If you'd like to turn with me
in a very, very familiar passage in Genesis chapter 22. Genesis
chapter 22. I want to continue our study on the attributes
of God. And when we speak of the attributes
of God, we are in fact speaking of the character of God, aren't
we? And last week we looked at a good number of passages and
we saw how the character of God is bound to the name of God. And the name I want us to consider
is found in Genesis chapter 22 verse 14. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah-Jireh. Jehovah-Jireh, one of the glorious
names of our glorious God. Everything God does is glorious,
isn't it? The heavens declare the glory
of God. What a demonstration of His glory.
All of creation and all of His wonder is all for the glory of
God, for the glory of His name. Our salvation is for His glory. It is for the glory of His name. Think of that for a moment. How
sure is our salvation? How sure is our salvation? If
it's connected to His glory, then it's the surest thing you
can think of. Our salvation is as sure as the
glory of God is sure. He will not suffer any failure
because his reputation depends on it. Our salvation is as sure
as the glory of God, as sure as the love of God, as sure as
the mercy of God, as sure as the loving kindness of God, as
the goodness of God. It is as sure as God himself. All those that were chosen in
Christ before the world began were placed into the care of
his son to redeem us back to God. That redemption is particular. It's a particular redemption. Redeemed are a particular people. And for that redemption to glorify
his name, it must be a successful. It must be successful, it cannot
fail. If one soul is lost from that
number, God has failed. Thank God he cannot fail. Isaiah chapter 42 says of our
Lord Jesus Christ, he shall not fail. That is a wonderful, wonderful
declaration, isn't it? What a glorious name that is,
to the redeemed of God. What a glorious name for us to
call on, to call upon. We often present our prayers
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, don't we? And that's
for good reason, really. The Lord said in John 14, whatsoever
you shall ask in my name, that will I do. that the Father may be glorified
in the Son. May the Lord keep us from using
that gracious promise carelessly like some religious formula or
some repeated mantra. We ask of God in his name because
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only name by which we
can approach God. Salvation is found in no other
name. There is no other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. And so we approach
God, don't we, with boldness. We can approach God with boldness.
Have you thought of that? Boldness. Not with timidity,
with boldness. Not with pride. We don't have
anything in ourselves to be proud of. We approach with boldness,
we approach with confidence. Confidence, because our confidence
is not in ourselves, our confidence is in Him. His name, the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is redemption in that name,
isn't there? There is righteousness before God in that name. It is
a name to be revered. It's a name not to be used in
vain. Not to be used in vain. Do we
not cringe when we hear that name used in vain? Does it not grate on us when
that name is used irreverently? The world has no idea of the
offense, no idea. Really, when that name is used
in that way, they don't have any idea who they're offending.
But we love that name, don't we? We love that name because
we love him. We love him. We also saw how
the Lord God is jealous for his name. Jealous for his name. And we looked at that characteristic
of God last week in Exodus chapter 34. For the Lord God, whose name
is jealous, is a jealous God. He is jealous for his name, and
he is jealous in name, which is to say our God has a fervent,
fiery zeal for his reputation, because the name of the Lord
is who he is. And to bring that name into disrepute
is to dishonor and defame his very person. Because the name
of the Lord is who he is, I trust as we continue to consider the
names of our God and his glorious attributes that the Lord will
teach us to recognize him. These are the descriptions of
our God and so we take those descriptions and then we can
recognize him And as we see more and more in those glorious manifestations,
those glorious declarations, that that would cause us to place
our trust in him more and more. Psalm 9 verse 10 says, they that
know thy name will put their trust in thee. For thou, Lord, hast not forsaken
them that seek thee. In our Western culture there's
not a lot of importance given to the meanings of names, but
the names in scriptures were given quite descriptive names,
individuals' names, perhaps describing their parents' aspirations for
them or some other trait in them. And so they often carried special
meaning or significance and often it was the Lord giving a new
name to better represent a particular individual. For example, Jacob. Jacob means cheat or supplanter. And he certainly lived up to
that name. He really did. You recall he tricked Esau out
of his birthright. And then Jacob had an encounter. He had an encounter with the
living God. This supplanter, this trickster had an encounter
with the living God and you can read about it in Genesis chapter
32. He wrestled with God and the Lord touched the hollow of
his thigh, just touched him, and his thigh was out of joint.
He was disabled by it. But Jacob would not let the Lord
go. He wouldn't let him go. I pray
that's our lot, our portion. Don't let him go. He said, I
will not let thee go except thou bless me. Bless thee. And the Lord then changed his
name to Israel, which means he who struggles with God. The name
Moses, the name Moses, means drawing out, because he was drawn,
as you recall, out of the water. That's a descriptive name for
Moses. But in terms of our God, there
are numerous names, absolutely numerous. None of us can sufficiently
describe our God in all his character just with one name. So he reveals
himself with names that reflect his nature. For example, in Genesis
1.1, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. So
we see the name of God there as Elohim. That name is used thousands of
times in the Old Testament and a common translation for that
name is the Strong One. the strong one. Of course there
in Genesis it is used for the glorious work of creation. The
commentators tell us that Elohim in that verse was actually given
in the plural. What a remarkable thing. One
God, but there is a plural given to that name. It refers to one
God. I trust the significance is obvious. We worship one God who is three
persons. in one glorious being. We just sang about it. God in
three persons, blessed Trinity. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. And we know from 1 John that
our God is a triune God, don't we? We've read this before. 1
John 5 verse 7, for there are three that bear record in heaven,
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three He's
301. And in Genesis chapter 17 we
see another name used of God. God reveals himself to Abram
by the name Shaddai. Or El Shaddai you might have
heard. That means the Almighty One. Our Bibles translate this
word for us in the text, the Almighty God. The Lord said to
Abram, I am the Almighty God. The am is in italics there. So
I, the Almighty God, should I. Walk before me and be thou perfect. That name Shaddai expresses the
power of God and the sufficiency of God and Shaddai is going to
do something wonderful for Abram. In Genesis 17 verse 2 he says,
and I will make my covenant between me and thee and will multiply
thee exceedingly and at the sight of God, at the sight of Shaddai. He says, Abram fell on his face. If you ever talk to somebody
that's said they've had an encounter with God, a real encounter, I don't know if that would be so.
Abram fell on his face as a dead man in reverence of his majesty
and as one who was made unworthy, unworthy of such a visit. And God talked with him, saying,
As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt
be a father of many nations. Now God is able, isn't he? He's
able. His power and sufficiency are
limitless. They're eternal. He is able to
save. He is able to do His will. Able
to bestow His blessings upon the people of His choosing. We
doubt, don't we? We doubt all the time, don't
we? We doubt ourselves. I doubt myself all the time and
I'm often in doubt of others. That's just human nature, isn't
it? But we don't doubt our God. We don't doubt Him. He's able. He is able to save to the utmost.
So there are many other names for God in our scriptures and
I honestly found the study of them quite overwhelming. So I wanted to try and keep this
as simple as I possibly can and so I want us to consider this
name, a name which we would all be familiar with. That name is
Jehovah. Jehovah. In Isaiah 42 verse 8, The text says, I, the Lord, Jehovah,
that means Jehovah, that is my name, and my glory will I not
give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Jehovah means
the self-existent one, self-existent one, the eternal one. It simply
means to be. or who is. Jehovah is the God
who is, who was, and who is to come. Revelation chapter one. Psalm 83, we read that men may
know that thou whose name alone is Jehovah art the most high
over all the earth. In your bulletins there's a list
of names of Jehovah, but you'll see that they have an added word
to that name, Jehovah. I presume it is in the bulletins. These names given to Jehovah
or added to Jehovah are described as compound names. But that description to me seems
to be cold and academic. I think far better to describe
them as they actually are. They are God's covenant names. That's his covenant names. Because
they're used in scripture to describe God in his covenant
relationship with his people. And the name I want us to focus
on today from Genesis chapter 22 and for the rest of this message
is the name Jehovah Jireh. Jehovah Jireh. Jireh. Look with me at our passage in
Genesis chapter 22 if you will. Of course, we are very, very
familiar with this story. It speaks so wonderfully of the
provision of the Lord, doesn't it? The provision. Hebrews 11
speaks of the faith of Abraham to obey without question the
instruction of God, to pack up, just to pack up and go where
God told him and he didn't know where he was going to go. He
just simply trusted God, didn't he? in whatever he instructed
him to do. And here his faith is tried,
as we will see, and tried to the limit when God instructs
Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, as a burnt offering,
as the Lord commands him to do something that our natural reason
would deem shocking. Wouldn't all our natural instincts
want to object to us raising our hand against our son or our
daughter? And perhaps, like me, you might
wonder if we would have the conviction to exercise the obedience and
faith that Abraham exercised. But like all the stories recorded
in scripture they are given to instruct us in the ways of our
God. They're pictures of salvation, aren't they? Pictures of salvation.
There are many grand representations in scripture
of the gospel of God to display his attributes and his glory
and that's what this story is about. Verse one of Genesis chapter
22. And it came to pass. It came to pass. That's a lovely term, isn't it?
It's a lovely term. God determines everything from
the beginning. He knows everything from the
beginning. He determines. He predestinates, doesn't he?
And everything that comes to pass is in the will of God. It
came to pass after these things. And we need to pause there for
a moment. After what things? After what things? What things
happened? In the previous chapter we see the fulfillment of a promise
that God had made to Abraham. That a child would be born to
him and Sarah in their old age. And we see the birth of Isaac
being the fulfillment of that promise. And it came to pass
that God did tempt Abraham. That's an unusual word, isn't
it, for us? God did tempt Abraham, not to
sin, as Satan does, for God tempts no one, no man, nor can he be
tempted. God was to try him, to prove
him, to test him, if you will. And said unto him, Abraham, and
he said, behold, here I am. It wasn't that God was looking
for him, couldn't find him. The Lord calls him by name, Abraham,
and Abraham responds immediately to the call of God. When the
Lord called out Lazarus to come forth from that tomb and being
dead, even being dead, the Lord called him with irresistible
power, didn't he? And that dead man responded immediately. And
this is the truth that all believers understand. When God calls, the
call is irresistible. And they respond with liveliness
and with willingness. In verse two he said, take now
thy son, thine only son. And if you know the story, you'll
know that Abraham had another son called Ishmael. And Sarah, her name was Sarai
at that time, was 76 years old. and well past childbearing age,
and so she thought to herself, the Lord was too late, just too
late to grant them a child. And so instead of waiting for
the Lord, they took matters into their own hands, and Ishmael
was born, as it were, from the union of Abraham and his maidservant. And it's another picture for
us, the Lord God here, gives no credit, does he, to Ishmael? No credit to Ishmael as a son.
He wasn't born of promise. He represents the works of man. In essence, he represents the
law. He represents the law, and the law never makes anyone a
son of God. The law never makes anyone a
son of God. Gizek represents the grace of
God. The grace of God So Sarah conceived and bare Abraham,
a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken
of. And Abraham was about 100 years
old. The timing of the Lord is remarkable,
isn't it? The timing of the Lord is the
only thing that ever matters. Take now thy son, thine only
son, the son of promise, the son of grace, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah. And Moriah is Jerusalem. Mount Moriah is the mountain
which the temple would be built, and Mount Moriah was where Abraham
was instructed to go. And offer him there for a burnt
offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. Don't
take a lamb, don't take an ox, don't take any offering with
you at all. Take thine only son and him only. Him only. And again, what a picture
that is. What a picture that is. God only
looks to one offering. One offering. One offering for
everything. We don't offer anything of your
own. Don't offer anything of your own. It's polluted. Don't
bring any other offering. It will not be accepted. You
will disqualify yourself. Our only offering is Christ,
isn't it? And him only. Take thine only
son and him only. In verse three, and Abraham rose
up early in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young
men with him, and Isaac his son, and clad the wood for the burnt
offering and rose up and went unto the place of which God had
told him. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. The third day. The third day.
We know the significance of the third day, don't we? When the
Son of God was raised from the dead on the third day and lifted
his eyes to heaven. On the third day, Abraham lifted
up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And what was he thinking? He thought, this is it. This
is the place where my son is going to die. My only son whom
I love. There's no more time left. I
can't delay it anymore. Not that he was wanting to delay.
And notice in the scripture, the scriptures don't record any
anxiety in Abraham. doesn't seem to indicate any
sense of impending loss. Why is he not overcome with grief
at the prospect of sacrificing his son? Look at what Abraham
says to his servants in verse five. And Abraham said unto his
young men, abide you here with the ass, and I and the lad will
go yonder and worship and come again to you, and come again
to you. Abraham instructs his two servants
to stay, to stay, to stay here while I and the boy go yonder.
Perhaps this was a precaution. Perhaps if they saw Abraham binding
his son and putting him on an altar like that for a sacrifice,
they might try and stop him. So fully intent was Abraham to
obey the Lord that he took this precaution. But notice what he
says in that verse. He says, I and the lad will go
yonder and worship and come again to you. What remarkable faith.
Abraham somehow expected that both of them would return. Both
of them. And that was in the mind of Abraham.
Keep your place there and look with me at Hebrews chapter 11
just briefly. Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter
11 verse 17. Verse 17, By faith Abraham, when
he was tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the
promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was
said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. The promise of
God to him was in Isaac, wasn't it? And Abraham fully understands
and fully believes that God keeps his promises. And so here is
Abraham's logic in verse 19. And Abraham was accounting that
God was able to raise him up even from the dead. From whence
also he received him in a figure. And so Abraham believed in his
mind that this is how God would keep his promise, the promised
seed. And he knew that God requires
a sacrifice. He knew that. You and I cannot come into the
presence of God without a sacrifice, a blood sacrifice. If you approach
God without a sacrifice, without blood, the wrath of God remains.
And that wrath will consume everything that is not covered in the blood
of that sacrifice. True worship of God is through
the sacrifice. the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ. What a picture this is, of God the Father and God the
Son, and of his provision, Jehovah-Jireh. And what was going through Abraham's
mind? He was gonna take Isaac up there and kill him, but he
reasoned that God is good, and God honors his promises, God
is faithful, and he reasoned that God was going to raise him
again from the dead and receive him back to himself. And so Abraham
looked to the promise of God in faith. He knew the Messiah
would come through Isaac, the promised seed. He knew that God
cannot change. God cannot lie. Reading on in verse six, and
Abraham took the wood, back in Genesis chapter 22, Abraham took
the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son,
and he took the fire in his hand and a knife and they went, both
of them, together. Abraham was over 100 years old,
just think of that. And Isaac was a young man. Could
not have Isaac easily overpowered his father What does that say about the
gospel? The Lord Jesus Christ went to
Calvary willingly, didn't he? He went willingly. He wasn't
in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was delivered by the
determinant counsel and full knowledge of God and taken by
wicked hands, crucified and slain. But he went willingly, willingly. For the joy that was set before
him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. What a wonderful picture. What a wonderful picture this
is of the interaction of God the Father and God the Son. Reading
on in verse 7. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his
father and said, my father. And he said, here I am, my son.
And he said, behold the fire and the wood But where is the
lamb for a burnt offering? Isaac had grown up all his life
knowing that sacrifices were necessary. And so in complete
innocence, he asks his father, doesn't he? He says, where is
the lamb? Where's the lamb for this burnt offering? When we
open our Bibles, that ought to be our question. Anywhere we
look in the scriptures, where is the lamb? Where is the lamb?
Every gospel message you hear should answer that question in
some way. Where is the lamb? We want to see Jesus, the lamb
of God who takes away the sin of the world. And here is perhaps
in this next verse, in verse eight, the most profound verse
I have ever had the joy to read. And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went
both of them together. Now King James translation renders
these words so beautifully. Look at the words, God will provide
himself. God will provide himself. That's
the very essence of substitution, that God provides himself. God himself is the sacrifice. God will provide himself in the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ, determined before time began,
the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. In verse 9, and they came to
the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built an
altar there and laid the wood on the altar 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 I am. And he
said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything
unto him. For now I know that thou fearest
God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son, from me. So in the mercy of God, Isaac
is spared here. He's spared to serve as a picture
of God's redeemed. God provided a sacrifice as a
substitute and so too the elect of God are spared. We're spared,
spared in the substitute. The provision of the Lord, Jehovah
Jireh is his name, my provider. He provides the provision of
the Lord. The intent was there, wasn't
it, by Abraham? Abraham was willing to kill his
son, but God spared not his son. God spared not his son. Romans
8 says, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up
for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us
all things? All things, but here is the provision
that Abraham so desperately needed. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket
by his horns. Abraham looked behind him. Brethren,
the sacrifice is behind us, isn't it? It is a work completed. It is a finished work. We're
looking back to see that finished work. He looked behind him and
there was a ram. It was a male caught in a thicket
by its horns. Caught in a thicket by its horns.
What do you think of? The Lord Jesus Christ wore that
crown of thorns, didn't he? And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt sacrifice in the stead of his
son. And Abraham, it's our last verse
there, and Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh. Jehovah-Jireh. As it is said
to this day, in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. And
as we already know, that name Jehovah-Jireh means the Lord
will provide. We can provide nothing. We can
provide nothing that a holy God will accept. He must do everything. He has to provide everything,
absolutely everything. Everything that God requires,
He provides, and everything He provides, He accepts. Jehovah-Jireh,
God has provided all in His precious Son. All our wisdom, all our
righteousness, all our sanctification, and all our redemption, may He
be all, all to us. Jehovah-Jireh. my provider. Let's have a break.