by Pastor Douglas Brauner

God Intervenes

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.”
Genesis 22:10 English Standard Version

The light shines on Abraham’s face as the shadows surround his countenance. What do you see in his face? At this point in the account, the angel of the Lord rends heaven to stop him from slaughtering his son, his only son, the son of the promise. The knife that he had taken to slay his son falls to the ground.

When you look into the old man’s eyes, what do you see? What you see might not be what I see. That’s the beauty of art, but I encourage you to expand this picture and look at his eyes, study his eyes.

I can imagine that Abraham had fixed his eyes on something else just before the angel of the Lord intervened, maybe on his son, then maybe again on a bush or tree, not wanting to look at the fear and apprehension in his only son’s eyes. The biblical account does not say that the angel touched Abraham. Instead, he got his attention by crying his name twice from heaven. That would be enough to draw his eyes upward, away from the impending bloody mess.

It is God who intervenes.

Abraham had walked with the Lord for quite some time before this event and he had discovered that God is faithful. Even when things in life didn’t make sense like an old man and woman having a baby, he knew that he could trust God. Even with a knife drawn and ready to do the unthinkable, Abraham believed God to be faithful (Hebrews 11:17-19).

The Bible lets us imagine what Abraham and Isaac experienced at this dramatic moment in their lives. The Bible often gives us the account then sets us free to think about what we have heard and read. So once again, I invite you into Abraham’s eyes. Put yourself in Abraham’s place and discover that this God who was faithful to him is faithful to you in Jesus.

What do your eyes see about God’s intervention in your life?

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado