Wednesday's Word: Jehovah Jireh/The Lord Will Provide

 

 

 

"Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns.
So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 
 And Abraham called that place, JEHOVAH JIREH "THE LORD WILL PROVIDE"
 So to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
(Genesis 22:13-14) 

The Sacrifice Of Isaac
(17th Century)
Phillipe de Champaigne
(1602-1674)
French Baroque era painter
Image courtesy/Wikipedia

 

 

It appeared to be a grim situation.  An act of unquestionable 
 obedience was being put to the test on Mount Moriah that day. 

The patriarch Abraham, in yielding to the Lord's command, 
 readied himself to sacrifice his beloved son and heir, Isaac.

"Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed
 it on his son, Issac.  He himself carried the fire and the
 sacrificial knife,  and the two of them walked on together." 
(Genesis 22:6 )

This dire moment was a foreshadowing of another act of unquestionable 
obedience, which took place on the hill called Calvary outside of Jerusalem.

"Carrying His own cross, He went out to The Place of the Skull, 
 which in Hebrew is called Golgotha."
(John 19:17) 

Thus, Isaac's symbolic death and resurrection was a reflection
 of the actual death and resurrection of Christ.  

It is here that JEHOVAH JIREH, " THE LORD WILL PROVIDE" 
reaches its fullest expression.  In the words of the apostle Paul:

"He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for all of us,
 how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things? 
(Romans 8:32)

 Through faith and obedience, Abraham reaped the blessings the Lord promised him:

"And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven a second time. 
And said, "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done
this thing and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will
bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven,
and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate
of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
because thou hast obeyed my voice."
(Genesis 22:15-18)