Abraham And The Revelation Of Jehovah-Jireh

August 2025

“And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.”

—Gen. 22:9-14

Abraham’s journey of faith had been long, and it was filled with great victories, great revelations, and also great failures, as it is with us all.

We find in Abraham’s journey that God had demanded that he must surrender some things along the way. The first surrender was his family. The second, his native land. The third was the vale of Jordan. Fourth, the riches of Sodom. The fifth was the surrender of Ishmael. Sixth, the surrender of self. And now comes the seventh and last—the surrender of Isaac, the child of promise and a type of Christ.

In this journey, God would take him from being Abram, “exalted father,” to Abraham, “father of multitudes.” He started out in Ur of the Chaldees, and is now in a place called Moriah, “Jehovah is provider.”

Every test, every failure, every victory was all for the purpose of the revelation of Jehovah-Jireh, “the Lord our provider.” This final revelation was the greatest of all because it portrayed the future cross of Christ. Never forget that all true revelation of God centers around the cross. All truth flows from the cross. The truth of salvation, healing, deliverance, holiness, justification, and sanctification comes to us only through the cross.

The revelation of Jehovah-Jireh is a threefold revelation.

First, it is the revelation of the doctrine of substitution and identification. What do we mean by this? When Abraham lifted his hand to slay Isaac, Genesis 22:13 says, “behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.” Thus, the ram was offered up in sacrifice instead of his son. At Calvary, Christ became our substitute, meaning that He did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves, referring to satisfying the holy demands of a thrice-holy God, which Christ did for us at Calvary. It would have done no good to have actually sacrificed Isaac because Isaac was born in sin. But the ram, which was innocent, could be and was a type of Christ. When we, as sinners, recognize our sin and that Christ is the only means of salvation, we are putting our faith in Him, our substitute, thereby identifying with Him as the only sacrifice that can save. Then, and only then, are we saved. We deserved to die, but Christ took our place—our substitute. We then identify with His sacrifice, resulting in us becoming born again.

Second, it is and was a revelation of victory. Victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. At Calvary, through the death of Christ, the price was paid for our complete victory. Victory over the enemy from without and victory over the enemy within— justification and sanctification. I think Bill Gaither said it perfectly in his great song, “I’m Free.” In this song he says:

So long, I’d searched for life’s meaning

Enslaved by this world and its greed

But then the door of my prison was opened by love

The ransom was paid—I was free.

I’m free from the fear of tomorrow

I’m free from the guilt of the past

For I’ve traded my shackles for a glorious song

I’m free, praise the Lord, free, at last.

Third, it was the revelation of blessing. Genesis 22:17 says, “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” The cross is not only the place of our salvation but also our blessing—blessing in every area of your life. In III John 1:2 it says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper, and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” When I speak of blessings, I’m not for a moment implying that God will make you a millionaire, but I am definitely stating that “my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).

In closing, to Abraham the revelation was, “The Lord will provide,” but to us it is, “The Lord has provided.” It’s done once and for all.