When God Doesn't Make Sense Series

That’s great, but eternal gods didn’t care much about the details of people’s lives. Abraham learned that his God was different. His God had His eye on the big picture and the minute details of Abraham’s life. The ram trapped in the bushes providing a sacrifice convinced Abraham that this God really cared about the small details, the pains and concerns of plain old human living. That’s why in verse 14 of the story he calls Him, “”The LORD Will Provide,” which translated roughly means, “The God Who Will See to the Details.” He is God most high and God most nigh. He’s eternal and exalted, but also close and caring.

Abraham also learned that this God did not demand the sacrifice of human blood. This was a shocker because all the gods of Canaan required an offering of whatever they gave their followers the power to produce: crops, livestock, or kids. But not this God. This God provided a sacrifice for Himself.

What Abraham never learned, but we now know, is that our God is all about self-sacrifice, not human sacrifice. There are some interesting parallels in this story and the life of Jesus. Both Isaac and Jesus had miraculous births. Both Isaac and Jesus were the seed of Abraham to bless the nations. Both Isaac and Jesus carried wood on their backs: one for a fire, the other for a crucifixion. Both Isaac and Jesus climbed a hill for the purpose of death: once ascended Moriah, the other Golgotha. Here’s where the similarities end. Isaac was spared; Jesus was slain. God the Father intervened and provided a ram for Isaac. God the Father did not spare His only Son because He was the Lamb of God, crucified for the salvation of the world.

Nearly 2,000 years later we rejoice because we understand why God did what He did. But back then it made no sense … until the Lamb that was slain arose from the dead after three days. The lesson then is still the lesson now: when God doesn’t make sense, He’s on the move. He’s testing you to make you better, more like Christ. Sometimes the perplexing times are so painful that it’s hard to take one more step with God. In those moments remember the Lord’s provision of the past to retain trust for today. Act faith and speak faith even when you don’t feel faith. Move forward with the expectation that God will reveal more of Himself. Probably more than an any time in your life, when God doesn’t make sense, He’s on the move.