Jehovah-Jireh – The Lord Will Provide

by Chris Simmons

When God promised to Abram that of his seed would arise a great nation which would live in a blessed land and that through this seed “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3, 7), we are told that “Abraham believed God” (Galatians 3:6; James 2:23). “By faith,” Abraham left his home land to a place that God would show him and “by faith” he lived “as an alien in the land of promise” (Hebrews 11:8-9). Abraham “believed in the Lord” (Genesis 15:2-6) that, though currently childless in their old age, God would indeed bless them with the son that He had promised. Sarah conceived and bore the son as promised by God and we are told by God that Abraham loved his only son Isaac (Genesis 22:2).

But we read in Genesis 22 that “God tested Abraham” by asking him to offer his son Isaac as a sacrificial burnt offering. Without hesitation, Abraham gathered the provisions he would need to fulfill God’s command and set out on the journey to complete what he was told to do (verses 3-4). We ought to be impressed by Abraham’s great faith as demonstrated when he told the other men who had come on the journey with them, “stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and (we will) return to you” (verse 5). Abraham had such faith in the promises of God to be fulfilled through his son that he expected both he and his son to return. We’re told in Hebrews 11:17-19 of Abraham’s heart in that “he considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead.” As Abraham and Isaac proceeded on, he told his son, when questioned about the presence of the offering, that “God will provide for Himself” (verse 8). Yet all along, Abraham went through with, and fully obeyed, what God had asked of him as he prepared to actually “slay his son” (verse 10). Finally, we know that an angel of the Lord stopped him from sacrificing his son as God recognized Abraham’s godly fear and that nothing in his life, or in his heart, would be withheld from God. Abraham spotted a ram caught in the thicket and offered that as a sacrifice to the Lord and then named that place “The Lord Will Provide” or “Jehovah-Jireh” (verse 14).

God did not want Isaac’s life but he did want Abraham’s heart - fully and completely. Abraham’s faith needed to be solely upon God and not on Isaac his son, to fulfill the promises he had been given. Indeed, God is the provider of all that we need. This speaks to the providential nature and capabilities of God. Providence literally means “to look out beforehand, i.e. furnish in advance” (Strong's Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary). The word comes from two Latin words: pro, meaning “before,” and video, meaning “to see.” God’s divine providence simply means that God sees to it beforehand and is actively working to bring it about.

God is the source of all good things in our lives. James 1:17, “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.” We must learn the lesson that God’s providence (His ability to provide what we need) in our own lives depends on our willingness to fully obey His will by faith. God knows what we need but we must be willing to seek Him and His righteousness first in our lives. Matthew 6:31-34, “…for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you…” God will provide for all of our physical needs (not wants) in life. We don’t need to worry that God might fail to address our fleshly needs (Hebrews 13:5-6).

More importantly, God has also provided for all of our spiritual needs. God sent His son that He might be the pure and sinless lamb to bear the sins of the world (John 1:29, 36; I Peter 1:18-19). God’s plan to provide for our redemption and to save man from his sins “in Christ” was established before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-12; 3:8-12). Our salvation and remission of sins is the “something better” that God has “provided” that the Hebrew writer mentions at the end of chapter 11 (Hebrews 11:39-40), and the recital of those great examples of faith – including Abraham. He provides us with not only the means to communicate with Him (prayer) but also provides us with the responses to our prayers if we do our part and if we pray for that which is in accordance with His will (I John 5:14-15; I Peter 3:12). God has provided us with the revelation of His will (I Corinthians 2:11-13; Ephesians 3:3-5) which gives us a hope that will never fade away (I Peter 1:3-5). Will God not grant us the strength that we need (I Peter 4:11; Philippians 4:13)? Will our Father in heaven not provide the “way of escape” in times of temptation (I Corinthians 10:13)? We are reminded in Romans 8:31-32 that if God was willing to provide His Son for our sake, will He not provide us with “all things” that we need spiritually?

Abraham’s unwavering faith that God would provide is certainly something to emulate in our lives as Christians today. Do we appreciate the urgency Abraham showed in his obedience to what God had commanded? Abraham didn’t wait until he saw the ram in the thickets to begin to obey. He had no right to expect God’s provisions in advance of his faithful obedience. Do we?