Genesis 22:7-8

"And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son: so they went both of them together."

"Where is the lamb for the burnt-offering ... ?" Behold, what this does to the allegations of the false critics who affirm upon their honor that the sacrifice of the lamb did not exist until the times of Moses! How do they explain the inferential reference here in which Isaac spoke of the "lamb" as being a vital, customary, and necessary part of the sacrifice of a burnt-offering? Well, the good old "redactor" gets called into service again. But as we have repeatedly noted, the integrity of the text of this chapter is absolutely unimpeachable. This is the biggest and most important event since the creation and the deluge, and that Isaac actually said this is as certain as it may be possible to imagine.

"Father ... Here am I, my son ..." More tragic words were never spoken. How Abraham's heart must have been stricken with anguish here. Note the repetition of "they went both of them together" in Genesis 22:6 and Genesis 22:7. The sacred narrative here has been the unfailing marvel of all subsequent ages. Not a word is wasted. The breathless intensity of it rises higher with every step taken by father and son up the mountain to the place! The awesome climax, like a threatening cloud, looms more and more ominous. Even though we know the outcome, we cannot tear our minds away from this soul-chilling ordeal.

"God will provide himself a lamb ..." Aalders assures us that the literal meaning of this clause in Hebrew is: "God sees before him the lamb for sacrifice!"[18] That God was looking upon Isaac was surely what Abraham understood by this, but God made it true also in another sense. Who but God had already provided the ram caught in the bushes by his horns? God saw that also. It would have been far better for the translators to have left the literal meaning alone.