Knowing God | Week 2 | Stan Lester

Psalm 9:10 sets the frame: those who know God’s name put their trust in him, because God never forsakes those who seek him. God’s names reveal his character, and Jehovah Jireh reveals the God who provides. God stands outside human understanding, higher than human ways, yet God makes himself known through Scripture, through the community of faith, and through the names he gives himself.

Genesis 17 shows Abraham already trying to make the promise happen in the flesh. Ishmael came from Abraham getting outside God’s timing, God’s people, and God’s purpose, and that created a mess. God still spoke covenant over Isaac, the child of promise, the miracle son, the one through whom an everlasting covenant would continue.

Genesis 22 brings the gut wrenching moment where God tests Abraham and tells him to offer Isaac on Moriah. The test does not mean God is cruel, and the test does not mean God has left. The test comes to grow faith, to purify what does not look like Jesus, and to expose what has been trusted more than God himself. Temptation comes to destroy and pull people away from God, but testing comes to grow something and draw people toward God.

The promise creates a hard tension, because promises take time. Habakkuk says the vision waits for an appointed time, and James says the testing of faith produces patience. Abraham’s life warns against getting ahead of God and producing in the flesh what God intended to produce in the Spirit. Jehovah Jireh is known on the mountain, not at the bottom, because provision becomes visible in the place of surrender.

Genesis 22 also shows that quick obedience reveals deep trust. Abraham got up early, loaded the donkey, and moved without argument, hesitation, delay, or asking for all the details. Faith moves. Faith does not wait for perfect conditions, full understanding, or control over the outcome. Abraham did not know the process, but Abraham knew the character of God, and that was enough.

The ram in the thicket shows that God’s provision was there all along. Abraham would never have seen it if he had stopped at the bottom of the mountain or halfway up. Jehovah Jireh is often found on the other side of trust, where God calls his people to lift up their eyes, take the next step, lay some things down, repent, forgive, surrender, and believe that God is working even when the provision cannot yet be seen.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Testing grows what temptation destroys. God never tempts his people, because temptation comes to kill, steal, and destroy. The test of faith is different, because the test draws a believer toward God and burns away what does not look like Jesus. The fire is not proof that God has left, but proof that God is purifying and preparing faith for what is next. [37:50]
• 2. Promises require patience, not panic. The vision has an appointed time, and that means waiting is not wasted time. Abraham’s life shows the danger of trying to produce in the flesh what God has promised to bring forth in the Spirit. Patience becomes the holy resistance against grabbing control before God has finished forming trust. [44:09]
• 3. Quick obedience reveals deep trust. Abraham got up early, and the silence of the text matters: no delay, no argument, no need for more confirmation. Slow obedience often opens the door to partial obedience, and partial obedience can slide into disobedience. Faith moves when God speaks because the character of God is more certain than the details of the process. [49:24]
• 4. Provision waits beyond surrender. The ram was already in the thicket, but Abraham had to get to the top of the mountain to see it. God’s provision can be missed when the eye stays locked on the challenge instead of lifting toward the God who is working. Complete obedience does not earn provision, but it places a believer where God has already prepared it. [57:27]
• 5. One step can open generations. David Wilkerson’s step toward New York began with a burden, a small offering, and no clear picture of the end. God used that obedience to touch gangs, addiction, Times Square, and the nations. A single step of faith can carry more future than a person can see in the moment.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [25:42] - Opening and Church Life
• [27:49] - Knowing God by His Names
• [29:02] - Trusting Jehovah Jireh
• [31:33] - Abraham, Isaac, and the Promise
• [37:50] - God Tests to Grow Faith
• [42:18] - What Testing Exposes
• [44:09] - Waiting for the Appointed Time
• [49:24] - Quick Obedience Reveals Trust
• [56:13] - Complete Obedience Opens Provision
• [57:27] - The Ram Was Already There
• [61:53] - David Wilkerson’s Step of Faith
• [65:39] - Prayer, Repentance, and Surrender

Bible Reading

Psalm 9:10
“And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” [27:49]

Genesis 22:1-14
“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.’ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ Abraham said, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.’ So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’ And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 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.’” [31:42]

Habakkuk 2:3
“For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” [44:27]

James 1:2-4
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” [45:41]

Observation questions

1. In Genesis 22, what details show that Isaac was not just any son to Abraham, but the son of promise and the one he loved?
2. What does Abraham actually do after God tells him to go to Moriah, and what parts of the story show how quickly he responds? [49:35]
3. In the passage, when does Abraham finally see the ram, and where is it found? [57:27]
4. According to James 1:2-4 and Habakkuk 2:3, what two things are produced or needed when faith goes through testing and delay? [45:57]

Interpretation questions

1. Psalm 9:10 says that those who know God’s name trust him. How does knowing God as Jehovah Jireh help explain why Abraham could obey even without knowing the outcome? [28:22]
2. Genesis 22 begins by saying God tested Abraham. What makes this different from temptation, and why does that difference matter when people walk through painful seasons? [39:42]
3. Abraham had already tried to produce the promise another way before Isaac was born. What does that part of his story reveal about the danger of getting ahead of God’s timing? [46:28]
4. The ram was already in the thicket, but Abraham did not see it until later. What does that suggest about how God’s provision and human surrender often relate to each other? [59:39]

Application questions

1. What is one area of life right now where trust in people, plans, money, comfort, or control has become easier than trust in God? What would it look like to place that area back in God’s hands? [30:20]
2. Testing often exposes what has been trusted more than God himself. What has a hard season been revealing lately—fear, pride, anger, offense, self-reliance, or something else? [42:18]
3. Promises require patience, not panic. Where is there a temptation right now to force something in the flesh instead of waiting for God to do it in the Spirit? [44:09]
4. Quick obedience reveals deep trust. Is there something already known that needs to be done—forgive someone, confess something, end a relationship, give generously, or take a first step into a calling? What has been causing the delay? [54:27]
5. Provision is often found on the other side of surrender. What might “going to the top of the mountain” look like in a real and practical way this week? [01:05:23]
6. Sometimes the challenge in front of a person becomes so large that it is hard to lift up their eyes. What has been taking up so much attention that it has made it hard to notice where God may already be at work? [01:00:51]
7. One step of obedience can open far more than can be seen in the moment. What is one small but meaningful step of faith that could be taken now, even without having the full picture? [01:04:49]