The Perfect Sacrifice

“Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.” Genesis‬ ‭22‬:‭13‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Earlier in chapter 22, God instructed Abraham to offer his son as a burnt offering – the long-awaited descendant that God had promised to give him years earlier. When God told him what he wanted him to do, Abraham got up early the next morning to go do it. I am amazed at the faith that Abraham showed! There was absolutely no hesitation from him to sacrifice his son. He knew that God would provide.

What did God provide? I LOVE that God gives us this detail 🤍

In the old testament, God required PERFECT sacrifices. The animals had to be without blemish, spotless; they could not be sick or lame. The sacrifice (the lamb) that God provided for Abraham was perfect. Look closely at verse 13: the ram was caught in the thicket by its horns. Not by its leg, its head or any other part of its body that could be damaged. But by its tough ole horns! If it was caught in the thicket by any other body part, it wouldn’t have been perfect! The thicket would have cut it/scraped it/injured it. I have read this verse many times in my life, but it wasn’t until a recent Bible study where it pointed out this detail that I realized it.

God provided a perfect sacrifice for Abraham that day, and it was foreshadowing to the perfect sacrifice that He would provide for us many years later 🙌 ~ Jesus. God sent His Son, Jesus, the Lamb of God, to die in our place just like the lamb died in Isaac’s place that day. Jesus never sinned and therefore was perfect, unblemished – the only kind of sacrifice that could atone for our sins ❤️