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“The Lord Has Already Provided”
Categories: Bible, Faith / Trust, Old Testament, Sunday Family Report articles, theology
“So Abraham called the name of that place, ‘The LORD will provide’; as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.’” (Gn. 22:14)
On that day, Abraham could well have said, “The LORD has already provided.”
The narratives of Exodus 13-18 (the pillar of fire, the Red Sea, bitter water made sweet, the bread of heaven, water from the rock, and Jethro’s advice) show a pattern of life that holds true for all saints of all time. The path that Israel had to walk forewarns us that our faith will never remain untested, assures us that in the midst of troubles and trials which seem meaningless there are deep purposes of God at work, and calls us to the obedience of faith. The stories also illustrate the comforting truth of a God of providential care; foreseeing our needs, planning ahead for our welfare, and awaiting us with his solutions and sufficiency. In a word, the trials of the pathway may take us by surprise, but never him. They may catch us unprepared, but never him. Left to ourselves, they would be more than we could bear, but we are never left to ourselves. By ourselves, we would not know which way to turn, but we are not by ourselves. God has planned the course we are to take and walks with us.
Particularly in the story of bitter water made sweet, where the solution was to cut down a tree and cast it into the water, we readily observe that the remedy had been in preparation long before the need arose. This ‘anticipatory providence’ on God’s part shows just how much he cared for them, and it reminds us with certainty that he cares for and provides for us too.
- adapted from Alec Motyer's commentary on Exodus, p. 176
