Jehovah Jireh (Genesis 21:8-21)

In the next chapter, Abraham will actually identify God as “Jehovah Jireh” (“The Lord will Provide” or “The Lord Provider”). Yet, in this passage, we see God clearly demonstrating that He is already the Great Provider – for both His chosen people, and for those who are not called by His name.

Please Read Genesis 21:8-21

In this passage, God is providing for three pairs of people: Sarah and Isaac, Abraham and Ishmael, and Hagar and Ishmael. Let’s look at how God showed Himself to be Jehovah Jireh in each instance.

First, God provides for Sarah and Isaac by removing any potential threat to Isaac’s inheritance. God encourages Abraham to do that which he did not want to do. Namely, to send Ishmael, Abraham’s son, away into the wilderness.

Second, God provides for Abraham and Ishmael. As Abraham’s oldest son, Ishmael had a claim to Abraham’s inheritance. What’s more, Ishmael was loved by his father. Can you imagine how hard it must have been for Abraham to send his son away? But God promises that He will provide for Ishmael, that He will continue Abraham’s godly line through Isaac, and that He will also make a nation out of Ishmael’s descendants for the sake of Abraham.

But, even after God makes this promise to Abraham, Ishmael and his mother find themselves desperate for water and ready to die in the wilderness. At this point God also provides for Hagar and Ishmael by giving them the very water that they so needed.

God has clearly demonstrated that He is Jehovah Jireh – the Lord Provider. He has provided for His chosen servant, Abraham, both in order to fulfill His godly purposes through the line of Isaac, and in order to show mercy to Abraham through the line of Ishmael. God provided for Sarah and removed the strife from her home. God provided for Hagar and gave her the life-giving water she so desperately craved.

If God has provided all of this, will He not also provide that which you need? God loves you. He demonstrated just how much He loves you when He sent His Son to die for you. God now calls you His child, and He wants to lavish His children with good and perfect gifts. God will provide for your needs, just like He provided for the needs of Sarah, Isaac, Abraham, Ishmael, Hagar, and so many others in Scripture.