Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord is the Provider

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  

Philippians 4:19 

The origin of this name stems from the story in Genesis of Abraham’s response to God’s provision of the ram, in the place of Abraham’s only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. God had asked Abraham to take his son and sacrifice him. In an act of incredible faith, Abraham took the son given to him by God, climbed atop Mt. Moriah and laid his son on the altar. Literally, as the knife was in the air, an angel intervened and Isaac was saved: a ram to sacrifice in the place of his son. No doubt relieved and also a sign of Abraham’s deep understanding that God’s promise can not fail, Abraham names the spot Jehovah-Jireh: the Lord provides.  

What is most interesting to me is God’s response to Abraham’s obedience: “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” There is little doubt that Abraham’s heart was pounding and his mind racing as he climbed the hill to the altar. He was about to kill his beloved, his only son. Yet, Abraham continued to climb and act based upon his faith in the promises of God. The God that brought him a son was also the God who promised to make Abraham’s offspring as numerous as the stars.

It seems Abraham understood that a God who held such a promise in the form of a little boy could do nothing but fulfill that promise. Even if it made no sense in the short-term, surely the God that tells Abraham, “through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,” is the God that will make sense of what is seemingly senseless. As the reader knows, Abraham’s faith in God was not in vain. All nations were blessed through Abraham as God gave of Himself that which He did not ask of Abraham: His only Son. God the Provider gave of Himself that which we truly need. From the beginning He saw our needs, and our ultimate need, and provided for them no matter the cost. Interestingly, “Jireh” can also mean “to see” in Hebrew which implies that God’s provision is built upon His pre-vision and ability to see our needs before we even know them. Clearly, Abraham knew God the Provider and my prayer is that we would grow in the promise that

"…our God will meet all our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

We invite you to learn with us and pray for this theme to teach all of us more what it means to be made in the image of God and to have hope in Christ Jesus!