Look, The Fire & Wood But Where is the Lamb?....♡♡♡

"Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the Knife to slay his son" - Genesis 22:9-10

When I was growing up, my parents would pretty much take me wherever they liked. Sometimes, there was no question such as; do you want to come? unless it was a place they wouldn't have us children be. Nowadays, children could probably get away with having thier say, but in my own time never! "who born you?" excuse my French. "Go get dressed, we are going out, to so and so place" . You can't say "but mummy I don't want to see aunty Muria today" or "Daddy I really don't want uncle Jo, pulling my chin today and singing that kuchi kuchi little little, girl girl song, he always sings" or that aunty never offers us anything to drink when we go to hers. At a certain age, our parents pretty much plan our lives. From school, to church, to everything they think best for us. When you think about that carefully, there is a vulnerability to that. I mean if they made bad choices, it would impact you. On the bright side, thier good choices will also benefit you too. Whatever the case, all of thier choices impact your life.

So imagine where Isaac was in his mind, on this day when his father tells him they are going yonder to worship. I don't imagine that this was the first of that kind of journey. But then something interesting happens on this particular day. Abraham turns to the young men with him, and says this will be the end of the road for them. Men, I imagine in the past had helped carry all of the things meant for sacrifice and helped with everything else required. He and his son will continue on from there. Scripture tells us that, Abraham takes the wood of the burnt offering and lays it on Isaac, takes the fire in his hand, and a knife and only both of them left journeying on together. Genesis 22:6. I mean, you can be sure Isaac was puzzled. "What is going on here?" 

"But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And He said, "Here I am son." Then he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burn offering?" And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the Lamb for a burn offering." So the two of them went together" - Genesis 22:8 - WOW

What a gentle young man. A lot of us would have been in serious panic mode. It's the way he asks it "Look the fire and the wood but where is the lamb?.." lol, as though Abraham was not himself holding the fire and the knife in his own hand. "Wait, is this what I am thinking it is?" But you see, this young lad as they journeyed surrendered one moment at a time? As if Isaac had not begun to surrender one moment at a time, there was no way he would lay there bare bound without any kind of wrestling with his dad on that day. It would have been mission gone wrong in many ways.....

"Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the Knife to slay his son" - Genesis 22:9-10 - WOW

The young lad laid there. I know we talk a lot about how willing Abraham was to sacrifice his only son. We also talk about how this story is a foreshadow of God and his son Jesus laying his life for us. But let's think about how Isaac was also willing to surrender completely on that altar at that moment. In what some could have thought the most betraying moment between the duo. As Abraham binds this precious son of his; the child of promise, he had waited so many years to birth. Probably relayed the waiting story to Isaac a couple of times; with Isaac feeling a lot like the golden child. 

Yet, this golden child would be helpless upon that altar in Mount Moriah that day. In what felt like a sudden twist, no more servants, he would be carrying wood on his back, and the next he's being laid out on the wood, with his dad stretching a knife to kill him. How did that escalate so quickly? He had this all planned out. He even had the other men stop at a certain place, so he could do what he wanted to do very well. How creepy one could think lol. In this day and age, that kind of thing would certainly be classed as trauma, with Isaac requiring a lot of therapy afterwards. My Dad? How could he? But you see God did provide the lamb in the end. He stopped Abraham from slaying his son. In a sense, Abraham was right when he said to Isaac, that the Lord will provide. So though Isaac was bound with a knife stretched towards him by the one who claimed to love him: love and trust was redefined at that moment on that day, on that altar in Mount Moriah. So what can we learn about our own lives too?

You see, though from time to time we may encounter confusing moments in our journey ourselves, we can still trust God completely. Both on days when you feel like a golden child and others when you don't. On days when your normal may have been interrupted by something much more puzzling. You can still trust the tender hands of the Lord leading you ever so gently. Look the fire, look the wood? but where is the Lamb? The Lord indeed provides everything we need on the altar of our sacrificial unflinching trust. We can learn a lot from Isaac in this regard. Isaac surrendered, bound on that altar of wood, for something he didn't even understand in the first pace. Yet he learned from that day onwards, that he could trust his dad even in the most horrifying, betraying and confusing of circumstances. The lesson here is:

                                                                  Surrender 🖤

Love

Shay