Tuesday in Lent

1Verse 1. Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. 2Verse 2. “Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” 3Verse 3. So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated. 4Verse 4. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5Verse 5. “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told his servants. “The boy and I will go over there to worship, and then we will return to you.” 6Verse 6. Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac. He himself carried the fire and the sacrificial knife, and the two of them walked on together. 7Verse 7. Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” “Here I am, my son,” he replied. “The fire and the wood are here,” said Isaac, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8Verse 8. Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two walked on together. 9Verse 9. When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, atop the wood. 10Verse 10. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11Verse 11. Just then the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12Verse 12. “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me. ” 13Verse 13. Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14Verse 14. And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.” 15Verse 15. And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time, 16Verse 16. saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son, 17Verse 17. I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. 18Verse 18. And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19Verse 19. Abraham went back to his servants, and they got up and set out together for Beersheba. And Abraham settled in Beersheba.

1Verse 1. Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see. 2Verse 2. This is why the ancients were commended. 3Verse 3. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 13Verse 13. All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14Verse 14. Now those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own. 15Verse 15. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Verse 16. Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. 17Verse 17. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son, 18Verse 18. even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” 19Verse 19. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death.