life.

But to complete the story, Isaac is not seen again until he comes to meet His bride in the field (Genesis 24). And Jesus, since His ascension, has been waiting for all who will receive Him as LORD and Savior. He will come to meet us “in the air” and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

The hour is late, the invitation has gone to the ends of the earth, literally. Very soon someone will shout, “Look, the Bridegroom comes!”

(Devotional by Lisa Cataford)