A Ram in the Bush

Introduction: George Muller—The Milkman and the Baker

Brothers and sisters, it is true that God sometimes allow things to come into your life to test your faith.

George Müller was a Prussian-born Christian who transformed from a life of thievery and dishonesty after a profound conversion experience in 1825[1][2][3]. His most remarkable achievement was his orphanage work, where he directly cared for 11,603 full orphans and 5,686 partial orphans, established 117 Christian education schools, and ultimately supported 120,000 children[1][2][4].

In doing his work, Müller had one rule: He would never ask for money, but would rather prayer and have faith.

[1] Hendrix, S., & Okeja, U. (2018). The World’s Greatest Religious Leaders: How Religious Figures Helped Shape World History [2 volumes] (p. 456). ABC-CLIO. [2] Hillyer, N. (1992). Müller, George. In J. D. Douglas & P. W. Comfort (Eds.), Who’s Who in Christian history (p. 494). Tyndale House. [3] Got Questions Ministries. (2014–2021). Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered (Vol. 2). Faithlife. [4] Moreau, A. S., Netland, H., & Engen, C. van. (2000). In Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions (p. 665). Baker Books; A. Scott Moreau.

One day, the orphanage had no food. There was absolutely nothing in the entire orphanage for food. George Muller, in typical fashion, had the children get dressed, seated and prepared for breakfast. As they sat at the table, Muller said a prayer of thanks for the food they did not have, but he believed they would receive. The staff members were panicking because they knew there was no food. However, Muller was full of faith and knew God would show up to provide what was needed.

A few minutes later, a baker knocked at the door. He stated, “Mr. Muller I could not sleep last night. I just knew God wanted me to bake bread for your children and I will bring it in.”

Moments later, a milkman’s truck broke down in front of the orphanage. He shared that he would not be able to spare the milk from spoiling before the cart can be repaired and offered the milk to the orphanage. In moments of praying, Muller had bread and milk enough to feed the children in his orphanage.

Muller’s faith was tested and he proven to be strong and it was proven he feared God.

Abraham’s Faith Tested

Brothers and sisters, we are well aware of Abraham’s story. Just a few weeks ago, we studied Abraham’s faith that led to child being born in his old age. Now, God has approached Abraham and commanded him to sacrifice his only son.

Have you ever had your faith tested? Have you ever had God tell you to sacrifice what He blessed you with?

When God is testing your faith, He allows a situation in your life that determines whether your faith is what you say it is made of. The point is to determine the nature of your faith.

When Abraham’s faith was tested, it was proven to be faithful. This was proven by three important actions Abraham took:

He obeyed- Genesis 22:3 “3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about.”

He worshipped- Genesis 22:5 “5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.””

He believed- Genesis 22:5 “5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.””

The practical point of this text demonstrates how God will often tell you to offer something that He already has a ram in the bush for.

Practical Point: Never be afraid to let something you cherish go, because God may have a ram in the bush waiting on you.

Abraham understood this and he prepared his son for as an offering and he discovered that God will provide.

Genesis 22:14 “14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.””

The name Yahweh-Yireh means the Lord sees and He will provide.

On this mountain, Abraham discovered God will provide, and today, I want you to know that whatever you face in life, God will provide.

Mount Moriah

However, that’s not all that occured on this mountain.

Mount Moriah was a ridge that included hills, valleys and high points.

It was on this same mountain that David bought a threshing floor and built an altar to the Lord to stop a plague that was caused by the census (2 Samuel 24).

Demonstrates: When one makes a mistake God has a ram in the bush for your faults and mistakes.

It was also the place where Solomon built the temple (2 Chronicles 3:1 “1 So Solomon began to build the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David, his father. The Temple was built on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the site that David had selected.”)

This would be the place where countless substitutionary rams would be sacrificed for the sins of Israel.

Demonstrates: When we are far from God, He provides a way for us to be in fellowship, despite our corrupt nature.

It was the place where Christ was crucified on the hill called Golgotha on Mount Moriah (Matthew 27:32–33 “32 Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 33 And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”).” ).

Demonstrating that God is more faithful than Abraham, because He offered His Son and there was no ram in the bush.

Conclusion

The point of our passage today is to demonstrate the love of God for us by considering the story of Abraham. God loved us so much that He allowed His Son to serve as our eternal ram in the bush.

We too, were on mount Moriah burdened with the challenge of atoning for our sins. But, God sent us the Ram in the bush. His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.