Genesis 22:13-24 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 22:13-24. Let’s go!
Genesis 22:13-14 (NIV)
13 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.
14 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.”
On verses 13-14: Instead of making Abraham sacrifice his only son Isaac, God provides a substitutionary sacrifice for Isaac. Just as Abraham predicted in verse 8, God Himself provides a lamb for the offering. It’s a ram caught by its horns in a thicket, which some scholars say was a thornbush. Now consider this: a ram is a male adult lamb. “Horns” in the Bible are often seen as a symbol for one’s destiny. “Thorns” in the Bible often represent suffering. Just as God provided an adult male lamb who destiny was to suffer on a mountain in place of Isaac, so Jesus was the male adult lamb whose destiny was to suffer and die in our place on a hill called Calvary. On the day Jesus was sacrificed, they even placed a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head so that, like the ram, Jesus’ head is caught in thorns. I love how the Old Testament points us to Jesus. Truly the Lord is our provider, as verse 14 says, for on the mountain God provided us with His sacrificial lamb to atone for our sins.
Genesis 22:15-19 (NIV)
15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time
16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,
18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
On verses 15-19: Here God declares that because Abraham obeyed God, God would bless Abraham tremendously. There is great blessing that comes with obeying God.
Genesis 22:20-24 (NIV)
20 Some time later Abraham was told, “Milcah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor:
21 Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram),
22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.”
23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor.
24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.
On verses 20-24: In Genesis 11:26, just as Abraham’s story is about to be told, we read of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. (Abraham’s other brother Haran had died at a young age – see Genesis 11:28.) Here we read of Nahor’s descendants, most likely because the author of Genesis is winding down the story of Abraham and Abraham’s generation so that he can transition to talking about Isaac and the next generation.
Heavenly Father, thank You that instead of me dying for my own sins, You provided a perfect lamb to die in my place, Your Son Jesus Christ. Thank You Jesus for dying so that I could live. I worship You and thank You for saving me. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
