Treasures New and Old

Treasures New and Old

Calling on the Name of the Lord: Jehovah Jirah/Elohim Yirehllo

God’s name is very important. His name is holy, pure, and represents His character and love towards us. Yet I often hear prayers end in “amen” without mentioning even the phrase “in His name I pray,” or “in name of Jesus I pray”, or something similar. The Scripture is full of examples of men calling on the name of God in their prayers. Here are a few examples:
  • Abraham called on the name of the Lord (Genesis 12:8; 13:4).
  • The Lord proclaimed His own name before Moses (Exodus 33:19; 34:5).
  • Israel was warned against profaning the name of the Lord (Leviticus 18:21; 22:2, 32).
  • The name of the Lord was not to be taken in vain (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11).
  • The priests of Israel were to minister in the name of the Lord (Deuteronomy 18:5; 21:5).
  • The name of God is called “wonderful” in Isaiah 9:6.
  • To call on the name of the Lord was to worship Him as God (Genesis 21:33; 26:25).

So – what is His Name?

In this series of articles, I want to explore the various names of the Lord. When we pray and call upon His name, it is good to know on whom we are calling. Does that mean that there are many gods? NO! It does mean that He has many names, and that each has been given to us so that we can pray more specifically and use one of the many characteristics that is embodied in our God. Let’s examine our seventh name this month:

JEHOVAH JIRAH – In . . . the Lord it shall be seen: and Elohim yir’eh-llo (God will provide)

In Genesis 22:8 Abraham answers his son Isaac’s question with “. . . God will provide . . . .” This is the famous Akidah scene where Abraham is obeying God’s request to sacrifice his only son of promise, Isaac. We need to understand some things about the Bible copiers in the medieval times. Translators and copiers did not know how to pronounce the tetagrammaton (WHYH) because it had no vowels with which to translate it into English. It is in effect a medieval translation error, but as we think about it, Wahovah, Yahovah, or any other combination would work just as well (or bad . . .). The problem with Genesis 22:8 is that the Hebrew here does not say WHYH (or Jehovah) but instead Elohim. JIREH is also not used in this verse, instead “yir’eh-llo”, and means “He will provide for Himself” (Gilbrant, The Complete Biblical Library Interlinear Bible).

With that out of way, does it really matter if we assign the title/name of Jehovah Jirah or Elohim Yirhllo to him? Jesus’ name in Greek is Jesus, but in Hebrew Yeshua or Jeshua. Sounds different, but it is simply the difference in two languages for the same person (or thing). But, we do see similar phrasing in verse 14 where the Bible says: “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jirah: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.” Now we have WHYH-RAH in Hebrew which we pronounce “Jehovah Jirah.” This does not mean “The Lord will provide” – that is what Elohim yirehllo means. Jehovah Jirah means “In the mount of the LORD it will be seen.” This is important to distinguish!

Jehovah Jirah (or Elohim Yirehllo) is specifically speaking about providing a lamb for a sacrifice, and in the case of Genesis 22, God will provide a lamb for the sacrifice that Abraham is about to initiate – namely sacrificing his son Isaac. By extension and prophetically speaking, this is about salvation. In Genesis 22, God provides a substitute for Issac in that God provided a ram to be sacrificed after the Angel of the Lord stopped Abraham’s knife welding hand from killing Isaac. Abraham may or may not have known that he was carrying out a prophetic scene on the very spot that God would provide the world with the perfect, sinless Lamb and execute the supreme sacrifice of the Lamb of God in Jesus Christ. The same spot where Abraham was willing to sacrifice his own son of promise is the same place that God did sacrifice His one and only unique Son, Jesus Christ. This is also believed to be the threshing floor bought by King David to carry out a sacrifice to stop the plague of the Angel after he numbered the people. That place was where Calvary was! The Lord provided for us Jesus Christ so that we could be restored to a right relationship with God after our sin had caused us to be separated.

Genesis 22:14 is literally translated in the Hebrew to read, “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” (Baker, 1994, p. 58). The “shall be seen” is prophetic and points to thousands of years later in that same spot where the Father would provide for us Jesus Christ who gave His own life willingly just as Abraham was willing to give the life of Isaac. This is why this is one of the most powerful names of God for us. The phrase “it shall be seen” was Abraham’s and God’s way to pointing forward to the cross. We could have said in today’s vernacular: “Hey, look here, this is where it will happen; this is where it will be seen. Watch this spot!”

So we have two names or titles of God to consider here: Elohim Yirehllo and Jehovah Jirah.

Pray to Elohim Yirehllo to provide for you that which you cannot provide for yourself. He is our provider. He meets our needs even before we can voice them, but I think He loves hearing us call on His Name – don’t you?

Pray to Jehovah Jirah when you want God to reveal His truth to you. That He would let be seen what must be seen.

Our Lord Jesus, our Master, is also our provider and our revealer and is sovereign over all there is in the universe and in heaven which includes the angels, ourselves, and all else – He is in control. As we all learn to “call on the name of the Lord,” let us remember that we serve a Master who loves us, provides for us, and reveals truth to us. He is all powerful, in total control, and our Lord!

Until He returns:

May God bless you all!

Bro. Joe

References

Baker, W., (Ed.). (1994). The Complete Word Study Old Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

Gilbrant, T. The Complete Biblical Library Interlinear Bible. World Library Press. (2019). Wordsearch Bible. [computer software] . Nashville, TN: LifeWay Christian Resources. (Original work published 1990)

Elkmont Baptist Church