"A good name is to be desired more than great wealth” (Proverbs 22:1). We are the Father’s children and all God’s names are like family surnames we all can gladly and proudly wear. In an earlier post, I examined how God descriptively named himself “El Shaddai” to disclose his goodness. Now I’d like to look at a second name of God that, like El Shaddai, is one of the very first revealed names of God. It is also a conclusive name of God like El Shaddai (the Lord Almighty) in that it appears again alongside Shaddai as one of the very last names used in the New Testament. This name is Jehovah-Jireh, which I propose, is the Old Testament’s forward-looking description of Jesus, the Lamb.
You know the story of Isaac’s “almost” sacrifice and how at the last possible minute an angel intervenes and shows Abraham a lamb that God has provided to redeem a nasty situation. Genesis 22:14 says, “Abraham named that place ‘God-Yireh’ (God-Sees-to-It). That’s where we get the saying, ‘On the mountain of God, he sees to it’”(The Message). It was at this moment God first named himself Jehovah-Jireh and gave us a new name in which to take refuge (Proverbs 18:10).
The concept of “God Sees,” however, is first presented in Genesis 1:3-4 after God spoke, “Let there be light,” then “he saw” that it was good. This was more than a casual observation; this seeing was clear comprehension and understanding. The first time God saw the light, the prophetic implications blazed in his heart. The first act of creation was so powerful, so saturated with latent goodness that it still has impelling impact all the way into the distant day when the Lamb will be unveiled, brighter than 10,000 suns (Revelation 21:23).
One clear reason why God can claim his thoughts are not our thoughts is that he understands the power of goodness; he views the entire scope of history and how even “one cup of water…will not lose its reward.” (Mark 9:41) Yes, don’t lose heart my friend: God makes sure our small efforts count. Abraham’s encounter with God was smack in the middle of his own culture. Biblical sociologists believe that Abraham could have been acting out a ritual offering common in that day: a custom of sacrificing the firstborn to God that even the firstborn would believe held great honor, similar to how a young jihadist may consider the honor gained by being blasted into charred hamburger as a living bomb.
Yet even in the midst of something so very dark and evil in a culture, God saw: he looked beyond the surface to a heart cry for redemption. In those moments, Abraham gained revelation of a God who sees into the murky place where humanity struggles, ill-equipped to right evil. Abraham comprehended that God saw far-reaching goodness when He spoke “Light!” as Creator into that young, moonless, sunless creation.
Abraham then realized the forthcoming time the Lamb of God would walk on the earth and he was elated (John 8:56)! He even saw the day of the Lamb as the centerpiece of the heavenly city, according to the author of Hebrews 11:10. He saw a future time which John the Apostle also saw and recorded in Revelation 21:22: “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.”(ESV) He saw all of this because unexpectedly, on an isolated hilltop in a moment of “almost-child-sacrifice,” God named himself “Jehovah Jireh" (the God who Sees).
The succeeding verse in Revelation 21:23 proclaims the fulfillment of God’s “seeing the light was good” at the dawn of creation: “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”(ESV) The great Lamb is now the Lamp of the heavenly community so that they can also see the beautiful power of goodness with the same cleared-eyed vision he has.
There is a heavenly courtroom scene in chapter 5 of John’s Revelation. The courtroom is a whirl of commotion as they are frantically looking for someone to open the last will and testament of the cosmos. John is distressed. Suddenly the entrance of the worthy one, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the great and long-expected messianic warrior is announced. John looks up and to his shock sees not a warrior lion but a young, sacrificial lamb on the throne. Its throat is severely slit and blood is seeping out.
For John, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is now redefined as the Lamb of God. He is a worthy Judge because he has borne all evil, yet never once become tainted or distorted from overexposure to its toxin. He is the Lamb who has seen humanity’s darkest moment when they killed their Creator, yet has forgiven all men. He has forgiven them so utterly that there is absolutely no hint of corruption in him. From here on out in John’s apocalypse, the Messianic deliverer, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, is never mentioned. Instead, the Lamb of God (i.e., Jehovah Jireh) is now the terrifying conqueror. But he is a conqueror we can trust. He has seen our worst and forgiven us.
It is because the Lamb of God has emphatically given us the perfect picture of absolute forgiveness by His conquered cross that he possesses the right to justly and mercifully bring his rule of peace. It is because he has seen the evil of the human heart and still chose to die, redeem and deeply love us. In Abraham’s day, he saw the solution to child sacrifice and today he sees a way out for a young mother considering abortion. We have a Jehovah Jireh who sees right into our “now.” Into the very circumstance of our lives that lock us down and defeat us. He knows the way forward. He is the burning Lamp of God’s people.
If we could encourage our little hearts to grow hugely larger in the belief that El Shaddai and Jehovah Jireh are at work in our world, what kind of people would we be? What if you believed in a Jesus who really sees you right now in a deep, scary and intensely kind and merciful way? How about a Father God who easily masters overwhelming chaos for our unimaginable good? A heavenly kingdom, perfect in beauty and goodness that wills to fully fuse its presence into the physical realm? “If God is for us, who can be against us?” This is truly what Paul means when he reflects in Romans 8 how nothing could tear us from God’s spectacular love. Goodness is too powerful.
The Lord sees and all is well with my soul.
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