Thousands of years ago, God looked down on the earth found a soul whom He enjoyed. A man He trusted. A mortal who heard His voice and believed. God became His friend.
Abraham was the kind of friend God had in mind when He created Adam. A creature of flesh who knew Him by faith. A man so beloved of the Father that He would make Abraham the father of all who live by faith.
The Father gave Abraham a great gift – the best gift He could imagine! YHWH gave His friend a treasure like the treasure He held closest to His own heart. A son. An only son. A son whom he would love. And God gave that boy a name. Isaac, which means “He laughs.”
“He laughs.” What a curious name for the child who would become a great nation. Who would carry in his loins God’s plan of salvation for all mankind. For the man bearing the seed of God’s own Son! It seems a little playful for such a weighty role.
It makes me happy to know the Creator of the Universe likes ribbing His friends. Isaac was a continual reminder to Abraham of the way he laughed, face on the ground, as YHWH promised him a son yet again. (Gen. 17:17) And a reminder to Sarah of her laughter inside the tent when her Holy Visitors came with a message. (Gen. 18:12) But I think the name is more prophesy than memory. And closer to the Father’s heart than Abraham could imagine.
Abraham did not know that His Friend in Heaven also had a Son. An only Son. A Son Whom He loved. A Son Whom He would give as the Lamb, sacrificed for the sin of the World. A Son in Whom all things in heaven an earth hold together. A Son in Whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
In the fullness of time, God sent His Son to earth as a man, like Abraham. He gave His Son the name Yeshua, meaning “YHWH saves.” And that was the Son’s mission. To give His life as a ransom for many, winning for the Father many brothers and sisters.
The Son of God will come again to rule the nations, and He will bear a new name, known only to the Father. The kings of the earth will rage against YHWH and His Anointed, plotting to “throw off their fetters.”
But “He who sits in the heavens laughs,
YHWH scoffs at them.
Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
“But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” (Ps 2:4-6)
Sarah will see her Lord and her Offspring, and laugh in awe once again. As she prophesied in ancient days, “everyone who hears will laugh with me.” (Gen. 21:6)
Israel will laugh in wonder as they see every promise made fulfilled more wildly than they dared to imagine. Their “mouth will be filled with laughter and their tongue with joyful shouting as they say among the nations, ‘the LORD has done great things for us!’ ” (Ps 126:2-3)
All those who mourned on this earth, in faith, will laugh, just as Yeshua promised. The Father will wipe away the tears of all His friends. We will be like those waking from a dream.
And God’s own Son, His only Begotten, who came to earth as the Sower, planting in tears, laying down His life as a seed in the ground, He “shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing His sheaves with Him.” (Ps 126:6)
He will laugh!