Breathe …
That’s right … I’m asking you to take a deep breath right now.
Breathe in … hold it … and let it out [exhale].
I want you to do that again … only much s-l-o-w-e-r this time. Concentrate. Feel the air as it goes past your nostrils and fills your lungs. Feel it. Be aware of it. When your lungs are full … hold it … and then feel the air as it comes out. And when you’re done exhaling, say: “Thank you, Jehovah Jireh.”
Ready?
Breathe in [inhale] … hold it … exhale. “Thank you, Jehovah Jireh.”
“Thank you, Jehovah Jireh, for providing us with all the air that we will need today and for our entire lives.”
“Jehovah Jireh.”
The name “Jehovah” is the English transliteration of God’s personal name … YHWH … or “Yahweh” … much like we’ve taken Jesus’ Hebrew name … “Yeshua” … and turned into “Jesus.” The word “Jireh” means “provide” in Hebrew. Put the two names together and you get one of the 72 names used for God in the Bible. “Jehovah Jireh” … “God the Provider” or “God Who Provides.
Remember the first name of God that we encountered in the Bible. We found it in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning Elohim” … God the Powerful Creator. He created the universe and everything in it … galaxies … solar systems … stars … planets … suns and moons. He created the land and the sea and filled the earth with birds and fish and animals of all kinds … and then He “provided” for them. He created air and water … food and shelter. He “created” all this to “provide” … to “jireh” … for His creation.
“Jehovah Jireh” … “God Provides.” When the time came for the Hebrew slaves to flee from Egypt, the only food they took with them was some unleaven bread and whatever food that they could carry. They certainly didn’t have anywhere near enough food to last them until they reached the Promised Land. But God provided. He provided bread and water. It may not have been a sumptuous feast but it was enough to sustain them. While “bread” may not sound so glorious, we need to remember that we’re not talking about just any old bread, are we? We’re talking about “manna” … “bread” from Heaven ... bread from God’s own hand, so to speak.
Someone who literally experienced God’s provision of “daily bread” first hand was a poor widow living in a town that no on had ever heard of before … Zarephath … until Elijah showed up there one day. We don’t know her name … she is simply known in the Bible as “the widow of Zarephath” … and that is how she is still known today. Her story can be found in Chapter 17 of the Book of First Kings in the Old Testament. In verse one of chapter 17, Jehovah tells Ahab, the king of Israel, through His prophet, Elijah, that “ … there shall be neither dew nor rain these three years, except by my word” (1st Kings 17:1). The drought was a judgement against Ahab and Israel for their rampant idolatry.
Needless to say, King Ahab and the citizens of Israel were not happy with the news so God commanded Elijah to leave Israel for his own safety. For awhile, Elijah hides in the wilderness near a “wadi” or “stream” …while God sends ravens to bring him bread and meat … hum … sounds familiar, doesn’t it? God providing bread and meat in the wilderness. Eventually the stream dries up because of the lack of rain, so God commands Elijah to go to the little village of Zarephath. God tells him that when he gets Zarephath to seek out a widow there whom Jehovah has commanded to feed and take care of him (see 1st Kings 17:8).
When Elijah reaches Zarephath, he begins looking for a widow. He spies a woman who is by herself all dressed in black picking up sticks, presumably to take home and burn in her fireplace or oven. Elijah calls out to her and when she comes over to see what he wants, he asked her to bring him a little water to drink (v. 11). Hospitality, especially when it came to guests and strangers passing through town, was not only a kindness but sometimes a matter of survival. As she turns to get Elijah a drink of water, he stops her and asks, “Can you bring me a morsel of bread in your hand as well” (1st King 17:12; paraphrasing mine).
Normally, this wouldn’t have been an unreasonable request but there is a drought going on and droughts tend to bring on famines as there is not enough rain to grow food. “As Jehovah Your God lives, I have nothing baked … only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son that we may eat it … and die” (1st Kings 17:12). “Do not be afraid,” says God’s prophet, “go and do as you said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me , and afterward make something for yourself and your son” (v. 13). Whoa! Elijah’s insistence must have seemed heartless and cruel, to say the least. “FIRST” … really ? … before she makes her last meal for her son and herself…. Really? Like she doesn’t have enough to deal with. She just told this total stranger that she’s about to cook her last meal … ever … and eat it with what’s left of her family. And apparently this person wasn’t listening because she said she only had enough flour and oil to make a last bit of bread for her and her son and this “stranger” who just showed up out of nowhere … tells her to take what’s left and make a little cake for him and then make something for her and son after that … with what?! She just said that she barely had enough for her and her son … if she makes a cake and gives it to Elijah there’ll nothing left for them.
But she’s about to meet “Jehovah Jireh” … “God the Provider” ... the “God Who Provides.” Jehovah Jireh tells her through His prophet Elijah that He will provide for her. “For thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that Jehovah sends rain on the earth” (1st Kings 17:14).
In what can only be described as a huge, breath-taking leap of faith, the widow does as Elijah asks and shares what’s left of her food with Elijah. And Jehovah Jireh is faithful to His promise. “She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as [Elijah] and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of Jehovah that He spoke by Elijah” (1st Kings 17:15-16).
You could view what transpired between Elijah and the widow of Zarephath as a test … and you’d be in good company. But we could also see it another way. Our faith is built upon the fact that we see only in part what God sees in whole. In other words, God see the whole big picture, amen? Perhaps God did what He did for the Widow of Zarephath and her son for no other reason than Elijah needed a place to stay … so that Jehovah Jireh provided for the widow and her son because He needed a way … He needed someone … to take care of His servant Elijah and keep him alive during the drought. Maybe God’s request wasn’t so much a test of faith as a demonstration for Elijah and Israel … and for us … of Jehovah Jireh’s desire and ability to provide for us.
Whether it was an act of faith or obedience on the widow’s part, Jehovah provided for Elijah, the widow, and her son during a severe drought. You know … she could have told Elijah to buzz off … yelled at him to leave her and son alone and let them eat their last morsel of food and die. I’m sure she wasn’t the only widow in Zarephath. God would have provided another way … another person … to take care of Elijah. Remember … Jehovah Jireh didn’t need a person to care for Elijah in the wilderness. I mean, He used ravens to take care of Elijah when he was hiding out from Ahab and Jezebel.
God had a plan for Israel and Elijah was part of that plan, which is why He provided for Elijah … and the widow of Zarephath was part of Jehovah Jireh’s plans for Elijah and, through Elijah, for Israel. I suggest that you read 1st Kings chapters 18, 19, and 20 to find out the rest of Jehovah’s plans for the people of Israel and the way that God used Elijah and took care of His servant as God used him to reveal His on-going plans and desires for His children, the Israelites.
Perhaps the most moving and heart-wrenching account of God’s provision is found in Genesis 22 … but first, I need to give you a little background. In Genesis 12, God told 75-year-old Abram to leave his homeland and settle in a foreign land … sight unseen … and guess what? Jehovah Jireh … God provided. As you recall, in Chapter 13, Abram and his nephew Lot separated and Abram settled down in the land of the Canaanites … where God continued to provide for him and his family. In Chapter 15, God makes a covenant with Abram, promising to provide him with ancestors as numerous as the stars in the heavens.
As time went on and Abram and Sari still had no children, they decided to take matters into their own hands and Abram fathered a child with Hagar, his wife’s servant. The LORD told Hagar to name her son “Ishmael” … which means “God Will Hear.”
Twenty-five years after promising Abram that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars, Jehovah provided them with a son, Isaac. Abram’s name was changed from “great father” to “Abraham” … the “father of a nation” because Jehovah had provided him with a son through whom God could fulfill His promise to make Abram’s ancestors as numerous as the stars in the heavens. Sarah and Abraham named their son Isaac … which means “laughter” … because I can imagine that their house and their hearts were full of laughter and joy.
Life is good for Abraham … for about 15 years … and then God decided it was time to “test” Abraham. The Hebrew word that the Bible uses for “test” literally means “to test completely through a demonstration of stress.” It was often used in the Old Testament to describe the way in which God would put stress or pressure on His people to “test” their resolve and their faithfulness. The purpose of God’s testing was not to punish or break the Israelites but to demonstrate the strength and the character of their faith. Abraham had passed some tests earlier in his life … and he had failed some others. He was about to face the most challenging test of his life, however.
Let’s pause here for a moment. Abraham is old … very, very old. He’s been through a lot. Why would God want to test him at this stage of his life? Well, my sisters and brothers, we are never exempt from having our faith challenged. Sometimes the most trying tests come after years of following God faithfully. Remember, the point of the test is not to destroy us or break us but to demonstrate the strength and character of our faith … not for God’s benefit … He already knows the content and character of our faith. He does it for our benefit … so that we know the strength and character of our faith as we face the challenges that God knows lie ahead of us.
God calls out to Abraham and like a true servant, Abraham automatically replies: “Here I am!” Abraham is ready to hear from God and probably eager to know what God’s message is. Perhaps God is going to announce another blessing … or have him move to some other exotic location … or get him ready for a big battle. Nope. None of the above. God is about to is demand something of Abraham that will be severe, extremely costly, and exceedingly confusing: “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love and go to the region of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you” (1st Kings 22:2).
Those words must have crushed Abraham’s heart. Once again Abraham is commanded to go somewhere that he has never been before. There is no doubt about what God is asking Abraham to do. A burnt offering was a total sacrifice, a total commitment of what was being sacrificed to the LORD. Once the offering had been totally consumed by the fire, there was no way that the offering was going to get up and walk off of the altar. It was gone … rising up on the smoke to be with God forever. When Abraham left Ur years earlier, he sacrificed his present security. Now God is demanding that he give up his future security … his son, Isaac.
God gives Abraham no explanation … just the expectation that Abraham would obey this staggering command. Sometimes we’re not given reasons either because God wants to know what’s on our hearts. Real faith is not only believing despite the lack of evidence. Real faith is also obeying despite the consequences.
I want you to notice that Abraham didn’t argue with God when he heard what God expected of him … not one word of objection. Abraham got up early the next morning … saddled his donkey … grabbed two servants to go with him … got Isaac ready … cut wood for the offering … piled it on the donkey’s back … and set out for the land of Moriah (1st Kings 22:3).
The journey to Moriah was about 50 miles and it took three days for them to get there. “On the third day,” says the Bible, “Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 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” (1st Kings 22:4-5). Did you hear it? Notice the pronouns that Abraham used. He didn’t say “we will worship” but “I will come back.” He said: “We will worship … and we will come back.”
Abraham had the faith to believe that somehow both he and Isaac would return after they had worshipped and sacrificed to Jehovah on Mt. Moriah. “By faith,” says the writer of the Book of Hebrews, “Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom he had been told, ‘It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named to you.’ He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead – and figuratively speaking He did receive [Isaac] back” (Hebrews 11:17-19).
It didn’t make sense to sacrifice his son … but Abraham was prepared to do it because God said so. Jehovah Jireh would somehow work it out, somehow provide and make it possible to keep His promise to bless the world through Isaac … even if He had to raise Isaac from the dead.
As Abraham and Isaac walk up the mountain together, Isaac speaks up and asks his father: “Father?” “Here I am, son.” “The fire and the wood are here … but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (1st Kings 22:7). Oh how those words must have sliced right through Abraham’s heart. Abraham answers him: “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son” (1st Kings 22:8). Did you hear it? Let me say it again: “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.”
The Hebrew word that Abraham uses for “provide” is “jireh.” “Jireh” has a very rich meaning. It literally means “to see.” Our word “provision” means the same thing … “pro” means “positive” or “affirmative” … and, of course, “vision” means “sight” … “pro-vision” is what you anticipate you will need before you go on a trip. Jehovah “provides” … He “sees” what we need before hand and He provides it. Abraham knew that somehow God would “see” … or had already seen to it … that Abraham would have everything that he needed and that God would somehow work everything out.
“When they came to the place God had shown [Abraham], Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son” (1st Kings 22:9-10).
Abraham had every intention of following through on his commitment. With the knife hovering in the air [pause with knife in the air] … ready to come down … right at that moment … an angel of Jehovah called out to him from Heaven … “Abraham … Abraham!” (1st Kings 22:11). And once again, Abraham responds as a servant: “Here I am” (v. 11). “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him,” says Jehovah, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me” (1st Kings 22:12).
I can only image that Abraham breathed a huge, huge sigh of relief, amen? Abraham had passed the test but he still needed to complete the sacrifice … so, Jehovah Jireh provided. “Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son” (1st Kings 22:13).
Jehovah Jireh … God who sees and provides. God would see to it that some shepherd would lose a ram that day … that it would wander over to the exact spot where Abraham would see it. The ram’s horns would be caught in a thicket … meaning that it would not be bloodied or beat up and would meet the Levitical requirement of being without defect or blemish … a worthy and acceptable sacrifice provided by God Himself. God provided a way for Abraham to sacrifice to Him and spare Abraham’s son. The ram took the place of Isaac … a substitutionary offering. As a result, Abraham called the place … anyone care to guess? “Jehovah Jireh” …” Jehovah Will Provide” … and it is said to this day, “On the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided” (1st Kings 22:14).
Before we can know “Jehovah Jireh” … before we can experience God as “provider” … we must first be willing to obey Him fully. It required the widow and it required Abraham to make a commitment … to take action … to step out in faith. We don’t have to fully understand why God is asking us to do something in order to surrender. Abraham was willing to praise God and give up that which was most important to him BEFORE he saw God’s provision.
Trust Jehovah to provide for all your needs. When you do, you will find that He truly is your Jehovah Jireh. Jesus challenged His followers not to be anxious about anything … what they would eat … what they would wear … where they would live. If we put Him first, He said, all these things will be taken care of (see Matthew 6:33).
Call out to Jehovah Jireh by name. Ask for His “pro-vision” … but make sure that you have first settled the issue of His pre-eminance. Who is most significant to you? Who or what occupies first place in your heart? When we seek to bless the Blesser … when we are willing to obey God, even if He asks us to sacrifice the most important thing to us … do we discover that He will provide for us in a most profound way.
When we go through a season of testing, remember that Jehovah “sees” … Jehovah provides. When the month outlasts your money … Jehovah Jireh will provide. When you are overwhelmed, God sees and Jehovah Jireh will provide. When you are troubled, trust God to provide, amen?
If you have any doubt about that whatsoever, let me show you the picture behind the picture. Isaac carried wood that would be used in his sacrifice on his back. Jesus carried a wooden cross through the streets of Jerusalem on his beaten and bloody back. Both Isaac and Jesus were “obedient unto death” as they quietly submitted to the will of their respective fathers. Mount Moriah is where the Temple would eventually be built. The very place where the blood of the ram soaked into the wood of Abraham’s offering would become a place where countless offerings would be presented to Jehovah … some offerings as an atonement for sin and others in gratitude for God’s provision. Biblical scholars tell us that the name “Moriah” is another name for “Calvary” … the place where Jesus laid down His life on two pieces of wood so that His blood, His life could atone for our sins.
Abraham and Isaac traveled three days to the mountain where Isaac’s life was eventually spared. Jesus was buried for three days before coming back to life. Abraham and Isaac learned about substitutionary sacrifice when God provided a ram to sacrifice in Isaac’s place. Likewise, God provided Jesus, His perfect Lamb, as a substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf.
God’s provision is always nearby. The ram in the thicket was close enough for Abraham to see. We may not be able to “see” Jehovah Jireh but He is near … as near as the air that we are breathing right now. All you have to do is call out to Him.
When Abraham experienced Jehovah’s provision, he built an altar so that he would remember that day. The Lord’s Table is our Mount Moriah … where we come to remember that Jehovah is our “jireh” … our provider. The Lord’s Table is where we come to remember that God … who provided us our salvation through the life and blood of His Son, Jesus Christ … will always be our provider. It is also a place where we are called to reflect upon what we’re willing to sacrifice to the One … with a capital “O” … who sacrifices and provides everything that we need.
Some of Jesus’ followers once asked Him to give them a “sign.” “What sign then will You give,” they asked, “that we may see it and believe You? What will You do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written: ‘He gave them bread from Heaven to eat.’ Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you … it was not Moses who gave you the bread from Heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from Heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to Him, “Sir, give us this bread always.’ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:30-35).
[Hold up the bread.] Jehovah Jireh. [Break the bread.]
[Hold up the cup.] Elohim … Adonai … Yahweh … El Elyon … will provide.
[Hold up the bread and the cup.] Pour out Your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by His blood.
By Your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at His heavenly banquet.
Through Your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in Your holy church, all honor and glory is Yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. [Put down the bread and cup.]
And now, with the confidence of the children of God, let us pray. [Lord’s prayer.]
This is His body … broken for you.
This is His blood … the blood of the new covenant shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin.
[Wait until everyone has taken Communion.]
At this time, please close your eyes or look at the beauty of the mountains around us and listen to these two verses from the Book of Romans:
“If, because of the one man’s trespass death exercised dominion through that one, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).
[Pause.]
“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for up for us all … how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32).
[Pause.]
Jehovah Jireh … God the Provider will provide, amen? Let us pray ...
