YHWH Yireh - The God Who Provides

Grow Group Study: Names of God

Series Title: The Names of God

Week 6: Yahweh Yireh – The Lord Will Provide (Genesis 22:14)

1. LEARN IN COMMUNITY (5 min)

QUESTION

Can you remember a time when God met your need in an unexpected way? How did it affect your view of Him?

Provision reveals the heart of the provider. In Genesis 22, God provides a ram for Abraham—a substitute for his son. This powerful moment becomes the foundation for one of God’s covenant names: Yahweh Yireh, meaning “The Lord Will Provide.”

2. CONSIDER WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS (8–10 min)

READ: Genesis 22:1–14

Genesis 22:1–14 NASB95

1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 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.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” 6 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 the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. 9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Abraham stretched out 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 I am.” 12 He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”

“Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the LORD it will be provided.’” (Gen. 22:14)

Context: Abraham is asked to surrender Isaac, the promised son.

Emotional depth: Three days’ journey, Isaac carrying the wood, the silence of the climb.

Turning point: Abraham’s faith — “God will provide for Himself the lamb” (v. 8).

Climax: The ram caught in the thicket.

Geographic note: This happens on Mount Moriah, a place that will carry significance for centuries.

3. THE MEANING OF THE NAME (5–6 min)

Hebrew: YHWH Yireh (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה) = “The LORD will see to it.”

In Hebrew thought, “to see” means to acknowledge and act. God’s sight implies intervention.

Why “Yireh” (to see) → “provide”?

Hebrew root:

Ra’ah (רָאָה) = “to see.”

In Genesis 22:14, it’s a future tense/jussive form: “The LORD will see [to it].”

Hebrew thought:

In ancient Hebrew, to see often implied not just perception but acknowledging and acting.

Example: Exodus 3:7 — “I have surely seen the affliction of my people… so I have come down to deliver them.”

God “sees” → God intervenes.

“See to it” idiom:

Even in English, we sometimes say “I’ll see to it” to mean “I’ll handle it / I’ll provide for it.”

That’s the sense in Genesis 22:14: God doesn’t just observe Abraham’s need; He sees to it.

Latin/English translation history:

When the Bible was translated into Latin (the Vulgate), Jerome rendered it “Dominus providebit” = “The LORD will provide.”

That became the dominant translation in English Bibles.

So our tradition leaned toward provision rather than just sight.

Theological nuance:

“Provide” in English literally comes from Latin pro-videre = “to see beforehand.”

So even in English, provision is tied to “seeing.” God foresees and supplies.

Teaching Point

So when we say “The LORD will provide,” we’re really saying “The LORD sees, and because He sees, He acts.”

If He didn’t see, He wouldn’t act.

If He only saw but didn’t act, He wouldn’t be Yahweh Yireh.

But because He sees and acts, He is our Provider.

Why “Jehovah Jireh”?

The divine name YHWH had no vowels. Scribes added vowels from Adonai to remind readers to say “Lord.”

That produced “Yehovah.” English shifted it to “Jehovah.”

Modern scholarship affirms “Yahweh” is closer. But the older Christian tradition carried “Jehovah Jireh” forward.

So the name means not just “The LORD Provides,” but “The LORD sees and will see to it.”

THEOLOGICAL DEPTH: PROVISION AS SUBSTITUTION & THE TIMELINE OF MORIAH

Abraham (Provision ~1900 BC)

God provides a substitute (the ram) in place of Isaac.

Foreshadowing:

Isaac carries wood → Jesus carries the cross (John 19:17).

Isaac spared → Jesus not spared, for He is the Lamb (John 1:29).

Abraham: “God will provide for Himself the lamb” → fulfilled in Christ.

David (Mercy ~1000 BC)

2 Sam. 24 / 1 Chron. 21: David sins by taking a census. Judgment falls.

At Araunah’s threshing floor on Mount Moriah, God stops the plague. David buys the site and builds an altar. Fire falls from heaven.

David declares: “This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel” (1 Chron. 22:1).

Moriah becomes hallowed ground of mercy.

Solomon (Presence ~966 BC)

2 Chron. 3:1: Solomon builds the temple on Mount Moriah, on David’s purchased site.

From Abraham’s one ram → to David’s altar of mercy → to Solomon’s temple sacrifices.

The mountain becomes the center of God’s presence and ongoing atonement.

Prophets (Hope ~700–400 BC)

Temple destroyed (586 BC), rebuilt (516 BC), expanded by Herod.

Prophets look forward: “In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established” (Isa. 2:2–3; Mic. 4:1–2).

The mountain becomes a symbol of hope for all nations.

Jesus (Atonement ~AD 30)

Crucified at Golgotha (Place of the Skull), outside the city walls of Jerusalem (Heb. 13:12).

Show Interactive atlas of Moriah vs Jerusalem

Geography:

Mount Moriah is a ridge system. The temple stood at the summit.

Golgotha was part of the same ridge but outside the walls — fulfilling the law that sin offerings were taken “outside the camp” (Lev. 16:27).

Golgotha traditions:

Church of the Holy Sepulchre (ancient site, outside walls in Jesus’ day).

Garden Tomb / Gordon’s Calvary (later Protestant-favored).

Broader Ridge Theory (part of Moriah’s northern ridge).

Teaching point: Whatever the exact rock face, Jesus’ cross stood on the same mountain system where Abraham, David, and Solomon all saw God provide.

So when Jesus said: John 8:56 — “Abraham rejoiced to see My day; he saw it and was glad.”

John 8:56 NASB95

56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

Not only is he saying Abraham look forward, but that he saw a preview in the same area…

✦ Teaching Hook: The Two 1000-Year Spans

~1000 years from Abraham’s altar (1900 BC) → to Solomon’s temple (966 BC) = the establishment of the place of sacrifice.

~1000 years from Solomon’s temple (966 BC) → to Jesus’ cross (~AD 30) = the fulfillment of the sacrifice.

👉 God was weaving His promise across two millennia, bookending each “thousand years” with a climactic act of provision: first a ram, then the Lamb.

Future (Restoration)

Zechariah 14 and Revelation envision Jerusalem as the epicenter of God’s final reign.

The mountain becomes the place not just of provision, but of restoration for the nations.

Summary:

Abraham: Provision (ram).

David: Mercy (plague halted).

Solomon: Presence (temple).

Prophets: Hope (nations streaming).

Jesus: Atonement (cross).

Future: Restoration (final reign).

REFLECT & DISCUSS

How does the meaning “Yahweh Will See to It” change your understanding of God’s provision?

Why is Abraham’s obedience so significant to the outcome of this story?

How can you learn to trust God’s timing when His provision doesn’t come how or when you expected?

7. ACTIVATE (2–3 min)

This week, identify one area where you’ve been anxious about provision.

Write a prayer surrendering that area to Yahweh Yireh.

Declare His name over your situation daily.

8. PRAYER

“Yahweh Yireh, You are the God who sees and the God who provides. Thank You for knowing my needs before I speak them. Help me to walk in obedience and trust You to supply what I cannot see yet. Strengthen my faith and deepen my confidence in Your goodness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”