Where Is the Lamb?
What Are You Withholding From Him?
Genesis 22 · Hebrews 11 · John 1; 3 · Romans 5; 8 · Galatians 4
G.R. Sterling
What Are You Withholding From Him?
“In Isaac shall thy seed be called.”
—Genesis 21:12
God once asked a man to surrender everything. Not his land, his wealth, or his own comfort. His son. “Take now thy son,” God said to Abraham, “thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest.”
Why did God speak that way? Abraham had another son. Ishmael was still alive. Yet Isaac stood alone as the son born through Sarah, the son God had promised, and the son through whom the covenant would continue. God had already said, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Now the same God told Abraham to offer Isaac upon an altar.
How could both words be true? How could Isaac die and still become the father of the promised seed? Would the command destroy the promise, or did Abraham know something about God that the eye could not yet see?
Abraham rose early the next morning. No argument is recorded. No delay. No attempt to change God’s mind. He gathered the wood, saddled the donkey, took Isaac and two servants, then started toward the mountain God had chosen.
The journey lasted three days. What passed through Abraham’s mind during those three days? Each step carried him closer to the altar. Each mile brought him nearer to the moment when obedience would cost him everything. Isaac walked beside him. Did Abraham look at his son and remember the years of waiting? Did he remember Sarah laughing when God promised a child in their old age? Did he remember holding Isaac for the first time? The son of promise was alive. Now God had asked for him back.
On the third day, Abraham saw the place afar off. He told the servants:
“Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.”
Listen carefully. “I and the lad will go.” “We will worship.” “We will come again.” Why did Abraham speak as though Isaac would return? Was he hiding the truth from the servants, or did he believe that death itself could not cancel the promise of God?
Hebrews gives the answer. Abraham believed God was able to raise Isaac from the dead. He did not know what God would do. He knew what God had said: “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” If Isaac died, the promise still had to live. If the knife fell, God could raise him. If the fire consumed him, God could call him back. Faith does not always know how God will keep His word. Faith knows that He will.
Abraham took the wood and placed it upon Isaac. Who carried the fire? Abraham. Who carried the knife? Abraham. Who carried the wood upon which the sacrifice would be offered? Isaac.
Then Scripture says:
“And they went both of them together.”
Why does the account tell us that? The father and the son walked the same road. One carried the knife. The other carried the wood. One knew where they were going. The other had begun to wonder.
“My father,” Isaac said.
“Here am I, my son.”
Isaac looked at what they carried. The fire was there. The wood was there. But where was the sacrifice?
“Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
Abraham answered:
“My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.”
Then again Scripture says:
“So they went both of them together.”
Abraham did not explain everything. He pointed Isaac toward God. God will provide. Had Abraham already seen the ram? No. Did he know how the sacrifice would be supplied? No. Yet he knew whose responsibility it was. God would provide.
At the appointed place, Abraham built an altar. Stone upon stone. The wood was arranged. Then came the moment when Isaac must have understood. There was no lamb, no goat, and no animal waiting nearby. Isaac was the offering.
Genesis says Abraham bound his son and laid him upon the wood. How? Isaac had carried the wood up the mountain. He was not a helpless infant. Abraham was an old man.
Some have believed Isaac may have been about thirty-seven years old. Scripture does not tell us his exact age, so we cannot know for certain. Yet he was strong enough to carry the wood. Could an elderly father easily overpower such a son? What would have happened if Isaac had run? Could Abraham have caught him? What if Isaac had fought? Could Abraham have forced him onto the altar?
The Bible records no struggle, no blow, no cry for help, and no attempt to escape. Isaac allowed himself to be bound. He permitted his father to place him upon the wood. Then he remained there.
Who acted in faith upon that mountain? Abraham certainly did. He surrendered the son he loved. But what of Isaac? Abraham drew the knife. Isaac lay beneath it. Which required the greater surrender—to raise the blade or to offer your own life?
Abraham gave what he loved most. Isaac gave himself.
Abraham stretched forth his hand. The knife rose above the altar. The promise of God lay bound beneath it.
Then heaven broke the silence.
“Abraham, Abraham.”
“Here am I.”
“Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him.”
The knife stopped. Why? Had God changed His mind? No. The purpose of the test had been revealed.
“Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”
Abraham had shown that he loved God more than the gift God had given him. Isaac had shown that he would surrender his life beneath the will of his father.
Then Abraham looked up. A ram was caught in a thicket. The animal died. Isaac lived. What had happened upon that mountain? A substitute had taken the son’s place. Isaac rose from the altar because another life was offered instead of his own.
Was that the full meaning of Abraham’s words, “God will provide himself a lamb”? Or was the ram only the beginning of the answer?
Isaac had asked, “Where is the lamb?”
A ram was provided that day, yet the question continued through the generations. Where is the sacrifice that can take away sin? Where is the offering pure enough for the guilty? Where is the life worthy enough to be given for the world?
Israel offered lambs year after year. More blood was shed. More sacrifices were placed upon altars. Still, sin remained. Could the blood of an animal cleanse the human heart? Could a lamb understand guilt? Could a goat willingly bear the sins of a nation? Could any creature of the field redeem the soul of a man?
The sacrifices pointed forward. But to whom?
Centuries later, a man stood near the Jordan River. When he saw Jesus approaching, John the Baptist cried:
“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
There was the answer.
Where is the Lamb?
God had provided Him.
Abraham had heard, “Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest.”
At the Jordan, a voice came from heaven:
“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Another Father. Another beloved Son. Another sacrifice ahead.
Isaac carried the wood toward Moriah. Jesus carried the cross toward Calvary. Isaac submitted to his father. Jesus submitted to the Father. Isaac allowed himself to be bound. Jesus gave Himself into the hands of those who came to arrest Him.
Was Jesus trapped by circumstances? Had His enemies finally become stronger than He was? Could He have escaped? When soldiers came for Him, they fell backward at His word. He said He could call upon the Father and receive more than twelve legions of angels.
Why, then, did He remain?
Jesus answered that question Himself:
“No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.”
No man took His life from Him. Judas did not take it. The priests did not take it. Pilate did not take it. The soldiers did not take it. Jesus laid it down.
Isaac willingly surrendered himself to Abraham. Christ willingly surrendered Himself to the Father. In Gethsemane, knowing the suffering ahead, He prayed:
“Not my will, but thine, be done.”
The Father offered the Son. The Son offered Himself. They went together toward the sacrifice.
At Moriah, a voice cried from heaven, “Do not harm the son.”
What happened at Calvary? Did a voice stop the nails? Did an angel remove the cross? Did a substitute appear to take the place of Jesus?
Abraham’s hand was stopped. God did not spare His own Son.
Paul wrote:
“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all…”
Isaac was spared. Christ was delivered. A ram died instead of Isaac. Jesus died instead of us.
Abraham demonstrated what he was willing to do. God carried the sacrifice through. What Abraham acted in a shadow, God fulfilled at Calvary.
Why? Why would the Father give His beloved Son? Why would the Son willingly lay down His life? What could move God to such a sacrifice?
Jesus gave the answer:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…”
Abraham showed how much a man could love God. God showed how much God loves humanity. Abraham would not withhold Isaac from God. God did not withhold Jesus from us.
Which love is greater? The love of a man willing to offer his son, or the love of God who truly gave His Son for the world?
Jesus said:
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Isaac was willing to lay down his life. Jesus laid down His life. But only for His friends?
Paul takes us further:
“God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Not after we became righteous. Not after we cleaned ourselves. Not after we proved that we deserved Him. While we were yet sinners.
Christ died for the guilty. For those who rejected Him. For those who mocked Him. For those who drove the nails. For those who did not love Him.
God did not wait for the world to reach up to Him. He came down to the world.
That is love.
Why did Isaac walk down the mountain alive? Because the ram died in his place.
Why may a sinner receive eternal life? Because Christ died in ours.
Isaac did not save himself. His strength could not free him. His goodness could not remove him from the altar. His place in Abraham’s family could not save him. A substitute had to be provided.
Who provided it?
God.
Can human strength save us? Can family history save us? Can religious ancestry save us? Can the works of the flesh give eternal life?
Abraham and Sarah could not produce Isaac by natural strength. The promise came because God gave life where human ability had failed. Isaac was the child of promise. Yet even Isaac had to learn that life comes from God.
Paul wrote:
“They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.”
What does that mean? The promise does not belong to us because of our bloodline, our family, our nation, or what human hands can perform. Life comes through the promise of God.
Jesus said:
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
The flesh can produce flesh. Only the Spirit can give spiritual life.
Then what becomes of pride? What becomes of human boasting? What becomes of confidence in ancestry, ceremony, works, or religious position?
It must be laid down.
God is not impressed by what the flesh can produce. He seeks something deeper.
A woman once asked Jesus about the proper place to worship. Was it upon one mountain or another? Jerusalem or Gerizim? Which location made worship acceptable?
Jesus answered:
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
True worship does not begin with a mountain. Not Moriah. Not Gerizim. Not Jerusalem. It begins in the heart.
The body may bow while the heart remains proud. The lips may pray while the life remains withheld. A person may stand in a holy place and never surrender anything to God.
Was Abraham’s worship only the building of an altar, or was his worship revealed by what he refused to withhold? Was Isaac’s worship only a spoken prayer, or did he worship when he placed his body beneath the will of God?
What does worship mean when nothing is surrendered? Can we worship in Spirit while trusting in the flesh? Can we worship in truth while hiding part of our lives from God?
The altar asks more than the mouth can answer.
It is easy to admire Abraham. Would we obey as he did? It is easy to praise Isaac’s surrender. Would we remain upon the altar? It is easy to speak of Christ laying down His life. Have we laid down ours?
God has not asked us to die for the sins of the world. Christ alone could do that. The sacrifice for sin has already been offered. Nothing can be added to it.
Yet Paul writes:
“Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Why a living sacrifice? Because God does not ask us to earn salvation by dying. He asks us to belong to Him while we live.
Our will. Our pride. Our plans. Our strength. Our confidence in the flesh. Can any of these remain outside His rule?
What do we hold so tightly that we fear to place it in God’s hands? A dream? A relationship? A possession? A reputation? A future we have already planned?
Do we love the gift more than the Giver?
Abraham could not have known that Isaac would rise from the altar alive. He obeyed because he trusted God.
Do we trust God only when we know how the story ends?
Isaac asked the right question.
“Where is the lamb?”
Perhaps every soul must ask it. Where is the sacrifice for my sin? Where is the covering for my guilt? Where is the life that can save mine?
God has answered.
The Lamb has come. The Father provided Him. The Son offered Himself.
The knife was stopped over Isaac. Judgment was not withheld from Christ. Isaac lived because a substitute died. We may live because Jesus died in our place.
Does God love the world? Look at the cross.
Does God love sinners? Christ died while we were yet sinners.
Can the guilty receive life? Isaac walked down the mountain because another had died for him. Christ rose from the dead so that all who believe might live through Him.
The question is no longer, “Where is the Lamb?”
The Lamb has been provided.
The question is no longer, “Has God shown His love?”
Calvary has answered.
Only one question remains.
God did not withhold His Son from you.
What are you withholding from Him?