Names, Lambs, and Provision (This Could Change Your Life)

In this quest of mine to actually know Scripture, to hide His Word in my heart, I'm discovering who God really is. I'm learning more about His character because it's His story all throughout the Bible. It's God orchestrating it all- all for His glory.

I decided to learn what those names of God really mean. 
You know... Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Shammah, etc.

So I would google a name each day and discover not only what it meant and where it is in the Bible, but also what that means for me. See, God is true to character. Those names are His identity. Who He was to the Israelites during the Exodus, is the same today. Right now. I find such comfort in that thought.

I think that maybe the most common or famous of His names is Jehovah Jireh. It seems like that's what everyone goes to during a hard time. If we know someone who's having a crisis, we say, "Oh He's Jehovah Jireh, He'll meet your needs." And it gets said so often, without even really thinking about it. 

Don't get me wrong. He does meet your needs and I think you should go on saying it, but maybe, not without actually learning the meaning behind the name in the first place.

Jehovah Jireh literally means "God who sees and meets needs."

It appears only once in the Old Testament and it is when Abraham is about to sacrifice his son Isaac. Yes, sacrifice. God was testing Abraham's faith, something Abraham would later become known by. But God sent an angel to stop Abraham and to basically tell him that he passed the test. God sent a lamb for Abraham to sacrifice instead. 

So Abraham named that place The Lord Provides. 

Even today people say, 

“On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” 

(Genesis 22:14) 

Abraham didn't have to sacrifice his only son on that hill because God provided. Jehovah Jireh.

Here's the part that struck me, the part I really want you to get:

God did not just see the need and provide a lamb for that moment. 

Jehovah Jireh sent THE LAMB, Jesus, years later- to die on a hill. The only Son, the perfect Lamb of God, died in Isaac's place. In our place. 

It's God's love that sent Jesus. It's Jesus' love that went willingly. 
It's the death on the cross and the resurrection that saved us and redeemed us. God saw the need and provided.

So here's my request: The next time you proclaim that God is Jehovah Jireh, remember that no need is too great for Him. He went so far as to sacrifice His only Son to meet Abraham's need. To meet our need.