The Lord Will Provide יהוה יִ רְ אֶ ה

Yahweh Yireh. For a child of the ’80s, it’s Jehovah Jireh – a worship song by Don Moen. But y’all, the name is so much more than an uplifting, encouraging, up-tempo tune to start your worship set and get the congregation out of the doldrums. Just what did Yahweh provide for Abraham?

We’ve talked about His promise that Abraham would have  a child from whom would come kings and nations and an Everlasting Kingdom. At long last, Abraham had his heir, Isaac. No pressure, Isaac!

And yet, in Genesis 22, God commands Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son.

He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” – Genesis 22:2

Take a moment to put yourself in Abraham’s sandals. What would your response have been?

I can tell you my gut would have been rebelling.

Are you kidding me?

Isaac is your promise to me, God.

Since when have you required human sacrifice?

Can I really trust You?

Just no.

But that’s not what Abraham did. We’re told in Genesis 22:1 that God was testing Abraham. But Abraham couldn’t know that (yet.) It wouldn’t have been much of a test if God had told him from the beginning.

And Abraham obeyed.

Read Genesis 22 while thinking about Abraham’s commitment.

1. He started his journey the very next day.
2. He cut the wood for the sacrifice and took Isaac to Moriah.
3. The journey took three days. Abraham had three long days to think about what he would have to do. Three days to back out.
4. Abraham placed the wood for the sacrifice on Isaac. Isaac carried the wood FOR HIS OWN SACRIFICE.  Pause and let that sink in.
5. Abraham built the altar and arranged the wood on it.
6. He bound Isaac and placed him on the wood. Isaac was an adult, and Abraham was OLD. He couldn’t have forced Isaac to comply. Isaac went willingly.
7. Abraham reached for the knife to kill his son.

Are you hanging in there?

Did you notice the detail I left out? When Isaac asked where the lamb for the burnt offering was,

Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. Genesis 22:8

That’s faith. That’s security in Yahweh Yireh.

The framework for this study comes from Ann Spangler’s Praying the Names of God for 52 Weeks – join me!