Bound Before Sacrifice

“And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.” (Ge 22:13 AV)

 

The Spirit drew my attention to two similar details in the account.  The first is that Isaac was bound before he was placed on the altar.  I can see that.  If Isaac does not remain on the altar, he might be able to escape.  Then we see here the ram is caught in a thicket.  Rams may run from human beings wishing to kill it.  But the LORD could have made the ram completely docile.  The ram, although he has somewhat of a will of his own, would not be violated if God took that will from him.  So, that fact of both sacrifices being bound before their eventual demise (of course, not Isaac), must mean something.  Both Isaac and the ram are a type of Christ.  The former is a father who is going to offer a son.  The latter is an animal closely related to Christ and becomes the actual blood offering in the stead of Isaac.  Jesus was bound before he was brought to trial.  Clearly, the type is drawn.  In Isaac, we see an individual who is willingly bound by his own free will.  In the ram, we see an animal who is bound by his own poor judgment and pride.  Either way, it appears to be a genuine sacrifice, one must be surrender to be bound, first.  Being bound is the first step in surrender that often requires more costly commitments.

Just because something is offered or sacrificed, doesn’t mean it was willing done.  Even if it was willingly done, it does not mean it was necessarily done for the right reason.  We were talking after church Sunday morning with a family who has moved from the Philippines.  I asked how long of a flight it is from our fair city to their capital city.  If a non-stop flight was chosen, it would be around twenty-four hours.  That is a long flight.  Especially when one considers you are in a confined space and cannot go anywhere.  I then shared my flight experience from O’Hare in Chicago to Shannon, Ireland.  The total flight time was eight hours.  We flew economy.  Knowing that would be difficult and it would be an overnight flight, I took some Benadryl and slept most of the flight.  I couldn’t even begin to imagine being cooped up in one spot for that long without going completely crazy.  I then thought of the flight to the Philippines.  This individual would not be able to take that flight unless they put me under.  I would have to be sedated.  There is simply no way in God’s green earth I could be confined to one space for a twenty-four-hour period without an option to depart.  Getting strapped in does not mean that I have given in to the long flight.  Taking sleeping pills does not mean I am completely surrendered to the flight and would enjoy the experience.  The only way I could give in to the experience is if I yielded my heart and phobias to the experience and enjoyed the flight.  Just because I might be going along does not mean that I have surrendered.

When we see both Isaac and the ram bound before their sacrifice, we are reminded that Jesus Christ went to Calvary completely surrendered to the Father’s will.  For this, we can rejoice unspeakable and full of glory.  Then we can sober up a bit and remember we are called to a life of surrender and sacrifice as well.  This requires our liberty to be completely surrendered to the will of the Father.  If we are not willing to be bound, we will never truly live a life of surrender.  In retrospect, it is getting bound which is usually the hard part.  Being restrained is usually the most difficult of sacrifice.  When a criminal is apprehended, the first thing they do is to restrain.  We have all seen an arrest where the perpetrator did not want to go quietly.  Once the cuffs were put on and the officers restrained them, the will is broken and they will usually get into the squad car without further incident.  The will must be surrendered before the spirit will comply.  The application is easily seen.  Nothing of value can be done for Christ unless we are willing to first be bound.  Unless we are willing to be restrained, all that we do for Christ will be either minimal or with the wrong motive.  We need to surrender.  We need to relinquish our liberty.  We need to surrender the will.  Then we can do great things for God.