Jehovah Jirah: The Provider of Safety and Security

 

Jehovah Jireh: The Provider of Safety and Security

Psalm 121:5-8 ⁽⁵⁾The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; ⁽⁶⁾the sun will not harm you by day, not the moon by night. ⁽⁷⁾The Lord will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life; ⁽⁸⁾the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (NIV)

Noah and the safety within the ark

                God watched as His creation turned into a world that He barely recognized. Wickedness increased as man cared less about God and more about self-indulgence. There was nothing that they wouldn’t do that was evil; therefore, God had seen and heard enough. He was about to unleash an enormous judgment upon the face of the planet like never before. Genesis 6:5-8 ⁽⁵⁾The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of this heart was only evil all the time. ⁽⁶⁾The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. ⁽⁷⁾So the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air – for I am grieved that I have made them.” ⁽⁸⁾But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. (NIV)

 

 

               God was tired of seeing what His creation had turned into. Therefore, He decided to destroy the whole world with the exception of Noah and his family. Noah was an upright man who served and honored God. Therefore, Jehovah Jireh was going to make safety provisions for he and his family in order for them to be saved from the upcoming destruction that He was about to send.  Jehovah Jireh instructed Noah to build an ark for protection. He gave Noah the exact measurements of how the ark was to be constructed. Genesis 6:13-18 ⁽¹³⁾So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. ⁽¹⁴⁾So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. ⁽¹⁵⁾This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet high. ⁽¹⁶⁾Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. ⁽¹⁷⁾I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. ⁽¹⁸⁾But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark – you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. (NIV)

 

 

               This ark was Jehovah Jireh’s protection over them during the high floodwaters that came down. Many people may look at the structure itself as the ultimate protection, but Jehovah Jireh was their overall protection. The ark was just a tool used in the process. If it had not been for Jehovah Jireh’s protection, the floodwaters could have certainly overcome the ark as well. The Biblical story of the ark is still a symbol of the protection for us today. Jehovah Jireh protects us from the floodwaters that are sent by the enemy. He shields, guides, and offers us security in Him no matter what we may face. Isaiah 59:19 “So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” (NIV)

Safety from the Angel of Death

               Jehovah Jireh was about to provide an escape for His children to be released from their bondage in Egypt. The Egyptians made it their mission to keep the Israelites enslaved for 400 years. Abraham had been promised that he would become a father of many nations and that his descendants would be enslaved, but would be freed after the 400 years. Therefore, in keeping with the promise He made with Abraham, Jehovah Jireh caused plagues to come upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians as part of their punishment. Jehovah Jireh told Moses that there was going to be a death angel who would be sent to Egypt to slay all the first born rather man or animal. However, as an act of safety for the Israelites, they were to kill a lamb, roast it for a meal to have with herbs and unleavened bread, and have the blood from the animal on their doorposts, so that the death angel would pass over their homes. Exodus 12:11-13 ^(11)”This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your bel, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste, it is the Lord’s Passover. ⁽¹²⁾’On the same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn – both men and animals – and I will brink judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ⁽¹³⁾The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.’ ” (NIV)

 

 

               The Israelites had to be obedient to Jehovah Jireh who promised to provide them with safety. No harm would come to them, as would the Egyptians, as long as His commands were obeyed. Exodus 12:22-23 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. (NIV) Even though Jehovah Jireh was striking down the Egyptians, He ensured that the Israelites were provided with safety from His wrath.

               In the last days, the Bible lets us know that once again, plagues are going to come upon those who have decided to rebel against God and submerge themselves into a life full of sin, by being in alignment with a demonic beast system. However, those whose names are written in the book of Life will find refuge in Jehovah Jireh. This does not mean persecution will not come, but Jehovah Jireh will provide all who are truly His with a covering of strength to endure. Revelation 14:9-11 ⁽⁹⁾A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, ⁽¹⁰⁾he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. ⁽¹¹⁾And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name. (NIV)

 

Safety when the Walls are Collapsing

 

               Jehovah Jireh had promised to give the Children of Israel the land of Canaan. Joshua was their new leader after Moses died and he had the task of leading them into the land of milk and honey. However, the promise did not come without challenges. Joshua sent spies in order to check out the city of Jericho. The spies needed to get a full report as to what they would encounter upon taking down the city. They received help from a prostitute named Rahab who ensured that they were not caught. As a show of appreciation for her help, the spies promised Rahab that no harm would come to her and her family, if she hung a scarlet rope outside of her window, and that all her family had to be present at her home in order to have the promise of security kept. Joshua 2:17-18 The men said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.” (NIV) The Children of Israel followed Jehovah Jireh’s instructions of walking around the walls of Jericho once a day for six days and then seven times on the seventh. The walls of Jericho came tumbling down, and despite what was taking place all around, Rahab and her family were saved. Rahab became an ancestor in the line from which Jesus was later born.

               Jehovah Jireh provides safety for His children today just as He did with Rahab and her family, despite the calamity that may be all around. Psalm 121:5-8 ⁽⁵⁾The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; ⁽⁶⁾the sun will not harm you by day, not the moon by night. ⁽⁷⁾The Lord will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life; ⁽⁸⁾the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (NIV) All walls may be coming down in your life, but Jehovah Jireh is the safety net on which you can always fall. Just fall on your knees are pray and watch Him provide safety in a crumbling world.

 

JOIN US TOMORROW WHERE WE WILL CONTINUE OUR STUDY INTO JEHOVAH JIREH: OUR PROVIDER.