In the ancient city of Ur, in Babylonia, there lived a good man named Abram. One day, he and his wife Sarai set out from Ur to go to the land of Canaan.
Abram settled in the southern part of Canaan, and God said to him, “Look in all directors. This is the land which I am going to give you and your children and their children, and it will be yours for ever. You will have so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all.”
Although Abram had no children at that time, he believed and trusted God’s word. He set up his camp near the sacred trees of Mamre at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
One day the voice of God spoke to him and said, I am the Almighty God. You must obey me and always do what is right.”
Abram bowed down and his face touched the ground. God repeated His promise that Abram would be the ancestor of many nations, and then He said, “Your name will no longer Abram, but Abraham; no longer shall you call your wife Sarai; from now on her name is Sarah, and there well be kings among her descendants.”
Abraham must have found this news hard to believe, for both her and Sarah were very old.
One hot day Abraham was sitting by the door of his tent when he looked up and saw three strangers coming towards him. People were always very welcoming and polite to travelers in that country, so Abraham ran out, bowed to the men and said, “Sirs, please do not pass my door without stopping. Let me bring water to wash your feet and some food; it will help you on your journey. You have honored me by coming here, so now let me serve you with the best that my house can provide.”
“Thank you,” said the newcomers. “We accept gladly.”
So Abraham ran out into the tent and said to his wife Sarah, “Quickly, let us prepare a meal for our visitors.”
He took bread, cream, milk and some tender meat and set it before his guests.
Then the visitors asked him, “Where is your wife?”
“She is in the tent,” answered Abraham.
“In the spring, she will have a son,” said of the men.
Sarah was just behind the tent entrance, and she laughed. “I am much too old to have a baby,” she thought to herself, “and Abraham is too old to be a father.”
“Why is it that Sarah laughed?” the stranger asked Abraham. “Is there anything which is too hard for the Lord to do?”
The strangers left and Abraham walked with them part of the way. By now he had realized that the men were messengers from God. He knew that if God had planned it, then Sarah would certainly have a son.
The promised that the strangers had brought to Abraham from God came true, and before long Sarah had a son, just as they had said. Abraham and Sarah were delighted, and they called the boy Isaac, which means “full of laughter”. Perhaps this was they laughed with happiness when he was born, or it may have been because they remembered Sarah laughing in the tent when they first heard of their son yet to be born.
“God has brought me great joy and laughter,” said Sarah.
Isaac grew up to be a fine boy and his parents loved him very much.
But when Isaac was still quite young, God put Abraham to the test to see whether he really trusted Him.
God called to Abraham one day, “Abraham! Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much, and set out for the land of Moriah. I will show you a mountain there, and on it I want you to offer your son as a sacrifice to Me.”
Abraham must have wondered if he had heard God rightly. In those days human sacrifices were not uncommon, and people always offered to God the best that they had, but could God really want Abraham to kill and offer his only son whom God Himself had sent?
However, Abraham’s trust in God was great. He believed that God’s commands must be obeyed, so he did not delay.
Early next morning he called Isaac and hold him they were going off into the mountains. He cut some wood for the sacrifice and loaded it upon his donkey. Then, with Isaac and two of his servants, he set out, walking with a sad and very heavy heart.
After three days’ journeying, Abraham saw the mountain ahead. He turned to the servants and said, “Stay here with the donkey, while Isaac and I go over there to worship.
In saying this, he hoped that perhaps in some way God would be able to save his son for him.
Abraham carried the knife and the coals for the fire, while Isaac carried the wood. As they climbed the mountain, Isaac looked puzzled and said, “Father, we have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb which we are going to sacrifice?”
All Abraham could reply was, “God Himself will provide.
When they arrived at the place of which God had told him, Abraham began to build an altar and to arrange the wood on it. Then he took Isaac and bound him and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. Then he raised the knife up on his head.
At the moment the voice of an angel called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!
“Yes, here I am,” answered Abraham.
“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to hurt him. Now I know that you really trust God, because you have not kept back your son from him.”
What a great relief Abraham felt! He looked around and there he saw a ram with its horns caught in a bush. God send it for him to sacrifice in place of his son.
God was pleased with this great proof of Abraham’s love and trust in Him.
Then the angel called to Abraham a second time and said, “God says, because you did this, and did not hold back your son, He will indeed bless you. You will have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand on the seashore, because you have obeyed His voice without question.”
Abraham named the place of sacrifice Jehovah-Jireh, which means “The Lord will provide”. Even today people say, “On the Lord’s mountain He provides.”
