Passage: Genesis 22:11-19
The Big Idea
Abraham didn’t see the ram until he had fully surrendered and lifted his eyes. Surrender didn’t save him; God’s substitute did. So Abraham named the mountain “The LORD Will Provide,” not “My Obedience” or “My Victory.” The Christian life is God’s mountain of grace: His provision, His work, His glory. And by faith, God can throw our mountain of self-reliance into the sea and build His mountain in its place.
Mountains
What’s your favorite mountain?
Did you know the study of mountains is called orology? Or that all of the world’s highest peaks are in Asia?
Today we’re looking at one very special mountain.
Fully Surrendered (Genesis 22:11-12)
The Angel of the LORD called from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham! Don’t lay your hand on the boy, for now I know that you fear God, since you haven’t withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
“Abraham, you’re completely surrendered. I know it, and now you know it too!”
How did he get there?
By fellowship with God. By abiding, by learning God’s character, by learning how He loves.
- As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, overflowing with thankfulness (Colossians 2:6-7).
- Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).
And by believing God’s promises. If God said it, God will do it! Believing God’s Word.
These two are still the heart of a healthy relationship with God, two relational realities of grace:
- Fellowship is humility: “I need You and want to be connected with You. I’m not okay without You today!”
- Believing promises is faith: “I’ll put my trust and hope in You and in Your Word.”
How can you grow as a Christian? Grow in fellowship with God, and in believing His promises.
Remember the fellowships Abraham walked through: separation, sacrifice, patience, hope, holiness, God’s justice, and finally suffering. And remember the promises we can stand on: if we seek Him we’ll find Him; His love never fails; there’s blessing in His Word; salvation for all who believe in His Son; all things work together for good; comfort in our trials; He’ll finish what He started; peace when we pray; He’ll supply our needs.
The Ram in the Thicket (Genesis 22:13)
Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. He went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
- A sacrifice still had to be made.
- God provided a substitute, a replacement, instead of his son.
- Abraham didn’t see the substitute until he had completely surrendered and lifted his eyes. Then God revealed it.
- Surrender put him in the right place, but surrender didn’t save him.
- When he lifted his eyes, there was God’s provision, right there the whole time.
Surrender is how we relate to God, but it isn’t a work that earns a reward. Surrender simply puts us in the place where we can be saved by the substitution of Jesus Christ for us on the cross. That’s grace.
Salvation comes when we look to the work of Jesus on the cross:
- When you first come to Jesus: by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).
- And every day after: the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).
So, like Abraham, we surrender, and then lift up our eyes to see the salvation of the Lord.
God loves to be the hero
Everyone loves a hero. All our favorite movies have one. And God loves to be the hero of our story:
- At the Red Sea, Moses told the people not to be afraid, but to stand still and see the salvation of the LORD (Exodus 14:13).
- When a vast army came against Jehoshaphat, God told Judah they wouldn’t need to fight; they should take their positions, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD (2 Chronicles 20:17).
- And for the whole world: the LORD has bared His holy arm before all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God (Isaiah 52:10).
Provision Hill (Genesis 22:14)
Abraham called the name of that place “The LORD Will Provide” (Yahweh Yireh), as it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
If Abraham understood anything, it’s that God is the hero, not him. God is the provider, not him.
Abraham didn’t name the place “My Struggle,” “My Trial,” “My Victory,” “The Mountain Where I Got Things Done,” or “The Hill of My Obedience.” He named it, in effect, Provision Hill: the place where God provided, and where He always will. Where grace is always found. Because that’s what grace is: God’s provision, God’s resources for what we need.
“As it is said to this day.” Apparently, even generations later, this mountain was known as the place where God would provide two things: a sacrifice, and grace.
Whose mountain is this, anyway?
The Christian life is all about God’s grace. It’s like living on a mountain of grace, with a name that points to God’s provision. Just as Yahweh Yireh points to God’s work and not our own, being called a “Christian” should shout that I’m someone who depends on God’s provision for my life, who has renounced dependence on the flesh.
- My daily time with Him, getting to know Him, is my fellowship.
- My trials are opportunities to show faith and draw on the resources He offers at the cross.
This is our mountain: a life of God’s works, God’s blessings, God’s glory, God’s love. (A mountain even looks a little like an arrow pointing up!)
We pray, “Your kingdom come.” We could also pray, “Your mountain come!”
Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a great statue of gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay. A stone cut without hands struck the statue and crushed it all to chaff, and the wind blew it away without a trace. Then the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2:35).
Just as that mountain, Christ’s kingdom, fills the whole earth, His work, power and provision should fill our whole lives, crushing the fleshly kingdoms in our hearts until no trace of them is left.
“But my self-reliance is like a huge mountain right now. I don’t feel like I can stop being so self-dependent.” Pray!
Jesus said to have faith in God. Whoever tells this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” and doesn’t doubt in his heart but believes it will happen, it will be done for him. So whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you’ve received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:22-24).
Is the mountain of your life known for your works, your efforts, your deeds, your sacrifices, your successes or your failures?
Then pray! Believe that God will take that mountain and throw it into the sea for you. Then He’ll establish a new mountain with a new name: God provides. God does it. God is faithful. God gets the glory.
I used to think “this mountain” meant only specific sins, and that God would free you from a sin no matter how impossible it seemed. That’s true. But now I think it’s much bigger. God wants to tear down the entire self-dependent system at work in our hearts, by faith, and build a new mountain that will never be moved, a mountain that’s all His work and none of ours.
Paul says the Gentiles, who weren’t pursuing righteousness, received it, the righteousness that comes by faith. But Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness (living on a mountain called “My Efforts”), didn’t reach it. Why? Because they didn’t seek it by faith (trusting God’s provision), but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, as Scripture says: “I’m laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame” (Romans 9:30-33).
A stone is just a mountain that hasn’t grown yet!
People can’t even begin to trust Jesus while they’re trying to do things in their own strength. We have to surrender: we can’t change ourselves. We can’t become better people. We can’t try hard enough to make God happy, or our spouse happy, or even our own conscience happy.
We need to surrender to the only thing that works: the sacrifice of the Substitute, Jesus on the cross.
Then we receive grace: God’s blessings, God’s fruitfulness, God’s mountain.
Blessing upon Blessing (Genesis 22:15-18)
The Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven: “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants like the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gate of their enemies, and in your Seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you obeyed My voice.”
- “By Myself I have sworn.” There’s no one greater for God to swear by (Hebrews 6:13-18). “I don’t need anything from you, but I love your trust.”
- “Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply.” Grace upon grace! No end to His grace, no running out of resources, no missing provision. “I will not fail you.” You’ll never go to the ATM of His grace and come back empty-handed.
- “Your descendants will possess the gate of their enemies.” No weapon formed against you will prosper (Isaiah 54:17). Sin can no longer dominate you. All the weakness inherited from Adam is broken and overwhelmed by His blessing.
- “In your Seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” Jesus, the Messiah, would come from Abraham’s descendants and bring this complete blessing to every nation, opening God’s grace to anyone who comes to Him (Galatians 3:16).
Abraham Returned (Genesis 22:19)
So Abraham returned to his young men, and they set out together for Beersheba, and Abraham lived at Beersheba.
Abraham’s prophecy was fulfilled: “The boy and I will worship and come back to you.” Why? Because he spoke it in faith. Anything you do in dependence on God keeping His promises will be fulfilled.
You can “prophesy” too. It’s simple: proclaim one of God’s promises. Then believe it and stand on it.
Paul told the Corinthians to earnestly desire to prophesy, because it builds up the church (1 Corinthians 14:1-3). Speak God’s promises to one another! Pray that the Spirit would give you a promise in your reading and study that you can share with a brother or sister.
Ministry is inviting other people to live on the mountain of God’s faithfulness with you.
Moses said he would proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! He is the Rock; His work is perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He (Deuteronomy 32:3-4).
Grace Takeaway
Surrender brings you to the place where you can see God’s provision, but it’s the Substitute who saves. God provided the ram for Isaac, and He provided His own Son for you. Let God throw your mountain of self-effort into the sea, and live on His mountain instead: Provision Hill, where the Lord always provides, and He always gets the glory.
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