Genesis 22:1-2
1 After these events, God tested and proved Abraham and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. 2 [God] said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you. (Amplified Bible – Emphasis mine)
The passage above should be familiar to us as one of the most vital moments of Christian history. Abraham, God’s covenant friend, is asked to offer his only son, the heir of the promise made to Abraham, as a sacrifice unto God. This request from God to Abraham is said to be a pivotal act, in that by Abraham being willing to offer up his only son, it provided the legal precedent that allowed Almighty God to offer up His only begotten Son, for the sins of all mankind. That, is powerful in its significance, as it illustrates mightily the incredible depth of man’s covenant with God, and God’s heart to reciprocate.
Isaac was in other terms Abraham’s seed, through which the promise of God to Abraham would come. The promise of heirs more than the multitude of the stars of the sky, or the sands of the desert, would only come through Isaac and his children and their children etc. One of the things I’ve learned from this over the years was when the Lord told me to read that verse again, but to substitute the word “seed” for the word “son.” Therefore I read the following:
“Take now your seed, your only seed Isaac, whom you love…..and offer him….” Immediately I knew the Lord was instructing me towards something important. I sensed God saying to me that while I had many types of seed that could be sown, that there was a time when He would ask of me to sow THAT seed, that particular or unique seed, the one I loved.
I knew then that God was asking me to come up to another level with Him. The more you grow in Him, the more He offers to us, but He loves us so much that He will usher us into moments when we realise we’re being called to ‘lay down’ something that we may have counted very dear to us, as He sees it occupying a space that He wants to put something even more dear into. You see there’s seed, but then there’s that peculiar seed, that we LOVE, and therefore that we may have almost unknowingly taken off our list of possible offerings. It’s the seed we don’t even want to consider sowing, the one that just isn’t brought into the equation, the one that is out of the question. But yes, He knows this, and in His desire to bring promotion, He’ll mess with even THAT seed!
In Abraham’s case, God stopped him just before the knife was going to be plunged into Isaac’s body. We can only imagine how Abraham must have felt, upon hearing God’s voice say, “Stop!” Then the Lord said something just as powerful, in saying, “NOW, I know that you fear me…in that you did not withhold your son, your only son…” God saw Abraham’s heart, from his willingness to sow THIS seed, the one he loved, the one that the promise would come through. Then He instructed Abraham to look around, and see the ram which was caught in the thicket, that he was told to sacrifice instead of Isaac. Praise God for a happy ending! God then brought promotion to Abraham, creating the bible dynamic that tells us that God “promotes that which is proven.”
I believe something similar to this takes place in every believer’s life, at some point. God will prove us, by asking us to lay down possibly the very dearest seed or gift or talent we possess, to see if we are still truly His. We must always remember that our God ONLY wants to add or multiply good to our lives, that He never intends harm or evil. Whatever He asks of us is for our benefit, not our detriment. We must be alert to this truth, as obeying God in this moment is what truly releases God’s provision for our lives. Now He may tell us as He did Abraham, to STOP, just before we are ready to sacrifice our LOVED seed, and maybe He won’t, but whichever is true, you WILL mightily benefit from your obedience.
Even the phrase Jehovah-Jireh, has been misunderstood by many. In lexicons, it doesn’t actually mean “God will provide” but rather it translates as “The Lord will SEE!” What it refers to is that, upon being proven, God always provides something to be sacrificed, that will ensure our provision, but He waits to SEE if we will indeed SACRIFICE the offering, instead of eating it ourselves. The Lord will SEE what we do with the seed He offers us. God will indeed, provide seed for the SOWER…(not necessarily the eater!) 2 Cor 9:10.
He then promises this;
“I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring,” – Isa 44:3b. THAT is a great promise; HIS SPIRIT upon OUR seed!
Therefore it’s actually quite simple; God promises provision where He finds obedience. This is because every time you actually set out to obey something God asks of you, it creates a need. His plan is that as we move in faith in response to His direction, it begins a release of heavenly authority to authorize the necessary goods to be released into your hands.
I wonder if God has spoken to you yet, about YOUR seed, your SPECIAL seed, you know the one, the seed that you LOVE? What will you do next?
Rod Anderson.