Names of God 5. Jehovah Jireh

                              Names of God 5. Jehovah Jireh

OK. The first thing that comes to my name is this;

        
  But let's flesh out what this name of God really means. But first, how about a song to review Elohim, Yahweh, and Adonai;

 

Jireh or Yireh is taken from the Hebrew root word "raah" which means "to see". If you have been following along you might remember El Roi which means the God who sees. How are these different? When you look at the instance with Hagar and El Roi, God sees her problem, appears to her and tells her to go back. Hagar goes back, rejoicing that she has seen God and lived to tell about it even though nothing else has changed. This is very consistant with El or Elohim, our first introduction to God. We learned that Jehovah, our next word, appeared in chapter 2 as the relational God. So what is the difference between El Raah (Roi) and Jehovah (Raah) Jireh? Well, when the relational God sees our problems, He provides or sees to it. He forsees the solution and has already made a way to meet our needs.

 

Picture this in Exodus 4:1-14 where Moses meets Jehovah Jireh.

 

Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” ² The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” ³ And he said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. ⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand, and take it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand— ⁵ “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” ⁶ Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand into your bosom.” And he put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. ⁷ Then God said, “Put your hand back into your bosom.” So he put his hand back into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. ⁸ “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or heed the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. ⁹ If they will not believe even these two signs or heed your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it upon the dry ground; and the water which you shall take from the Nile will become blood upon the dry ground.”

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either heretofore or since thou hast spoken to thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” ¹³ But he said, “Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person.” ¹⁴ Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well; and behold, he is coming out to meet you
       
Moses is scared and God is providing him with everything he asks for - what name? "I AM", what sign - leprosy that comes and goes, a staff that turns into a serpent and back again, and water turning to blood. Favor? The people and Pharoah treated him as a God. Deliverance? A Passover lamb. But when he balks and says don't send me, God says Aaron is already on his way. You see, before the burning bush, Jehovah Jireh had put upon Aaron's heart to go visit Moses. God, who is outside of time had foreseen the fear of Moses and seen to it that a cure was already on the way.

We are first introduced to Jehovah Jireh in Genesis 22 as Moses through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes;

    After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” ² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori′ah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” ⁶ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷ And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
⁹ When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” ¹² He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called the name of that place  Jehovah Jireh; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

    Picture it this way - coming up one side                          Coming up the other side is a
   of the mountain are Abraham and Isaac                            ram. They both meet at the top

 

God has given Moses a trial and already sent an answer on the way. The word "provide" is taken from the latin "providere" which means to see ahead. When God created Adam and Eve He knew that He would have to provide a solution for sin up the mountain on the other side of our sin and that remedy was Jesus, the lamb for our sin , and this time, God did not hold back the arms killing Him.

 

So the question is if Matthew 6:8 is true - " for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.", and God is already seeing to the answer, then why pray. One answer could certainly be that He has forseen your prayers and is fore-acting in response to those prayers and that is probably true. But to even ask that question tells us we need to rethink prayer. Check out the following blog. http://www.thoughtsfromtherightbrain.blogspot.com/2010/12/pr-ay-er.html

Basically,what this blog is saying is that the paradigm of problems leading to prayer giving answers with answers being the focal point, should be replaced by a paradigm of  problems  lead us to prayer and answers reinforce prayer with prayer - in intimate meeting with God is the focal point. This is illustrated throughout scripture. One example is

Phil. 4:6,7

"Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

So you have problems causing anxiety. What do you do? You pray and instead of removing the problems, God gives you peace and puts a sentry at the door to the heart keeping that anxiety from creeping back in. Jehovah Jireh reminds you that a solution is already on the way and a supernatural peace settles in.

Heb.5:7

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear.

Jesus passionately prayed with sweat drops of blood that if there would be any other way let the cup pass from Him. What was the answer? God heard Him. The communication was the bottom line.

Heb. 4:14-16

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

What do we get from our High Priest? mercy and grace! Tender compassion and an inner supernatural comforting. The intimate fellowship with God is what the problems bring - not necessarily answers although they are being provided for.

Luke 11:9-13

And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ¹¹ What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; ¹² or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

As we ask, seek, and knock, what do we get? Not answers but the Holy Spirit!

James 1:2-8

Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ^{7, 8} For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.
   So you get trials that lead you to prayer and do you get answers? No, you get wisdom!

When God made his promise to Abraham to give him a supernatural child, more ancestors than the stars in the sky, etc. what did Abraham say - You are my great reward. What does Jehovah provide? He provides your needs ,yes. But what do we need most? Him! And He never lets us down there!