The Spotless Lamb

For Sunday, February 28, 2016

A-Poem-a-Day

Until Resurrection Sunday

Image credit: joelstrumpet.com

THE PASSOVER LAMB

Abba went into the sheepfold to choose a spotless lamb,

as Moses gave instructions that he got from the I Am.

Our lamb, indeed, was spotless, so I named him Wooly Bright;

we brought him inside to live with us, morning, noon and night.

I ran my fingers through his coat and fed him from my hand,

I put fresh water in his trough; he’s the best lamb in the land!

Today he’ll be our sacrifice. Moses said this must be done.

He must die that I may live, for I’m a firstborn son.

We’ve been oppressed by slavery; Pharaoh will not let us go,

but God’s mighty arm will save us. We’ll watch His power flow.

Moses told us, take lamb’s blood, and brush it on the lintel

then we will be protected; it almost sounds too simple.

Tonight we will leave Egypt and journey far from home,

but I’ll remember Wooly Bright wherever I may roam.

Someday the world will see in this, God’s salvation plan;

God’s Son will be the sacrifice, the great Passover Lamb!

For as God will use blood of lambs to set His people free,

the precious Blood of Jesus will save sinners…you and me.

Maude Carolan Pych

Love & Sacrifice...

For February 14, 2016

A-Poem-a-Day

Until Resurrection Sunday

Image credit: malkhut.com

LOVE AND THE AKEDAH

The Binding of Isaac – Genesis 22

 "Take your son

your only son

whom you love…"

Twenty-two chapters into Scripture

and it's the first time love is mentioned

as God tells Abraham,

"Sacrifice Isaac

as a burnt offering"

What swirls

through the mind

of this old patriarch

(who after a hundred years

fathers the son

of God's promise…

the son he loves

and proudly watches grow)

What swirls as he swings

the sharp axe, splitting wood

It was three days journey

from Beersheba to Moriah—

Leaving his servants behind

Abraham hands Isaac

the bundled wood

and carries fire and knife

up the mount

himself

"Avi" (my father)

"where is the lamb?"

"God will provide the lamb

my son"

Abraham erects an altar of stone

arranges the wood and binds the lad

(whose faith and obedience

must be at least as great as his own)

Unflinching before the God

he has finally come to trust

the aged patriarch

(known to lie

to save his own skin

known to try to pull off

God's covenant himself

when it seemed God was slow

in keeping His promise)

this same patriarch…

raises the glinting blade

above his son, his only son

whom he loves…

Split-second

to knife-fall

the angel of the Lord calls

"Abraham! Abraham!

Do not lay a hand on the boy…"

The old man

who proves he would

withhold nothing from his God—

drops the bloodless blade

unbinds and embraces Isaac

O boundless relief

Effusive praise

and there, tangled

in a thicket, struggles

the substitute sacrifice

…a ram

Two millennia later

God's Son

His only Son

Whom He loves

carries wood

of a crossbeam

up the very same mountain

No angel of the Lord

arrives last moment

to halt the hammerfall

No ram appears

in a thicket

For God so loves

the world

He provides…

His Son

His only Son…The Sacrificial Lamb

 Maude Carolan

The Passover Lamb

THE PASSOVER LAMB

Abba went into the sheepfold to choose a spotless lamb,

as Moses gave instructions that he got from the I Am.

Our lamb, indeed, was spotless, so I named him Wooly Bright;

we brought him inside to live with us, morning, noon and night.

I ran my fingers through his coat and fed him from my hand,

I put fresh water in his trough; he’s the best lamb in the land!

Today he’ll be our sacrifice. Moses said this must be done.

He must die that I may live, for I’m a firstborn son.

We’ve been oppressed by slavery; Pharaoh will not let us go,

but God’s mighty arm will save us. We’ll watch His power flow.

Moses told us, take lamb’s blood, and brush it on the lintel

then we will be protected; it almost sounds too simple.

Tonight we will leave Egypt and journey far from home,

but I’ll remember Wooly Bright wherever I may roam.

Someday the world will see in this, God’s salvation plan;

God’s Son will be the sacrifice, the great Passover Lamb!

For as God will use blood of lambs to set my people free,

the precious Blood of Jesus will save sinners…you and me.

Maude Carolan Pych