He's My Provider

As we have journeyed together through this study of the names of God, we have learned that the name of the Lord is a strong tower.  We have spent time with the name Elohim - our Creator God; El Elyon - God Most High; El Roi - God Who Sees; El Shaddai - All Sufficient; and Jehovah - the Great I AM, the self-existent one.  Today we continue the journey as we begin to study the name Jehovah-Jireh.

In her book Lord, I Want to Know You, Kay Arthur writes, "As the self-existent one, He desires to meet the needs of those He created in His own image.  Thus, He becomes Jehovah our provider......He reaches beyond Himself because it is His character to do so.  As you and I take on His character more and more, we will reach out beyond ourselves to manifest to others what He is to us."  Does that excite you as much as it does me?  Does it challenge you as it does me?  Let's dig in together and see what we can learn and how we can put it into practice in our own lives.

We are going to be spending some time in Genesis today, looking at the life of Abraham and how this name, Jehovah-Jireh, was very significant in his life.  I'm going to give you some assignments today, and tomorrow we will examine what we learn through these assignments.  So study well, dear friend!

Begin by reading Genesis 22:1-19 (after you have prayed, of course!).  Look for the phrase the Lord will provide.  You might want to underline that phrase or mark it in some significant way.  Also look for the words love, obeyed and worship and mark them in some way.  This is the first time these words have been used in Scripture.  The principle of first mention (that's a "technical" Bible study term!) means that when a signficant word is mentioned for the first time in Scripture, the principles connected with the word at that point will hold true for the rest of Scripture.  So it's important to note what you learn about these words in this context.  You might want to make a list!

And here's another thing you might want to think about today:  in the way these words are used in this chapter, do you get a picture of Jesus Christ and of His work on your behalf.  Think about that!

If you need some help organizing your thoughts, remember the 5 Ws/H.....who, what, when, where, why, how.  Here are a few questions that may help guide your study:

• Why was Abraham going to offer up his son?
• Where was he going to make the sacrifice?  In what land?
• Where in that land would the sacrifice be made?
• Why did Abraham name that place "The Lord Will Provide"?

See you tomorrow!