Jehovah Jireh
Manna. Give us today
our daily bread. God gives us just
enough. He SEES us and our needs.
This name is translated as
“The-Lord-Will-Provide (SEE),”
commemorating the provision of the ram in place of Isaac for Abraham’s sacrifice
(Gen. 22:14).
This
is one of the seven compound names for God in the OT.
The others are:
Gen 22
v.
1, Test (God did tempt Abraham)
The word tempt
is better expressed by proved or tested.
God does not tempt anyone with evil (Jas
We walk by sight, not by faith.
God’s words, “your
only son Isaac, whom you love,” must have pierced Abraham’s heart like
ever-deepening wounds. Isaac was Abraham’s only son in the sense that he was the only son of promise—the unique son, the son of miraculous birth.
Obviously, Isaac was not Abraham’s only son (cf.
Ishmael); but Ishmael never enjoyed the status of son, as Isaac did (the Code
of Hammurabi--king of Babylon, 1792-1750 BCE--shows that a man’s offspring by a
slave woman were not ordinarily given the rights that belong to the son born of
his wife.
God intended to try Abraham’s love, to see if he loved
God more than his son, and to try his faith in His promise concerning descendants
(if you love your family more than me, you cannot be my disciple--Lk 14:26)
The first occurrence of a word in the Bible often sets
the pattern for its usage throughout Scripture. Love (v. 2) and “worship” (v. 5) are first found here
Abraham’s
love for his son is a faint picture of God’s love
for the Lord Jesus.
The
sacrifice of Isaac was a picture of the greatest act of worship—the Savior’s
self-sacrifice to accomplish the will of God.
v. 5-8, Evidence of Faith (we will come
back)
Moriah
is the mountain range where
To offer Isaac was surely the supreme test of Abraham’s
faith. God had promised to give Abraham a numberless posterity through his son.
Isaac could have been as much as twenty-five at this time, and he was
unmarried. If Abraham slew him, how could the promise be fulfilled? According
to Hebrews 11:19, Abraham believed that even if he slew his son, God would
raise him from the dead. This faith was remarkable because there was no
recorded case of resurrection up to this time in the world’s history
God also tests us with giving
Actually God had no intention of allowing Abraham to go
through with it; He has always been opposed to human sacrifice. Human sacrifice was widely practiced in the
ancient Near East in Old Testament times (though not by the godly)
Hebrews 11:17–19 reveals he was expecting Isaac to be
resurrected, thus he would regard him as given back from the dead.
Abraham was first justified by faith (15:6), then justified
(vindicated) by works here (see James
v. 12-14, Substance Hoped For (Ram instead of his son
(Ex 13:2 and 11-16))
“Abraham, Abraham”
is the first of ten name duplications found in the Bible. Seven are spoken by
God to man (Gen. 22:11; 46:2; Ex. 3:4; 1 Sam.
This promise was not ultimately fulfilled by the ram of verse 13 but by the Lamb of God
(John
There are two outstanding symbols of Christ in this
chapter.
Isaac is the first: an only son, loved by his father, willing to do his father’s will,
received back from the dead in a figure.
The ram
is the second: an innocent victim died as a substitute for another, its blood
was shed, and it was a burnt offering
wholly consumed for God. Someone has said that, in providing the ram as a substitute for Isaac, “God
spared Abraham’s heart a pang He would not spare His own.” (Jesus, "take
my yoke", Mt
Abraham’s "God will provide (SEE)" was to be
immortalized in the name of the place in verse 14; And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh
(meaning the Lord will see to it thus He will provide).
Manna. Give us today our daily bread. God gives us just enough. He SEES us and our needs.