Baruch Ha Shem Adonai!
(Blessed be the Name of the Lord!)
(Blessed be the Name of the Lord!)
This is the fourth in The CRIB's presentation of the Twelve Jewels of God ... a look at the wonderful, powerful, inspirational names of God.
Who wouldn't want to know God's system of provision for His chosen people ... for that matter for His Church, the called-out!
Genesis 22:1-19
The ram bleated and struggled in an effort to free himself from the thicket that held him. It was the most beautiful sight Abraham had ever seen; not just because God had provided a perfect ram, but because his son, Isaac, the son of promise, was now free from being the sacrifice God had requested.
One could say the previous provisions of God paled by comparison to this one. And Abraham was move to call the place by a new name -- Jehovah Jireh ("God sees" or "will provide," v. 14; I would personally prefer "God anticipates"). In naming the "place," Abraham uses a cultural practice which identifies it with God, thus the Lord is known as Jehovah Jireh.
Herein is one of the most powerful and prophetic events in Scripture.
God commanded Abraham to take Isaac to Mt. Moriah and offer him as a whole burnt offering to Jehovah. Abraham "rose early" gathered the essentials for an offering, his son, and departed. He never questioned God's wisdom or sanity.
Three days later Abraham viewed his destination at a distance and told his servants, "Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and come again to you." [v. 5]
Note Abraham's use of the plural reference "we" prior to his positive affirmation of their return. He is telling his aids both I AND Isaac will return.
Only a man who personally knew El Elyon and trusted El Shaddai could obey as Abraham did. I would have been grieving and whailing in sackcloth and ashes. The Bible later tells us God reckoned Abraham righteous because he believed. [Galatians 3:6; James 2:23]
No one knows the state of Abraham's mind or will at the moment he took the sacrificial knife and approached his bound son [v. 10], no one knows of any dialogue between the two ... all we can do is admire the old man and his young son for their willingness to put themselves in the hands of a God who had always provided before.
The Hebrew word Jireh, which we translate "to provide" literally means "to see." The belief is that Hebrew scholars used jireh instead of roi in order to convey the sense of God "foreseeing".
We must understand that this should impact the way we pray; if God foresaw Abram's need and later provided it to Abraham, should we then believe that God would provide any less to us?
Have you taken opportunity with this God, the God who will provide? Have you appoached the throne of Grace and received the provisions of God?
If we really believe John 15:5 ("apart from me you can do nothing") then we must learn to trust Jehovah Jireh. Don't feel shy before a God who provided the patriarch Abraham with a ram.
Who wouldn't want to know God's system of provision for His chosen people ... for that matter for His Church, the called-out!
Genesis 22:1-19
The ram bleated and struggled in an effort to free himself from the thicket that held him. It was the most beautiful sight Abraham had ever seen; not just because God had provided a perfect ram, but because his son, Isaac, the son of promise, was now free from being the sacrifice God had requested.
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? And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. So they went both of them together.Verse eight is the first suggestion that Abraham, by faith, sees his God as one who provides in time of need. Elohim Jireh is not the same as Jehovah Jireh but these are the only two references we have to this divine appellation.[Genesis 22:7-8]
One could say the previous provisions of God paled by comparison to this one. And Abraham was move to call the place by a new name -- Jehovah Jireh ("God sees" or "will provide," v. 14; I would personally prefer "God anticipates"). In naming the "place," Abraham uses a cultural practice which identifies it with God, thus the Lord is known as Jehovah Jireh.
Herein is one of the most powerful and prophetic events in Scripture.
God commanded Abraham to take Isaac to Mt. Moriah and offer him as a whole burnt offering to Jehovah. Abraham "rose early" gathered the essentials for an offering, his son, and departed. He never questioned God's wisdom or sanity.
Three days later Abraham viewed his destination at a distance and told his servants, "Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and come again to you." [v. 5]
Note Abraham's use of the plural reference "we" prior to his positive affirmation of their return. He is telling his aids both I AND Isaac will return.
Only a man who personally knew El Elyon and trusted El Shaddai could obey as Abraham did. I would have been grieving and whailing in sackcloth and ashes. The Bible later tells us God reckoned Abraham righteous because he believed. [Galatians 3:6; James 2:23]
No one knows the state of Abraham's mind or will at the moment he took the sacrificial knife and approached his bound son [v. 10], no one knows of any dialogue between the two ... all we can do is admire the old man and his young son for their willingness to put themselves in the hands of a God who had always provided before.
By faith Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac: yea, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; even he to whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence he did also in a figure receive him back.The angel said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." [v. 12][Hebrews 11:17-19]
The Hebrew word Jireh, which we translate "to provide" literally means "to see." The belief is that Hebrew scholars used jireh instead of roi in order to convey the sense of God "foreseeing".
We must understand that this should impact the way we pray; if God foresaw Abram's need and later provided it to Abraham, should we then believe that God would provide any less to us?
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!Earlier I said, "This is one of the most powerful and prophetic events in Scripture." Why? For two reasons: first, because the event precursors God's provision of His own lamb for all sinners, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and, second, because of the significance of Mt. Moriah.[Matthew 7:7-11]He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?[Romans 8:32]
Here Solomon's temple was built, on the spot that had been the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:24-25; 2Chronicles 3:1). ... This was “the land of Moriah” to which Abraham went to offer up his son Isaac (Gen 22:2). It has been supposed that the highest point of the temple hill, which is now covered by the Mohammedan Kubbetes-Sakhrah, or “Dome of the Rock,” is the actual site of Araunah's threshing-floor. Here also, one thousand years after Abraham, David built an altar and offered sacrifices to God.Every liter of ram's blood, every pound of ox flesh provided by man as a sacrifice to God pointed to the Lamb of God as the Father's ultimate provision.[Easton's Bible Dictionary]
For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME."Yet this time the knife will find its target, the blood will flow, and the fires of sin will consume the flesh of the sacrifice.[Hebrews 10:4-5]
Have you taken opportunity with this God, the God who will provide? Have you appoached the throne of Grace and received the provisions of God?
If we really believe John 15:5 ("apart from me you can do nothing") then we must learn to trust Jehovah Jireh. Don't feel shy before a God who provided the patriarch Abraham with a ram.
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