God Provides Salvation
The story of how Abraham's loyalty was tested is well known. God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac. Unaware of what God had told his father to do, and thinking that they were simply going to offer a sacrifice somewhere, Isaac asked why they had not taken an animal with them. Abraham then replied with the prophetic words that found their echo throughout the pages of the Old, as well as the New Testament: " 'God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering' " (Gen. 22:8, NIV).
What was the prophetic significance of Abraham's words to his son?
Where else in the Old Testament do we find texts that point to the redemption that was to come through Christ? What are those texts, and what do they say? See, for example, Gen. 3:15, Exod. 25:8, Isaiah 53.
Jesus Christ is the center of the Old Testament. Indeed, the whole purpose of the earthly sanctuary service was to point to the coming of the Messiah (see Hebrews 8, 9). Everything prior to His entrance into the world was a mere prelude to the Cross. God waited until the right moment. Then, when "the time had fully come" (Gal. 4:4, NIV), Christ came to live among us.
"Through every age, through every hour, the love of God had been exercised toward the fallen race. Notwithstanding the perversity of men, the signals of mercy had been continually exhibited. And when the fullness of the time had come, the Deity was glorified by pouring upon the world a flood of healing grace that was never to be obstructed or withdrawn till the plan of salvation should be fulfilled."—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 37.
| Think how many long centuries had passed between the promises of the coming Messiah and His coming. What should that tell us—beings who usually live only eighty short years or so at best—about patience, about trusting in God though things seem to take so long? |
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