It will be provided

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 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 he 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, 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 Lord 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 had heard the voice of the Lord enough that he knew it when he heard it. The Lord is now further polishing Abraham’s faith, so it will shine like gold.

In the Garden, God took the life of an animal instead of Adam and Eve’s life. The animal died so that they might be clothed.

And the principle of the sacrifice was revealed.

Cain and Abel sacrificed. Noah sacrificed. And Abraham sacrificed.

Underlying it all is Abraham’s faith - “God will provide” - Jehovah will see to it. Jehovah-jireh

So Abraham arose early. He knew that the seed who would redeem the world would come through Isaac. He knew that God commanded him to sacrifice Isaac.

He had no way of knowing how that would resolve itself, but he knew that God was able to raise the dead if that is what it took to fulfill his promise.

So Abraham goes.

It is a two day journey. The longest two days of Abraham’s life.

When Isaac sees the wood, the fire, the knife - he knows that a sacrifice is being offered. But where is the offering?

Abraham answers - God himself will provide the offering.

He isn’t just trying to brush Isaac off or keep secrets. He is professing his faith.

God will provide.

Hebrews 11:17–19 NKJV

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

When the Angel stops the hand of Abraham, Abraham looks up - and sees a ram caught in a thicket.

And he offers that up “instead of Isaac”. The substitute was provided.

And Abraham called the place “The Lord will provide” and said, “In the mount of the Lord, it will be provided.”

Next Text.

1 Chronicles 21 NKJV

1 Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.” 3 And Joab answered, “May the Lord make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?” 4 Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem. 5 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and Judah had four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword. 6 But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king’s word was abominable to Joab. 7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore He struck Israel. 8 So David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” 9 Then the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, 10 “Go and tell David, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” 11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Choose for yourself, 12 either three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the Lord—the plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.” 13 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” 14 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the Lord looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. 17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, O Lord my God, be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.” 18 Therefore, the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David that David should go and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 So David went up at the word of Gad, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. 20 Now Ornan turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves, but Ornan continued threshing wheat. 21 So David came to Ornan, and Ornan looked and saw David. And he went out from the threshing floor, and bowed before David with his face to the ground. 22 Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar on it to the Lord. You shall grant it to me at the full price, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.” 23 But Ornan said to David, “Take it to yourself, and let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes. Look, I also give you the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing implements for wood, and the wheat for the grain offering; I give it all.” 24 Then King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.” 25 So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place. 26 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the Lord; and He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering. 27 So the Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath. 28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. 29 For the tabernacle of the Lord and the altar of the burnt offering, which Moses had made in the wilderness, were at that time at the high place in Gibeon. 30 But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

We don’t know what David’s sin was. Perhaps, because of what Joab said, the sin was pride.

But Israel was not innocent in this either. We know that they had long sins with idolatry, high places, rebellion.

Whatever the sins were, God is seeking an occasion against them 2 Sam 24:1

2 Samuel 24:1 NKJV

1 Again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”

Grace is only seen in the backdrop of the curse. Salvation is only visible rising from the dust of death

Death is not “part of nature” or “just how things are”. Nor is it simply something that God didn’t plan for.

The bible teaches that death came upon all men as a curse from a personal God because of Adam’s sin. We are separated from God, which is death - which leads to physical death.

But God provides grace, and life, in the middle of death.

So the angel passes through Israel, and stops between heaven and earth right over the threshing floor of Araunah - or Ornan. Both names are used in scripture. Same man.

The angel stops - the Lord relents. The angel is over the threshing floor with his sword raised to kill - just like in Eden, blocking the way to the tree of life.

David couldn’t inquire of the Lord because of his fear of the angel.

The way to the Holy of Holies was not yet revealed.

But when David cries out to the Lord, and offers the sacrifice, the sword of the angel is put away.

And David says

1 Chronicles 22:1 NKJV

1 Then David said, “This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

When Solomon begins the construction, we read this.

2 Chronicles 3:1 NKJV

1 Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

This is the same place where Abraham was provided a substitute for Isaac.

The same place where the sacrifices are offered in place of Israel.

God will provide - on the mount of the Lord.

And here, Solomon will build a temple.

There will be a lot of imagery, and ceremonies, and songs and dances and feasts here -

But the heart of it is this: Here, God provides a substitute for the soul that sins.

And here he accepts the sacrifices of his people, and hears their prayers when they call on him.

But the way into the holy of holies is still not clear. The high priest must still offer sacrifices daily.

He still must enter in only once a year and never without blood.

Hebrews 10:11–13 NKJV

11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.

The way to the holy of holies is now clear. On the mount of the Lord it was provided.

The sacrifice was offered in place of the people.

When John the baptist saw Jesus, he cried out, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!”

And the whole point of the whole thing is this - that we might rest in his love.

Our whole lives are spent wondering if we have done enough to cover our sins and earn a place in God’s favor.

But Christianity teaches that it is finished. God provides the sacrifice himself, in the place that he chooses and it is finished forever.

There is now no more sacrifice for sin. Now we hear his words of love and rest in his embrace, longing to see him face to face and hear his voice and walk with him again in the garden of delights.

If we still have to provide the sacrifice, then we can’t ever rest. But he has provided the sacrifice. Now we can rest.

Song of Solomon 2:8–14 NLT

8 Ah, I hear my lover coming! He is leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. 9 My lover is like a swift gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he is behind the wall, looking through the window, peering into the room. 10 My lover said to me, “Rise up, my darling! Come away with me, my fair one! 11 Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. 12 The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air. 13 The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming. Rise up, my darling! Come away with me, my fair one!” 14 My dove is hiding behind the rocks, behind an outcrop on the cliff. Let me see your face; let me hear your voice. For your voice is pleasant, and your face is lovely.

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