Jehovah Jireh: God our Provider

Genesis 22:1-18.

ETS: God provided for Abraham.

ESS: God provides for us.

OSS: [Devotional] [I want the hearers to trust in Jehovah Jireh to provide for them.]

PQ: What provisions are made by Jehovah Jireh?

UW: Provisions

Intro.: [AGS]: Don’t you love the edge-of-your-seat moments during movies? The climax or pivotal moment where the story changes drastically? One of my favorites is in the movie Facing the Giants when the championship game is on the line, and the kicker kicked an extremely long field goal to provide a win in the game. [TS]: The account of God calling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac is one of those on-the-edge-of-your-seat moments. Even Isaac realized it, and he asked, “Father- everything is present for the sacrifice, but where is the lamb for the offering?” God provided the sacrifice. [RS]: We find ourselves often in moments where we need God to come through for us- moments of climax where the story can go one of two ways. Maybe you are in a moment like that even now. God will provide for you. I hope you will trust that, today.

TS: Let us examine together a few provisions made by Jehovah Jireh in the text:

He provided the calling. [1-6]

God provided a task for Abraham that would require obedience. In fact, the text “in the Hebrew tradition [is known] as the Akedah (lit. ‘the binding’, v. 9). The Hebrew verb nissah, translated as tested, means ‘to prove the quality of,’ not ‘to entice to do wrong.’ God used this event to affirm the sterling character of Abraham’s faith by giving him the incredibly difficult task of sacrificing his son Isaac...” [1]

This is important to understand- that the moment of testing is not to be understand as a moment whereby God is hoping we will fail; rather, a moment whereby God is giving opportunity for us to show our trust in Him. [Jas. 1:13.]

The verse and call of God begins with a very emphatic, progressive sequence signifying the dramatic moment: “v. 1 lit. reads, “And the Elohim he tried this Abraham…take now thy son, thine only son whom thou lovest, even Isaac.” [2]

Derek Kidner wrote, “Abraham’s trust was to be weighed in the balance against common sense, human affection, and lifelong ambition; in fact against everything earthly.” [3]

Notice Abraham’s confidence in verse 5: he is sure that both he and Isaac will return to the others. Even though he knew the task and the calling- he was confident that God would provide.

APPLICATION: God will provide for us opportunities in life to show our trust and character to be one honoring to Him. Those moments provide, also, opportunities for Him to show His great ability to provide.

He provided the sacrifice. [7-14]

Isaac seemed to notice and asked the question, “where is lamb for sacrifice?” Yet, notice Abraham’s confidence in God: “God will provide”

Notice that no where is that Abraham doubted, quested, or hesitated in obeying God’s calling. Notice also that no where is it that God allowed Isaac to be harmed.

“The exact moment of intervention wrings the last drop of meaning from the experience. On the human side, the ultimate sacrifice is faced and willed; on the divine side, not a vestige of harm is permitted, and not a nuance of devotion is unnoticed (as the phrase thy son, thine only son, echoed from v. 2 and re-echoed in v. 16, makes clear.)” [4]

APPLICATION: In the moments of testing, we must rest assured that God will see to it, make clear the things required of us, and He will provide everything necessary for our obedience.

He provided the blessing. [15-18]

Notice the explanatory sense of verse 16: “because you have done this thing and not withheld your only son...”

Often times, blessings flow from our obedience.

Abraham found assurance in his obedience that God was faithful to His promise, and he even re-affirmed his promise to Abraham here.

There is irony in this: through that which God was asking of Abraham to give up- Isaac- God would use to fulfill His covenantal promise to Him. [5]

APPLICATION: God often blesses our obedience, and He uses that which is usually involved in the task of giving up as a means to bless us. Perhaps the question resonates, “do you love me more than ______?”

Reflective verse and closing:

Genesis 22:8.

[1] Do you trust that God will provide for you everything needed to obediently follow Him?

Bibliography:

[1] Robert D. Bergen, “Genesis,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 41.

[2]Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes, New Edition., vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, 2014), 136.

[3] Kidner, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 1, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1967), 154.

[4]Derek Kidner, 155.

[5]Robert D. Bergen, “Genesis,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 42.