Genesis 22:13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
After Adam and Eve sinned, God promised that one day he would send someone to destroy the serpent, Satan. Then the Bible says that God sacrificed an animal for Adam and Eve and used their skins to cover them up with clothing. And that was the very first animal sacrifice.
Years later God chose a sort of new Adam and Eve to be his people – Abraham and Sarah. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great big nation with millions of family members someday. But there was a big problem, Abraham and Sarah didn’t have any children. Not a single one. And they weren’t getting any younger.
But then God gave Abraham and Sarah a son, Isaac. Abraham loved Isaac so much. He was God’s promise to Abraham. And they lived happily ever after.
Not yet.
One day, God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac back to God. That sounds terrible, doesn’t it? Just like God sacrificed an animal to cover up for Adam and Eve, now Abraham was being asked to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, up on the mountain to cover up for his sins. This was a very hard thing for God to ask of Abraham, but Abraham knew that he was a sinner and that his son would have to die to pay for his sins. Abraham also had great faith. The New Testament says that Abraham believed that God would bring Isaac back to life. Abraham trusted that somehow God would keep his promise.
But God didn’t bring Isaac back to life. Why not? Because Isaac didn’t die that day! Instead God provided a ram in Isaac’s place. Read Genesis 22:13 again. What is a ram? A ram is an adult male sheep. Rams were an important part of life when Abraham lived. Rams with their big horns represented power and strength. Their horns were used as trumpets and their skins for making clothes. The powerful ram became the substitute for Isaac that day on the mountain. That strong ram got caught in a thicket by its horns. That powerful ram was powerless to escape. So it died that day in Isaac’s place.
Hundreds of years later Jesus would die for all of our sins on that same mountain. The most powerful person ever let himself get caught and nailed to the cross. The strongest man to ever live, the commander of all the armies of Heaven, let himself be nailed to the cross for us. Jesus the only son of God, like Isaac, would go up that same mountain as the ram of God. The adult male sheep that will take away the sins of the whole world (not just Abraham).
But until that day would come, God’s people would have to wait for Jesus’ advent. His arrival.
Questions: Abraham had to trust that the ram could replace Isaac his son. Do you believe that Jesus has replaced you, that he died in your place? If you do believe this, can you let others know that you believe in Jesus as your savior?
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