Blessed by one man’s obedience

I got me a gimpy leg… doc says it came from hard work early in life.  It got me to thinking about an old man in the Bible named Abraham.  Imagine becoming a father for the first time at 86 years of age (son Ishmael), then again at 100 (son Isaac); I mean ‘dude!’  …But it ‘had to be’ because God had promised to ‘bless all nations’ thru this man’s descendants, therefore he NEEDED this son (Isaac).

Advance forward in the story to when Abraham’s faith was put to the test at the time that God ordered Abraham to sacrifice Isaac!  Wow!  I wonder what was going through Abraham’s mind. Evidently he didn’t have a gimpy leg when he made that trek to the mountain!  But, boy, he was facing a challenge!

I wonder what was going thru ISAAC’S mind… think about that! –Going to a place to make a sacrifice with only the fire & wood, but no animal to offer.  Isaac noticed and asked his father about that.  Abraham made a dramatic and profound statement when he said, “God will provide!”

I’d speculate that throughout Isaac’s young life he had often heard his dad say “God will provide.” He probably had also heard his dad talk about the promise God had made to him about ALL ethnicities being blessed by that stellar promise God made to Abraham so long ago. “Yeah, yeah, Dad… God told you He is going to bless you and that your descendants will number more than the stars of the heavens, and that thru ‘him’ everyone is going to be blessed.”

I’m thinking Isaac was intelligent enough to think ‘blessed descendants’ (plural) when all along he knew he was the single, one-n-only flesh-n-blood descendant (singular) of Sarah & Abraham, through whom that promise would be fulfilled.   …So what was going thru ISAAC’S mind in the moment when his father bound him and placed him on the altar of sacrifice?

Now you’ve got to remember that Abraham came from a pagan land where it        was common for people to offer their children as a sacrifice.  But this sacrifice was not in the manner of former pagan belief.  This was an act of faith to demonstrate that Abraham believed God.  Romans 4:3 says that Abraham was counted as being in a right relationship with God because of his faith. This is huge!

Did Isaac fight?  Did Isaac struggle?  Perhaps this was some sort of inside scoop between Abraham and Isaac in knowing God said He would bless all nations through his DESCENDANTS. That meant Isaac would have to live… and live he did!

Isaac, I believe, was keenly aware what God was up to in demonstrating His mighty power and providing a substitute through the ram caught in the thicket.  What a lesson to us in believing what God says.  His Word is faithful, His Word is true… and God will always do what He says He will do!  I hope this little insight will encourage you to believe God, no matter what circumstances you are going through.  Believe God! He is always true to His Word!