阅读经文 

一天早上，我离开了弗吉尼亚州阿巴拉契亚山道上的哥尼流溪（Cornelius Creek），开始了通往果园山的漫长而陡峭山径的攀登。我经常需要停下来，靠在树上喘口气。当我费力地上山时，我想起了亚伯拉罕和以撒一起上山的情景。

神吩咐亚伯拉罕把他儿子以撒带到摩利亚地去，在那里的山上献为燔祭。亚伯拉罕就听从了这吩咐。到了山上，他们缓缓地爬到“神指示他的地方”。以撒注意到他们没有羊羔作为燔祭。亚伯拉罕说：“我儿，神必自己预备作燔祭的羊羔。”接着，亚伯拉罕把他儿子捆起来，放在坛上。但当亚伯拉罕拿起刀要杀他的儿子献祭时，神阻止了他，实际上祂在对亚伯拉罕说：“现在我知道你对我的信靠超过其他一切。”（参创 22:3、8、12）

多么可怕的一幕！我们可能会问：“亚伯拉罕是怎样的一位父亲？神又是怎样的一位神呢？”或者我们应该问，“神在这里的计划和启示是什么？”再继续看，我们发现亚伯拉罕即使受试炼的时候，也依然信靠神会预备羔羊代替他的儿子。再后来，我们看到神亲自预备了祂的儿子耶稣，作为神的羔羊，替我们受死，为我们的罪付上代价，并赐给我们永生！（参约 1:29, 3:16）

Leaving Cornelius Creek on the Appalachian Trail one morning in Virginia, I began the long, steep climb to Apple Orchard Mountain. Stopping frequently, I leaned against trees to catch my breath. As I struggled up the mountain, I thought about Abraham’s hike into the mountains with Isaac.

God told Abraham to take his son Isaac to the region of Moriah and to sacrifice him as a burnt offering on a mountain there. So Abraham obeyed. Reaching the mountain, they slowly climbed to “the place God had told him about.” Isaac noted that they had no lamb for the burnt offering, but Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Abraham then bound his son and placed him on the altar. But as Abraham took the knife to sacrifice his son, God stopped him, saying, in effect, “Now I know that you trust me above all else.”

What a horrifying scene! We might ask, “What kind of father is Abraham? And what kind of God is this?” Or perhaps we should ask, “What was God actually planning and revealing here?” Looking back, we see that while Abraham was being tested, he also trusted God to provide the lamb in place of his son. And looking ahead, we see that God provided his own Son, Jesus, as the Lamb of God, who died in our place to pay for our sin and give us eternal life (John 1:29; 3:16)!