Names Of God: Jehovah-Jireh, The God Who Provides Series

Your worst nightmare.. what is it? The worst possible thing that could happen to you? What would it be like? Worst case scenario… it’s a scary thought. For Abraham, his worst case scenario had come, when he thought he was going to lose his only son, Isaac. As he walked up the hill of Moriah, every step must’ve felt like a thousand pounds of weight. Yet he kept marching, trusting in God even then.

Because he knew his god was and is, Jehovah-jireh, the God who provides.

“The historic incident out of which the name Jehovah-jireh rises is one of the most moving and significant in the word of God. The historic account is found in Genesis 22. It is the account of the last and greatest crisis in the life of Abraham. Every event in his life has led up to this supreme hour from the time of his call to a high destiny, through every vicissitude, through every joy, through every trial or failure, through every measure of success and blessing, through every hope and promise and assurance. All had been in preparation for this event. The great promise had been fulfilled, the supreme hope of his life realized.” -Nathan Stone, Names of God

When we have a problem in our lives, a financial problem, a relationship problem, a property problem, car problem, what’s the first thing we do? We get to work trying to fix the problem. Or if you’re female, you talk about it with friends, reflect, and later, maybe, try to fix the problem, right?

I’m kidding. In any case, our first reaction is to try to solve problems when we get them. Often times we’re able to solve a problem. Whether it’s a broken car, we take it to someone to get repaired, if we’re sick we see a doctor, if there’s an error on our taxes, we fix it, and on life goes.

But what about when we can’t fix the problem? A loved one dies. You can’t fix that problem. You lose your job, and you can’t seem to find a new one. You find out you can’t have children anymore. Then what do we do?

For Abraham, in the book of Genesis, he had ran into a problem he couldn’t solve. His wife Sarah was barren, she couldn’t have children. He had no son to carry on his line. So what he did, was he turned to God for help. And God did help him. But it took years of faithfully waiting on God, for it to finally happen. Mistakes were made on the way. But in the end, God caused Sarah to become pregnant, and Sarah gave birth to Isaac.

Abraham loved Isaac so much, his favorite son. They were so very close. They did everything together. Isaac was special, blessed, loved by Abraham and God. Abraham had gone from waiting in faith, to finally after so many years, walking in the blessing. He had received what he had asked for. He was sitting on the sunny beach, sipping a cold drink, breathing the fresh air.

For me, I worked for years to become an officer, a pastor in The Salvation Army, it was my dream for many years. Back in 2014 and 2015 I was an intake worker at a homeless shelter. In 2015 I became a soldier of The Salvation Army. 2015 to 2017 I did a 2 year internship in Upper Michigan at a corps serving Escanaba along Bay De Noc. From there I went to Chicago in 2017 and studied for 2 more years, and finally I saw the blessing become a reality in 2019 when I became a corps officer.

And so today I walk in that blessing. Of course there are other blessings God has promised me, which I still wait for today.

But imagine Abraham, walking in the blessing, enjoying special memory after special memory with his son Isaac.

And then this happens.. from Genesis 22:1-18 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

So after everything, all the waiting, God said, alright, I want you to give up Isaac. Will you give up your only son because I’m your God?

What on Earth is going on? He received this blessing, Isaac his son. And now God commands him to offer him as a sacrifice?

But Abraham had an incredible faith, a trust in God that went beyond anything. He knew God would provide somehow. So let’s see what happened next.

"Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”