Presenting the mid-week summer series on Ray Vander Laan’s “That the World May Know” sessions titled “God Heard Their Cry” has brought to light the parallel of the Israelites leaving bondage (slaves to Pharaoh) and the Egyptians worldview, redeemed and saved by God in the miraculous Red Sea crossing and becoming a free people of God, with today’s bondage to sin and God’s redemption and salvation through Jesus Christ to become a Child of God in the kingdom of Heaven. What an awesome and challenging lesson. It leaves me saying: "Praise be to God!"Exodus 15:2 & 18 “The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.18 The LORD will reign forever and ever.”
What God had accomplished in the Hebrews hearts and minds was no less dramatic and powerful than his redeeming acts in the crossing of the sea, and the Hebrews knew it, standing safely on the far side of the sea. Their sovereign, all-powerful, one-and-only God had watched over them and redeemed them from Egypt. As the Israelites danced and sang praises to the God who had redeemed them, they had no idea what great journey they had just begun. From that point on, their lives and their culture would never be the same. Their commitment to God’s lordship required them to participate obediently in his ongoing redemptive story. He had called them to bring shalom into the chaos of a sinful world, to be like Him to other people, and to learn by His grace to obey His will. Although the expression “kingdom of heaven is not found in the (Old Testament) Hebrew text, a kingdom exists whenever a king reigns. So the Hebrews sang their commitment to the God who delivered them. There was no uncertainty that He was their reigning King. They did not know the ending, but God did, and does today.
John 8:36 “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
The good news of God’s kingdom that Jesus proclaimed was rooted in and shaped by the exodus experience. If we stand with the Israelites and seek to understand and celebrate their deliverance as they experienced it, we will appreciate more fully the grace-filled message and work of Jesus the Messiah. We also will be more responsive to the challenges, responsibilities, and privileges of being disciples of Jesus who are eager participants in God’s amazing story and are committed to obey His will.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
And when the people see the finger of God, the result is a dance of celebration on the shore of the sea, saying: “He is King!” But God is asking to us, “I am blessed that you would call me King, but I want to know if I am your King?” “Do I rule in your life?” “You call me King, but do I reign?” “Am I in charge in your life?” Is the kingdom “active” in your life, because you obey God as your King? Good questions.
God of the Universe reigns forever and ever. The Lord is reigning.
In Christ, Brian
8 comments:
So, who is this "LORD"? What is his name. If God is who "LORD" represents, what is God's name since their are many god's mentioned in the Bible.
Great question Steve and it shows that you are seeking truth. I believe hat this is what these Blogs should be about ... discussing truth and why, so I applaude yu for your question. We are the one's that have names for God to discribe his attributes. "El" is the Hebrew word used in the Bible, which means "Almighty". "Elohlym" is the word used when discribing the Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit). "Adonay" is the word for "the Lord". Lord is a title of One who rulers and reigns in a kingdom - in this case the kingdom of God. "Jehovah" is the name that the Israelites call God because it means the self-existent and eternal One. This is what God says about His Name in Exodus 3:14: God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” The hebrew word is used is "hayah", means is more than a simple statement of identity (ie. "I exist); it is a declaration of divine control of all things. There is only one God, Creator of everything and it is in this God that we put our trust. Jesus gives us the title that I use for my Maker: Our "Father", who art in Heaven. He loves us. Thanks for writing. Your questions and comments are always welcome. Blessings to you.
Thanks for your response.
I think we are in agreement. But just be sure, are you stating that God's name is Jehovah? Or are you stating that all of the titles that identify his almightiness and purpose is his name?
Thanks for writing again Steve. You are right that I am stating that all of the titles identify His Almighty attributes and purpose. As God states Himself, He has no formal name (I Am) God with a Capital "G". The Hebrew word Jehovah takes on more meaning as additional descriptive word are tagged onto it, in man's attempt to explain God's love and goodness to us. Check out this website for these forms of the name Jehovah @ http://www.prayertoday.org/NamesofGod/Jehovah-names.htm . Keep seeking truth. I do as well ... with the help of God.
If god had no formal name, why did Jesus say he came to make God's name known?
Good point and the Old Testament backs that up. Exodus 20:7 is one of the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God and tells us: “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Also, 1 Chronicles 16:8 says: Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Psalm 105:1 also says: Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Psalm 106:8 says: Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known. And Isaiah 12:4 states: In that day you will say: “Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Even the Egyptians magicians of the Pharaoh, in Exodus 8:19, when faced with the plagues against their gods through Moses said: “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said. Who where they talking about? Yet God told Moses only to say that "I AM" sent him.
But the Jews call God by name because He is not only the one-and-only true God, but He is "their" God, who reveals Himself, so He can be known. We gentiles are included in this. The name of God is not taken lightly either.
I've heard a Pastor says that the exact name that the Jews called God is so reverenced that they won't speak it and it is written today as YHVH. The website: http://www.jewfaq.org/name.htm explains, "I have often heard people refer to the Judeo-Christian God as "the nameless God" to contrast our God with the ancient pagan gods. I always found this odd, because Judaism clearly recognizes the existence of a Name for God; in fact, we have many Names for God. The most important of God's Names is the four-letter Name represented by the Hebrew letters Yod-Hei-Vav-Hei (YHVH). It is often referred to as the Ineffable Name, the Unutterable Name or the Distinctive Name. Linguistically, it is related to the Hebrew root Hei-Yod-Hei (to be), and reflects the fact that God's existence is eternal.
I personally use Jesus's model Prayer (aka "the Lord's Prayer") in my personal referance to my Creator Lord God, when I call Him Heavenly Father. This is backed up in John 1:7-8, where it says: "Yet to all who did receive him (Jesus), to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
In John 14:7 Jesus said: "If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
So Steve, I strive to not only know of Jesus, but to know Jesus, and know the Lord more daily, walking in the Spirit, by the Word of God, growing and maturing, for His purposes, by His mercy and grace. I was saved from my sins by this Creator God, by the Spirit, through His Son. So, I say: "Praise be to God and our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ", who is revealed through Him.
Hope this helps brother. Keep seeking! Sorry that I am out-of-town and couldn't get back to you sooner.
Everyone who calls on the name of YHVH will be saved." (Romans 10:13) With these words the apostle Paul stressed how vital it is for us to know God's name. Indeed, Jesus put the 'hallowing,' or 'sanctifying,' of God's name at the very beginning of his Model Prayer, ahead of so many other important matters.
These four letters, called the Tetragrammaton, are read from right to left in Hebrew and can be represented in many modern languages as YHWH or JHVH. God's name, represented by these four consonants, appears almost 7,000 times in the original "Old Testament," or Hebrew Scriptures.
The truth is, nobody knows for sure how the name of God was originally pronounced. The first language used in writing the Bible was Hebrew, and when the Hebrew language was written down, the writers wrote only consonants and not vowels. Hence, when the inspired writers wrote God's name, they naturally did the same thing and wrote only the consonants.
While ancient Hebrew was an everyday spoken language, this presented no problem. The pronunciation of the Name was familiar to the Israelites and when they saw it in writing they supplied the vowels without thinking (just as, for an English reader, the abbreviation "Ltd." represents "Limited" and "bldg." represents "building").
You are correct concerning the Jews stop prancing God's name. There are two different explanations but know body knows for sure why. And the exact time of stoppage is unknown but many scholars believe it was before the fall of Jerusalem.
The time did come, however, when in reading the Hebrew Scriptures in the original language, the Jewish reader substituted either 'Adho·nai' (Sovereign Lord) or 'Elo·him' (God) rather than pronounce the divine name represented by the Tetragrammaton. This is seen from the fact that when vowel pointing came into use in the second half of the first millennium C.E., the Jewish copyists inserted the vowel points for either 'Adho·nai' or 'Elo·him' into the Tetragrammaton, evidently to warn the reader to say those words in place of pronouncing the divine name.
The Codex Leningrad B 19A, of the 11th century C.E., vowel points the Tetragrammaton to read Yehwah', Yehwih', and Yeho·wah'. Hebrew scholars generally favor "Yahweh" as the most likely pronunciation. They point out that the abbreviated form of the name is Yah (Jah in the Latinized form), as at Psalm 89:8 and in the expression Ha·lelu-Yah' (meaning "Praise Jah, you people!"). (Ps 104:35; 150:1, 6) Still, there is by no means unanimity among scholars on the subject, some favoring yet other pronunciations, such as "Yahuwa," "Yahuah," or "Yehuah."
Since certainty of pronunciation is not now attainable, there seems to be no reason for abandoning in English the well-known form "Jehovah" in favor of some other suggested pronunciation. If such a change were made, then, to be consistent, changes should be made in the spelling and pronunciation of a host of other names found in the Scriptures: Jeremiah would be changed to Yir·meyah', Isaiah would become Yesha·ya'hu, and Jesus would be either Yehoh·shu'a (as in Hebrew) or I·e·sous' (as in Greek). The purpose of words is to transmit thoughts; in English the name Jehovah identifies the true God, transmitting this thought more satisfactorily today than any of the suggested substitutes.
(Most of he information above comes from a book entitled "Insight into the Scriptures", published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc.)
So, this is the name that Paul was referring to at Romans. Granted, there are know guarantees that Jehovah is the best pronunciation, it is the most widely accepted and recognized around the world.
Great research and explaination Steve. I think that there is key point that the Ten Commandments tell us that we are not to take God's name in vain, but how many know what that means? And that starts with knowing his name. Not just know of God, but knowing God, loving their Maker, Honoring their Father, worshipping their Creator. It is my prayer that many are blessed by this exchange of thoughts and explainations in this blog. Thank you for writing and taking the time to help our understanding, for it is done in Jesus' name.
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