Origins: The Promise (Genesis 12–25)Sample

By Danny Saavedra

“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’” Genesis 22:13–14 (NIV)

Seriously, my friends, I can’t express to you just how much of a treasure trove of endless riches this account of the binding of Isaac truly is. It is one of the most important chapters in the entire Bible. Today, we’re going to examine the name given to a mountain.

Before we get to that, though, we see God provide an animal for the sacrifice. The blood of the lamb (or ram) was poured out in Isaac’s place. Can you imagine what Abraham and Isaac were thinking as the smoke from the burnt offering went up into the heavens? Relief, peace, confidence, and assurance in the promises of God. They just witnessed the clearest picture seen in the Old Testament of the Messianic work that the Seed of Abraham would one day walk in; they just heard the voice of the Seed as He stayed Abraham’s hand; and they experienced yet another example of the faithfulness of God. 

So now we come to the naming of the mountain. It says Abraham called the place where this all happened “The Lord Will Provide.” A mountain of promise, a mountain of hope, a mountain of expectation. Now listen to this amazing fact; 2 Chronicles 3:1 (NIV, emphasis added) says, “Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David.” The Lord Almighty put it on Solomon’s heart to build His temple upon the site of His greatest promise. But it goes beyond that.

In John 19:16–18 (NIV), it says, “So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him.” That place was LESS THAN HALF A MILE from the spot where King Solomon stood in 2 Chronicles 3; the place Abraham named “The Lord Will Provide.” It was the same place! 

On that day where Jesus hung on the cross and died for our sins, that spot ceased to be called “The Lord Will Provide” and forever became “The Lord Has Provided!” And we are living proof that on that day, “on the mountain of the Lord” our salvation, forgiveness, justification, redemption, reconciliation, restoration, atonement, and eternal hope was provided. I pray our lives will act as monuments to this fulfilled promise so that others will come to receive the promise and experience all that God provided for us on that mount.

DIG: How do you think Abraham and Isaac felt as this all took place?

DISCOVER: What does the name of this place (“The Lord Will Provide”) mean to you? How have you seen this truth in your life?

DO: Listen to “Living Hope” by Bethel Music today as you look up photos of the Golgotha. Reflect on the words of the song and on the knowledge of how the Lord orchestrated all of this in order to save us!