“Yahweh-Jireh” –The Lord Will Provide

“So Abraham called the name of that place, ‘The Lord will provide,’ as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’” –Genesis 22:14 (ESV)

Yesterday’s devotional examined the call of Moses and God’s proclamation to him as to whom Moses should say sent him to be the deliverer of the Israelites in Egypt.  Moses was to say, “I Am sent you.”  God, the One Who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the One who is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent—all knowing, ever-present, all powerful. 

In other places in the Old Testament, God filled out or completed the name “I Am” to give his people a greater understanding of His name “I Am.”  Today we will look at the Hebrew words “Yahweh-Jireh” which mean “I Am the Lord who provides.”  The occasion was Abraham being called upon to offer Isaac, his son whom he loved more than life itself, given to him and Sarah in their old age by “the Lord who fulfills His promise and provides.”  But now Abraham had been commanded to offer his beloved son as a sacrifice.  It is very hard for us to understand this concept.  Why would God, who gave Isaac to Abraham ask him to offer him as a sacrifice?  Was it a test of Abraham’s faith?  When the young son questioned his father, saying “Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”  Isaac was old enough to realize an important element of their worship was missing—the lamb for sacrifice.  Can you not imagine the fear and sadness Abraham felt when he calmed his son by saying, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:8).  But we know the story.  God did provide. God’s voice stayed the hand of Abraham before he slaughtered Isaac who was already strapped to the altar.  We can only imagine the tenseness of that time on the mountain and the relief of both Abraham and Isaac as the ram, caught in the thicket, replaced Isaac on the altar.  Then came the reinstatement of God’s blessing on Abraham:  “Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.  And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:16b-18). 

Many scholars see in the account of Abraham’s willingness to offer Isaac a foreshadowing of God’s offering His only begotten son on Calvary.  But in that sacrifice  on Calvary there was no substitutionary  ram caught in the brambles.  Instead, the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus, His only Begotten Son, became the sacrifice for all.  “Yahweh-Jireh”—the Lord provides.  And in and through Jesus, God is providing all we need.  Salvation is the greatest gift of all.  And beyond that, life abundant while we dwell upon this earth, for He promises us:  “”Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about our body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 7:25).  “And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Today and every day thank Yahweh Jireh, our Lord Who provides.