As we consider this morning’s text, we observe on the surface an account of great faith. The Hebrew author will later note that Abraham did not believe that God would stop him from offering Isaac as a sacrifice.  Rather he believed that after offering him up, God would raise Isaac from the dead.  (Hebrews 11: 17-19)  Abraham does not always have such faith, indeed two particular instances of failure of faith have been recorded in Genesis by the time Abraham has reached this point.  At this time, however, Abraham has seen enough promises of God fulfilled that he fully believes that God will fulfill the promise to raise up a great nation through Isaac, even if Isaac needs to be raised from the dead to accomplish the promise.  When we truly stand on the promises of God, we see that all things are possible.

Of special interest this morning is the ram that Abraham discovers caught by his horns in the thicket.  I believe that this ram is important, because it is a ram, and not a lamb.  As we look at our text we see Isaac question his father when he sees no animal for the burnt offering.  Abraham replies “God will provide Himself a lamb.”  God however, does not provide a lamb, but a ram.  This is a fact made all the more significant by this event occurring in the “land of Moriah”.  If we look at 2 Chronicles 3: 1 we see that it is on Mount Moriah that Solomon will build the temple of the LORD.  So while the event in our text does not perhaps take place on Mount Moriah itself it does happen near there.  There are other hills and mountains in the “land of Moriah”.  One of these is Golgotha, where about 2,000 years later the “Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world” will be crucified.  I have personal conviction, even though it is not directly stated in the text, that Abraham might have offered up Isaac very near to that very place where the cross would later stand.  But regardless of that Jesus is the Lamb that God provided to save the life of Isaac and the rest of the world.  But on this day a ram is also provided.  Hence our title, The Ram of God.

I want to bring about three points that we can learn from the provision of the ram.  Most have to do with the receiving of blessings.  But there is one quick lesson that I feel compelled to mention before we begin.  Notice that Abraham leaves his men behind as he goes to perform the grizzly task that God has commanded.  The reason for this is plain.  They would have tried to stop him.  They were not spiritually prepared to even witness what was to take place.  When we set about to do the will of God, we have to do all that we can to remove ourselves from those things, and people that will entangle, or hinder us.  These may not necessarily be wicked people, but simply people that are not on the spiritual level.  When Peter tries to convince Jesus to avoid crucifixion, Jesus replies “Get thee behind me, Satan.”  (Matthew 16: 23)  So even within the church we can find those who will deter us from the will of God.  This can be overcome by helping them to grow.  But we must always look to God for direction and not allow any to divert us.

As we now move ahead to consider the provision of the ram, the first thing that comes to mind is that Abraham “lifted up his eyes” and saw the ram.  We can miss God’s blessings if we don’t lift up our eyes to look for them.  We know that faith apart from works is dead, being alone.  As a matter of fact James uses our very account to show that faith and works go hand in hand.  Sometimes we can be so focused on the work, that we fail to lift our eyes to see that God is blessing us.  Worse yet, we might begin to believe that our work is blessing us, rather than God.  Hebrews 12: 1&2 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.   Lifting our eyes to Christ and the joy set before him is what helps us to run with patience.  We need to lift our eyes to Jesus as an example.  And lift our eyes to God in prayer.  Work in the kingdom is desirable.  But if we truly want the blessings of the Kingdom, the focus of our work must be living like Christ, and living to please God.

Truly, I wish that being too focused on the work were more of a problem in the church.  It is much easier to correct than a lack of involvement.  The former simply takes looking to Christ, while the latter takes looking to Christ and getting involved in the work.  Understand, I’m not saying that we can be working too hard.  There usually isn’t any danger of that.  What I am saying is the work can become a god.

The next thing that I notice about our ram is that God does not command Abraham to offer it as a burnt offering.  Abraham does this none-the-less.   God does not say ‘Abraham withhold thy hand and offer this ram in his stead.”  Abraham simply assumes that this is to be the order of things.  When we truly recognize divine providence for what it is (or more correctly stated accept that which we’ve received by faith) it becomes natural to return to God that which we received.   Pail writes:

1 Corinthians 16
²   Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Notice that the foundation of our giving as Paul states it is that God is prospering us.  Without the true recognition that God is prospering me, it’s difficult (perhaps impossible) to give effectively.  When I accept by faith that all that all that I receive is truly a gift from God it makes giving easier.  I recognize that since that which I give is itself a gift, and that from God:  There is always a replacement at the “Factory”.  This to a degree insulates me from giving too much.  (Like being too focused on the work, however, I wish that giving too much were more of a problem. 

I’m not saying that Christians don’t fall on hard times.  What I will say is that it usually is not due to excessive giving.  Turn with me to Haggai 1: 5&6.  “Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.  Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.”  It sounds familiar to most of us.  Years ago, I preached an entire lesson out of this text and the surrounding verses, at the church in Llano.  This morning I simply want to point that when we find that we are putting in a bag with holes, God says we are to consider our ways.  I’ll confess that money is tight around the Burdue household right now.  In December we bought a new computer, overspent at Christmas, the spent the New Years Eve weekend at the Disneyland Hotel.  So money is tight.  Whose fault is that?  I have to consider my ways.  The worldly view would be to cut back on weekly contribution in order to pay the bills.  The spiritual view is that the reason for my financial situation is overspending (my ways).  God’s blessings have not changed.  Therefore neither should my contribution.

Money is not the only thing that we receive from God.  Our very soul belongs to him (Ezekiel 18: 4).  It belongs to Him in the first place.  In spite of this He also redeemed it with the blood of Christ.  In a sense, you might say it belongs to Him twice over.  He gave us the use of our life.  We gave that to sin, which is death.  By His mercy He purchased it back, that we might have eternal life.  There is no salvation apart from the providence of God!!  This is the whole principle behind Romans 12: 1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”  Some translations say ‘spiritual service’.  I prefer reasonable service.  When I see what God has provided (eternal life) and the price that was paid, it is only reasonable to give my life to God in return.

I want to make one more important observation about this ram.  This was a ram without blemish.  God would have provided one that was otherwise.  And Abraham would not offered one that was otherwise.  Why is that important?  Because this is a healthy ram that meant they must retrieve from the thicket.  He’s not sick or injured.  I believe that there is a chance of injury any time that you have to wrestle with a wild ram.  It seems that the situation would be complicated by the fact that you have to wrestle him out of a thicket.  Did the fact that it might have involved hard work to retrieve this ram, make it to be less an act of providence?  Absolutely not!  If Abraham is cut and scraped in the process, is the ram less of a gift?  No!  Often we have to work, and endure pain and hardship, in order to receive God’s blessings.  This does not cause the blessings to be diminished.  In fact, to the spiritually minded, it may cause the blessing to be more appreciated.  The perseverance through should trial should abound in thankfulness to God for getting us through. 

At the very least, when God gives us blessing, He usually requires that we lay hold of it.  Ephesians 2: 8&9 records “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  not of works, lest any man should boast.”   Salvation is by grace.  It is a gift, a blessing, the providence of God.  I cannot earn it.  Yet Romans 10: 9 says “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”