JESSE TREE - Children's Version (December 5, 2014)

Day 5:  Isaac (Genesis 22:1-19)

Abraham had waited such a long time for the little boy God had promised him, and here he was.  A beautiful, perfect, baby boy.  Abraham and Sarah delighted in him as he gooed, and giggled.  Took his first steps.  They treasured each cuddle and bedtime story.  Isaac was growing up to be a fine young man!  Surely God would protect this boy – this promise! From him God promised a whole nation of people would grow.  The very Savior of the earth would be born from his family!

So, what did Abraham think when God came to test him one day with this heart shattering request? 

“Take this little boy, this son whom you love – your ONLY son, and sacrifice him to me.” 

Abraham remembered his own sin, and the mistakes that Isaac had made growing up, and that truly their sin demanded death.  But it grieved him deeply.  I imagine Abraham talking to God as he walked with Isaac toward the alter of sacrifice, trusting in God’s goodness, but knowing that every day of life was a gift that they didn’t truly deserve. 

Isaac carried the wood, and as they walked Isaac asked his father “Dad, we have wood for the sacrifice and the fire, but where is the lamb?” 

“God will provide the lamb,” Abraham trusted, as he prepared to obey God his Father. 

When they reached the top of the mountain Abraham built an altar, arranged the wood on it, bound his son for sacrifice and laid him atop the pile.  Filled with fear he reached for the knife and raised it to do what God had said to do, but God’s grace showed up just in time.  The Angel of the Lord called out to him and told him not to harm the boy.  Instead, as an act of mercy, God provided a ram for the sacrifice.  Abraham proved his faith in God by his willingness to obey him in life or death, even when he didn’t understand what God was doing, and God showed himself to be full of mercy as he provided a way out from this punishment that any of us would deserve. 

And God would one day face a similar heartrending moment, as his son whom he loved – his ONLY son - would carry the wood on his own back and walk the hill toward his own sacrifice.  This location where Isaac once lay, and later where Jesus would die in his place, Abraham named “the Lord Provides."

Truly, the Lord has.  He has provided the Lamb of God to die in our place and take away the sins of the world. 

I, the child on the altar, meant for death, hear a rustling in the bushes:  It is the promised Christmas child who is the lamb sacrificed instead of me.  Our God provides.