A teaching by Rev. Barbara Williams, President of the Ministry of the Watchman International
Week of August 12-16, 2024
MONDAY
Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
Genesis 22:1-3
This is a test for Abraham. This is the Abraham of the name change. This is a man who has history with God. This is Abraham, the friend of God, who God trusts. He knows Abraham will command and lead his family to wholly follow the Lord. This is Abraham who has received a miracle son. This man totally trusts God. God has resurrected his life to the degree that he was once impotent and received the strength to conceive a son in his old age with the barren wife of his youth. Can there be yet a greater miracle that this man can expect God to perform? God needs to know that this man will believe him into a higher level of supernatural living. God needs to know that Abraham will not withhold anything from him.
So Abraham, as is his custom, immediately obeys God. This is what he knows has always brought him success. He has the habit of obeying God. This is one way to meet Jehovah Jireh. We must be in obedience-mode, not questioning-mode to get the provision of God. Perhaps this is the problem somewhere for someone reading this teaching. Perhaps you are trying to see the provision before you get into the place of vision. Vision comes to the obedient, not the fearful. Questioning can sometimes be a sign of fear. The decision to obey must be made before the questions come. Then the questions should relate to the already decided act of obedience.
If you are in need of healing, there is good news! Proverbs 4:20-22 SAYS:
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
So there is life and health in God’s word. Since God’s word is medicine, we must take it like we would a prescription. I suggest three times a day, like you would your food. Remember, healing is the children’s bread. Consider this your “dose” for today. Remember, read, and meditate three times a day the following:
Rx: Matthew 9:28-30 ~ When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened.
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
If you’ve never studied the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we invite you to join us as we read through the Bible in a year. Read and meditate on these chapters this week:
August 12: 1 Samuel 2, Romans 2, Jeremiah 40, Psalms 15-16
August 13: 1 Samuel 3, Romans 3, Jeremiah 41, Psalms 17
August 14: 1 Samuel 4, Romans 4, Jeremiah 42, Psalms 18
August 15: 1 Samuel 5-6, Romans 5, Jeremiah 43, Psalms 19
August 16: 1 Samuel 7-8, Romans 6, Jeremiah 44, Psalms 20-21
August 17: 1 Samuel 9, Romans 7, Jeremiah 45, Psalms 22
August 18: 1 Samuel 10, Romans 8, Jeremiah 46, Psalms 23-24
TUESDAY
Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.
Genesis 22:4-6
On the third day Abraham looks up. What you see depends upon where you are looking. Looking up on the third day relates to the resurrection of life that God must have promised Abraham before he could obey him fully. Abraham is in the place where God has said he was to go. Now that he has obeyed, Abraham is looking up to see God. He is looking for further instruction. This is a familiar position for him to assume to see God. Remember the covenant God promised that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. By looking up Abraham is remembering his covenant with God. When your faith and your love are put to the test, remember your covenant with God. Activate your covenant by putting God first. Look up and worship. Look up and believe. Look up without fear. Know that your God is ever present and that He will answer you. What did Abraham see?
Hebrews 11:17-19 tells us that he saw Isaac raised up. God had promised that in Isaac the promised seed would be called. If Abraham believed that God could not lie, then he must believe that God could raise his son from the dead. This is part of our inheritance as sons and daughters of Abraham. We have faith in the resurrection power of God. We have conquered the fear of death because of his obedience. Our inheritance of Abraham’s faith begins with the strongest test that he ever went through. Because of this test, we can be born again. Abraham continues to obey God, going up even higher to a place of sacrifice. The place of sacrifice is always the highest place.
WEDNESDAY
But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”
So the two of them went together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
Genesis 22:7-9
Is the place of our sacrifice important? Of course it is. Abraham proceeds to the place chosen by God. He is accustomed to being led by God. This is how they met. God told him to go to a place that he would show him. God really just wants us to move. He knows that movement puts us into a place of anticipation and receiving… As we go, we are healed.
Remember the ten lepers? As we go, we can reflect on what God has said and seek Him with our whole hearts. Abraham proceeds toward the place that he has seen his son raised up in the vision. When Isaac asks where the sacrifice will come from, Abraham responds according to his faith and says God himself will provide the sacrifice. Abraham has seen the whole scene of what will take place on the mountain in a vision. All he has to do is act out his part. This is all we are doing when we obey God. He already knows the outcome. All we are doing is acting out our part. Are you acting out your part in God’s vision for your life or are you missing in action?
THURSDAY
And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.”
And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Genesis 22:10-12
After Abraham has laid his son on the altar, he lifts up the knife to slay him, but the angel of the Lord cries out to him from heaven. Talk about an eleventh hour miracle! One must have to trust God for the resurrection in order to go this far. How far will you go in your test? How far will you walk with God? How long before you forsake Him and leave Him without a friend on the earth to demonstrate His faith?
Hopefully, you will go all the way, because that is the only way we meet Jehovah Jireh. God merely wants us to prove our devotion to him so that he can take us to the places where He needs us to be. He needed Abraham to come up higher. He needed a man on the earth with resurrection faith in order for His covenant to be established among the people. He had to have a man with affections that he could trust. If Abraham had withheld that son from God, we could not have eternal life. The tests of God are eternally important. Once we show Him that He has our hearts, the test is complete.
When was Abraham’s test completed? It was completed at the foot of the mountain. When he told his servants to wait at the bottom of the hill that he and the lad would return, he had faith that God would not take back his promise concerning Isaac. Sometimes we are on the verge of walking away from the promises of God, and we need to have our faith restored. God is willing. Will you come up higher?
FRIDAY
Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
And Abraham called the name of the place, Jehovah-jireh; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
Genesis 22:13-19
So the covenant is confirmed again. God provides the sacrifice, as He always does. Abraham calls this place Jehovah Jireh, which is translated, “in the mount of the Lord it will be provided.” In other words, provision is a place as well as a person. God leads us to a higher place from which he will provide. His provision is always made in heavenly places in Him. His provision is not of this world. It is of heaven. We must be worshippers in order to enjoy the provision of God. We must be obedient seekers to receive the provision of God. We must not withhold anything from Him. Then we will be taken up and led into the place of provision. Because Abraham obeyed the voice of the Lord, all his seed (that includes us) will be blessed. Have you truly met Jehovah Jireh? Do you know Him as the total source of your supply? Give everything to Him, and watch Him raise up that which was dead and unproductive in your life.
Pray that those who have suffered severe loss will meet Him. Ask God to take them up higher so that they will receive the full revelation of His provision. In the Mount of the Lord, it shall be provided.