The subject we have before us is that which is often referred to as “The Ground of Gathering.” We find, when we look at this wonderful subject, that in order to begin any consideration of it, we must go back to the Old Testament. This is because the concept of the Lord’s gathering a people to His name where He might enjoy their company around Himself — where worship, prayer, godly order and discipline might be exercised — is found in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament.
I believe when we consider a subject like “The Ground of Gathering” and how the Lord would have us to meet together collectively, there is always a danger of its becoming an intellectual exercise and not that which engages the heart’s affections. I believe in my own soul that God has very wisely and in a most lovely way guarded against this possibility by introducing the subject in the Old Testament in the midst of an account that very largely touches our hearts.
Let us look at Genesis 22:119:
“And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
“Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 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, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the Angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me.
“And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. And the Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.”
In the book of Ecclesiastes reference is made to the threefold cord that is not easily broken, and I believe we find in this chapter, in a most remarkable way, how God has woven a threefold cord. If we keep in mind three aspects, or the three strands of the cord, as we consider the subject of “The Ground of Gathering,” we will find that it is not simply a matter of knowledge. It is not simply a matter of knowing the place, but there must be faith to walk in the path that God has marked out, and there must be the response of the heart that flows out to the One who gave His Son and to the Son who offered Himself without spot to God. Now I would like to go through this chapter three times to follow each one of the cords as the Lord gives us to see them.
The first and most precious cord we have brought before us in this chapter is that of the father and the son. We find in the first verse God did try, or tempt, Abraham, and in the second verse He said, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering.”
Beloved brethren, God the Father was revealing, in this account of Abraham and Isaac, that wondrous revelation of grace that was to be made known so many centuries later when, here in this world, a Father and His Son would go to an altar of sacrifice together, and there the Father would see His Son offered up as a sacrifice for sin. And so He speaks of “thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest.”
God knew the love that Abraham had for his son, but it was just a pale reflection of the love that God the Father had for His Son. That love had existed from a past eternity. When the Word of God speaks of the Lord Jesus as the Son, it isn’t with any thought of inferiority to the Father. It isn’t that His stature is any less or His power any less, but it brings before our hearts a relationship in affection that exists between the Father and His Son. When we read, “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world,” how much more, beloved brethren, that means than simply saying the Father sent Jesus. It was His Son, and here Isaac, the type of the Son, is to be offered up as a sacrifice.
The third verse says, “Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering.” Clave the wood! I believe the thought in the “wood” is the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you remember how that in the tabernacle the ark was made of wood, but then it was covered with gold? We have that spotless humanity pictured to us in the wood. It was the Father who clave the wood, so the Word of God says, “A body hast Thou prepared Me.” A body was prepared so that the Son could come and here He could die for you and for me!
In verse 6, “Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.” He laid the wood upon Isaac his son. That took place in Bethlehem’s manger, when the wood was laid upon God’s eternal Son and He came forth, born of a woman, a babe here who had been given the body prepared for Him. The wood was laid upon Him in order that He might be the sacrifice for sin.
He took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both of them together. So it is, beloved brethren, when we look at Calvary, we see there that the Father and the Son went together. The Lord Jesus could say of His disciples that they would forsake Him and He would be left alone, but then He says in John’s gospel, “Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” “The Father is with Me.” “They went both of them together.”
But there was also the fire and the knife. The fire speaks to us of the judgment — God’s judgment against sin — that was to fall upon the sacrifice. It was to be a burnt offering. The knife reminds us that the Son was to be offered up in sacrifice.
We find in verse 7 that “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?” Isaac, the type of the Lord Jesus, makes no mention of the knife, just the fire and the wood. Why is that? As we have said, the wood is His humanity, the body that was prepared for Him in order that He might die. The fire tells of God’s judgment that was to fall upon the Son. The knife is not mentioned here because Isaac is a type of the Lord Jesus, who in John’s Gospel told His disciples He was going to lay down His life (John 10:17-1817Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. (John 10:17‑18)). He, as the Son, was not going to need anyone to take His life from Him. He had power to lay it down and He was to offer Himself without spot to God.
We find a question is then asked: “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” That precious answer is given, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.” I believe it is particularly lovely to notice how, over and over again here, reference is made to the “burnt offering.” That offering speaks particularly of the fragrance of the sacrifice to God. It tells how the sacrifice was offered wholly to God — consumed entirely upon the altar. It says here that “God will provide Himself.” I suggest, brethren, that perhaps at times we read this verse as if it said that God will Himself provide, but I believe that the emphasis is that God provides for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering. The burnt offering is for God, and God provides the sacrifice that is for Himself.
“God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.” The time had come for the son to be offered up in sacrifice. That time came nearly two thousand years ago when God’s own Son, together with His Father, came to Calvary. They came to that moment when the Lord Jesus Himself could say, “Now is the Son of Man glorified.” The hour is come!
But in the account that is given to us here, there is a substitute provided for Isaac. This is particularly lovely in connection with a different type that we will look at in a few minutes, but we do find there is a substitute provided for Isaac, and the substitute is a ram. The ram in the Word of God is used in connection with consecration. It is a picture of devotedness. When we look at verse 13, we read, “And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”
Abraham lifted up his eyes and he saw a substitute! What a wonderful intervention of God for Abraham, but there was no one to take the place of God’s Son. He is not only pictured to us in Isaac, as to the relationship in affection between the father and the son, but God’s Son is pictured to us in the ram that was caught in a thicket by his horns. He was the ram of consecration. He was the One who was held to Calvary’s cross by the very devotedness of His consecration to the will and purpose of God. The ram was caught in a thicket by his horns, the very symbol of his power, and so it was with the Lord Jesus at Calvary’s cross. It was the very strength of His love that held Him there.
But there was also a thicket — “caught in a thicket by his horns.” I don’t have to look any further than my own heart to find that thicket. It was my sins, in all their awfulness upon the blessed Saviour at Calvary. This One was held there by the very strength of His love. But your sins and mine were upon Him in the three hours of darkness at Calvary, if we belong to Christ.
We find that the ram was offered up in the stead of Isaac. So it is that Calvary’s work is finished and we look back now and see that finished work. Our hearts go out to the One who died for us at Calvary. As we follow through the Word of God, the thought or thread of being gathered by the Spirit of God, according to the Word of God, I trust will always be before us, that the One who speaks to our hearts is the One who was “caught in a thicket by his horns” and who was offered up in your place and mine.
There is a remarkable thing in verse 19 of our chapter. We read, “So Abraham returned unto his young men.” No mention is made of Isaac. Now, we know from the account that Isaac was not offered up. I believe that Isaac returned with Abraham, but God is bringing a type before your heart and mine. Thus, in the type, Abraham returns alone. The son has been offered up in type in the ram that died on the altar as the sacrifice.
I would like you to turn back now to Genesis 21:1212And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. (Genesis 21:12): “And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Note these words: “For in Isaac shall thy seed be called”!
Now turn to Hebrews 11:17-1917By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. (Hebrews 11:17‑19): “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”
The second cord that we find through this lovely chapter is the outline, in type, of the man of faith. Abraham was a man of faith. In Hebrews 11 we have a number of individuals mentioned, and what characterized those who are mentioned there is that they lived by faith. The faith that is mentioned in Hebrews 11 and is brought before us here in the case of Abraham is not so much the faith that saves, but it is the faith by which we live. It is faith that trusts God and relies on His promises and acts upon them. So we find in Genesis 21 that Abraham was given a promise. The promise was that “in Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Abraham was to see grandchildren and great-grandchildren through Isaac. He was going to see a nation raised up that God had promised to him. It would be through Isaac.
Now we come to Genesis 22:22And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (Genesis 22:2). God says to Abraham, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” “In Isaac shall thy seed be called”! Now God tells Abraham to go and offer up Isaac as a sacrifice — as a burnt offering. Did Abraham believe God’s promise?
The answer is not found directly in Genesis 22. It is found in what he did, but in Hebrews 11 it is found in what he thought. In Genesis 22 the man of faith shows that he believed God. He rises up early in the morning and takes Isaac his son, and they proceed to that mountain that God showed him, and there he binds his son to put him upon the altar. Then we find that faith is answered, and, as we have already noticed, there is a substitute for Isaac. The result is that Isaac is delivered; he doesn’t have to die. The man of faith believed the promise and acted upon it, and acting in faith took him to the place where he saw the “ram caught in a thicket by his horns.” He believed God and he took his direction from God. The difficulties were overcome by faith, and he ends up by calling the name of the place Jehovah-jireh — the Lord will provide.
Beloved brethren, if we are going to be in the place of the Lord’s choosing — if we are going to be where the Lord would have us to be according to His Word — there must, first of all, be the answer of the heart that responds to that love told out at Calvary. There must then be faith to act upon God’s promises, because to be in the place of the Lord’s choosing will not be easy, but it will indeed be blessed.
In Hebrews we are told that Abraham accounted that God was able to raise him from the dead. Let me put it this way: Abraham thought in his heart, God has given me a promise. Now if God wants me to kill my own son, I’ll do it, because I have a promise from God, and, if necessary, God can raise him up from the dead. You and I have been given promises too, beloved brethren. We have been given promises, and faith lays hold of God’s promises and acts accordingly. So we see in this chapter a lovely picture of the man of faith who believes God, acts accordingly, and lives to say, “The Lord will provide.”
I would like now to look at the third cord that is brought before us in this chapter. It is the most lovely way in which Abraham is led to the one mountaintop where there was a “ram caught in a thicket by his horns.” You notice it says in the first verse, “God did tempt [or try] Abraham.” He was testing Abraham and said to him, “Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.”
We see Abraham’s response to the first test; the Lord wants to speak to him. Does Abraham want to listen? You meet, from time to time, dear children of God who love the Lord Jesus earnestly and sincerely. But when you seek to bring before them the truth of the one body of Christ and of being gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and to His name alone and acting on the truth of the one body, they very quickly give you to understand that they really don’t want to hear.
Well, the man of faith says, “Here I am. And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” How many mountains were there in the land of Moriah? I have no idea, but I do know that God had one mountain in mind where Abraham was to go. It has been very precious to me in meditating upon this chapter to realize that if Abraham had gone to any other mountain, he would not have found a “ram caught in a thicket by his horns.” There was one to which the Lord wanted to take him, but there was a cost involved! Was Abraham prepared to pay the cost? It meant offering up that which was very dear and precious to himself, his son whom he loved.
This happens with God’s dear children as He seeks to lead them to that mountaintop where they can view the ram and, in worship, offer him up. Very often it means a sacrifice that can be very hard. Sometimes it can mean being separated from loved ones, separated from parents, separated from brothers and sisters, sometimes from children who don’t see it the way you do.
The question that was put to Abraham here, in type, was: There is a place, but will you pay the cost? Abraham’s answer was that he “rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.” He wanted to be there. He was willing to go. He was willing to pay the cost, and so he goes to the place, but he hasn’t seen it yet.
Then we find in verse 4 that “on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.” “Lifted up his eyes”! How precious that is! We will find it mentioned again later on in this chapter. In order to see the place, and it was a mountaintop, Abraham had to lift up his eyes! If he looked around, all he would see was the plain, but there was a mountain, a place, where the Lord would have him to be!
Also, this verse tells us it was on the third day. We will notice, as we look at this subject further, how often this subject of the “third day” comes up in connection with the Lord’s leading to the place where He would have us to be. The “third day” would bring before us the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, because it is only as we know that precious truth that Jesus died for us and rose from the dead, that Calvary’s work is finished, that we are seen as dead and risen with Him, that we are going to be able to view the place where the Lord would lead us.
“Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” The young men had no more acceptance at that place where the Lord was leading Abraham than had the dumb ass, the unclean animal. The young men would bring before us the energy of the flesh. In going to this place to which the Lord was leading Abraham, separation from unbelievers and self-judgment on the flesh in the believer are both required.
The young men are left behind. There is another thought to exercise our hearts, particularly the young people, in connection with the young men. You know, dear young people, you are going to have to leave many things behind too, if you are going to enjoy the precious privilege of being at the place of the Lord’s choosing for you. Sometimes dear young people come to the point where they feel they really do see the place where the Lord would have them to be, but they don’t want to leave the “young men.” They don’t want to leave their youthful companions and those things that appeal to the flesh. They don’t want to leave those things behind and to put them in the place of the unclean ass. They decide to hold onto those things. They don’t go any further, and, beloved brethren, that is a tragedy.
Abraham, the man of faith, leaves the young men behind, and then we find in verse 9, “They came to the place which God had told him of.” What a privilege! Abraham had been willing to pay the cost by God’s grace, and he had been brought, finally, to the mountaintop. With the young men left behind and the ass left behind, he had come to the place of which God had told him.
Now I submit to you that this chapter has not been written simply as an outline of the history of Abraham. The Word of God says, “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:44For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4)). Here we have a most precious lesson. The young men are left behind; the ass is left behind, and the man of faith comes, led step by step, to the place of which God had told him.
In verse 13, “Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.” How many mountains do you think had a ram caught in a thicket by his horns that day? Do you think all the mountains of Moriah were thus equipped? I don’t believe so. God had led the man of faith to the place where the ram was caught in a thicket by his horns. But to see the ram, Abraham had to lift up his eyes. He looked, and behold, behind him!
Brethren, I believe that we can actually be in the very place where God would have us to be and yet fail to see the ram caught in a thicket by his horns, because we don’t lift up our eyes. We find that our eyes and our hearts and our minds are taken up with the things around us. We find that we, at times, perhaps, are more taken up with the failures of our brethren or more taken up with something that was said or not said, something that was done or not done. We are more taken up with numbers, with weakness or with failure. You will never see the ram if your eyes are looking around. But when our eyes are lifted up in the place to which the Lord would lead us, there we can see the ram. There we can see the One who was the sacrifice for sin; we can see that very lovely Person, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the very midst, in that very place where God would lead His people and where He led Abraham in type. Now, he also had to look behind him. He had to look away from the things with which the heart and mind are normally taken up, but there was the ram!
My beloved brethren, I believe that God is still, by His Holy Spirit, leading His people to that place where, with eyes of faith lifted up, they can see the Lord Jesus Christ, the ram — the One who, out of the very devotedness of His heart to God, went to Calvary and endured all that Calvary meant to His holy soul.
In this third type, being led of God to the place, the ram is brought before us again “caught in a thicket by his horns.” Wherever God has His people gathered together by His Holy Spirit to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus is there according to His promise, but what holds Him there is the strength of His love, His horns. It is the very strength of His love for His people that holds Him there, because you know and I know that if the presence of the Lord Jesus among the two or three gathered to His name depended upon their faithfulness, He would not be there today. If it depended upon the faithfulness of the creature, there would be no such testimony in this world today. But I believe there is such a testimony among the two or three gathered where the Lord Jesus would have them to be, and there He is found, held by the very strength of His own love. If we lift up our eyes, we will see Him, and we will have the privilege, by God’s grace, of presenting Him in worship before the heart of God.
Calvary’s work will never be repeated. The Lord Jesus is never going to die again for sins, but each Lord’s Day morning, until He comes, God preserves a testimony where His own can enjoy the privilege of presenting to God afresh that wonderful burnt offering — the merits, the work and the value of His own beloved Son — in the place where the ram is “caught in a thicket by his horns.”