Pearls of the Word

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YHWH Yireh

by Jean-Louis Coraboeuf

"And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide [יהוה יראה]; as it is called to this day, In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided [ראה]" (Genesis 22:14).

The name YHWH Yireh is only in this passage in the Bible. It consists of the very 'Name of God' and the verb 'to provide' [ראה, ra'ah]. This verb ra'ah means 'to provide for', 'to see', 'to appear', 'to show'. Abraham called the place of the Name YHWH Yireh because He provided a substitute for the sacrifice of Isaac, and made it appear in his eyes.

At the appointed time, at the kairos of the reformation of the sacrificial service of the Temple (Hebrew 9:10), YHWH Yireh provided the ultimate sacrifice. That is why He revealed 'His Lamb' to the eyes of the world. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice offered once for all for the sins of men, thus ending all animal sacrifices offered in the Temple.