What’s In A Name?, Pt. 8: Jehovah Jireh
Genesis 22:13-14 13Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
Psalm 23:1-6 1The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5You prepare a table before me You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Yireh comes from the Hebrew word meaning “to see”. Another meaning is “to provide”. The connotation then is to see beforehand, take precautionary measures, or have prophetic foresight. Pronounced Yahweh-Yiruh, or Jehovah Jiruh, this name of God means The Lord Will Provide, but the version with the J is incorrect due to an early error in translation. Remember it was pointed out earlier that no one really knows how to pronounce YHWH. As a result over the centuries there has been almost constant effort to discover how to pronounce the tetragrammaton. In the 16th Century, a German translator was endeavoring to do just that. He was using an ancient Jewish text as his guide when he noticed the vowels from Adonai had been written under YHWH. Since the German language gives the -yah sound to the letter J, he wrote Jehovah but pronounced it Yahovah from which came Yahweh.
Actually, the letter J has had an uncertain history. It was the last letter of the English alphabet to be introduced and came about as a result of a 16th Century Italian grammarian who had noticed the distinction between the letter I and J sounds. Historically the two letters were used interchangeably by scribes and it was he who realized the Greek Iesus was the translation of the Hebrew Yeshua and thus the modern Jesus was born.
The reader may wonder, “Does God provide?” After all, in the American culture independence is strongly encouraged, and dependence is given short shrift. Have you ever looked back over your life and considered the events that happened and wondered what other path you might have followed? Have you looked at where you are now and noticed that the dark times didn’t result in horrible catastrophe after all and that you actually have turned out OK? Maybe it is worth considering that God was involved in your life long before you realized it, and it was He who protected you from the worst outcomes that might have happened during those hard times.
It is rare that God interacts in the human experience with thunder and lightening and glorious appearances. I’m not saying such things don’t happen, but I have not experienced any, nor am I aware of any such occurrences. No, God works behind the scenes, He sees the big picture and therefor knows the best path each of us should travel.
9However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— 10these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. (1Corinthians 2:9)
13For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16)
When we think of God as our Jehovah-Jireh, we usually think of material things – those things that we need to exist in this life. These are usually the things we want rather than the things we need. But God doesn’t think that way: He looks exclusively at the things we need, but often those two views align. He knows we need to provide for our loved ones and see to the physical necessities. But He looks beyond those things. We do not always think about the health of our bodies or the clarity of mind that we have to function with on a daily basis. God does. We do not think about the salvation that was provided to us through the death of His Son. We do not think about the sanctification that was provided to us making us righteous and called out versus being dirty and left out. We do not think about the thousands of times we have called on Him and shared our deepest secrets with Him and He provided a listening ear and gentle guidance. God thinks about these things.
The most important thing that God can provide is our salvation. This He did through the sacrifice offered by His Son. He wants us to grow in holiness and righteousness and all the needs we see are secondary to that. If that’s the case then why does God bother with the physical needs at all? Well for one, He wants us to know He loves us. For two, with unmet physical needs we have a difficult time focusing on holiness. But holiness is always the goal.
Knowing that God provides gives a guidepost to follow in the living of our lives, and lest one think that holiness is out of the reach of the ordinary human, God offers some of those guideposts. Here’s a few:
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)
10For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. 11They must turn from evil and do good; 12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (1Peter 3:10-12)
1Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (2Corinthians 7:1)
Johnson, R. (2013). Jehovah-Jireh. Retrieved from: Jehovah-Jireh Sermon by Rodney Johnson, Genesis 15:5-18 - SermonCentral.com