Genesis 22:8 – “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.”
The late Dr. Harold B. Sightler, long-time pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Greenville, SC, preached a message on this passage, in which he pointed out that too often we misread this verse. “We tend to add the word 'for' to make it read 'God will provide for himself a lamb.' But no, not so,” he said. The patriarch Abraham was prophesying that one day God would come down to this earth and actually make a sacrifice of Himself. And this occurrence which played out on the crest of Mt. Moriah was the actual place where so many years later Jerusalem would sit and the Lord Jesus Christ would give Himself as the Lamb of God. Glory Hallelujah!
Himself a Lamb
“God will provide Himself a Lamb,” Abraham said of old.
As he and Isaac trudged along This truth to him was told.
He was there to offer his only son, To prove his undying love,
The son of his prayers on an altar of stone As bidden by God above.
‘Twas on Mt. Moriah the act was begun – He trusted his God on high –
He knew that the Lord would deliver the boy As to the place they drew nigh.
He built a mound of unhewn rocks And piled the wood thereupon.
And then he tied the hands of the youth And laid on the altar his son.
He stretched forth his arm with knife in hand, For to slay his only son,
And God, who saw his wondrous faith, Stopped him before it was done.
He said, “Now I know that thou fearest God, Even more than paternal love.”
And at that time He provided a ram To offer to Him above.
Nearly two thousand years passed from that time On Mt. Moriah’s crest,
When another young son climbed the same low hill At His Father’s sad behest.
Upon His own back He carried the wood, Just as Isaac had done of old,
But this wood was cut in the form of a cross – It held agony untold.
This obedient Son was known as the Lamb Which taketh all sin away,
And upon a cruel cross the Lamb was slain–There was no substitute that day.
For this eternal Lamb was taking my place Upon the old rugged tree.
He was the substitute for every man born Who would accept the gift so free.
Yes, God Himself left Heaven above To dwell among sinful men,
To suffer and die a vicarious death For to save our souls from sin.
The love of our Lord was so great indeed This promise one day was told,
“God will provide Himself a Lamb,” Abraham said of old.
© 2006 Paul Stultz
The late Dr. Harold B. Sightler, long-time pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Greenville, SC, preached a message on this passage, in which he pointed out that too often we misread this verse. “We tend to add the word 'for' to make it read 'God will provide for himself a lamb.' But no, not so,” he said. The patriarch Abraham was prophesying that one day God would come down to this earth and actually make a sacrifice of Himself. And this occurrence which played out on the crest of Mt. Moriah was the actual place where so many years later Jerusalem would sit and the Lord Jesus Christ would give Himself as the Lamb of God. Glory Hallelujah!Himself a Lamb
“God will provide Himself a Lamb,” Abraham said of old.
As he and Isaac trudged along This truth to him was told.
He was there to offer his only son, To prove his undying love,
The son of his prayers on an altar of stone As bidden by God above.
‘Twas on Mt. Moriah the act was begun – He trusted his God on high –
He knew that the Lord would deliver the boy As to the place they drew nigh.
He built a mound of unhewn rocks And piled the wood thereupon.
And then he tied the hands of the youth And laid on the altar his son.
He stretched forth his arm with knife in hand, For to slay his only son,
And God, who saw his wondrous faith, Stopped him before it was done.
He said, “Now I know that thou fearest God, Even more than paternal love.”
And at that time He provided a ram To offer to Him above.
Nearly two thousand years passed from that time On Mt. Moriah’s crest,
When another young son climbed the same low hill At His Father’s sad behest.
Upon His own back He carried the wood, Just as Isaac had done of old,
But this wood was cut in the form of a cross – It held agony untold.
This obedient Son was known as the Lamb Which taketh all sin away,
And upon a cruel cross the Lamb was slain–There was no substitute that day.
For this eternal Lamb was taking my place Upon the old rugged tree.
He was the substitute for every man born Who would accept the gift so free.
Yes, God Himself left Heaven above To dwell among sinful men,
To suffer and die a vicarious death For to save our souls from sin.
The love of our Lord was so great indeed This promise one day was told,
“God will provide Himself a Lamb,” Abraham said of old.
© 2006 Paul Stultz
"Lord, Thank you for your sacrificial death on Calvary. Help us to love you more as we consider your great love for us. Amen."
