The Names of God: YHWH Jireh
Siblings have ways of tormenting each other. A boy will position his finger about an inch from his sister’s shoulder and say, “I’m not touching you!” And few things are as creepy as someone staring at you, even if it’s a sibling, or a puppy watching you get dressed. There is something unsettling about being the object of someone’s steady gaze.
However, there are times when you wish someone were watching you. Maybe as a child you were making your first dive into the pool. Often, it’s when you feel alone and neglected, wondering if anyone cares about you.
Hagar, Abram and Sarai’s Egyptian maid, was kicked out of the tent by Sarai because Hagar found her contemptible. As part of a misguided plan to fulfill God’s will for children, Hagar found herself in the wilderness with no family but her son. God graciously appeared to Hagar and promised that Ishmael would be the father of many nations. In response, Hagar called God “El Roi,” “a God who sees.” She recognized that God saw her affliction and would meet her needs far into the future. One son was preserved.
Later, Sarah bore the promised son, Isaac. When he was about 20 years old and singularly beloved by Abraham, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah. On the way, Isaac asked his father, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham replied, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” God stopped the sacrifice and provided a ram in place of Isaac. Abraham, astonished and relieved, honored God by naming the place, “Yahweh Yir’eh,” “Yahweh will provide (or “see”).” The name stuck; hundreds of years later, people knew the saying, “In the mount of YHWH it will be provided (or seen).” Another son was preserved.
The meaning of the tetragrammaton “YHWH” has been examined for centuries. Most scholars settle on either “I AM” or “I WILL BE.” Either choice is syntactically correct and theologically accurate. God is who he is: singular, eternal, unchanging, and lifegiving. In context, the Name presents God not only as the One Who Is, but the One Who Is always present with his people (Exodus 3:12–16). YHWH’s relationship with his people is as unchangeable as his nature. It is not just an expression of mere existence—it is an active expression of his being.
YHWH is often compounded with other words to form new, peculiarly descriptive names for God. These compound names focus on a particular attribute of God that is manifest in his actions in a given situation toward an individual or group. “Yir’ah (Jireh)” is from a root word meaning “see.” Compounded with YHWH (Jehovah), it means that God continually sees or notices. That God will see, or look out for, is a comforting result of His foreknowledge and committed ability always to provide what is best for his people.
One of the accepted translations of Moriah is “Seen by Yah.” Mount Moriah proved to be a place where YHWH provided mankind’s greatest need: salvation through sacrifice. Isaac was saved through a sacrificial substitute ram. When David numbered Israel, incurring God’s wrath, God instructed David to build an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite at Moriah (1 Chronicles 21:18) to stay the plague. The sons of Israel were saved through sacrificial substitute burnt offerings.
Solomon built the first temple on Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1). At the dedication of this place of sacrifice, God promised, “My eyes and my heart will be there for all time” (2 Chronicles 7:16). Many sons were saved by substitutionary sacrifices. YHWH Jireh!
In the same vein, Zerubbabel’s and Herod’s temples (and the future millennial temple) were built on Mount Moriah. When Jesus was crucified on the Moriah range, many sons were saved by the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lamb of God. Mount Moriah was a test of Abraham’s faith; Mt. Calvary was a test of God’s faithfulness. YHWH Jireh!
My license plate reads, “GOD SEEZ,” a reminder that God is always watching. That “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3) should not be unsettling for the child of God, purchased through sacrifice. “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).
Find comfort because “[YHWH Jireh], who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
