The Names of God I - When Jehovah Speaks

Bibles to Exodus, chapter three. Last week, Wayne west led us to this passage of Scripture. I'm not going to add to what he talked about in any fashion. Let's pick up right where he left off. That was in verse five. And he told Moses to take his shoes off. And that's what he talked about. And then in verse six. And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings. And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites and the termites. And now, behold, I had to add that in there. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me. And I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them. See, God sees when you're oppressed, beloved. You may think that you're suffering alone, but God sees. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, but I will be with you. Remember that. Lo, I am with you always. The partnering presence of God. I will be with you. And this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you. When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain. All right, here's where we're going to focus today. Then Moses said to God, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you. And they asked me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, say to the people of Israel, I am. Has sent me to you. In the midst of the deepest point of despair in the life of the Hebrew nation, under oppression, beaten down by brutal slavery, really without any prospect of deliverance, God appears to Moses and commissions him to be the deliverer of the nation. Moses, in his wisdom, anticipates the question that is about to follow from. From the Lips of the Hebrew people. And that is, what is the name of the One who sent you? What is his name? Now, we may find that a bit strange. We may feel a little uncomfortable. If I was about to be delivered from slavery, from bondage, from oppression, and someone was there to cut my shackles, the chances are I would just say, hallelujah, whoever sent you, it doesn't matter. I'm just so glad to get out of here. But the Hebrews wanted to know the name of the One who sent them. And why? Because to the Hebrew people, the name. The Name represented the character and the identity and the nature of the one that held that name. To know the name of someone in the Hebrew culture was to know that quality about that person. Their name stood for what they were. As you read through the scriptures, you may find it strange and a bit disconcerting to you to wonder, why did God change the name of so many people? Why did Abram have His name changed to the Father of many nations? Because God wanted him to, and his character and his identity to stand for the very thing in redemptive history that he became. Likewise with Jacob. What did his name become? Israel. Why did God want to change his name? To show his role in the redemptive history of the people, ruler of nations. Why is God so protective of his name? What's the third commandment? Take a chance, Right? Do not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. God is very protective of his name. And in the New Covenant, what do we know is in the name of Jesus? Salvation, healing and all the rest. And we could get into that and maybe will a little bit later. But to know him by name was to know the reality of that dimension of his life. Now you've got to grasp this or the rest of the teaching will miss you. Let me say it again. To know him by his name was to know, in your personal experience, the reality of that quality which His Name represented. And so today, why would I come and spend a precious few moments together teaching about the name of God? Why not talk about seven steps to get out of fear? Or why not talk about five ways to handle your money in difficult times? And those are probably both very worthwhile subjects. Why not talk about four things you need to know to be healed? That also, for some today would be a worthwhile subject. But to talk about the name of God and to pray that in the midst of that you come to know him by that name is to pray that you come into an experience of the reality of the power that's in that name, beloved. When most of us read our Bibles, we find the name of God and we say, the Bible says, and God said, or it says, the Lord said, or the Lord God. And we don't know the difference from the Hebrew word to our English word. We just read the Lord and we think of whatever our image of God is or we see God and we think, well, that's what that always says. But you see, the Hebrews were very careful and God in his inspiration was, was careful to put the particular name of God that was to be spoken right there. And what we need to do today, beloved, is to see why those names are so important. And my prayer and I believe this, I'll tell you this week, as I was preparing this teaching, day by day, the Lord would come and speak a word of confirmation. That's what I want you to do. On Friday at the men's prayer meeting, brother brought forth a prophetic word about the presence of God in the midst of the facing of difficult times in our nation. And the word was just right out of Exodus, chapter three. He had no idea what I was going to speak about. So God wants some of you, I know, to know this today. He wants you to be able to grasp him and the fullness of his person according to his name. And as you listen to the name, it will give focus to your faith. How many of you have heard the name Rick Powell? Okay, about as many as know what Hallelujah means. I had never heard of the name Rick Powell until a week ago or so when I was talking to Jan after she returned from the CBN Music seminar and she shared that one of her mentors had been Rick Powell. Well, just great. She was real impressed with his maturity and wisdom and abilities. Well, this last week on the radio, as I was driving different places, the announcer would come on and say, and now a musical arranged by Rick Powell. Well, what did that do to me? Well, right away, something that was logged back in there clicked and I listened much more carefully and I was just much more receptive to what Rick Powell had performed. How many know what I'm saying? When you know, you hear a name. If I would say to you, james Dobson is going to be here tonight to talk about raising children. Well, if you have read one of his seven or eight books and heard his, you would come. But if you never heard of James Dobson, it might as well be Pete the ice cream man. You don't know any different. Why did the commercial, when E.F. hutton speaks, why did that have any Influence because they built a name. And so now when the name is spoken, we have this, this over dramatized kind of response to what E.F. hutton has to say. But beloved, in a few moments we're going to look at some of the names of God. And if you allow that to get a hold of you when you come and read in the scripture these different things, it will so quicken to you the fact that God is this for you. It will make alive a focus of your faith. Now if you turn in your Bibles, just leave your mark there at Exodus 3 and flip back to Genesis chapter one, The very first name, sort of the thing that we've got to come as a beginning point is to see how God referred to himself. When the Bible says in the beginning, God, God. Now the form there and all through most of the verses in Genesis and all through the Pentateuch and 2,500 times in the Old Testament, you see the form Elohim. Elohim. And that is the word from its etymology, which means basically deity. The Hebrews back then would know if anybody was talking about their gods, the gods of some of the other cultures, they would call them ver Eloah, E, L, O, A H. Alright. Now that was the word that was always used for deity. And it is a conjunction of the two words el and ah, the word fear and the verb to be. So in its essence, Elohim means someone to be feared, awesome, to be reverenced. God wants his, his first expression of who he is. And you know, there is a spiritual principle of first appearing. God wants us to know him reverentially. The fear of the Lord, the Bible said, is the beginning of wisdom. Aloha. Not aloha, but Eloh is the singular form. Elohim is the plural form. And here's what's so amazing, beloved, all through the scripture, it's not Aloha that you see, it's Elohim, which is the plural. Why would God do that? Because he's three in one. And so when he says in Genesis 1:26, Let us make man in our image, he's using that plural form which has come to be known as the plural of majesty. And the plural form of this word underscores the fact that God is all that much more majestic. You see, the other gods of the other people were all Eloah. They were singular. But our God was Elohim, the God of majesty, the God over every other God, the God that no other God could come close to. And 2,500 times he's known as Elohim in the scriptures. And what that says to me, beloved, is that we come to God worshipfully. We come to reverence him, to worship him. We're going to conclude this morning by worship, because I trust that you'll see God's wisdom and the beauty of his plan and revealing himself first of all as Elohim, the God over all other gods. The God who is the highest expression of deity. Psalm 104. You don't need to turn there. I just want to read. This is the kind of place where you see this word coming forth. It says, bless the Lord. O my soul, O Lord, my God, Thou art very great. Thou art clothed with honor and majesty. O Lord, my Elohim, who stretchest out the heavens like the stars. O Lord, my Elohim, who has laid the beams of thy chambers on the waters. O Lord, my Elohim, who makes the clouds, thy chariots, you see, it goes on and on. Elohim above everyone else. Would you say that word with me? Elohim. Elohim. And that was God's first revelation of himself. Now, Elohim then becomes the basis of many of the titles that you see in Scripture. So Elohim of all the earth, you see, the God over all the earth, the Elohim of heaven, the Elohim which is most high, the Elohim of eternity, you see, it's God establishing that he is above every other thing, majestic and enthroned and all powerful. The Elohim of justice. This holy Elohim, the living Elohim who speaks from the midst of the fire in Deuteronomy 5. And each of these become more personal. The Elohim who brings the prisoners into prosperity, the Elohim who is the God who would draw near to us. And the elohim in Psalm 4:1 of my righteousness. That's how God was first desiring to be known, in his reverence and his action and so forth. Alright, so when you see the Elohim, when you see God in your Bible, it's almost always Elohim. And it is more often than not a title. Now, we'll come back to why that's important in a few moments. Now let's go back to Exodus 3. Now, Moses knew God as Elohim. Okay? If you read verse 13, then Moses said to God, you would see there. Moses said to Elohim, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you. And they ask me what Is his name. What shall I say to them? Think about for just a moment, beloved, how you relate to where Moses was coming from when he received this revelation? Was Moses a successful businessman on the back side of the mountain? In a way, he was content. He was kind of doing what he did well and was sort of happy with himself. But what had happened? God had put his finger on him and said, moses, I've got something for you to do. And Moses did exactly what you and I do, beloved. When God calls us to something, what did he do? Not me, Lord. I got these sheep and I got all these things going over here. I get somebody else to do it. And we went through that a couple of weeks ago. Moses felt tremendously inadequate. He wasn't rebelling. He just didn't think he could do it. How many of you feel sometimes when God calls you to share with somebody, you can't do it? When God calls you to give something of yourself? I just can't say that. I can't give him that. I can't help this person to a Bible study. I just can't. We identify with Moses in his inadequacies. We can identify with Moses and his concern for the people, and yet not able to do anything about it. And so Moses is there, and he's receiving all this from God, not feeling like he could ever begin to live up to it. And here's what God says to him. My name is I am what I am a beloved. What God said. Now, I didn't think it'd be worthwhile to put all the Hebrew down there, because, first of all, Hebrew is a complicated language. I suffered through a number of weeks of it. And I think when I sat down to take my exam at the end, I forgot which end of the book to open, because the Hebrew book opens in the back. You know you're in trouble when you sit down and a book opens in the back, right? But it's a complicated language, and yet there's some very precious things here. I want you to see in the Hebrew form. What you would see if you looked in the Hebrew Bible is yhwh. Now, the Hebrews pointed their consonants with vowels. They don't have vowels like we have vowels. They have points. And a Hebrew knows what the vowels would be by the points that go underneath each letter. But in this case, there were no points. And so it was an unspeakable word, you see. Why would God give an unspeakable kind of a word? To underscore the mystery of who he is. The majesty of who he is. And all through history, you see, the Hebrews were would not speak that word because it was so holy. And later on, when it became clear that they needed to be communicating, what they did was to take their word for Lord, which is Adonia. And then, let me see if I can do this without making a mess here. They took the vowels. This is hot, so it's not going to come out very well. It took the vowels and added it like that. And you see what that comes out to. Let me see if this works any better. It comes out to Yahuwah, which translates into Jehovah, which then in your Bibles, beloved, almost every time you will see the name Lord. So when we sing Hallelujah, we're singing Praise the Lord. Yah is the shortened form of Jehovah. And so you see, when you're reading your Bible, you say, the Lord said, you're reading. Jehovah said you're not reading. God said. Now why is that important? Because you see, when God gave this revelation, the name Jehovah then became associated with everything that had to do with redemption and salvation. Jehovah has to do with the redemption of his people. This is what the Lord was saying. It has to do with personal salvation. It appears 5,300 times in the Scripture. Jehovah, Lord, Lord of salvation, I am who I am, the Lord of salvation. The term Jehovah or Lord, one commentator said, connotes God's nearness, his concern for man, and the revelation of his redemptive covenant. Now the amazing thing is. Turn back with me just to show you something in Genesis chapter two. All right, let's just say we're reading through the book of Genesis, Genesis 2, 4. Let's pick up right there. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In that day, the Lord God Jehovah Elohim made the heavens and the earth. What does that tell you about redemption? What does that tell you about redemption? What does it tell you about God's plan of salvation in the process of creation? Jehovah, the God of salvation is working. You see that redemption was no accident, no added on plan. Beloved, Jesus didn't die because God's plan failed. Jehovah was functioning in creation to bring about his perfect will and his perfect plan. Now, what does I am who I am then mean to us? When God said those words to Moses, are they just so much? Okay, so it means Yahweh is who Yahweh is. That's what that's Saying I am who I am. I want to give you five things that that Hebrew expression, I am who I am means to you today, not. 1982 North Wake Christian Community. Forgive the writing in these things because of the. They're kind of poor in quality, but it's the best we can do. It's better than having nothing here, I think. All right, the first thing that it tells me is that he's the God who always is. I am who I am. He is ever present in his existence. Now, if he's the God who always is, what does that help you to do in terms of your life and what's coming down the road at you? It's perspective, beloved. If God was there last week and he's here today, where's he going to be next Friday? Right there. And if you're finding yourself facing a difficult situation, the God who always is is the God who will be there. And another thing it tells me, beloved, is that the God who always is is worthy of all that we can commit to him. You see, somehow I confess to you that somehow I like to think in terms of my life, at least I did more so once than I do now, that I could keep a handle on it and keep going in a good direction. And when God drew the lasso around and pulled it at the end of my life, then I'd move into God's realm and I'd go in God's terms. But you see, the God who always is is the God who right now, today is worthy of all the commitment I can give him. Because he's going to be the same God two years from now, ten years from now, whenever I go to be with him. He's worthy of it right now. The second thing that this tells me is that he is the God who is self sufficient. He doesn't need anything. 10 days ago I went camping. First thing I did was to borrow everything conceivable that other people had, which is good stewardship, right? And borrowed everything, including the car so I could get where we wanted to go and got out there self sufficient. We went to a state campground and there was people flying all over the place and it was rowdy. And that's not camping, right? So my little camp book said if I go five or ten miles up this way and over this dirt road a little ways, I'll come to an Army Corps of Engineers water reservoir, acreage plot of some kind. I can't think of the word, but anyhow, it was a reservation that's as good as that we drive up to this campsite and the guy's just about to leave, has a nice uni on, looks really official. And I said, can we camp here tonight? And there was this pause and he said, well, yes, you can. He said, it is legal. He said, I'll show you where you're supposed to go. I couldn't figure out why. You know, he really hesitated. He said, people don't camp here. He said, but it's legal. I said, why don't they camp? Well, there's no facilities, there's no water, there's no bathroom, there's no, you know, you just. And so he led us down in his pickup truck to this gate which had a lock on it, which, you know, I thought it was going to say, you know, land of no return or something. Swung the gate open and said, just go down that road about 2 miles and then up this road and then turn off that way and you'll come to a meadow and you'll be the only ones there. So I did that up this road and we came into this like little clearing. We could barely see out of the weeds, you know, and that was the meadow. Pulled everything out and we set up our campsite. And I thought, boy, are we self sufficient. We are really going to make a time of it. And you know, God was faithful. The only thing I forgot in the trip was matches. I had a great propane stove, a wonderful lantern. Self sufficient, nobody there. By the way. I forgot to mention that when he left, he locked the gate, which is true. He said, I'll see you tomorrow morning sometime. So there we were. But you see, God. God heard the cries of this father whose little kids were saying, I'm hungry. And we managed. We used the lighter in the car, you see, and wrapped up some newspaper and. Well, anyhow, so Mr. Camper here. But we think that we're self sufficient. Beloved. I lasted one day and I was ready to come home and get back to where the water ran and the lights turned on. You see, beloved, But God doesn't need anything. You remember that? He doesn't need anything. He doesn't even need your love. But he wants to share his glory with you. He desires your love. And what that says to me is that God is in a position to give you whoever you are today, what you need. Because he can create whatever he needs to meet your need. And God is not only the one who always is and self sufficient, but I am who I am sorry about that is the unchangeable one. He's unchangeable he will always be who he is. And his fullness. He won't run out of love. He won't diminish in his forgiveness. He won't fall short of being able to supply your need. Psalm 92 says, from everlasting, that's infinity backwards to everlasting infinity forwards. Thou art the Lord, the Bible says of Jesus, he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Now. Maybe as I look out here, I think of a few of you who maybe today are facing job changes and security is in question. And some of you who don't know whether to go back to school because you don't have the money. And I say to you, Jehovah is the unchangeable one. And you can trust him and your circumstances to be dependable and absolutely trustworthy. The principles of His Word are unchanging. Beloved, if you give to God, you'll receive. If you forgive, you'll be forgiven. And so on. The fourth thing that I see in the name I am, who I am is unlimited liberty. Unlimited liberty. How would you like to be able to do whatever you wanted to do, whenever you wanted to do it? You'd be dangerous, wouldn't you? You probably wouldn't be welcome too many places. Because if you wanted to get inside of somebody or you wanted to do, you know. You see, beloved, I am who I am. Think of it as one very famous man of God said, the Lord was saying, I cause to be, I create. That's what he meant when he said, I am who I am. I have unlimited liberty to do exactly what I please. That's the God that we serve and love and worship. And finally, he's the God of perfect harmony. I am who I am. You see, he could have just said, I am. But do you see the symmetry? I am who I am. Perfect peace. The God who is in perfect harmony with himself. Are you at peace today with yourself? Are you being torn up inside? Are you here because something inside of you is saying I'm not right? Or are you here because you just think you should be here, but you wish that the things that were bothering you would go away? God never has a bad day. God never says, boy, I wish someone would take care of that. I wish I could get peace about that. He's the source of peace. He's in perfect harmony with himself. I love that. Lord. Let me be in perfect harmony with myself. You see, beloved, one reason why people don't like quiet. If we would sit here for five minutes and be quiet, some of you would be squirming. In that seat is because deep inside we're not at peace with ourselves. We don't like ourselves. We haven't come into God's harmony that he provides for us. Now, these are just five things. Again, please forgive the overhead, but I hope you got them. The God who always is. The God who is self sufficient, unchangeable, unlimited, in liberty and in perfect harmony. And yet this doesn't begin to cover everything that the name I am, who I am means. There's always more. First Timothy 3:16, Paul says, Great is the mystery of godliness. And the name I am, who I am goes on and on and on and all that. It means he's the God who is personally involved. Look what he says there. Let's look at the next verse. In verse 15, God also said to Moses, say to this people of Israel, Jehovah, the Lord, the Elohim of your fathers, the God of Jacob, the God of Isaac, and the God of Abraham. I should say the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. Then look at this next part of the verse. This is my name, Yehovah, forever. And thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. The fullness of the name. Now, in conclusion on this part, God then takes the two. And puts Elohim. And Jehovah together. Beloved. Elohim and Jehovah. Okay, but when it appears, it doesn't appear in that form. It appears this way. Jehovah Elohim. This is the name. This is the title. Jehovah God. Do you know him by his name or by his title? And beloved God, in his wisdom through history, then says, Call his name Jesus, the Christ. The name is Jesus. The title is the Christ Salvation, the Messiah. You see, God knows what he's doing. Back in Genesis 2, 4, in creation, he is Jehovah Elohim, the personal God of salvation, who is the Deity over all things. He is. Now then, in the New Covenant, Jesus the precious Son, who is the Christ the Redeemer? Do you know him as Jesus or do you just know him as Christ? Do you ever want to get a conversation stirred up, you start speaking the name of Jesus. It's one thing to talk about Christ this and Christ that. Interestingly, a few months back when there was this flap about a guy who was making all this commotion about being the antichrist. He talked about Christ because it's a title. He didn't talk about Jesus because that name is the name of a person. By which do you know him as Jesus or do you just know about the Christ and beloved, let me end with this. Next week. Lord willing, we have a lot to do, but I want to just touch on one other particular name of the Lord and I really wish that we could take the time to do this. But all through the old covenant then Jehovah I am who I am. His name is linked with other things and this is what he becomes. He becomes Jehovah Jireh the Lord will provide he becomes Jehovah Misi the Lord is conqueror he becomes Jehovah. Shalom this is literally what appears in the Scripture. The Lord is peace he becomes Jehovah Shammah S H A M A H the Lord is there at the last verse of Ezekiel, you look it up. The Lord is there. He becomes Jehovah Tedesque the Lord our righteousness he becomes Jehovah Prepheka the Lord our healer. By which of his names do you need to know him today? By which of the expressions of Jehovah do you need to know the experience of the reality of the living God? The end of the beginning of chapter six in Exodus. Please turn here for the last verse. Beloved. There is such challenge here. 6:2 Exodus 6:2 God said to Moses, I am Yahweh Yehovah, the Lord I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty El Shaddai, which we'll look at next week. But by my name Jehovah, I did not make myself known to them. Now if you look back in the Scriptures, in Exodus, in Genesis 12, you'll see that God appeared to Abraham as Jehovah and I wrestled with that. And you know what I believe the Lord is saying here is that it was in the progressive revelation of who he was that God then appeared to Moses and in fullness said, I am who I am. And beloved, it's all through our salvation that God reveals himself as fully who he is. Don't leave here today and say the Lord did not make himself known to me. But we can conclude by your saying to the Lord, I want to know you today as Jehovah my Lord, as Jehovah Jireh, my provider in the midst of financial difficulties, as Jehovah Rebecca my healer, or whatever the case may be in your life. And that's what we're going to do. We're going to seek God and I'm going to ask you to do this thing together. As we turn in our circles of prayer, I want you to share. I need to know the Lord today as Jehovah. Whichever it is, it may be beloved that God is saying to you. I need to know him as Jehovah. I need to know him personally by his name, not just as God who is out there. You share that in your circle. And let's believe that as a focus of our faith, the Lord will be to us what his name says that he will be. Go ahead and turn in your circles.