Date of message: 06 July 2003 Issue 101

Subject: The Perfect Sacrifice

Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
1. Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.
The above two verses are taken from Psalms 103: 1-2. What a great way to start another year of sharing His word and I want to give Him all the praise and the glory.
When the Lord cut the covenant with Abraham (read Genesis 15: 12 -21 and also the message for last Sunday 29 June 2003), I am glad He sent Abraham to sleep thus paving the way for the Lord Jesus to come and perform the honors on his and our behalf. God the Father knew that Abraham could never keep his part of the covenant and therefore had already planned it in His heart from the very beginning to send His Son Jesus to come and to take our place through death in fulfillment of the covenant.
Many years later, God blessed Abraham and his wife Sarah with a son Isaac and when he was already a young man, God decided to test Abraham's faith (Genesis 22: 1-19).
1. Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
2. Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
3. So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
4. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.
5. And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad (young man) and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you."
6. So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.
7. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." Then Isaac said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
8. And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." So the two of them went together.
9. 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.
10. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11. But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am."
12. And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad (young man), or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
13. Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
14. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of the LRD it shall be provided."
15. Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,
16. and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son
17. Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
19. So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
Abraham was living in Beersheba at the time when the LORD called him to go to the mountains of Moriah in Jerusalem. Moriah, a mountain range in Jerusalem, consisted of Mount Zion, the Temple Mount and Mount Calvary and we were there last year when we visited Jerusalem. From Beersheba in the south to Jerusalem, riding on camel and donkey, one would require three days but with modern transportation, it would probably take three hours instead.
It is interesting to read the account recorded for us in the Bible by the Holy Spirit and not find all the arguments probably put up by Abraham when the LORD gave him those instructions to sacrifice his son. As a father, I know I would have put up some sort of argument with the LORD and I would have given countless reasons and excuses why it should not be so.
It is comforting to know that the Holy Spirit chose not to reveal Abraham's weakness but to record the whole account as if it were God the Father who was making the sacrifice in place of Abraham. In fact, I have intentionally highlighted the phrases "your son, your only son" to bring up the emphasis of the LORD in describing His own Son, His ONLY Son. Three times in this passage we read how dearly the Father loves His Son.
It is significant that the word 'love' was used here in this passage for the first time in the whole Bible and it is in the context of the love He has for His own Son, His ONLY Son. Just as Abraham only had one son (Ishmael was not recognized by God as Abraham's son since he was not the promised son) and he loved Isaac very much, God loves Jesus His ONLY Son with a passion.
It must have ached Abraham in his heart when He heard the Lord asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac on the mountains of Moriah but once he decided to be obedient, Abraham trusted the LORD to perform the miracle for him - even the miracle of bringing Isaac back to life if the situation presented itself. And so we read of his great statement of faith in verse 5 when he instructed his servants to wait at the foot of the mountains for their (his and Isaac's) return.
Abraham painfully bound his son Isaac on the makeshift altar and gotten ready to plunge the knife into the heart of Isaac when the Angel of the LORD intervened and stayed his hand. And just at the right moment, Abraham turned around and saw a ram caught in the thickets behind him on the mountain. The LORD provided a sacrifice for Abraham as he had told Isaac.
Praise the LORD that He prevented Abraham from plunging the knife into Isaac's heart but there was no one to prevent Him from sacrificing His own Son when He sent Jesus to die on the cross two thousand years ago. In fact some of the old manuscripts omit the word 'for' in verse 8 - 'And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering."'
Because Abraham obeyed the LORD and was willing to sacrifice Isaac, even though he did not actually sacrifice Isaac, God the Father considered his obedience as a done deal and there was enough ground for the Father to legitimize His own plan of sending Jesus to be our Substitute. In verse 19, we read that Abraham returned to his young men and they returned to Beersheba. Isaac was not mentioned in that verse even though he was present physically because, in the eyes of the Holy Spirit, Isaac was sacrificed there on Mount Moriah.
The actual site where Abraham built the altar for the sacrifice was on the Temple Mount (today the Dome of the Rock sits atop the mount and it is a hotly contested piece of ground between the Arabs and the Israelis) and it is believed that the ram that was caught in the thickets was standing on Mount Calvary which is only a short distance away (probably about two hundred metres or so away). It is significant because Jesus was crucified on Mount Calvary and the place where Abraham built the altar was actually the same spot where King Solomon built the Temple for the LORD. Even the location of the sacrifice had been fulfilled to the letter.
God the Father had the Salvation Plan right at the very beginning of time. When He gave Adam (and mankind) free choice, He also provided the answer for his salvation. How great His love for you and I. The choice is now before you. You can choose Life or you can reject His plan for your life. Choose wisely for it will affect the way you will end up for eternity. Rejection of what Jesus had done for us on the cross signifies the rejection of God's Gift of salvation and if one rejects the Gift, there is therefore no more hope.
Choose Life and put your faith in our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. Received Jesus into your life and He will come into your heart and give you eternal life. By believing in Jesus and receiving His Holy Spirit into our lives, God confers on us the position of sons and daughters in His Family, special positions reserved only for those whom He loves dearly (John 1: 12).
The Lord cannot lie. For Him, whatever He speaks come to pass and He had promised us in the Bible that those who have put their trust in Him will not be condemned but have passed from death into life (Romans 8: 1).
Pray this simple prayer and invite Him into your heart and immediately you will experience the peace of Jesus coming your way.
O Father, our heavenly Father, thank you that You loved us so much that You were willing to send Your Son, Your Only Son, the Son that You love so dearly to come and to die for all our sins. Thank you that You already had that great plan of salvation even from the foundations of creation to send Jesus to fulfill all the requirements of the Law so that we can enjoy all His blessings.
Lord Jesus, thank you that You became that Sacrificial Lamb for us and because of Your death, the judicial righteousness of the Father had been satisfied. And now, because You rose from the dead, we, who believe in You as our Lord and Savior, will no longer have to die but we receive Your eternal life. Thank you for coming into my heart and making my heart Your home.
Thank you that I am now a child of God the Father and as His child, I am now eternally forgiven, greatly blessed, highly favored, deeply loved and completely protected in the Lord and in the most precious name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha' Mashiah, I pray.
Amen.
If you have prayed this prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important that you are not alone facing your personal trials but that you can obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together? You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father, for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
Start receiving the blessings of the Father as you walk with Him in faith. It is your inheritance in Christ and He wants you to start enjoying these blessings right now and there is more from where they come from.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace. Numbers 6: 24 -26

Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee

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