October 13, 2026
GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:
“[The Angel of the Lord continued] ‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ the Angel said, ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son.’ And Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’” (Genesis 22.12-14)
REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:
I wonder if Paul may have had the story of Abraham in mind when he wrote, “God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10.13) Certainly God was not tempting Abraham when He commanded him to sacrifice “his only son” as a burnt offering. The temptation would have been to not obey God and take it upon himself to save Isaac’s life. Paul actually began the teaching mentioned above saying, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.” We certainly have been tempted. Our existence in the world is fraught with temptation to act for ourselves instead of acting for God. We might even cause ourselves to believe that what we have decided to do aligns itself with what God would have us to do. We make of God a servant to our will and imagination so that we are justified even in our sin to exchange it for the truth- that is not what God would have us to do. We may even excuse ourselves by calling to mind God’s infinite mercy and grace to empower the notion of entitlement saying something like “God would not want us to be unhappy.” Such thinking and self-talk, we might even practice it on others to see if they can be convinced themselves to follow suit, is short-sighted. We see only the moment we live in the world and lose sight of the Kingdom which is promised to us. And in part, the life of the Kingdom is ours on earth as we walk by faith and not by sight, as we live by grace and not by law, as we love unconditional instead of setting standards that suit our needs over the needs of others in a perceived hierarchy of want. Paul certainly had in mind the temptation offered to Adam and Eve by their enemy, the enemy of God who is Satan. We are all tempted to consider life without God as if we are in control of ourselves and others. How often have we discovered we are not actually in control? If not for the provision of grace and the testimony of the gospel of Jesus as the Christ, we would spiral out of control and be “lost in space” standing right where we are.
No, God was not tempting Abraham with an intention for him to fail. God was certainly testing Abraham to show that he possessed the strength of faith and courage to succeed. God never intended for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. God knew that Abraham had a love for Him and for his family and friends. God knew that Abraham would make the right decision. God needed Abraham to know that for himself. Abraham faced the test we all face and passed. Further, God had made a way out for Abraham. Abraham could not have simply obeyed the directive of the Angel of the Lord and forsake the burnt offering. Such an offering was the confirmation of the covenant between himself and God. To not make the offering would be a violation of faith and trust. So, God made a way for Abraham to fulfill the calling with a substitutionary offering and sacrifice- a ram. In this instance, the ram was provided by God because it symbolized the maturity and strength and value of what God saw in Abraham’s obedience and commitment to maintain the covenant agreement between them. The lamb represents the innocence and purity in such sacrifices. Abraham was far from innocent. As to his purity, we know that he had on several occasions been shown as guilty. Such guilt did not make him impure in the eyes of God but human, as are we all. The ram was required in this case to show how far Abraham had come in his fealty and loyalty to God’s call over his life; even if it meant the sacrifice of his “only son.”
And here we see that prophetic foreshadowing of what God was going to do in the fullness of time. God did not spare His “only Son” from the sacrifice for our sake. The giving of His Son, and not a ram nor a lamb, demonstrated the seriousness of God’s intent to make a way for us to overcome the temptation which sin brings out in us. We are tempted to think that works righteousness is the preferred form of true discipleship. We are convinced that we can earn our salvation and the right to be called “sons and daughters of the Most High God.” Nothing could be further from the truth. God made a way for us to not die eternally. What God required was that we die to self, as Jesus did for us, so that God’s hold on us was our true reality. He provided for us the means to escape the despair of eternal death by offering a substitutionary sacrifice which was, as I have already said, “not a ram, not a lamb, but Jesus who is God’s only Son.” God will provide. On the mountain of Moriah, on Golgotha’s hill, “God made a provision for us that can never be taken away.”
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.
