Jehovah Jireh - The Lord Will Provide

If you are not familiar with Genesis 22 you may want to read it first.
“And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. As it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided..” Gen 22:14 ASV 
 Jehovah-Jireh = Jehovah sees - is a symbolic name given to Mount Moriah by Abraham to memorialize the intercession of God in the sacrifice of Isaac by providing a MP900262849substitute for the imminent sacrifice of his son.1
I remember reading this verse thinking, “What will be seen in the mount of the Lord?” The answer is given earlier in the chapter in verses 7-8 “And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. So they went both of them together” (ASV) That which God provided to Abraham was a ram to be sacrificed instead of his son Isaac.
John Wesley notes that, “God will provide himself a lamb - This was purely the Lord's doing: let it be recorded for the generations to come; that the Lord will see; he will always have his eyes upon his people in their straits” 2
I love how Wesley wrote that God will “always have his eyes upon his people.”  When God sees our need, his provision is sure. Absolutely sure. God sees and will provide, Jehovah-jireh was Abraham’s testimony to the goodness and grace of God in providing a ram to take the place of Isaac on the altar to be sacrificed. But even more so it points to God providing Christ as a substitute on the cross for the sins of every sinner who calls upon the name of Jesus.

God saw our need of a savior and provided His Son, Jesus Christ. In God’s perfect timing He gave his Son to die in the place of sinners. Just like God provided a ram to Abraham.

Christ died for us freely. God sent his Son to redeem us, and Christ came to redeem us by his death, simply because he loved us.  ( I John 3:16; 4:9-10).

Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” (Gen 22:10) God provided in His own timing, once He saw that Abraham “feared God” and would not withhold his own son. (v 12) He provided exactly what was needed, “a ram”. (v 13) The ram was offered in Isaac’s place. God provided.

It’s such a beautiful picture isn’t it? And my dear sisters if that was all Jehovah-Jireh meant it would be enough wouldn’t it? But there is so much more to see. Kay Arthur in her book Lord, I Want to Know You says, “Not only has Jehovah foreseen your need for salvation and made provision through the death and resurrection of His Son, but He also sees your day-by-day needs…Yes, our Father, Jehovah-jireh both sees and knows our need.”3

Take comfort dear one, our Father in heaven sees our need. Nothing comes into our life without the Father knowing, nothing is hidden from Him. Psalms 38:9 says, “Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.”  And Luke 12:29-30 says "And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying…. but your Father knows that you need these things.” And be sure that if God sees our needs He will provide.

Where God sees, He provides.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” (2 Cor 9:8)

“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:19)
Where He provides, He should be praised.

“Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.  The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.” (Ps 28:6-7)

“in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess 5:18)
 An afterthought: I had never really paid attention to the fact that Abraham said God would provide a lamb (which is a baby sheep/ram and could be male or female). God did not provide a lamb but a ram (a male sheep). Most probably wouldn’t pay much attention but when I read it I thought “God’s provision was specific”.  It may mean nothing, and yet I couldn’t help but think that God does not always provide in the way we want or think He might  but He always provides exactly what is needed. I just may have to study that further….

For more in the series “Who Are You God?” Click here.

1 Bible Study Tools Lexicon
2John Wesley, Commentary on Genesis 22:14 (online at CCEL)
3Kay Arthur, Lord, I want to Know You (pgs 67-68)










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