What is the significance of God being called Jehovah-Jireh?

from the old testament

• The word jireh means “to see” or “look after.” The idea is to see someone’s need with the intent of helping, which is why it is translated as “provide.” Jehovah is an early English spelling for YHWH, which is God’s personal name. Jehovah-Jireh, then, means “YHWH sees,” or, more comprehensively, “YHWH provides.”
• Jehovah-Jireh is found in Genesis 22, where God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. As the two of them were traveling, Isaac noticed the lack of a lamb and asked his father what they were going to sacrifice. Abraham replied, “God will provide (jireh) for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:8). Though Abraham did not know how things would work out, he expressed a deep trust in God.
• After binding Issac on the altar and raising his knife to kill him, God stopped him, saying, “Now I know that you fear God” (Genesis 22:12). Abraham then saw a ram stuck nearby and sacrificed it (Genesis 22:13). Abraham named the place “The LORD will provide (YHWH-Jireh),” referring to the provision of a ram in place of his son (Genesis 22:14). By calling the place Jehovah-Jireh, Abraham memorialized God’s faithful provision—He sees needs and provides for them.
• While “Jehovah-Jireh” is only found in the Genesis 22:14 passage, God’s provision is a constant theme throughout the Old Testament. For example, a couple months after being rescued from Egypt, the Israelites were out of food and in the middle of the wilderness. God saw their need for food and provided (Exodus 16:4a). He continued providing that food (“mana”) for “forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan” (Exodus 16:35). In other words, from their escape until they reached a land where food was growing, God continuously and miraculously provided food.
• God saw a particular window’s struggle during a harsh drought. He sent His prophet Elijah, who asked her for some food, to which she replied, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die” (1 Kings 17:12). The widow expected her next meal to be her last. Elijah, speaking for God, said, “The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth” (1 Kings 17:14). The woman’s basic need for food would be continually met during the entire famine. God miraculously provided for her by replenishing her flour and oil every day.

from the new testament

• Because the New Testament was written in Greek, the Hebrew word jireh is not in it. However, God’s display of provision is found throughout. For example, Jesus told His followers, “Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?'… your heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (Matthew 6:31–32). The Father sees our needs.
• While God sees our physical needs, His priority is satisfying our eternal need. In John 6, Jesus, answering a question about the bread God provided the Israelites, declared, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). As Jehovah-Jireh, God’s provision was the giving of His Son. This was not a provision of earthly food but eternal life.
• Paul said that believers are particularly under the care of God (Romans 8:32). God’s ultimate provision is Christ, but that great provision provides comfort with the knowledge that God also knows and meets our lesser needs.
• In Philippians 4:19, Paul was confident that God would bless the generous church in Philippi to sustain His people who were participating in gospel work.
• Everything that is truly good is something that came directly from God—He is the good giver (James 1:17 c.f., Matthew 7:7–11). James says that everything good is “coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17b). No variation means that God’s goodness does not ebb and flow. God is consistently good to those who love Him.
• Receiving good gifts does not mean that a believer will be rich. We are taught to trust God, regardless of what He gives us. Paul warned, “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). Our trust should not be in what we get (or don’t get) but in the God who provides exactly what we need. If He has given extra to a believer, then “they are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share” (1 Timothy 6:18). God doesn’t horde His goodness, and He calls on believers to be good to others as well.
• Most of all, we need grace to continue to live in this difficult world. That is why the author of Hebrews said, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). God is a God who sees, but He wants us to rely on Him to get through difficult times.

implications for today

God is a God who sees every need and provides what is good. That is why He is Jehovah-Jireh. Abraham named that mountain—known today as Mount Moriah—“Jehovah-Jireh,” as a reminder of God’s great provision. While Abraham did not know it at the time, God’s provision of a sacrifice was a picture of God’s ultimate provision: Jesus, a sacrifice for sinners.

This is God’s primary and best provision because, without it, sinners stand eternally condemned. Regardless of what nice things a man or woman has or achieves in this life, after death, he or she would face an eternity of torment. Jesus, however, is God’s provision of escape from that. By His perfect life and death, instead of God killing us for our sin, He killed His Son. Those who repent of their sin and believe in Him receive that great provision of eternal life!

Once saved, God is pleased to continue to provide for believers. That doesn’t mean that believers are never hungry or sad or have pain in this life. Instead, it means that we can trust our good Father to give us exactly what we need to get through this life while also growing spiritually. Paul, a great example of this, learned to be content whether he had little or much (Philippians 4:12). Likewise, we are to be content with what we have. Sometimes Jehovah-Jireh provides in glorious ways, but, more often than not, His provision is subtle. It is the provision of having money to buy food for the day or the provision of friends to encourage us or even the provision of hardship to protect us from becoming conceited (2 Corinthians 12:7–10). In all cases, God is a good God who provides exactly what He knows is best in our lives at any given moment.