Yahweh Yireh: "the Lord Will Provide"
Scripture Reading — Genesis 22:1-14
So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be pro-vided.”
—Genesis 22:14
The scene on Mount Moriah is one of the most dramatic in the Old Testament. There God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, the link between Abraham and God’s promise to make him into a great nation.
Why make such a demand? Abraham’s neighbors expected their gods to demand human sacrifice. God uses that expectation to test Abraham’s faith, to see his obedience in action.
Against all doubt, Abraham obeys, believing that somehow God will provide. In agony, Abraham readies the altar and raises the knife to plunge it into Isaac’s chest. Suddenly, calling from heaven, the angel of the LORD says to Abraham, “Do not lay a hand on the boy… . Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son.”
Out of gratitude for God’s intervention and provision, Abraham names the place Yahweh Yireh, “the LORD will provide.” The Hebrew word yireh can mean either “to see” or “to provide.” And for us, as for Abraham, both seeing and providing are what God does. When we were dead in our sins, God saw and provided for us. He provided Jesus, his only Son, to die in our place, paying for our sin.
Live today with the knowledge and comfort that Yahweh Yireh sees and provides for your every need, and let your faith in him flow into obedience.
Lord God, you see our need and provide. You have provided the Savior we need: Jesus Christ, our Lord. Help us to trust in you and to live in obedience to you. Amen.
About the author — Kurt Selles
Kurt Selles is the director of ReFrame Ministries and serves as the Executive Editor of Today. He is a graduate of Calvin College and Seminary, and received his PhD from Vanderbilt University. Before coming to ReFrame, he served 19 years in Taiwan and China with CRC World Missions. Kurt later taught missions at Beeson Divinity School, where he also acted as the director of the school’s Global Center. Kurt and his wife, Vicki, reside in Grand Rapids and have three adult children.
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