His Provision for Cesare and for Me!

As we approach Easter Sunday, now just a few days away as I post this, it would be prudent for each of us, as Christ-followers, to ponder afresh on the wonder of what God did for us, as Jesus willingly died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day! You may already be doing this, and if you are, I give thanks with you. But if you have not yet done this or wish to continue “pondering”, consider taking at least these next few minutes to marinate on this passage from Genesis 22 and the words of Kay Arthur that follow:

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”  “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”  “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”  “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.  Genesis 22:1-19

When Cesare Borgia came face-to-face with death, he cried, “When I lived, I provided for everything but death; now I must die, and I am unprovided to die”.

Unprovided to die. Why? Because Cesare Borgia had failed to call upon the Name of the Lord. He had refused to believe and obey God’s Word that says, “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

Within limits, people can provide for everything they need while they live, but they can’t provide for death. For death, there is only One provider, Jehovah-Jireh. Jehovah (God), who in Himself possesses eternal life, He is the only one who can make provision for us as sinners to live. He did so by providing us with “the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29).  “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes” (John 5:21).

How fitting it is, then, at the first time God reveals Himself as our Jehovah-Jireh, we see a father offering his only son on Mount Moriah. The same One who provided for Abraham on that day provides for us in the small and large needs of our lives.

Besides being the place where Abraham offered Isaac, Mount Moriah was significant too because "Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite” (2 Chron. 3:1).

So on Mount Moriah, every temple sacrifice for sin would echo Abraham's words, “The Lord Will Provide (Jehovah-Jireh), as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the Lord, it will be provided’” (Gensis 22:14). Every lamb, every goat, every sacrifice would point to the One ultimate sacrifice.

Since it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, God prepared a body for His Son (Hebrews 10:4-5). Then at the appointed time on the day of the Passover, Jehovah took that Son, His only Son whom He loved, and led Him to Mount Calvary. There He laid him on the cross. This time there was no voice from heaven to stop the hand of death. There was no ram in the thicket to take His place because this Lamb was the provision of Jehovah-Jireh for the sins of the world. What man could not provide Jehovah-Jireh did!

Have you, Beloved, gone to Jehovah-Jireh and by faith obtained the provision for your sins, for your death? Or will you echo Cesare Borgia’s cry, “Now I must die, and I am unprovided to die”?

Die you must. "It is appointed unto men once to die" (Hebrews 9:27). "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, for the wrath of God remains on him (John 3:36).

What will it be? Life or death? Jehovah-Jireh (God) has made full provision for your sins. Have you, by faith, accepted His provision for your greatest need?  (1)

At least two possible faith responses to this sharing on Cesare by Kay Arthur:

1) God may be calling you, for the first time in your life, to fully surrender to Him and call on the Name of the Lord for your salvation. You do not have to be “unprovided for death” because Jesus, by His death on the cross, has provided the full payment for your sins. Call out to Him now, confessing that you are a sinner and that He is the only provision for your need. Commit to follow Him as Master and Lord all the days of your life. And then tell a Christian friend or two about what you have done so that they can continue to help you grow in following Christ.

2) If you have already surrendered your life to Christ and been born again in salvation by grace through faith, then He may be calling you to trust Him in an area where you have not fully embraced Him as Jehovah-Jireh – the God who provides. Maybe it’s your health. Or possibly an unsaved family member. It could be a difficult relationship. Or you forgiving someone who has hurt you. Whatever the Lord is showing you, I exhort you to take that step of faith to trust Him as your Jehovah-Jireh. He is forever faithful.

PRAYER: We encourage you to write out a prayer to God right now, expressing your faith response to the Lord’s prompting. Then pray it to the Lord on your own in humility and sincerity. Finally, share it with another Christ-follower so they can join you in that prayer!

Source: (1) Lord, I Want to Know You. Written by Kay Arthur, pages 65-67.

Introduction and Concluding Remarks by Glen Solberg, Abiding Marriage, March 2026.

Image shared from Love Worth Finding Ministry – find out more at www.lwf.org