Tuesday

A time to live again

Abraham saw the hill of sacrifice far off and lifted his head. His posture changed and hope revived.

After a tortuous two days of deep uncertainty and confusion, Abraham lifted his head, but he did so some distance before they reached Moriah.
The language used is subtle, but it does not suggest the kind of defiant look of a man bracing himself for the dentist. He looked up long before he had to and took the scene in.

His heart and mind flooded with anticipation of a long overdue appointment with his God, the great and faithful companion who had walked with him and watched over him over so many seemingly fruitless years.

That journey was about to climax and Abraham was about to seal his covenant with the Great I Am. He knew it, but could not imagine what would happen on the hill. No word had come from God to spare him the ordeal of taking his son up the hill to sacrifice him, so it was with trepidation mixed with a deep hope that he approached that last hill.

He then laid the burden of firewood on his son's back and led him up the Moriah, just as Jesus would one day bear the wood of His own sacrifice up the hill of Calvary: but in both cases, the actors in these climactic scenes came back down the mountain again to give enduring hope to their descendants.

(c) peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

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