October 6, 2026

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.” (Genesis 22.3)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Foreshadowing of the Messianic Promise ahead!

In today’s reflection on God’s Word from Genesis 22.3, we will hear of how Abraham himself prepared for the burnt offering which God required. It was a symbol of completion devotion and total surrender. The onus is on Abraham. It was a test of his faith and faithfulness to God the Heavenly Father. It was a test of his faithfulness to build Isaac’s faith in him as a committed and devoted earthly father. Abraham allowed no substitutions in the preparation of the sacrifice. It was his personal duty and responsibility. It could fall to no one else. And so it is true for the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son. He alone could be responsible for sacrifice to be offered that would satisfy the call to save the people of God from eternal death. God was, is and will always be completely devotion to the task of being our Heavenly Father and fully committed to surrender Himself to His own will for our lives on earth. While it is true that Jesus also was completely devoted and practiced total surrender, it was to the truth which was spoken in the Garden of Gethsemane in prayer, “Not My will but Yours be done.” So it was for Abraham to bring about the fulfillment to seizing the legacy promised to him by God. It defied logic, from the human perspective, that the future generations would rise up out of Isaac. Isaac was now Abraham’s only son. If Isaac was dead, then how could there be any hope for the future and the fulfillment of God’s promise. It would be totally left to God to provide. Abraham had to believe it and trust in God alone.

So how do we see in this verse the foreshadowing of the coming of Messiah to save the people of God. It is, of course, remembering the events of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection and overlaying that remembrance on the story being told in Genesis 22. Specifically, today hear these two phrases, “early in the morning” and “he cut the wood.”

“Early in the morning” reminds us of when the women went to the tomb where Jesus had been buried in haste as the hour before Sabbath started was quickly closing. They made quick work of preparing the body but not in its entirety as required by the standards which had been passed down from the days of Moses. They were returning after the Sabbath, early in the morning on the first day of the week. In all actuality, Jesus was in the tomb only thirty-six hours but across what is for us “three calendar days- Friday, Saturday and Sunday.” Three literal days would have prevented the women from accomplishing the task they set out to do. The body would have already begun to decay especially in the condition it was left following the abuse at the hands of the Jewish and Roman leadership. We get our clue on this from the story of the “Raising of Lazarus.” They were not dissuaded from the accepted duty to complete the preparation for Jesus’ burial with clean linens, myrrh and frankincense. Abraham, too, was committed early in the morning to complete the preparation for the task at hand. It was a task of preparing for the death of Isaac, his only and beloved son.

“He cut the wood” reveals to us what I have alluded to in part. There was no one else to handle the matter from start to finish. It was his and his alone. As with the women going to the tomb of Jesus, so it was for Abraham. Only women were allowed to prepare the body. It was not a duty assigned to men. God did not call anyone else but Abraham, not even Sarah knew we must presume, to make the sacrifice. Abraham’s loyalty and faithfulness was on the line before God. The promise of God could only be fulfilled by Abraham’s loyalty to God and the call to make the sacrifice on behalf of all those who would benefit from what “the Father of Nations” was about to do.

Mighty ones of God, the same is true for us as we continue to pursue out discipleship. We must prepare ourselves early in the morning of every day. It must be our first best calling as we make ourselves ready for the task of serving God and Christ in this world. Our work is gospel oriented. And as we know from an earlier reflection, the gospel is only news without the resurrection. Abraham did not know what God would do to resolve the conflict of the impending death of Isaac. Abraham could only believe and do. So, we must understand that no one else can do what God has created and gifted us for in sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We may think we are ill-equipped or worse have no part in the task of sharing the word of God to the nations. We would be wrong. We must have faith in God’s provision as well as in His call over our lives. As in the words of the garden prayer of Jesus, “Not My Will but Yours be done.“

TODAYS’ PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness endeavor, but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.