JEHOVAH-JIREH

Genesis 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

 Jehovah-jireh means “God will see” or “God will provide.”  The God who sees the end from the beginning makes provision in advance for whatever need He knows that we have.  Provision comes from “pro” which means “before” and “vision” which means “seeing.” So we see in provision, “seeing beforehand.”  God sees beforehand. When we pray the answer is on the way in advance because God has already seen beforehand, both the need and our prayer.  How great is our God!

But I think we make this name of God way too narrow. I have most often heard “Jehovah-jireh” in relation to financial provision or provision for some natural need.  Yet the context in which God was revealed to Abraham as Yahweh-jireh was a prophetic picture of Jesus becoming the sacrificial lamb for all mankind taking our place on the altar of the cross, that we may be redeemed from our sin. It was on Mount Moriah, where Abraham took Isaac to offer him on the altar as God had commanded, that God provided Himself a lamb for the sacrifice.  God had seen in advance that in obedience Abraham would go to that place with his son and He had the ram there to take the place of Isaac on the altar.  In the same way God saw down through time and saw my need for a savior and has provided Himself a Lamb for me.  He is indeed my Jehovah-jireh.  He is the provision for my greatest need….redemption.

Genesis 22:7-8 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? ⁸ And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together