Even dogs have many names they are known by…
(1) There are over 340 different kinds of dog breeds.
• Labrador Retriever
• German Shepherd
• Bull Dog
• Beagle
• Poodle
To name a few.
(2) Not only are dogs named by different breeds they are also named individually.
Illus: San Francisco Examiner, on Sunday, October 12, 1997, stated these things about the naming of dogs.
“It seems the names of Max and Molly have gone to the dogs.”
That is, these are the top two names for male and female dogs.
• "With men, you tend to see more macho names, like Max and Spike,"
• "With women, we get a lot of girly names - Samantha, Natasha, things like that."
Why are they given these human names?
Illus: Alice Nathanson said, "More and more, pets are true family members,"
Dogs are named by BREED, HUMAN NAMES, and also…
3) BY THEIR BEHAVIOR.
Dogs who bite are most often named “Rocky”.
According to Health Department records, 375 dog bites recorded from 1994 to 1997 in one city,
• Seven were perpetrated by the name “Rocky”.
• Next were “Mugsy”,
• “Max” and “Zeke”, each tied with six bites.
Dogs are known by many names.
(4) Each of us has a NAME or a Title that we are known by.
Illus: I have many names. Some call me Doctor Belger, some call me Pastor Belger, some call Preacher Belger, some call me Dad, some call me Uncle, some call me Brother, and my wife calls me her husband.
Humor: Also, some call me names I rather not mention.
Some of us have intimate names, and it use to be the only ones who call us by these names was our spouse.
That is, sometimes we refer to our spouse as “Sweetie, honey, or darling”.
Illus: However, some of the waitresses in the South discovered they can get larger tips with male customers by calling their male customers intimate names. They will say such things as, “Thank you honey” or “What do you want to order sweetheart?”
Illus: Dr. David Jeremiah said, Knowing God by His personal names is one of the greatest privileges for followers of Christ. The word God is found throughout the Bible, but the Lord reveals Himself more personally through the names with which He introduces Himself in Scripture. These names help us when we address Him in prayer. Just as we want to call people by the right term or name, so we want to address God with appropriate wisdom and reverence whenever we pray.
The more you know about the different NAMES of a person the more you get to know about that person.
Also, the more you know about the TITLE of a person the more you get to know about them.
Illus: Some are call by the title:
• Electrician
• Plumber
• Carpenter
• Secretary
• Doctor
• Lawyer
God has many titles in the scriptures that tells us a great deal about Him.
Such as to name a few…
• The Lamb of God
• The Good Shepherd
• Eternal Father
• Our Father
• Alpha and Omega
• The Creator
• The Potter
But today in this sermon we want to look at the name of “Yahweh.”
As we look at this name let’s look at-
I.THE DEFINITION OF YAHWEH
What does the name Yahweh Mean?
Do you know any Eagle Scouts?
I respect young men who achieve such an honor.
The idea of describing an honored scout as an “Eagle” Scout is based upon a long tradition of respect for the eagle.
Illus: American Indians respected the eagle.
Eagles were admired for their grandeur, gracefulness, strength, and longevity of the eagle (average 30 years of age).
God wants all of us to be EAGLE SCOUTS!!!
Look at Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
But I know many eagles who are scouts.
These are the believers in Jesus who draw upon God to keep going when most would quit; they find strength outside themselves
They are bruised and battered, often feel miserable, but still remain faithful.
If you learn to wait upon the Lord, you will find him a source of strength that can transform you into an eagle.
Recent research reveals that eagles can see objects approximately 2 miles away.
• Eagle have their eyes on the side of their head. We humans have our eyes on the front of our head.
• We are very humans are limited in paraphilia vision. But the eagle moves their head every two seconds back and forth and with their eyes on the side of their head they see everything within two miles.
• An eagle’s vision is exceptionally sharp because each eye has to fovea- areas of acute vision – as compared with human eye which only has one. The cones in the eagle's fovea are very small and tightly grouped, allowing the eagle to see small details from extreme distances.
• The eagle due to the structure of their eyes, which have two foveae allows them to see both forward and sideways simultaneously.
• To understand the meaning of YAHWEH you have to understand YAHWEH is like the Eagle THAT SEES ALL. Except God is not limited to two miles.
There are people who choose to live a life of sin everyday never bother to realize YAHWEH SEES ALL!!
Isaiah 40:27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speaketh, O Israel, my way is hidden from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
The world in which we live is full of people who live their life like God does not see all the evil deeds they do and the evil they speak.
Look at verse 27, we read, “Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD”.
Yahweh SEES ALL!
Hebrews 4:13, “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
The modern atheism movement suggests we are all alone, and that we invent God as a figment of our imagination to help us cope with life. He disregards our cause because he does not exist.
• Do you ever feel like God has disregarded your cause? We all do at times.
• Is God distracted? Too much going on? Does his mind wander from boredom?
• The truth is that God does see and care, but – much to our displeasure – he is often in no hurry.
This is why we must learn to wait upon the Lord.
• He UNDERSTANDS All (28a)
• He Does Not Become FATIGUED (28b)
How can God maintain the entire universe and not even be tired?
The name Yahweh teaches us about the eternal existence of almighty God that SEES ALL and KNOWS ALL!!!
Illus: Sometime in Sunday school a child might ask:
• WHERE DID GOD COME FROM?
• HOW OLD IS GOD!
It is difficult for a child and an adult to comprehend THAT YAHWEH HAS ALWAYS EXISTED!!!
Remember when I preached about Elohim, we read in Genesis 1:1 these words “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
In the beginning of What? In the beginning of TIME!
Time was non-existence until Elohim created the heavens and the earth and mankind!!!
Time has to do with mankind, not with God.
God has no birthdays because He has never had a beginning!!!
That is hard for us to comprehend because with mankind everything has a BEGINNING AND AN ENDING but not with YAHWEH!!!
Yahweh is the most frequently used name of God in the Old Testament.
Yahweh (yah-WEH) occurs more than 6,800 times in the Old Testament. It appears in every book except Esther, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs.
Illus When God told Moses to deliver the Children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, Moses was reluctant to obey that command.
WHY?
Because at the time MOSES was asked to do this, he was an eighty-year-old slave, and he wanted to know by what authority he (as a slave) could tell the Pharaoh of Egypt that God has sent him to tell him to let God’s people go.
What did God say, in Exodus 3:14, God YAHWEH said, “…Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
In other words, Yahweh said:
• Tell Pharaoh that God has always been here, and God sent me to you to let my people go.
• Tell Pharaoh you come in the authority of Yahweh, the eternal, everlasting God that sees all and knows all.
WHAT MAKES THE NAME YAHWEH SPECIAL?
The name of Yahweh was considered to be sacred by the Jews.
In fact, it was so sacred that the Jews would not even utter it.
Illus: What a contrast to today, when you have people who will take the sacred name of God and take his name in vain.
For example:
• You have some who will take His sacred name and connect if with a curse word.
• You have some who will use slang words for God, like “Golly” or gosh!”
• But most times we see His name taken in vain by people who profess to be saved and tell everyone they are Christians and then they live a life of sin, THEY BRING DISGRACE TO HIS NAME! Their life takes His name in vain.
The devil must laugh every time someone will take God’s name in vain.
But a person can not do this and get away with it. The holy God of heaven knows what they have done to His name!!!
How would you like for someone to take your name and drag it through the mud.
Let me illustrate…
(1) How would a clean descent woman feel that her name was associated with evil.
(2) How would an honest businessman feel that his name was associated with being wicked.
God’s name is often used to show disrespect.
The curse word (GD) is often used to show disrespect to God’s name.
For example, someone might say, "I can't find the (Blank) remote control!”
Taken literally the speaker is saying that the remote control has been (or should be) sent to eternal suffering!!!
There are people (particularly some Christians) who find it offensive because it invokes God and punishment in Hell in a trivial or casual way.
One of the "10 commandments" is not to invoke the name of God without reverence, and Christians extend this to not joking about God or using the idea of the Judgement of God to express frustration or insult someone.
It is refreshing to see people who have a reverence for the things of God.
Americans are losing their reverence for the things of God and the things that is worthy of respect.
Illus: We are told that former President Ronald Reagan had such a reverence for the oval office that he would not enter the office unless he had a coat and tie on.
We should have a reverence for the House of God.
Illus: It used to be Christians to show their RESPECT for God they had Sunday clothes.
That is, they wore those clothes to the house of God to show their RESPECT for Him…HE WAS SPECIAL, and their clothing revealed that.
They wore their ordinary clothes for ordinary people.
But God is always pleased when people will show reverence toward Him in the way they dress and the way they talk.
God was pleased when the Jews showed reverence by the way they did not feel worthy to even utter the holy name of “Yahweh”.
HOW OLD IS YAHWEH?
Illus: Years ago, when Dr. Odell Belger’s second grandson was born, a woman asked his older brother who was only 4, “Christian, how old is your little brother Tyler?”
He thought for a few seconds and said, “He isn’t got no numbers yet!”
Listen, God does not have any numbers.
Yahweh did not come into existence; He has always been in existence.
Because He is SELF EXISTING, the Jews treated the name Yahweh with such respect they would not even utter the name.
• The elderly among us have been around a long time, and because of that, they should be treated with the greatest of respect by saying “Yes sir!” No sir!
• But while they are shown respect for the decades they have been here, God has ALWAYS BEEN HERE, and the greatest of all respect should be shown to Him
God told Moses to tell them Yahweh has always been here and will always be here, and He is the one who sent him.
Illus: Back in the sixties, we were all shocked to hear some crazy theologians that came up with the philosophy that God is dead. It shows you how little they know of the Bible.
The Bible teaches that He is Yahweh, the eternal God, and that makes it impossible for Him to be dead.
Illus: S. M. Lockridge, a black pastor from San Diego, said these words when the God is dead thoughts were raging.
He asked:
• "Well, if God is dead, who assassinated Him?”
• “What coroner was called?”
• “Who signed His death certificate?”
• “Who was so well acquainted with the One pronounced dead that he could identify the deceased?”
• “What obituary column did you find His name in?”
• “And why wasn't I notified? I'm one of the next of kin!"
Yahweh is the self-existing God.
Illus: Someone said, He alone exists by His own power. He exists in and of Himself. This is a quality that no creature shares. People are not self-existent; neither are or the stars.
As the sacred personal name of Israel's God, it was eventually spoken aloud only by priests in the Jerusalem temple.
After the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, the name was not pronounced.
Adonay was substituted for Yahweh whenever it appeared in the biblical text
Before we understand what the name “Yahweh” means, let’s go back to its origin story in Exodus 3.
In this story, God speaks to Moses through the burning bush and gives him the mission to end all missions: freeing the Israelite people from Egyptian captivity.
Understandably, Moses has some concerns, the main one being how he will convince his fellow Israelites that this really is a mission from (and blessed by) God.
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 ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I have sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” - Exodus 3:13-15
What Does Yahweh Mean?
Exodus 3:13-15 is the first Biblical usage of the name “Yahweh,”
At the end of the passage, we can see that it is the name by which God has chosen to be remembered throughout all generations.
We have looked at THE DEFINITION OF YAHWEH, but also let’s look at-
II. THE DEMANDS OF YAHWEH
We know He is the ETERNAL, EVERLASTING GOD, but not only that, He has always been what He is, and He will always be what He is.
For example, let me show you THREE things about this unchanging God.
Malachi 3:6 “For I am the LORD, I change not…”
A. YAHWEH IS A HOLY GOD
Look at Lev. 19:2 "Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy."
Sometimes you will find some religious groups that say they have a claim on holiness. But it does not matter what church you join; it does not make you holy.
Illus: The Catholic leaders like to refer to the Catholic church as the “Holy Roman Catholic Church”.
But when we hear about all the corrupt priests on the evening news, we can only conclude they should call it the “Unholy Roman Catholic Church”.
Some like to refer to the pope as the most holy man on the face of the earth. I wonder how they know that …hmmm!
Humor: Did you hear that after the Pope had apologized to the Nation of Israel for the treatment of Jews by the Catholic Church over the years, Ehud Barak, the former leader of Israel, sent a proposal back to the College of cardinals.
The proposal was for a friendly game of golf to be played between the two leaders or their representatives to show the friendship and ecumenical spirit shared by the Catholic and Jewish faiths.
The Pope met with his College of Cardinals to discuss the proposal. "Your Holiness," said one of the Cardinals, "Mr. Barak wants to challenge you to a game of golf to show that you are old and unable to compete. I am afraid that this would tarnish our image to the world."
The Pope thought about this and as he had never held a golf club in his life asked, "Don't we have a Cardinal to represent me?"
"None that plays golf very well," a Cardinal replied. "But," he added "There is a man named Jack Nicklaus, an American golfer who is a devout Catholic. We can offer to make him a Cardinal, then ask him to play Mr. Barak as your personal representative.
In addition to showing our spirit of cooperation, we'll also win the match."
Everyone agreed it was a great idea. The call was made. Of course, Nicklaus was honored and agreed to play as a representative of the Pope.
The day after the match, Cardinal Nicklaus reported to the Vatican to inform the Pope of the result. "I have some good news and some bad news, Your Holiness," said the golfer.
“Tell me the good news, Cardinal Nicklaus," said the Pope.
"Well, Your Holiness, I don't like to brag, but even though I've played some pretty terrific rounds of golf in my life, this was the best I have ever played, by far. I must have been inspired from above. My drives were long and true, my irons were accurate and purposeful, and my putting was perfect. With all due respect, my play was truly miraculous."
"How can there be bad news?" the Pope asked.
Nicklaus sighed, "I lost to Rabbi Tiger Woods by three strokes.”
Listen there is no church on the face of the earth that can make us holy. If you come across one that claims they can, you need to put as much distance as you can between you and them.
But the Bible says, ". . . without holiness, no man will see God." And listen, there won’t be any blind people in heaven. If you are not holy you will not see Him.
HOW DO WE BECOME HOLY?
Some of the legalists have decided we become holy by establishing a set of man-made rules and everyone that obeys those man-made rules are holy and all those who do not are unholy.
But no one has ever become holy by following a set of MAN-MADE RULES.
We all know that rules are important, but we also need to know that following a set of man-made rules can not save you.
Illus: When it comes to rules, I think about the college President who was addressing the new students.
He said, “I want to make it perfectly clear that the female dormitory will be out-of-bounds for all male students, and the male dormitory to the female students.
• Anybody caught breaking this rule will be fined $20 the first time
• Anybody caught breaking this rule the second time will be fined $60
• Being caught a third time will cost you $180
Are there any questions?"
A young man raised his hand said “How much will it cost me for a season pass?"
We all know how important rules are, but when it comes to salvation, all the man-made rules in the world will not save anyone.
But that does not stop the legalists from trying.
They have established all kinds of rules to be holy among themselves.
Some of the most ungodly people on this earth are religious people who follow a set of Man-made rules, but their lives reflect that they certainly are not holy people.
For example, we can set up rules such as:
• It is sinful to drink coffee
• It is sinful to drink soft drinks
• You have to eat fish on Friday
• You can only use the KJV Bible.
We can set up all these rules and obey every one of them, and still not be holy.
But have you noticed, most of the time these rules are set up by men. And have you noticed how they affect women more than men?
Illus: Look at those poor Muslim women that have to wear a sheet over their head, this does not affect the men.
Illus: Look at how some of the legalistic churches today still teach what a woman should wear or not wear to be a holy person.
Years ago, they taught that a woman should not wear any makeup.
(Humor) Are you kidding?
I believe God gave man the wisdom to make that good stuff.
I do not know anything on this earth that has done more to beautify women than makeup!
You ladies, you look good with that stuff on your face, and I am not going to tell you how you look without it, because you have to look at that face every morning without it!
Don’t you pay any attention to these legalistic preachers, put that stuff on your face thick and heavy!!!
Now some religious groups have made up a rule that a woman should not wear men clothing.
Now women have special pants they wear, and they are not man’s pants.
Illus: For example, Mickey would look silly wearing women’s pants especially with flowers all over them.
But at the same time a woman should not wear men pants.
Illus: And if they are going to wear them skin tight they might as well be naked because it reveals everything a naked person would reveal. The only difference is the skin is not showing.
Now you might be saying, “Preacher, you do not have any right to tell a woman not to wear men pants.
You are absolutely right!!!
The only right I have as a minister of God is tell them what God’s Word tells them.
That is why Paul told young Timothy “Preach the Word!”
What does the Word of God tell us about women wearing men clothing and men wearing woman’s clothing.
Deuteronomy 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Notice, God’s Word tells us to dress like this in the sight of God it is an ABOMINATION!
That is, God is saying it is disgusting!
Illus: My wife and I have agreed:
• I would not wear her DRESSES
• She will not wear my PANTS.
I want look like a man in the way the way God created me as a man and I want to dress in the sight of YAHWEH that will please Him.
And my wife wants to look like a woman in the sight of YAHWEH that will please Him.
• Have you ever looked at some of these men wearing their britches with their pants about to fall off…IT IS DISGUSTING!
• Yahweh tells us when women or men wear clothing of the opposite sex...IT IS DISGUSTING!
Illus: Listen mothers, if you do not want your little daughters to be a harlot, than quit dressing them up to look like a little harlot!
Yahweh has always been and always will be a Holy God, and He requires that we also be holy.
But we do not become holy by following a set of man-made rules!
HOW DO WE BECOME HOLY?
We must become endued with the holiness of God.
We read in Romans 6:19, “I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.”
• 1 Thess 4:7, “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.”
• Heb. 12:10 “…That we might be partakers of his holiness.”
If we are going to become holy, we must be endued with the HOLINESS OF GOD because we do not have any of our own!
We were born in sin, our righteousness is as filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6)
Yahweh commands us to become holy as He is holy, and the only way that is possible is through Christ, because we have no righteousness of our own.
The more we allow Him to take control of our lives, and allow Him to live within us, the more holy we become!
“Yahweh” has never deviated from that. He always has been and always will be a HOLY GOD, and He has always expected His people to be holy, and always will.
He DEMANDS THIS.
But also He demands that we recognize-
B. YAHWEH IS A SIN-PUNISHING GOD
He always has been and always will be a sin-punishing God.
Look at Exo. 20:7, "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”
If you think that you can live a life of disobedience and never be punished, you do not know a thing about Yahweh.
Listen, people may change, but God does not change.
Yahweh SEES all is the eternal God that never changes, and He has always been and always will be a sin-punishing God.
For example, many church people consider missing church services as a minor sin.
Mortals are good at categorizing sin; this is a big one and this is a small one.
But you cannot find anywhere in the Bible where God speaks of big sins or small sins.
That is exactly what the devil wants people to think, because church attendance shows WHERE OUR HEART IS!
We read in Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
When people lay out of church to serve their other gods, this is no more than the sin of idolatry.
That is, when people have other gods in their life, their church attendance will reveal it quicker than anything else they have other gods in their life.
Still, they put these other gods in their life over and over again, and actually think they can commit the sin of idolatry and get away with it.
No, they can not! Yahweh has always been a sin-punishing God and always will be.
Only God knows the price some have paid because they have put these gods in their life and committed the sin of idolatry.
Sometimes the punishment of sin affects other members of our family.
Look at Exo. 34:7, we read, “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”
Yahweh has always been and always will be a SIN-PUNISHING GOD.
Malachi 3:6, we read, “For I am the LORD, I change not…”
Yahweh means that God is consistent. He is the same today, yesterday, and forever.
If you are in a relationship where you deserve the judgment of God, you can expect to receive punishment. And it will not be that God's mood changes. He is a Holy God, a just God, and He has never and never will allow sin to go unpunished.
We have seen that Yahweh is a HOLY GOD and a SIN-PUNISHING GOD, but also let’s consider this-
C. YAHWEH IS A FORGIVING GOD
Look at Exo. 34:7, we read, “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…”
There are folks that do not have a forgiving bone in their body. If you do them wrong, they will hold you accountable for what you did to the day you die. BUT GOD IS NOT THAT WAY.
I am glad to tell you that (Yahweh) has always forgiven sin and always will.
Illus: Luis Palu, tells this story. On one occasion when he went into a town for a crusade, he had a taxi driver who was driver for that week.
Luis Palu witnessed to him and asked him if he was a Christian. He said, "I want to tell you I think that I'm a Christian but I did some horrible things in Vietnam and because of those things I did, I can't forgive myself. I believe that I'm a Christian, but I just keep harboring this guilt over me. Why does this keep coming over me? Can you give me something that will take that away?"
So Luis said he felt impressed to share with him the word of Jesus, and pray, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
The cab driver came back and said, "But I knew some of the things that I did and that's what's hard on me. I knew some of the things that I was doing were wrong."
Luis said the words of Romans 8:1 came to him "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Luis said "If you will repeat that scripture over and over and over again, you will begin to accept the truth of the Word of God. Don't accept my word, accept the Word of God that He will forgive you."
Luis said that at the last of that week when they went out to the airport, he got out of the cab and he asked the man, "Have you got peace?"
The taxi driver said with a smile on his face, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Has your sin been forgiven?
Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?
Conclusion:
I. DEFINITION OF YAHWEH
II. DEMANDS OF YAHWEH
A. YAHWEH IS A HOLY GOD
B. YAHWEH IS SIN-PUNISHING GOD
C. YAHWEH IS A FORGIVING GOD
