The Lord Will Provide

If you have your Bibles, we’re going to start in Genesis 22. We’re actually going to be in Genesis 22 for most of our time here this morning. Genesis chapter 22.

And you know, I think there’s a question that many of us ask, probably with some form of regularity — maybe not in these exact words — but something that often is triggered in us when things get heavy, or when we’re tired, or we don’t know what to do. A place where our minds go, a place where our hearts go, is: God, will You come through for me? And it’s a valid concern. It’s a natural thing. The world has this way of weighing on us, and there are pressures and insecurities.

And even if you are a believer in the Lord, and you know that He’s faithful — theologically, you know He’s faithful. You know that He’s good. In your mind, you know those things. But for some reason, in your heart, you find yourself questioning: God, are You there? And are You going to come through for me?

And I know that it may not be those exact words. It might be something along the lines of, Lord, my marriage is on the line. Are You going to come through for me? Or it could be something along the lines of, I’ve been praying for my kids time and time again, for years and years, and nothing seems to be changing. God, will You come through for me? Or maybe you’ve been praying about your career, or what you’re going to do with your life, and you’ve been asking and you’ve been seeking, but you kind of are just hitting dead end after dead end, and you’re asking, God, will You come through for me?

Take now your son

And I want to look at this story out of Genesis chapter 22. We’re going to start in verse 1 this morning, and I’m going to read the first couple verses to you. This is talking about Abraham. And I want to frame this a little bit, because sometimes we can read Scripture and go through a story and we’re like, this happened, this happened, this happened. But I want us to approach this with an understanding that this was a span of days. The Lord is going to ask something of Abraham, and it wasn’t just, okay, well, here we go. This was something that he had to wrestle with. This was something that he had to grieve. This was something where there was a question in his heart, and the question is this: will You come through for me?

And so I want to start in verse 1. It says this: “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ 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 which I shall tell you.’”

Now, for those of you that don’t know, God had made a covenant with Abraham. This was not just a normal guy. This was someone that was in covenant with God Almighty. And God had made a covenant with him because he was faithful, and he had a pure heart and a pure life. And God said, I am going to bless you. I’m going to bless your lineage, and I’m going to make you the father of many nations. God said things to Abraham like, as many as the stars are in the sky, so will your descendants be.

Now, he was already an old man when God gave him this promise. And so there’s already this level of, how’s that going to work? In fact, when God spoke it to Abraham, Sarah, his wife, laughed in her heart. That’s why, when they had Isaac, they named him Isaac, because it means he laughs, or she will laugh. And so this was an impossible miracle. How, in my old age, am I going to be the father of many nations? How are my descendants going to be as the stars in the sky?

And so when Isaac came about, how many of you know that was an answered prayer? That was a promise from God that came to pass in Abraham’s life. And it says that this was Isaac, his only son, whom he loved. I don’t know about you, but when God blesses my life, I cherish that — or I try to, you know what I’m saying? Sometimes we can equally forget what God has done, and we can take it for granted. But I mean, this was a huge thing in their old age. They were barren. They couldn’t have children. And God had made this grand promise, and He had come through.

And it says that God was testing Abraham. How many of you know God will test us, but He doesn’t tempt us? Did you know that? Temptation comes from the enemy, but God will use those moments to test us, to prove us faithful and obedient, so He can bless us. But He tests Abraham, and He says, I want you to give Me your son. I want you to sacrifice him to Me.

And the reality is, I’ve wrestled with that for so long. Why would God ask for that? He’s literally asking him to sacrifice — to kill — his son. And I feel like there was just this revelation, this aha moment: that oftentimes the answered prayers, or the promises of God that come to pass in our lives, can actually become an idol in our lives, to the point where we will give them a higher place than we even give to God Himself. And then things get off. We don’t walk in the promise. We don’t inherit the promise. And the things that God wants to do, He can’t do in our lives, because we don’t have Him in the right place. And so God says, I want you to give him to Me. And I want you to give him to Me on the mountain that I will show you.

Three days of carrying it

And we come to verse 3, and it says, “So Abraham rose early in the morning” — everybody say, “Early” — “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.”

I want you to notice the first thing: Abraham rose early. Abraham was quick to obey the Lord. He didn’t try to hold a prayer meeting and really seek the Lord and say, did I hear the Lord right here? I’m just going to take a few days. He didn’t try to negotiate. He didn’t try to argue. It says that he rose early in the morning and he started walking.

And I want us to recognize that that journey, from where Abraham was to Mount Moriah — which is the mountain that the Lord had set apart for this to take place — was a three-day journey. Everybody hold up your hand and give me the number three. Three days. He was obedient immediately, but he had to carry the weight of knowing what this was going to cost for three days.

And so as they traveled through the wilderness, as they traveled on the roads, as they carried the wood, I can only imagine what was actually going through Abraham’s heart and his mind. Am I really going to have to do this? I don’t know about you, but I’m an internal processor, which means I tend to get quiet when things are on my mind. And I can only imagine the silence, and Isaac wondering, what’s wrong? Why are you so sad? What are we doing? Right? I can only imagine the weight of that moment, of that time, and of that journey.

And this was no small thing that God was asking of Abraham. It was three days of him walking with his son, the one that he loved, the promise from God, the inheritance. And God is saying — You want me to give him back? How can I do this? You see, we tend to read Scripture and just read from verse to verse: they arose early, and there they were.

How many of you have ever had to carry something for some time, to the point where it’s like, I don’t know how long I can even carry this? I don’t know if I can go another step. I don’t know if I want to do this. Do you see? This was a real moment. This was a real ask. And I can only imagine what was going through Abraham’s heart. The question was, God, are You going to come through? I said yes, and I’ll say yes again, but are You going to come through?

Well, on the third day, they come to the mountain. In verse 5, it says, “Abraham said to his young men” — the ones that accompanied them — “‘Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.’” Notice the words there: “we will come back to you.” This isn’t Abraham being confused. This isn’t Abraham in denial. This is faith. God has asked me something that seems impossible, but I’m going to trust that God is good and that He’s going to come through for me. That He’s going to be faithful to His promise, that He cannot lie, and I’m going to put my trust in Him. How many of you know, even when we can’t see how, when we trust like that, it’s not denial? It’s faith.

And so verse 6 says, “So Abraham took the wood” — everybody say, “The wood.” That’s so key — “Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and he laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ‘My father.’ And Abraham said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ Then he said, ‘Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’” Everybody say, “A lamb.” Let’s rephrase that. Everybody say, “The lamb.”

“And Abraham said, ‘My son’” — I want you to hear these words and let them settle in your heart — “‘God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’” God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.

Where is the lamb?

I want us to notice that Isaac is carrying the wood for his own sacrifice up the mountain. He doesn’t know that. He thinks that they’re going up to worship. And I don’t know about you, but when I think of worshiping, I think of a big smile on my face, and we’re going to go be with God, and I’m going to get a word, and good things are going to happen, and I’m going to get dreams and visions and all these great things. He doesn’t know. He’s young. He’s strong. But the wood is heavy on his back. And he looks at his father, and he asks a question that echoes through the heavens for over 2,000 years. Isaac asks this. He says, where is the lamb? Where is the sacrifice? Where is the atonement to make this right? He says, Father, where is the lamb? Where is the provision?

And notice Abraham’s response. At least when I read it, I imagine Abraham responding with tears in his eyes. And he speaks what I believe is one of the most prophetic statements in Scripture. He says, “God will provide Himself the lamb.” He didn’t say God will provide a lamb. He said God will provide Himself the lamb.

That statement stays in the air — waiting, loaded, prophetic — until John the Baptist was standing in the River Jordan. He was baptizing people into the baptism of repentance of sins. And John knew the Messiah is coming. The Lamb is coming, whose sandals I’m not worthy to untie. And as he’s baptizing, he sees Jesus, and he says, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” It was in that moment that Abraham’s statement found its answer. Somebody say amen.

So we come to verse 9. It says, “Then they came to the place 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,” — everybody look at the cross — he laid him “on the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” To the last moment, we see obedience here, and a trust in the Lord.

“And the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And so Abraham said, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for I know now that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’”

Now, throughout the Old Testament, when we read “the Angel of the Lord,” many believe that is actually Jesus Himself appearing in His pre-incarnate form. The Angel of the Lord appeared. Jesus came to Abraham and said, Abraham, Abraham, don’t do this. Don’t lay a hand on the lad. I know that you fear Me. I know that you trust Me now. You with me?

The Lord will see to it

Verse 13 says, “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. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh,” which means the Lord will provide, “as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the Lord’” — everybody say, “The Mount” — “‘In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’”

That word Jireh comes from the Hebrew ra’ah, which means to see. It means to see. And so the literal translation of Jehovah Jireh is not just “the Lord will provide,” though that is true. An accurate translation would be “the Lord will see to it.” Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who will see to it.

I want you to notice that God’s provision starts with His sight. Meaning, when He looks at your life, He already has a solution in mind. Before you even knew that there was a crisis, He has an answer. The Lord is outside of time, right? He can see past; He can see present; He can see future. He will move before you even know that He needs to move.

How many of you know that that ram probably didn’t get caught in the thicket the moment Abraham raised the knife? He was probably already in the thicket, right? I mean, unless that ram is like me — you see an accident on the side of the road, and you’re watching like this rather than looking ahead, and you can get in an accident, right? And that ram got stuck in the thorn bush? I don’t think so. That ram was probably already there, caught and waiting, positioned by God before Abraham even reached the top of the mountain.

But I want us to recognize that in your crisis, God is not scrambling. He’s not in heaven pacing. He’s not wringing His hands. He’s not wondering how He’s going to work this out. He’s not wondering, what am I going to do with you? Before you ever climbed your mountain, the ram was already caught in the thicket.

The same mountain

And I want you to notice verse 14. It says Abraham called the name of that place — what place? The mountain, Mount Moriah. He called that place, that mountain, “The Lord Will Provide,” “as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’” How many of you know — maybe you don’t; most of you probably don’t — how many of you know where Mount Moriah is? Okay. It is a ridge, a range of mountains located outside of ancient Jerusalem. It is the same ridge where Solomon built the temple to worship, to house the presence of the Lord. It’s the same ridge where the priests offered sacrifices for thousands of years on the people’s behalf. And many scholars believe that on that same ridge is a hill called Golgotha.

In other words, Abraham offered his son on the same mountain where God offered His. How many of you know that’s not coincidence? That’s covenant. That’s a God who planned the answer long before there was ever a question.

I just believe this is too beautiful just to walk past. I want to summarize what God was speaking in this story of Abraham and his son Isaac. I want us to notice that Isaac carries the wood up the mountain, and Jesus carries the cross up Calvary. Isaac is the beloved only son; Jesus is God the Father’s only beloved Son. Abraham is willing to sacrifice his only son, and God the Father gives His only Son. But the difference is, on Moriah, God stopped the knife. But on Calvary, He did not. There was no angel. There was no voice that came from heaven that said stop.

No voice from heaven

As I was praying through this, I was reminded this morning of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, which means the crushing. I think I’ve said this recently. It was an olive orchard, and Gethsemane means crushing. He was crushed, and He was praying before the Father. He knew what was about to take place. He knew that He was going to give His life on the cross. And He said, “If there’s any other way, would You take this cup from Me? But not My will, but Yours be done.” And Jesus knew this story. And He said, “But not My will, but Yours be done.” There was that obedience. You guys see it?

And as He’s carrying the cross, I believe that there might have been something there that was like, maybe He’s going to do something. Listen, He was obedient unto death. He wasn’t looking for the way out, but He did ask if there was any other way. And here He is. He’s carrying the cross. He’s being beaten. He’s being scourged. His flesh is ripped wide open. Spit upon. Crown of thorns. All of it. Carrying a cross which scholars believe weighed over 300 pounds. He carries it up a mountain, and then, as He’s on the cross, He says what? He says, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” In other words, where’s the voice? Why isn’t this done? Why isn’t this stopped? Think about it.

Scripture talks about how the devil would not have done it if he had known what the cross would do. Amen. And many believe that when the people started crying out, why don’t You call on Your angels? Come down from there — many believe that was actually the enemy, the demonic, realizing, my gosh, what have we done? You’ve got to get Yourself down from there. There was no angel. There was no voice from heaven saying stop, because this time the Son was the Lamb.

The ram was caught in a thicket, with thorns wrapped around its head. Jesus was crowned with thorns, bleeding from His brow. The Roman soldiers — we just read through Leviticus, which, that’s a thing — do you know what they would do? They would lay their hands on the sacrifice before they killed it, transferring the sins of the people to the animal. When the Roman soldiers were beating Jesus, they were beating Him and laying their hands on Jesus. When the Roman soldiers pressed the thorns into His skull as a mockery, they did not know they were fulfilling a picture that was painted 2,000 years earlier on that same mountain. The ram died in Isaac’s place, and Jesus died in yours.

I just want us to recognize every detail in Genesis 22. It is a rehearsal to Calvary. God was painting a picture of the cross 2,000 years before it happened. Abraham saw it, and he named it, and he declared, “On this mountain the Lord will see to it.” And He did see to it — with His own blood. Amen. Thank You, Jesus.

God provides Himself

Now, I want us to see something, because I believe it changes the way that we pray. I believe that it changes the way that we worship. And I believe that it will change the way that you climb whatever mountain you are facing. We love the name Jehovah Jireh. We write songs about it. I can think of a song from the ’80s, but that dates me, so I’m not going to sing it. Listen to it on Spotify. Okay? Yeah. Right. Jehovah Jireh. I mean, we’ll put it on bumper stickers. We post it to our stories, right? We talk about it. The Lord will provide. God will provide.

And what we usually have in mind is: God is going to give me the job that I’ve always dreamed of. God is going to give me a spouse. He’s going to give me that healing that I’ve been praying for. He’s going to give me more money so I can be financially free. He’s going to give me breakthrough in my life, because I’ve been stuck and I’ve been calling out to the Lord. And how many of you know that is true? He will do those things. He does do those things. But that is not the deepest declaration of what was declared on that mountain. Scripture does not say God is going to provide a thing. It says God will provide Himself.

The ultimate provision of God is not a resource. It is not a circumstance. It is not a door opening. It is not an opportunity. It is not a spouse — but I’m so thankful for my spouse. She puts up with me. It’s not a check arriving in the mail. The ultimate provision of God — and I need you to hear this — is God Himself. He gave Himself.

The Creator of all things, who holds all things together by His word — I mean, the power of His word holds all things together. In Him we live, in Him we move, in Him we have our being. Before time, He was. He was in the beginning. He is the eternal one, the infinite one. And He gave Himself for you.

So listen: when you need peace, He doesn’t just send peace. He says, I am your peace. When you need healing, He doesn’t just give you healing, bop you on the head, and say, good luck. He says, I’m the Lord who heals you. When you need righteousness — and we talked about this last week — He doesn’t just help you become righteous and live better. He says, I am your righteousness.

We need to know our every answer is Jesus. And the reason He is every answer is because He is God the Father’s every answer. He was the solution to everything. And so if He’s God’s solution to everything, how many of you know He’s your solution to everything? Which means, if you need a better marriage, call on the name of Jesus and be with Him. If there are relationships in your life that are broken, call on Jesus. If there is pain or sickness in your body, call on your Jesus. Call on your Jesus. Because you’re not just asking for healing. Should we ask for healing? Yes. But He’s the prize. And when He comes, out of His goodness, all of those things flow.

So in other words, God doesn’t just provide for you. He provides Himself to you. So much better. So much better. Because here’s the thing: we receive the blessing, and we can pervert it. Like I said, it can become an idol, and we begin to make that our identity. Sometimes we can make a relationship our idol. We can make money our idol. And the things that God blesses us with, we push above Him. And then all of a sudden we’re off track, and we’re not seeing clearly, and we’re walking in darkness, and we’re like, God, where are You? It’s because we lost our first love.

And so Jesus is not who God sent because He couldn’t come. Jesus is God Himself, wrapping Himself in flesh, walking up the mountain in your place, laying down the wood, and becoming the Lamb. John chapter 1 has to be one of my favorite chapters in all of Scripture. I can probably almost quote it — not because I tried to memorize it, but because of how many times I’ve read it. John 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And verse 14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Who is the Word? None other than Jesus.

He didn’t send an angel. He didn’t send a prophet. He didn’t write a message in the sky. He came Himself, in person, because that is what Jireh means: the Lord will see to it Himself. And so if God is your provision — not just the God who provides, but the provision itself — then what could we possibly ever lack? Amen. If the answer to your every need is a person, and that person lives inside of you, then you’re not waiting for provision. You’re carrying provision. Amen.

On your mountain

Can we just bow our heads? When we get a glimpse — we get these glimpses of the Lord through Scripture by the Holy Spirit speaking — how many of you know the only appropriate response to that, ever, is to worship the Lord? And so I’m just going to ask that we bow our heads, close our eyes, and if you’d like, you can lift your hands to the Lord and just begin to thank Him for His Word. Thank Him for what He’s done. Thank Him for the sacrifice, for the love, for the life that was poured out.

And I’m going to pray over you. But I really believe that some of you in here have been climbing mountains, and you’re in that three-day span where it’s heavy. You’re walking, and maybe you can’t see the top yet. And you’re carrying something heavy, and you just don’t know: how is this going to end? How’s God going to do this? How is He going to come through? It seems too broken. It seems too much in question. Lord, I just don’t see the provision.

And that question is the same question that Isaac asked: where is the lamb? God, where are You? Lord, where is the way through this? Maybe it’s your health. Maybe there are things that you’ve been walking through physically, and you’re carrying them, and you’re like, Lord, I know that You’re my healer. Where are You? Maybe it’s your finances, or relationships that you feel like are dying. Maybe there’s a calling that God has put in your heart, but nothing has opened, and you’re starting to wonder, did I even hear the Lord correctly?

And what I want you to know is that God sees you. That’s what Jireh means. He sees you. And He sees not just your need. He sees you. He sees where you are. He sees what you carry. He can see you when you’re tired. But you need to know that the delay of the promise is not the Lord’s denial. Abraham waited 25 years for Isaac. And then He gave it to him. And then God said, now I want you to give it back to Me. I want you to give him back. I want you to climb this mountain with this very thing that you’ve been waiting for. It doesn’t even make sense. God, You gave it to me, and You’re asking for it back? It doesn’t make sense — unless you know the heart of the Father. He doesn’t waste our pain. He doesn’t forget His promises. He doesn’t show up late. He sees you. And I believe the Lord is saying, I am your provision. Call on Me.

When we ask the question, God, where are You? — He never moves. We’re the ones that move. Lord, draw us back to You. Draw us back to You in Your perfect love, Lord, that we would receive You, everything that You are, everything that You have for us. Let there be no wall in our hearts, Lord. I pray, Lord, for every heart in this place: let it be good soil today, Lord. The seeds that have been planted, the seeds that You are planting right now, which is the Word of God being planted in hearts — Lord, I pray protection over it, in the name of Jesus. Lord, that we would not have hard, rocky hearts where the roots cannot take. That we would not have the birds of the air come and snatch it away. But Lord, that You would protect it. That this would be revelation to us. That we would know, that we would know, that we would know that You are everything, that You are provision itself, that You are every answer.

And so, Holy Spirit — and I’m just going to ask you to lift your hands again — Holy Spirit, I ask You to come right now. Come into this room, Lord Jesus. Meet people on their mountain. Speak to the one who has been walking what feels like forever. Speak to the one who’s been asking, where is God? Where is the lamb? Let them hear Your voice. Let them see that You’ve already provided, Lord. That there is no lack, because You are the greatest treasure, You are the greatest prize, and the answer is already in place. Lord, help them know that they are not alone. And Lord, bring Your breakthrough. Bring Your deliverance. Lord, bring Your abundant resources and blessing. Everything that You are, Lord Jesus, we receive. And Lord, we worship You. We worship You. We bless Your name, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Amen. Can we thank the Lord for the Word? For those of you that are losing track of the time in the year, next week is Palm Sunday, which means the week after is Easter Sunday — Resurrection Sunday. I believe that we are going to see Jesus more and more clearly as we approach. And next week we’re going to take a look at Jesus not on a mountain, but on a donkey, riding into Jerusalem. And the sneak peek is, the people are out there. They’re waving the palm branches. They’re saying hosanna. They see the King. But what they didn’t realize is they were actually looking at a lamb. How many of you know He’s coming? He’s coming for you. Amen.

All right, let’s stand together. Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your Word. Lord, Your Word is life. You are the lifter of our heads in this place. Jesus, You are the one that we put our trust in, and we say that You are faithful. We receive Your Word to us today, Lord. As we go from this place, we thank You, Lord, that You go before us and that You are behind us, that You are our protector. We give You our hearts. We give You our lives. In Jesus’ name, we said amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.