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: 13, 14, NIV.
Dear God, how grateful we are to You for calling us up to the top of the mountain for a higher spiritual experience with You. Please help us to accept the invitation as we study Your Word today. This we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
For the past two days we have been looking at the mountain where the temple of Jerusalem was eventually built. We discovered some interesting features about its location. Today we want to concentrate on the name that Abraham gave to the mountain, “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.’ ”
What did God provide for Abraham on the top of that mountain? According to Scripture, He provided “a ram caught in the thicket.” That ram represented life for Abraham, and for his son. Because a ram was provided, Isaac could live. Abraham did not have to sacrifice his son. On that day, God provided life. It was “on the mountain of the LORD that [life] was provided.”
Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if people thought of attendance at church, as a “life-producing” experience? Wouldn’t it be grand, if, after the hardships of the week, we could look forward to receiving an infusion of life, through the experiences we had at church? What if, every greeting, every embrace, every handshake, we gave, or received, at church, was so full to overflowing with love, and encouragement; sufficient to provide us with the “life-sustaining” strength we needed, to get us through another week!
According to our Scripture, “And to this day it is said” . . . ” We come upon this phrase from time to time in Scripture. Of course we are well aware, that the phrase, “to this day,” is referring, most likely, to the time in which the passage of Scripture, was being written. However, I would like to use it as a symbol of what we hope will be said of the church in our day. From week to week, as God’s people come together in worship, they should be able to say, “In the [church] of the LORD [my needs for this life, and for the life to come, are being] provided!”
God has established His church on earth as a “life-giving”, “life-sustaining,” institution. This is the goal of the church, ” 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, NKJV). That is the Good News! That God provides life, everlasting life, “on the mountain of the LORD!”
We will continue tomorrow!