Chapter 21&22
Abraham was a father of two sons. One, Ishmael sown in the flesh. The other Isaac, born of the will of God. Both loved by Abraham who wanted to raise them equally but if he was to honor the will of God, he would have to let Ishmael go. A difficult decision, but God did not want Abraham raising and pouring into Ishmael any longer. God was going to take it from there. Sometimes we will try to hold on to people or things that are not of God’s plan, refusing to let go. But the Lord knows and prompts us to trust that He is able and willing to carry the load for us. Ishmael was in God’s hands as evidenced by His response after hearing the voice of the lad where he was (physically - away from his mother, in a deserted place and spiritually). Is there a son or daughter or relationship or business that you’ve been caring for all these years, that you need to let go into the hands of God?
Isaac, the son of promise, was the other one that Abraham needed to trust God with. Isaac’s life was literally in God’s hands. While God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, here we have a beautiful picture of what God would eventually do with His only Son Jesus when He too would be sent to be sacrificed on mount Moriah. Isaac went up the mountain with wood on his back. For three days he was as good as dead. The wood was in placed order. He was bound to the altar. He understood that it was a lamb that was to be sacrificed (even way before it was ever instituted by Moses). On the third day when the Angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, it’s as if he rose again in new life. A ram was sacrificed in Isaac’s place. It is the lamb of God, Jesus who would ultimately walk up mount Calvary with wood on His back, be sacrificed as payment for our sins, and resurrect on the third day, seated at the right hand of the father. Abraham let go of his control over his sons. Perhaps there is some serious letting go to God you need to do today. Perhaps, it’s your very life! Trust the Lord and watch Him work a new life in you.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:16,17