Another powerful name of God found in the Bible is Jehovah Jirah or Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide. The most interesting thing about this name is the context in which it is first given. Read with me the story of Abraham and Isaac found in Genesis 22.
Genesis 22:1- 14 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ramcaught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
There is so much in this passage that needs to be said, but let it suffice to say firstly, this is a type of what God Himself would do with Jesus. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God doesn’t ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, but He does ask this of Himself. He sets up this scenario partially to show that the ultimate sacrifice any man can make is to give up that which he loves for another. And this is exactly what He does for us in Jesus.
Secondly, it is in the context of the most needed provision EVER that God provides. We aren’t talking about a new car, or latest fashion or specific direction under anxiety. Abraham calls God Jehovah-Jirah when God provides another way in a life and death situation. And isn’t that exactly what we face with our sins? “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
God is our Jehovah-Jirah. He will always provide for our needs. Our deepest need is forgiveness for sins that we might have eternal life. God Himself sets the requirement, but also is sufficient to provide.
As we look toward Christmas, let us remember that He truly is our Jehovah-Jireh.
Our song for today is More Than Enough by Jesus Culture.