now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. so then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. but now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. [galatians 3:23-16]
we were always waiting for something better.
listening to an advent sermon the other day, a pastor pointed out something about a very familiar story:
when abraham went with isaac up the mountain as an act of obedience to God, he was waiting on the Lord to provide: he was willing to lay down his will in submission to the Father, but knew that God would keep his promise to make him a great nation–his obedience was an act of faith.
when abraham gathered the materials for sacrifice, isaac asked where the sacrifice was–and abraham replied: God will provide a lamb for the sacrifice. [genesis 22:8].
hiking to the top of the mountain to sacrifice to his son took days: abraham was waiting.
building an altar for the sacrifice of his son took hours: abraham was still waiting.
and as abraham lifted his hand over his head, he waited for the Lord—and at the very moment of decision…
God provided. God provided an unblemished ram, caught by the horns for the sacrifice.
but here is the detail that you probably caught, but i had always passed over:
God didn’t provide a lamb. he provided a ram. whole different animal.
the pastor, cole, made the point that abraham, even after he sacrificed the ram, was still waiting for a lamb, the Lamb, Jesus Christ–abraham’s ram was only a temporary sacrifice, and God’s covenant with abraham wasn’t fulfilled by the the ram.
when the law came, it was like that ram–a temporary substitute, a temporary guardian for a time to reveal that there was a God who was pursuing us in his time and for his glory–we no longer have the shadow of the ram and the law–we have what is real, true, and provides eternal satisfaction on our behalf. let us trust in him:
“behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! [john 1:29b]
in this advent season, let us remember the ram, the guardian, and look to the Lamb as we await his second coming–let us be patient, for even when it seems hopeless, he will come at exactly the right time!
sermon link-the torah teaches us to wait
~ce