I am super duper proud of you! I don't know if you're attending the local study and you're using the blog as your "Cliff Notes" for your prep time - or if you're somewhere in your house, with your cup of coffee in your pj's nice and cozy near your computer - but either way... I'm so glad you've stuck with it this far!
It's been a great study! But it just keeps getting better! If you've found this page today and you're wondering - "Did I miss it?" or "I wish I could have found this sooner - it's too late now." I'm here to encourage you to just start here and follow us from here on out! We're really about to enter into some of my favorite Names of God. And perhaps, God led you here at this very moment - just for you!
Okay, if you know me - you know I LOVE to study the words from the original manuscript - what words were actually used before we applied our English translations & understandings to them?
In Chapter 7 we studied Jehovah (okay, so if you're new - back up just one lesson/chapter and look at Jehovah).
We're about to enter a group of names that are actually compound words. That's exactly what Jehovah Jireh is - a compound name. Now why in the world would God need to add to His name. Isn't His name alone enough? Sure it is! But it's also in the very character - the nature - of our God to extend Himself - to reach out beyond Himself.
Do you have areas in your life where you are desperate for God to reach out beyond? I do. Take a moment right know and cry those out to Him. He already knows them - but it will do your spirit good to actually talk to God about them.
Actually before we get started I want to ask you 2 questions. Think about them as we go through this chapter and we'll answer them together at the end.
What are your greatest needs? Where are you needing some BIG TIME provisions?
(sorry, that's really all one question)
What is most precious to you? What can you NOT live without?
(Man! Can I not ask just 1 simple question? Sorry!)
Okay - back to the word study...
Jehovah-jireh means "the Lord will provide". Did you know that jireh, in the Old Testament, actually means "to see"? It actually means that He foresees and what He sees, what He foresees, He provides! I love when our English word actually matches Hebrew words. Take a look at our word provision. Did you know this is actually a compound word - pro (beforehand) and vision (to see).
How cool is this?! In provision we have both seeing beforehand and providing... all in the same word! Just soak this up for a moment! God not only sees where you are now... but He saw before you did and He has a plan for provision already in the works!! We just need to trust that He's got it under control.
Next... it's always important to see where a word is used for the very first time in scripture - it really helps bring meaning and context to the word. The first time we see Jehovah-jireh is with Abraham. It's a very familiar story - Abraham & Isaac going to Mt. Moriah. It's found in Genesis 22:1-19. Take a moment to read through this story.
In the workbook, Kay had us mark every time we read the words love, worship, and obey. I hope you took time to do this. We're going to look in a moment about the significant of these 3 words and even their order!!!
From this passage we see that God told Abraham to take Isaac up to the mountain and offer him as a sacrifice. What?! His only son - really?! We don't see Abraham having this kind of conversation with God. He just immediately obeys! Now that is some kind of trust!!!
Ken Hemphill, in his book The Names of God, says this about obedience...
Delayed obedience is immediate disobedience
&
Partial obedience is complete disobedience.
Wow! I sure have some lessons to learn from Abraham! Have you ever connected your obedience with God's provision? Let that sink in for a moment. God told Abraham to do something. In fact, He told Abraham to give up the one thing he cared for the most - his only son! And as he was worshiping the Lord at the altar, and about to sacrifice his only son - Jehovah-jireh provided another sacrifice - a ram. And it was here that Abraham named the place, "The Lord Will Provide" (Jehovah-jireh).
In the passage above - the order of the three words that Kay told us to mark - is:
LOVE WORSHIP OBEY
Do you have this same kind of order in your life? Love God. Worship Him. And immediately and completely obey Him.
Did you know that God desperately wants to provide for your every need? The big ones and the small ones! I want you to leave this study making the connection between obedience and having your needs provided. So... back to the questions above.
What is most precious to you? In other words, what is your Isaac? It might not be a person. It might be your money - your career - your house - your time. I want to ask you today, are you willing to put it on the altar for the Lord - if He were to ask you? Whew! I know! This is a hard one for me too!
But if we're following the example of Abraham - God provided for him immediately when he obeyed. I'm here to tell you today that you CAN trust God with your Isaac!!!
Now you may be thinking - I can trust God with my eternal destiny - for salvation - but the everyday stuff I still struggle with trust. You know - like will I be able to pay my bills, will I be able to raise my children the right way, will my marriage be healthy forever, so on and so forth - you know the questions that haunt your mind at night!
Look at this:
Philippians 4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Get to know God as your Jehovah-jireh. He sees & He provides. He provides for your death through salvation in Jesus Christ - AND He provides for your life through your complete surrender and trust in full obedience to Him.
I'm not saying any of this is easy. I am saying that there are wonderful blessings to experience when we trust and obey - and allow Him to be our Jehovah-jireh!
One last thing... Ken Hemphill compared God providing for Abraham with a "bottom of the ninth" save in a baseball game. If you waiting for God to provide for you and He hasn't yet... maybe... just maybe it's not the end of the game yet!!
