Apr. 14, 2021

“THE POWERFUL NAMES OF GOD”

“JEHOVAH JIREH”-“THE LORD OUR PROVIDER”

GENESIS 22:1-18

The first compound connection we will look at is the name Jehovah Jireh, which means “the Lord will provide.” The book of Genesis provides the background for the revelation of this name.

Genesis 22:1-2 “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 

God doesn’t seem to be making sense. His request of Abraham appears to contradict His promise.

Nothing comes our way without it first having received His divine approval. And if He approves it, He must have a divine purpose for it.

Abraham was in the midst of a terrible test. He faced a choice between the blessing and the Blesser, and God wanted to see which one he would choose. 

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

God wanted to know if Abraham would let go of his most valued possession and simply worship God even when it hurt. Which is exactly what Abraham did:

Genesis 22:3-4 “So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.”

In fact, notice all the verbs: “rose,” “saddled,” “took,” “split,” “arose,” and “went.” They all indicate an immediate response.

Where did Abraham find the faith and strength to follow God so quickly on such a seemingly absurd request?

Genesis 22:5 “And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

Notice Abraham expects he and Isaac will both come back down the mountain.

Hebrews 11:17-19 “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.”

People who want to give up on God simply because life’s scenarios don’t make sense could very well be walking away from a new manifestation of God and His name in their lives.

John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Isaac On The Altar

Then Isaac asked, Genesis 22:7 “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

Abraham replied in faith, Genesis 22:8 ““My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.”

Genesis 22:9-12

vs.12 “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

Didn’t God know that already, before Abraham lifted the knife or even before Abraham woke up three days earlier and started out on his journey? Didn’t God know?

Why did God become a man?

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Jesus can sympathize with us because He has gone through everything a person can go through except for sin.

Genesis 22:13-14 “Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” 

Often the answer to the trial we’re facing is sitting right next to us, but we will never know it until God is ready to reveal it.

As a result of God’s providential provision, Abraham named the place Jehovah Jireh- The Lord Will Provide.

But we can easily miss the key to Abraham’s provision. Scripture tells us, “Abraham lifted his eyes and looked” vs.13. Jesus tells us in the New Testament:

John 8:56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

The root word for the name Jireh literally means “to see.” Yet when put together, the compound connection means “to provide.” Knowing that what he saw in the spiritual realm affected his actions in the physical realm.

“Provision”  means that something was seen beforehand and thus provided for. The root “vision” ties the provision to what was seen.

So the question is, what must God see so that He might provide for you when you’re caught in a contradiction of life?

Delayed obedience is disobedience. Partial obedience is complete disobedience.

Are you willing to trust God completely with your own Isaac?

Loving God means acting on what God says-it’s not just about singing songs, praying prayers, or hearing sermons.

When Abraham received Isaac back, he received even more.

Genesis 22:15-18