Jehovah Jireh

 1. Jehovah Jireh - The LORD our Provider 

2. Jehovah Rapha - The LORD our Healer 
3. Jehovah Nissi - The LORD our banner 
4. Jehovah Shalom - The LORD our peace
5. Jehovah Roi - The LORD our Shepherd 
6. Jehovah Tsidkenu - The LORD our righteousness 
7. Jehovah Shama - The LORD is there 

This study will be focused on the first compound name, Jehovah Jireh (or Yahweh Yireh - I prefer the name Yahweh to Jehovah but as most know these names using Jehovah I will use that... may change it around sometimes!) But before we getting into that, let me just slip one more name in quickly.

The first compound name before the first compound name

To find the REAL first compound name of God you don't have to go any further that Genesis 2:

Genesis 2:4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

That which is translated LORD God in this passage is 'Jehovah Elohim'. Why is this important? Well we see that the first mention of Jehovah/Yahweh is connected to creation. It isn't just that 'God' in the generic way created the Heavens and the earth. Lots of people in many cultures and religions have some general idea that 'God' created this world, but then it is left up to them to determine who their particular 'God' is. No. The Bible right from the start is specific on who created the Heavens and the Earth. It isn't just 'God', it is Jehovah Elohim.

Jehovah Jireh, my provider, His grace is...

So let's move on to our study of Jehovah Jireh. When you first hear Jehovah Jireh, what comes to mind? If you are like me then the mouth starts humming, the heads starts swaying and the toes start tapping! Pretty hard not to... that Jehovah Jireh song, though a little old now (I'm showing my age!) is pretty addictive. You can be in the most conservative church but when Jehovah Jireh is sung even the most reserved feel this overwhelming compulsion to start clapping and (goodness) even swaying! I'm sure you know the one:

Jehovah Jireh 
My provider 
His grace is sufficient 
For me, for me, for me (x2) 

My God shall supply all my needs 
According to His riches in glory 
He gave His angels 
Charge over me 

Jehovah Jireh cares for me, for me, for me 
Jehovah Jireh cares for me

And then you repeat those lyrics somewhere between 18-26 times. So why bring this up? Well, because firstly, I like this song and secondly, because it does a very poor job at describing what Jehovah Jireh is ESSENTIALLY about. I'm not saying it is wrong. No... Jehovah Jireh is about the provision of the Lord and the lyrics are biblical. But the problem is what our minds do with it. Influenced partially by this song, our minds automatically start thinking of the main things that God gives and provides. We think of the different needs of this life like food, a home, jobs, health, a partner, family... there are many blessings that the Father of Lights pours down upon us. But the interesting thing is that when you look up 'Jehovah Jireh' you find that it is mentioned only ONCE in the Bible and the context of the passage gives a different thought of God's provision than the things mentioned above. 

So to be clear, Jehovah Jireh does speak of the One who provides all things (and we will look at some of the general verses that speak of this in this study) but His SPECIFIC provision tied into this name Jehovah Jireh is something far more important.

The specific provision of Jehovah Jireh

So where then is the first and only mention of Jehovah Jireh? Come on... think! Can you remember seeing it before? More than likely you read from a translation that will put it like this:

So (someone) called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

I've taken out who actually called a certain place 'The LORD will provide' because I don't want to make it too easy for you! But can you remember that verse above? Who was it that called a certain place 'The LORD wil provide' (which literally is 'Jehovah Jireh') and said that 'On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided'? And which mountain was it? And what is it that was actually going to be provided on that mountain? So many questions. So few answers!

Do you know? Oh, ok. Alright... it's not easy to build suspense in a written study! The person that said this was Abraham. The mountain was Moriah and the occasion was the sacrifice of His beloved son Isaac. And what was the provision? Well God provided a substitute, a ram that was sacrificed in the place of Isaac. It is in this context that Abraham gives us the name of God Jehovah Jireh. God is our provider... and His provision is... Himself.

I have written specific studies on this chapter before: 
 www.jesusplusnothing.com/studies/online/FaithHeroesAbrahamIsaac.htm

 www.jesusplusnothing.com/studies/online/jcjoseph.htm

So I won't go into another full study of this chapter (Gen 22) but it is worth noting a point or two in connection to this name 'Jehovah Jireh'. You may remember that in the story Isaac knows that they are going make a sacrifice to the Lord but wonders where the sacrifice is.

Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. (Genesis 22:8)

The word translated 'provide' here is our word Jireh (or Yireh). God was going to provide. He would provide the lamb to be sacrificed. But the Hebrew is interesting here. As mentioned in a previous study,

"Arnold Fructenbaum says that the Hebrew reads 'yireh-lo' allows for two equally valid options here. It can mean that 'God will provide for Himself' an offering or it can be also mean 'God will provide Himself' as an offering. Both would be true. In the short term He would provide a ram as an offering. In the long term He provided Himself. That's why when a very godly man dressed in camel's hair, first set eyes on Jesus, the first words out of his mouth were these: 'Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.' God had provided Himself as an offering. Do your best to never get used to that thought! "

So the first and most important provision of Jehovah Jireh is Himself. Jesus would be provided as the lamb for our sins. There is no other provision that comes close to that. Not in time or eternity. You want to know about the nature and character of God? Well there it is. That is the God we serve. That is Jehovah Jireh. He is the One that wouldn't even spare Himself but gave everything... His very life, so that you and I could be saved.

David Guzik writes: 'Abraham didn't name the place in reference to what he went through. He didn't name it "trial hill" or "agony hill" or "obedience hill." Instead, he named the hill in reference to what God did; he named it "provision hill." He named it knowing God would provide the ultimate sacrifice for salvation on that hill someday.

The Lord who sees beforehand

Digging a little deeper in this word Jireh we find that it literally means 'to see'. Even our English word 'provide' is from the Latin word prōvidēre meaning 'to foresee' ('pro' meaning before and 'videre' meaning vision).¹

So 'Jehovah Jireh' teaches us that God is the one who not only sees all, but He sees all before it takes place and therefore makes provision for our needs. That is a wonderful thought. He did it for Abraham in our story where He foresaw that Abraham would need a sacrifice to replace his son Isaac and He obviously foresaw mankind's need of a sacrifice before we even needed one. In fact He foresaw this before anything was even created for we read that Jesus was

'the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.' (Rev 13:8)

"What a serene and quiet life might you lead if you would leave providing to the God of providence! With a little oil in the cruse, and a handful of meal in the barrel, Elijah outlived the famine, and you will do the same. If God cares for you, why need you care too? Can you trust Him for your soul, and not for your body? He has never refused to bear your burdens, He has never fainted under their weight. Come, then, soul! have done with fretful care, and leave all thy concerns in the hand of a gracious God." 
Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Now that is amazing foresight! And what about the everyday needs that we have? Does God foresee these? Of course He does.

Jesus told us not to fear for 'Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him' (Matt. 6:8). 

Personal provision from the God who sees

I'd like to share a short story from a wonderful couple, Bob and Sheila, who were on the leadership team at my church. The story comes during a time when they were really struggling financially and shows God provision and foresight in even the small things of life! This is their story as retold by Sheila:

Genesis 22:8 and 14:
And Abraham said, My son, God will providehimself a lamb for a burnt offering….
And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
     The boldface “provide” and “seen” are the same Hebrew word, raah, which is very interesting. This word raah is the dictionary form of the Hebrew word transliterated jireh in the title Jehovah-jireh. But why is raah translated here into two different English words—“provide” and “seen”? The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament explains that raah, in the context of verses 8 and 14, is used in the sense of God’s provision. In the King James Version, “seen” carries this sense of God’s provision; in English, to see to something is to provide it.
     We see the emphasis on God’s provision reflected in The Amplified Bible, which renders Genesis 22:14 as, “So Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide. And it is said to this day, On the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”
     In All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible, Dr. Herbert Lockyer, Biblical scholar and author of the twentieth century, explains that for God, to see something is to provide it. He notes that as far as man is concerned, there is a good deal of difference between the meanings of “the Lord will see” and “the Lord will provide”: For man, to “foresee” is one thing, but to “provide” is another. Yet when it comes to God, “the two are found to be one and the same.” What God as Jehovah-jireh foresees, He can furnish—He can supply!
     These sources help us to understand why both “provide” and “seen” are used for the Hebrew word raah and that God’s emphasis is on His provision.
     While the title Jehovah-jireh is used only in Genesis 22:14, we find further powerful evidence that Jehovah sees and provides in the Book of Exodus. The children of Israel were provided a way to escape from the Egyptians by crossing the Red Sea. The American Standard Version clearly shows that the Lord, Jehovah, provided for His people.
Exodus 14:29 and 31:
But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea….
And Israel saw the great work which Jehovah did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared [respected] Jehovah: and they believed in Jehovah, and in his servant Moses.
Jehovah saw and provided a way to escape by way of His servant Moses. The people saw the great work that Jehovah did, and they believed in Him and in Moses.
     Functioning as Jehovah-jireh, God also provided the children of Israel with food to eat while in the wilderness.
Exodus 16:4 and 15:
Then said the Lord [Jehovah] unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you….
And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord [Jehovah] hath given you to eat.
     Once again, Jehovah saw and provided abundantly for His people. God gave of this bread to Israel for forty years—as long as they needed it!…

Jehovah Jireh

A journey through the Bible names of God is like a never-to-be-forgotten trek across a majestic mountain range with awe-inspiring views around every turn. 

One of the most instructive families of names for God are the compound names of JEHOVAH (sometimes transliterated by scholars as ‘YAHWEH’).

Who is Jehovah?

Jehovah is the name of God as the ever-dependable, covenant-keeping LORD, whose character is eternally consistent and whose word never fails. God appeared in this name to Moses in the narrative of ‘the burning bush’, as we read in Exodus 6:2-3:

And God spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the LORD [Jehovah]. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty [El Shaddai], but by My name LORD [Jehovah] I was not known to them’.

In this narrative, God points out that He was revealed to Abraham mainly as El Shaddai, meaning the ‘All-Sufficient God’, but was now being revealed as Jehovah, meaning the ‘unchanging, ever-faithful, covenant-keeping LORD’.

Through these names, Moses was being taught that God was not only ABLE to keep His covenant promises – as El Shaddai – but He was DEPENDABLE. He is Jehovah, the eternal, unchangeable ‘I AM’. 

In Genesis 22, Abraham himself links this particular covenantal name to Jireh. Behind this compound name lies the promise that ‘The LORD will PROVIDE’.

What does the name ‘Jehovah-Jireh’ mean?

To find out more, we must look at the amazing narrative.

The main character of the story is Abraham. Abraham had trusted in the LORD. In fact, on God’s orders he had left the ‘city-lights’ of Ur to strike out across the floodplains of the Euphrates and eventually found himself in the land of Canaan. He lived in tents, never establishing his roots in the land.

Because of his ‘obedience of faith’, God had blessed him immensely. He had trusted in the LORD and the LORD had given him what is now known as the Abrahamic covenant. God promised that He would bless him and his seed, giving him the land of Canaan as his inheritance.  (Read Genesis 12-24).

Within this covenant, God promised Abraham a seed (i.e. a son) from his wife Sarah. Although she was well past childbearing age, she eventually bore Isaac, the answer to God’s promise, the proof of God’s faithful care.

Later, however, God tested Abraham’s confidence in Him.

He said to Abraham:

‘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’. (Genesis 22:2)

Abraham didn’t waver in his faith in God’s integrity, knowing that God who promised him blessing through his son Isaac was able, if necessary, to raise him back to life.

Hebrews tells us about Abraham’s mindset:

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. (Hebrews 11:17-19)

He saddled his donkey and made his way with his son Isaac to the land of Moriah. As they ascended the mountain, Isaac spoke to Abraham:

‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ Then he said, ‘Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ And Abraham said, ‘My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’ So the two of them went together. (Genesis 22:7-8)

As they reached the place of sacrifice, Abraham bound Isaac on the altar and, just as his hand was raised to slay him, God intervened – sparing Abraham’s son. The test of Abraham’s faith in God was over.

Lifting his eyes from his bound son, Abraham saw a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. This he took and offered up on the altar as a substitute for Isaac.

And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide [Jehovah-Jireh]; as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.’ (Genesis 22:14)

A ram was offered instead of Isaac, and Abraham, it appears, understood that behind this incident was something much deeper.

Ever since Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden (see Genesis 3 and 4), men and women have needed a sacrifice to bring them into a correct relationship with God.

God HIMSELF would provide a substitute – an offering – to answer man’s deepest need by bringing about a right relationship with God. ‘God will provide Himself a lamb’ – the answer is found in the deep heart of God: Jehovah-Jireh.

God will provide and He will do it on ‘the Mount of the Lord’.

Over 2000 years later, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, walked towards Golgotha with a cross on His back (see John 19:17). He had already been pointed out by the prophet John the Baptist as ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’ (John 1:29).

Jesus Himself had told the Jews, ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad’ (John 8:56). Christ was the only sacrifice who could meet the need of humankind. Every other sacrifice was inadequate and was merely a faint picture of His sacrifice on the cross.

Scholars tell us that the Hebrew text of ‘Jehovah-Jireh’ in the Old Testament allows the interpretation ‘On the mount of the Lord – it shall be seen’, or ‘On the mount of the Lord – He shall be provided’. Both meanings are ultimately true. When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, He was the one voluntary offering who could meet our need and bring us back into relationship with God.

God’s answer was SEEN and God’s Son was PROVIDED.

Why is ‘Jehovah-Jireh’ important to me today?

In our fast-paced, technology-driven age, this Old Testament name of God might seem irrelevant. What, after all, can an ancient name of Deity mean for us today?

Firstly, it tells us that a faithful, unchanging God keeps His word and therefore can be implicitly trusted. You should take time to see what He says in His word, the Bible.

Secondly, this Name informs us that God has an answer to our deepest problem – ‘How can I be right with God?’ 

The story of Abraham gives us an insight into how God answers the problem of human guilt.

1. A Son was given

Just as Abraham’s beloved son, Isaac, was to be offered up, so God would give His Son to die on a cross for us.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

2. A Substitute was found

God had no desire for Isaac to be killed on an altar; rather, He was testing Abraham’s faith while showing a picture of His deeper purpose. On many occasions God later recorded His revulsion at ancient peoples offering their first-borns for their transgression (see Micah 6:7). He found child-sacrifice abhorrent (See also Leviticus 18:21). God spared Abraham’s son by intervening as the knife was upraised. However, in the New Testament we read:

He [God] ... did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

Jesus was the substitute for the guilty. Just as a ram was found to take the stroke of the knife in Abraham’s hand and to be consumed in the fire, so God’s Son, Jesus Christ, voluntarily took the stroke of justice for sin and experienced the heat of God’s judgment, so that we (like Isaac) might be spared.  

3. A Sacrifice was made

Abraham’s chief possession was his son, whom he greatly loved. However, it was infinitely more costly for God to give HIS Son. He greatly loved and prized His Son; nevertheless, He was willing to allow Him to become the sin-bearer that we might be brought back into relationship with Him.

2000 years ago on a cross outside Jerusalem, the basis was laid for our acceptance before God – a Substitute paid the price. He was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He deserves your consideration.

Finally, if God keeps His word to Abraham over 1500 years after the events on Mount Moriah, then we must remember that He still keeps His word now.

God’s word warns of coming judgment for those who reject His salvation. If we can be sure God will save us if we trust in the Lord Jesus, we can be equally sure He will judge us if we do not.

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3:36).