THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE
Genesis 22:1-3 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
[2] And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
[3] And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
A burnt offering was the only offering where the entire sacrifice was laid upon the altar. Nothing was withheld from the fire and it was an offering that was voluntary. It was an offering made, not out of duty or command, but from a heart that desired to do so; a free will that wanted to keep nothing for itself. God had called Abraham to do the unthinkable; to offer freely, his only son, all of him, upon the altar of the Lord. A son that God knew Abraham loved dearly for HE acknowledges this in HIS words to him. If the Lord knew that Abraham loved his son, then why would HE ask such a thing of him? Did HE expect Abraham to offer his only son up so freely, without question, without reservation? How could God demand such a gift to be given, require such a price to be paid? Was God cruel in HIS request? Did HE care what pain it would bring to Abraham’s heart? There are times, our greatest battles are not those we fight with the devil, but those we fight with God Himself.
What torment of soul must have fell upon Abraham as God’s words descended upon him. This was no ordinary son. He was given to Abraham in his old age at the word of God. Through the descendants of Isaac, God would send HIS only Son, Jesus, and offer HIM up as an offering for the sin of all mankind. God understood what was at stake and HE knew the cost. The plans were already in motion. Abraham would come to understand the depth and cost of God’s love in the painful ascent up the mountain in order to offer up his most precious possession. What would have been your answer to God that day? Would you have made that journey up that mountain willingly, to the place where you knew you would lose your only child? Abraham trusted God beyond his emotions, above any cost, beyond the present and into the future. Obedience will always be a struggle, on any level, if we do not trust the ONE who is calling us.
It was not Isaac that God desired to have freely and wholly…it was Abraham. When we are willing to give to God our most precious possessions, then God knows HE has our heart. The Lord wants our affections, our allegiances, our trust, our hope and above all our love! HE doesn’t want the leftovers; HE wants the first servings. My friend, we are HIS burnt offering, freely laying our very heart upon HIS altar that HE may have all of us. When we are found there, laid freely, without reservation upon HIS altar, we see HIS love as never before. Burnt offerings are rare because they are costly, but oh the beauty that is revealed in the fire of their giving. Today, would you bring forth all that you have and all that you are and lay it down on the altar of sacrifice? There on the altar, in the fire, may our Lord be glorified.
Bro. Lawrence Longworth Isaiah 61:1 “the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”
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