In Genesis 22, as Abraham took his son up to the mountain, his heart must have been filled with quite a few painful emotions. Doubt. Fear. Anger. Disbelief. All mingled with continuing faithful obedience as he continued to trudge up the path towards the summit. I imagine that he could have been looking for some alternate way that he could satisfy God's command. Is there any out? As he neared the top, he must have begun to realize that his options were narrowing and his time was running out. He steadily moved towards the moment when he would kill his son, but not without anxiety and hard questions racing just behind his sweaty forehead. Imagine the relief Abraham must have felt when the ram was found in the thicket in the last brief moments before the knife was to plunge into Issac's chest. God had provided another sacrifice and stayed the hand of death from falling on Abraham's son.
Centuries later, Christ's brow dripped sweat and blood as he asked his Father for another way to satisfy justice. However, this time an alternate answer did not come. Christ WAS the ram in the thicket. The Lord HAD provided. What a somber answer that was for Christ to hear. Imagine the gravity of the moment. He would have to bear the full blow of God's knife of justice. Let us remember however, that Christ fully embraced this reality in a way that none of us can fathom. He sincerely and entirely desired the will of the Father in a way that even a submissive son like Isaac never could have. Praise God for his perfect and loving plan to kill his own innocent Son. Because the knife came down on Christ, we are unloosed from the ropes that had tied us to the altar, and we can walk free.
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Holy Is the Lord
Andrew Peterson
Wake up little Isaac
And rub your tired eyes
Go and kiss your mama
We'll be gone a little while
Come and walk beside me
Come and hold your papa's hand
I go to make an altar
And to offer up my lamb
I waited on the Lord
And in a waking dream He came
Riding on a wind across the sand
He spoke my name
"Here I am", I whispered
And I waited in the dark
The answer was a sword
That came down hard upon my heart
Holy is the Lord
Holy is the Lord
And the Lord I will obey
Lord, help me I don't know the way
So take me to the mountain
I will follow where You lead
There I'll lay the body
Of the boy You gave to me
And even though You take him
Still I ever will obey
But Maker of this mountain, please
Make another way
Holy is the Lord
Holy is the Lord
And the Lord I will obey
Lord, help me I don't know the way