History tells us that the mountain Abraham took Isaac up onto was in a land owned by a king named Melchizedek. He was the king of Salem, the king of peace. Abraham had already met with him before, but the Patriarch is back on this mountain in the land of a man who ruled in Salem. Abraham called this place The Lord Will Provide.
Now I’m no Hebrew scholar, but this name has a beautiful word in Hebrew. ‘Provide’ here is pronounced “Yireh.” Have you ever heard that word before? In church, we say Jehovah-Jireh or Yahweh-Yireh, which means the Lord Provides. Abraham uses that word when he names the mountain where God provided a sacrifice substitute for Isaac. When the Hebrews took over Salem and renamed it Jerusalem much later in scripture, they pointed to that mountain and remembered the story of God’s provision. They remember how he always makes a way out of a test. This nation was essentially founded on a test and the victory that produced a great faith.
Centuries later, Jesus goes into a garden and prays in great distress, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42, ESV). That was his prayer in preparation for this test. Soon he would be taken just outside of the city and be put up on the cross, the test of tests. There he cries out to declare his ultimate submission to God: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46).
Imagine God were to tell you, “I’m going to send you through a severe test, but the result of this test will be such an elevation as you’ve never seen before. It will lay the foundations of a new city, a new ministry, a new faith, a new work of God, a new lifting up of your heart.”
Would you respond, “Yes, Lord. Not my will but thine”?
There are people right now who are going through the most severe test they’ve ever had in their lives, and they’re wondering when it will ever end? When will the true king of Jerusalem come? Where is Jehovah-Jireh?
There’s good news for you, though, that your test is working on your behalf to do something new in your life and your walk with God, to take you to new levels.