“For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.” Heb. 6:14

Have you ever wondered, “When did it all begin?” I’m not talking about the creation of the world. That obviously started when God spoke it into existence. We find where Abel’s blood spoke to God early on in Genesis. We also see God’s promise to Noah that He won’t destroy the world by water ever again. Much happened in those first eleven chapters of the Bible, but I’m talking about something else. I’m talking about a man by the name of Abram that we start learning about in chapter 12. More specifically, I’m talking about the promise, or the announcement of divine intention, that God made to Abraham.

When God called Abram to go out from his country, kindred, and his father’s house, His very next statement was, “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great…” (Gen 12:2) So immediately God revealed to Abram that He had purposed something very special, not just for Abraham, but far beyond that! A very short time after this, in Shechem, God told Abram that the land where he was would be given to his seed. So, in God’s time, He slowly reveals to Abram what his divine intentions are.

So, this is when it all began, but it just keeps getting better. The Lord isn’t done revealing yet!

Next, the Lord reveals that He is “…thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” (Gen 15:1) At this point, the Lord says that Abram will have an heir “…that shall come forth out of thine own bowels…”, and Abram believed. Then God told him to number the stars for “So shall thy seed be.” The Lord expands Abram’s knowledge of His divine intentions: Abram will have a son.

Next, the Lord changes Abram’s name to Abraham, because he will be a father of many nations. Do you see how all this is moving according to the Lord and the direction it’s headed? It all started with Abraham! While Ishmael was indeed Abraham’s son, the Lord clarifies to him that Sarah will bear THE son with whom God will establish His covenant “…for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” (THIS IS KEY!!!) His seed after him! The Lord is moving in Abraham’s life to show His divine intentions (His purpose) regarding not just Abraham’s son Isaac, but to THE seed; not just to Abraham’s lineage, but THE lineage (Israel)…and moreover, SPIRITUAL Israel! It began with making Abram a great nation and then moved to the land that will be given him for an inheritance, then to the promise of a son, then Abram to Abraham, and then the promise of the son in which He will establish his covenant to THE seed.

Next, Isaac is born. He’s here! The promised child has arrived! What a joyous day in the lives of Abraham and Sarah! The journey that began some 25 years earlier just passed a major milestone! But the Lord still has one last piece to announce to Abraham that completes the beginning of the promise and shows the fruition of the same!

Genesis chapter 22 is the apex of Abraham’s journey into the promise of God! While this continues to show the faith of Abraham, it’s not about Abraham. While Isaac is the one who is to be offered, it’s not about Isaac. Oh no, my friends, this is about with whom the promise was established, and that establishment was done before the world began! But the announcement of those divine intentions began with Abram, and now Abraham is going to see it all!

You know what happened, right? God tells Abraham to take his son, his only son, whom he loves, and go into Moriah to a place that God will show him and offer up Isaac to God. But it’s in that offering, and moreso in what Abraham does and sees, that he finally realizes what the Lord’s purpose is regarding His children!

Just before Abraham takes the life of Isaac, the Lord stays his hand. Then, the Lord says this, “By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen 22:16-18)

When Abraham saw the ram caught in the thicket, he didn’t just see that ram: he saw the Lamb! He saw everything that the Lord announced to him starting back in Genesis 12. Abraham realized just what God had shown him during all that time! We have two proofs to this:

    1) Abraham saw it and then called the name of that place Jehovahjireh, which means, “In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen!”

    2) The Lord Jesus Christ Himself acknowledges what Abraham saw when He told the Pharisees in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”!!

You see, Abraham saw Jesus Christ that day in Moriah! He saw the promise of God and what the end result would be of the keeping of that promise! It’s not about Abraham (in that context) so much as it is about the Lord Jesus Christ and what He finished on the Cross of Calvary in saving every elect child of God for all eternity!

So, what began so long ago, in God announcing that which He purposed in His Son before the world began, was shown to Abraham on a mountain in Moriah. The beauty is that not just Abraham saw it, but WE see it as well! God used Abraham to show US His divine purpose! What began with Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, is still being shown to us today. It will not stop, until the Lord returns to carry us home to Glory!

Amen!