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By Pastor Bob
Genesis 22:7 And Isaac spake
unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am
I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is
the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 14 And
Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to
this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. 15 And the angel of the
LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself
have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast
not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That
in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as
the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is
upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And
in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast
obeyed my voice.
Jesus told the Pharisees that Abraham rejoiced
to see His day., and he saw it, and was glad. Jesus said before Abraham was “I
AM.” How could Abraham have seen Jesus and then and then Jesus say this?
What does this have to do with communion?
We can see the working of God. Things were going well for
Abraham and Sara. for a change. Why then would God tell him to take his son,
build an altar, and sacrifice him to the Lord? Imagine what went through
Abraham’s mind, but he didn’t doubt God and headed to the mountains of Moriah.
Verse one says that God was tempting (testing) Abraham. He would be the father
of the nation that would provide the earthly way for our eternal life. It
almost seems like God was trying to change his own plans. However God’s eternal
plan continued to work. As we will see, God was doing more than testing
Abraham's faith and commitment, He was about to reveal to His servant one the
greatest visions of all time. And God also wanted to share with Abraham what
lay ahead for Him and His Son, and His feelings about it as well. As they got
close to the mountain Isaac saw the wood and the fire and asked his father
where the sacrifice was. Abraham would not have done anything to upset his only
son; he simply told him God would provide himself a sacrifice. He did not want
to put doubt of any kind into his son’s heart. Though Abraham didn't know
exactly how or why, he did know God, and that God could be trusted in
everything He commanded, regardless of our feelings or thoughts about it.
The mountains of Moriah
are many miles north of Beersheba,
where Abraham lived. He would pass a little town called Ephrata which would
later be known as Bethlehem. The Moriah
mountain range was 2,800 feet in elevation and consisted of four mountains.
They formed a circle around a raised plateau upon which the tiny city of Salem existed. The first
on the east side was Moriah. Directly north of there was Mt. Ophel.
On the other side of Ophel was Mt.
Bezethra, to the north.
Finally, directly across from Moriah to the west was Mt. Akra.
Abraham was familiar with both these little mountains and the small town of Salem on the plateau below.
He knew the King (mayor) there, who was the town priest as well. His name was Melchisedec.
Abraham wondered what to do but went on and built the
altar. He put the wood on it. He bound up Isaac and placed him on the altar.
I’m sure as he raised that dagger there were tears in his eyes. Maybe he told
Isaac he was sorry but it was what God told him to do. Isaac may have told him
that if that was what God wanted it was okay. It probably took all Abraham had
to raise his arm. Just as he began to fulfill God’s direction a voice told him
not to harm Isaac. Abraham looked around and a ram was in the thicket. God did
provide that substitute for Isaac. He unbound his son and offered the ram to
the Lord.
As the voice of God spoke to them there, they looked around
at all the neighboring mountains around them. And with the Lord was saying,
these mountains and the town below began to take on very exciting and
incredible meanings. The mountain on which he and Isaac were was Moriah then,
but would soon be called Mt.
Zion. Centuries later God
would direct Abraham's descendant, King David, to build the temple and the Holy
of Holies would be built on the very spot where Abraham built this altar.
Ophel would be known as the Mount of Olives,
across which God's Son would make His Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem riding a donkey. Mount Bezetha
would be known as Mt. Scopius, whose foothill toward the gate of the city
would be called Golgotha,
where the Romans would execute criminals by crucifixion. There the Son, the
Savior, would be sacrificed for our sins. Abraham saw the place where God would
not, could not, draw back His hand; He would let his son die. Akra would be the
hill across which would run the Emmaus Road.
At the foot of the little mountain, just
within the city walls would be a little two-story house whose upstairs would
be called the Upper Room. It was here Jesus gathered with his disciples just
before his death. It is the place where three days later the disciples would
tell Thomas they had seen the Lord. From Mt. Moriah,
both Abraham and Isaac could look south along the valley toward Ephrata, 5
miles in the distance. Ephrata means "fertile". Soon it would be
known as Bethlehem,
"House of Bread". It would be just outside this little town, that the
fertility of God' Grace would be seen as His Son would make His entrance into
this world, being born in a stable.
No wonder he called this place Jehovah-jirah-"for it
shall be seen." Abraham saw HIS day and rejoiced. Jesus told them that
before Abraham “I AM.” In the mountain of the Lord there is a providing—for you
and for me. For everyone who will believe. As we look down at the bread and the
cup of the communion, we hear the voice of God as well. And we, too, see. Glory
to God in the highest. I am HE that was dead and behold I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE.
May God help us to SEE.
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Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 