JEHOVAH – JIREH!

JEHOVAH – JIREH!

Gen 22:13-14

13 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.

14 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.

          God tested the constancy and devotion of Abraham by asking the patriarch to offer his son, his only son, Issac on an altar of sacrifice. Had the sacrificial system of lambs and bullocks shifted to human sacrifice? Why did God call Isaac Abraham’s “only” son since Abraham had another son named Ishmael? So many “whys.!” So few answers.

          Isaac, himself, asked the most painful question in Gen 22:7 when he asked: “Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” The answer Abraham gave had a double meaning. Gen 22:8 “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.” Yes, Isaac, God will provide the sacrifice but the sacrifice will be himself.

          Jehovah-jireh, as first introduced in verse 14 literally means “Jehovah will see or Jehovah will see to it.” The meaning, then, is that not only will God see but God will see to this thing. God will both observe and act to provide. Even if we were to translate Jehovah-jireh as "the Lord doth provide" rather than "will provide," it would be Abraham's testimony to the fact that Jehovah is a God who always provides; that as He provided then He would also provide in the future--deliverance from death, the oil of joy for the ashes of sorrow and mourning, blessings for obedience, even though obedience be made perfect through sufferings. The naming of the place Jehovah-jireh was meant to be proverbial of this very thing—"as it is said to this day."

(from Names of God, Copyright 1944 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.)

Dear Jehovah who sees and provides, thank you that nothing escapes your eye. Thank you that no need exceeds your provision. Thank you that I am covered by your love. AMEN