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The Destination! - God Provided Himself
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God Provided Himself by Julie Pisacane
When studying the Bible it pays to look at each and every word that is written therein. Samuel was one of those who held the Word of God in such high esteem.
1 Samuel 3:19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and DID LET NONE OF HIS (Gods) WORDS FALL TO THE GROUND.
It is when we hold God's words in such reverence that He reveals to us the deep truths of that are in His Word. In looking at the story of Abraham's willingness to offer Isaac his son we find hidden in the wording the greatest truth of the Bible.
Genesis 22:1-12 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 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. 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
Have you spotted it? I admit I had read this passage many times before it hit me. Oh my, what an astounding truth. This is the truth that the whole world needs to embrace. If we can grasp it; if we will allow it to permeate the innermost recesses of our being we can never be the same again.
Notice the story is of Abraham taking his son Isaac to put him to death for a sacrifice to God. God has commanded him to do this to test his faith. God has never intended that Abraham go through with this but it is to teach Abraham something and you and I something. The journey is over 3 days long and the lad keeps wondering. Where is the animal that my father is going to sacrifice? They come to the mount. "Where is the sacrifice?". Up the hill they go. Isaac is saying to himself "I've got the wood and dad has the knife, but where is the sacrifice?" They reach the top and Isaac can contain himself no longer. "Dad, where is the sacrifice?" It is in the answer that Abraham gives to Isaac in verse 8 that we find the greatest truth of the Bible. It is not in the fact that God is going to spare Isaac and use a ram instead. It is not that Abraham was willing to go all the way with God and it is not in Isaac's willingness to be the ultimate sacrifice. The greatest truth in the Bible is found in just 4 words in verse 8.
"GOD WILL PROVIDE HIMSELF". Do you realize the truth that is revealed here. Verse 8 would have made perfect sense if the word "himself" had been omitted. The truth of God's word would not have suffered at all. God did provide a ram which is a grown lamb. The insertion of the word "himself" is deliberate. It is there, under the inspiration of God, to reveal in the Old Testament a truth unknown until after the crucifixion. John wrote "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." (Jn. 1:1) In John 1:14 we find written "And the Word was made flesh--". We find in Matthew 1:23 "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, GOD WITH US." In 1 Tim. 3:26 we find written "--GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH--".
The greatest truth of the Bible then is this. God robed Himself in mortal flesh to become the "Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world"(John 1:29. God loved us so much that He died in our place in the person of Jesus Christ. GOD PROVIDED HIMSELF as that perfect sinless sacrifice.
Lord, I ask you to reveal your great truths to all of us that we may grow thereby. Oh Lord my God I thank you for being willing to die in my place for my sin that I might enjoy your great glory and beauty throughout eternity. Oh my God if there is anyone who reads this that has not embraced this greatest of all truths, I pray that you will speak to their heart and bear witness to your truth. In Jesus matchless name. AMEN
This study presented by Brother Dwight.
Feel free to share these with your loved ones.
Poetry Corner
My Deliverer
Hurt
hated,
suffered,
wept.
King of
glory
conquered
death.
Souls
restored
by
one
known as
The
Lamb of
God.
He is
The
beginning
and
the end...
my
deliverer
and trusted
friend.
"Merciful Lord,
lift
up my
soul."
Julie Pisacane © 2006
Psalm 25:20 O keep my soul,
and deliver me:
let me not be ashamed;
for I put my trust in thee.
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