<TITLE>12. Par 44-46</TITLE>L-44 Now, when he took the boy, the fire, the wood, and went up the hill, little Isaac got curious. If you see, it's a perfect picture of God leading His Son up Mount Calvary--certainly is: the Father and the Son, the only begotten, just a perfect picture. And when they get up to the top of the mountain, little Isaac said, "Father," said, "here is the altar. Here's the wood. Here's the fire, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? He couldn't understand.
Look at Abraham, and not a quiver in his voice, he said, "My son, God will provide for Himself a lamb for the sacrifice." Didn't know yet what was going to take place. He was stepping right up like the Hebrew children, right up to the fiery furnace. "He... Our God is able to deliver us, but nevertheless, we won't bow to your image."

L-45 So when he got there, he took little Isaac, put his hands behind him, tied him, tied his feet, laid him up on the altar, pulled back his little hair away from his face. Could you imagine the feeling of a father? Pulled the knife out of the sheath. Little Isaac never squealed; he never made a offer; he was trusting his father.
Oh, how those real dark hours could come, yet a real believer will trust his Father. He will trust Him. Like Job said, "Though He slay me, yet I trust Him."
And when he drew the knife to slice the throat of his own son, raised it up with his hand, no doubt a little tear come down from the beard across his face. But as he raised up to slice the throat of his own son, about that time something caught his hand. And the Holy Spirit spoke from the heaven and said, "Abraham, stay your hand." And about that time a... a little ram bleated behind him. A ram, a male sheep, had got his horns hooked in the weeds, in the vine. And Abraham loosed his son right quick, went over and picked up this lamb, ram, and laid him upon the altar and killed the ram in the place of his son.

L-46 I want to ask you something, seriously now. Where did that ram come from? Think of it, practically seventy-five to a hundred miles away from civilization, wolves and lions and everything else in the country. And besides that, he was up on top of a mountain where there's no water, and the ram could not have existed there. And why didn't Abraham see the ram when he was picking up the stones all around him to make the altar? It wasn't there. It was impossible for it to be there. It would been... If the ram would have stayed that far away, it'd been killed. It wouldn't have been up on top the mountain, because you know yourself, sheep don't stay up there. Sheep stays in the meadows, the brush.
But here was this ram up there. Where did he come from? God created it. And that's the reason Abraham called the place Jehovah-jireh, "the Lord will provide the sacrifice." Now, he didn't see a vision. A vision doesn't produce blood. The ram had a corporal body. And it had literal, corporal blood. And he killed the ram and offered the ram instead of his son. Why was it? Abraham was taking God at His Word plumb to the end. And God is able to do the same thing here tonight to the seed of Abraham, who will take Him at His Word.


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