From the Heart

The Faith of Abraham, Part 2, July 11

My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering. Genesis 22:8. FH 204.1

As they drew near the mountain, “Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” These endearing words, “My father,” pierced his affectionate heart, and again he thought, Oh! That I, in my old age, might die instead of Isaac.... FH 204.2

Isaac assisted his father in building the altar. Together they placed on the wood, and the last work preparatory to the sacrifice is done. With quivering lips and trembling voice, Abraham revealed to his son the message that God had sent him.... Isaac was the victim, the lamb to be slain. Had Isaac chosen to resist his father's command, he could have done so, for he was grown to manhood; but he had been so thoroughly instructed in the knowledge of God that he had perfect faith in His promises and requirements.... FH 204.3

He comforted his father by assuring him that God conferred honor upon him in accepting him as a sacrifice, that in this requirement he saw not the wrath and displeasure of God, but special tokens that God loved him, in that He required him to be consecrated to Himself in sacrifice. FH 204.4

He encouraged the almost nerveless hands of his father to bind the cords which confined him to the altar. The last words of endearing love were spoken by father and son, the last affectionate filial and parental tears were shed, the last embrace was given, and the father had pressed his beloved son to his aged breast for the last time. His hand is uplifted, grasping firmly the instrument of death which was to take the life of Isaac, when suddenly his arm is stayed.... “And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.” ... FH 204.5

Our heavenly Father surrendered His beloved Son to the agonies of the crucifixion. Legions of angels witnessed the humiliation and soul anguish of the Son of God but were not permitted to interpose as in the case of Isaac. No voice was heard to stay the sacrifice. God's dear Son, the world's Redeemer, was insulted, mocked at, derided, and tortured until He bowed His head in death. What greater proof can the Infinite One give us of His divine love and pity?—Signs of the Times, April 1, 1875. FH 204.6