Jehovah Jireh

JEHOVAH JIREH

Genesis 22:1 19

INTRODUCTION. In this passage we have Abraham calling God by the name "Jehovah Jireh." This is one of the compound names that is given to the Lord in the Old Testament. The name actually means "That God will provide." In the American Standard Version, Gen. 22:14: "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah jireh: as it is said to this day. In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided."

To really understand the significance of this name, we need to consider carefully the events leading up to the time when Abraham spoke of God as being "Jehovah jireh."

I. THE TEST WITH WHICH GOD TRIED ABRAHAM. Gen. 22:1 2.

A. God commanded Abraham to offer his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering. Gen. 22:2.

B. This incident reveals several things about Abraham.

1. He had faith that answered to the Word. Gen. 22 1.

2. He had faith to obey God's Word. Gen. 22:3 6.

3. He had faith to trust all to God. Gen. 22:7 10.

II. THE PROVISION THAT GOD MADE FOR ABRAHAM. Gen. 22:11 14.

A. God provided a substitutionary sacrifice, which saved Isaac. Gen. 22:11 14.

B. This sacrifice, Gen. 22:13, was actually a type of Jesus Christ, who is God's sacrifice for all mankind. John 1:29: John declared “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” 1 Peter 1:19, 20. Peter wrote that He was “a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world.”

C. Christ Jesus is the supreme sacrifice, which put an end to all sacrifice of life and blood for salvation. Heb. 9:11, 12. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

III. THE BASIS FOR GOD'S PROVISION (Grace) Gen.22:8, 14.

A. God, to forgive sin, must provide a sacrifice for Himself. Gen. 22:8.

SIN MUST BE PAID FOR. Rom. 6:23. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Death is the only thing that can pay for men's sins. I Cor. 15:3 4; For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: Rom. 3:24 26. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

B. God, to save mankind, had to make provision which entailed the giving of Himself. Gen. 22:14.

1. Man cannot redeem another. Ps. 49:6 7; They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:1 Peter 1:18 19. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ,

2. Man cannot redeem himself. Jer. 2:21 22; I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. Titus 3:5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

3. God, through Christ, is the only one that can redeem mankind. II Cor. 5:17 21; Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Have you trusted Him? Christ came to do for us what no other man could ever do.