A name is that by which a person or thing is made known—it describes, defines, or declares them. This is certainly true for the names or titles of God used in the Bible. Each name declares or describes a different aspect or characteristic of Him. God uses the title Jehovah to show the Lord in relationship with those whom He has created. One descriptive title that shows how Jehovah functions in our behalf is Jehovah-jireh. God as Jehovah-jireh sees the need of His people and provides for it abundantly.
We find that the title Jehovah-jireh occurs in Genesis 22, after God provided a ram for Abraham to use as an offering. God did not want Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a literal burnt offering. Instead, Jehovah saw Abraham’s need and provided for it.
Genesis 22:8,14:
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
God provided a ram for Abraham to use as an offering. God saw a need, so He provided. In All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible, Dr. Herbert Lockyer—a Biblical scholar and author of the twentieth century—explains that for God, to see something is to provide it. He notes that as far as man is concerned, there is a good deal of difference between the meanings of “the Lord will see” and “the Lord will provide”: for man, to “foresee” is one thing, but to “provide” is another. Yet when it comes to God, “the two are found to be one and the same.” What God as Jehovah-jireh foresees, He will furnish—He will supply!
While the title Jehovah-jireh is used only in Genesis 22:14, we find further powerful evidence that Jehovah sees and provides in the Book of Exodus. The children of Israel were provided a way to escape from the Egyptians by crossing the Red Sea.
The American Standard Version clearly shows that the Lord, Jehovah, provided for His people.
Exodus 14:29,31 [American Standard Version]:
But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea….
And Israel saw the great work which Jehovah did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared [respected] Jehovah: and they believed in Jehovah, and in his servant Moses.
Jehovah saw and provided a way to escape for the children of Israel. God, functioning as Jehovah-jireh, also provided them with food to eat while in the wilderness.
Exodus 16:4,15:
Then said the Lord [Jehovah] unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you….
And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord [Jehovah] hath given you to eat.
Jehovah saw and provided abundantly for His people. God gave of this bread to Israel for forty years—as long as they needed it.
God sees our need and provides for us as well. We see in the Gospel of John that whereas Jehovah provided physical bread—manna—to the children of Israel in their wanderings, He now provides us spiritual bread—the bread of life, His Son Jesus Christ.
John 6:47-51:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
I am that bread of life.
Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
John 7 is another section of scripture that provides us with details of this eternal-life promise.
John 7:37-39:
…Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
(But this spake he of the Spirit [the gift], which they that believe on him should receive….
This is the promise of a supply of overflowing abundance, the gift of holy spirit.
Acts 2:1,4:
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost [holy spirit, the gift], and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit [God, the Giver] gave them utterance.
We can see in both the Old and New Testaments that God as Jehovah-jireh has seen and provided for the need of His people. Like the believers of yesterday, we, too, can have confidence that our heavenly Father will meet our every need—today and forever. As Jehovah-jireh, He has proved that He sees the need of His people and provides in overflowing abundance!