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Who is God? That is the question we began looking at last week. All of Scripture tells us about God - what He is like, what He wants, how we can know Him and please Him. Yet, in all the Bible, there is not more eloquent answer to our question than what we find revealed in the names God chooses for Himself. Have you ever thought about that, the fact that God chose the names by which he would be known. We don’t choose our names. My name was given to me by my parents. Even my nick name was given to me by someone else. But God chose His names to describe to man who He was.
Last week we looked at Elohim - the Creator who is known for His might and glory. This is as much a title as a name. Every nation had an Elohim, God was just making the point that He alone is worthy of the title. This week we’ll look at a completely different kind of name. Where Elohim was an impersonal title, Jehovah is more like a personal first name. There are many Van Emmeriks in the world, but as far as I know, there is only one Kenneth Lee Van Emmerik II. That is my personal name. Even though there were many idols called elohim, there was only one Jehovah Elohim. That is the name for God used most frequently. In your Bible, you have seen the word LORD typed in all capital letters, wherever this appears, you have the Hebrew name Jehovah. So Jehovah Elohim is the LORD God in your Bible. The name Jehovah appears almost 7,000 times in the OT.
Psalm 68:4 says Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jehovah, and rejoice before him. Isaiah 42:8 says I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. If God has a proper name by which men can call Him, it is Jehovah. Let’s pray and then we will look at what we learn about Jehovah from His name.
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Introduction
Tell the story leading up to what was just read.
Now Moses asks, who should I say sent me? Everyone had an Elohim to serve, even though there was only one true God of heaven and earth, but Jehovah was the Elohim, the God of Israel. In essence God is saying that Israel was His people, He was their God. He wanted them to know Him by name. This passage in Exodus reveal much of the God who claimed Israel for His own.
I. Who is Jehovah - what do these early encounters with Jehovah tell us about God
A. He is self revealing
1. To all of creation He was Elohim- Gen 1:1-2:3
a. Revealing his personhood
b. Hidden from man in the glory of Elohim
(1) distant
(2) evoking awe more than fellowship
2. When the time came for special relationship with man God used a different name - Gen 2:4
a. God made part of creation in His own image
(1) not physically
(2) but in spirit
(a) he has personhood
(b) he reasons
(c) he makes moral choices based on right and wrong
b. God desires to be known by man - His special creation
(1) what an amazing the thought
(2) the Creator desires to know and be known by the creation
c. God can only be known by His own revelation
(1) no man seeks God
(2) no man could discover God if he tried
(a) how do finite creatures search out the infinite God
(b) how do we begin to discover the depth and breadth and meaning of all that God is if He does not want to be known
(3) God must show Himself to man in order for man to know God
(a) in nature
(b) in His written Word - the Bible
i) Jehovah is consistently the name used with revelation
ii) Thus saith the LORD
(c) ultimately, in the living Word - Jesus
It is like finding a friend playing Marco Polo. Explain invited to friend’s house, blindfolded in the pool. You would never find the person unless they responded. Only imagine you were in the pool looking but the other person was not even in the pool, or even on the planet. Without God’s help, we could never find Him, but He desires to be found. This is why God says trough the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 43:10 - Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. God has chosen to reveal Himself to us, and in His revelation, He has shown himself to also be...
B. He is self existent
1. Jehovah means To be or Being
a. Almost exactly the same word in Hebrew as to live or life
(1) havah - to be
(2) chavah - to live
b. He is the one who in Himself possesses life
2. He is permanently existent
a. Names Himself as the one Who is
(1) Not the one who is supposed to be
(2) not the one who is becoming
b. Simply the one who is
3. Jehovah is eternal
a. We saw Elohim who created preexisted the creation
b. Jehovah tells us God is the one who has always been
c. Think about the depth of that revelation
(1) all the other god’s of the day were perishable
(a) Egypt is a prime example
i) worshiped animals and insects
ii) held elaborate funerals every time a god died
(b) all the god’s of all mankind are perishable - they disappear over time
(2) Jehovah always is
(a) never dies
(b) never ceases to exist
(c) never beginning
(d) always is - what He is is what He was and what He will be - forever
He is the only being existing permanently. He never began, He will never end. He is always Jehovah, which brings us to the third revelation Jehovah makes about Himself, he is unchanging.
C. He is immutable
1. People change as they age
a. Mature and decay
b. Physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, spiritually
2. In fact, all of creation changes over time, nothing stays exactly the same
a. Even if we cannot see it
b. Molecules moves and things are different
3. God never changes
a. Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not;
b. He is not becoming
c. He is simply being what He has always been
(1) nothing about Him changes
(a) not His attitudes
i) he loves man as He has always loved man
ii) he hates sin as he has always hated sin
(b) not His character
i) he is always Holy
ii) he is always righteous
iii) he is always just
(2) if God were to change he would no longer be God
(a) either He would become less God than He is now
(b) or He would prove He has not always been God as he is now
(3) either way, Jehovah would cease to be timelessly perfect, eternal in nature
(4) he would just be another being, bigger than you and I, but finite like us
God never changes. He is always the same. Because Jehovah is immutable, He reveals to us another part of His character, namely that He is faithful. What He says, he will do. The promises he makes, He will keep. This is exactly the point He makes to Moses in verses 15-16. He had not forgotten Israel, or the promises He had made to His people. The unchangeable, eternal God is forever trustworthy, faithful to keep His word.
D. He is faithful
1. God makes all kinds of promises to men
a. Some are positive
(1) blessing
(2) protection
(3) prosperity
b. Some are negative
(1) curses
(2) punishment
2. God’s promises are based on nothing more than His own credibility
a. He names Himself as the memorial - v15
(1) today we use contracts to bind people to agreements
(2) there was a day when a person’s word was their bond
(3) in Bible times, a memorial, usually a pile of stones, was erected when a significant agreement was struck
(a) everyone who passed knew the story of the memorial
(b) everyone knew if one party failed to keep the agreement
b. He is his own collateral
(1) God had made covenants with Israel
(a) Abraham
(b) Isaac
(c) Jacob
(2) The unbreakable contract was made in God’s name
3. They can trust him, God always keeps His word - 7-8
a. Saw
b. Heard
c. Remembered
d. Now acting
e. God had not forgotten - He simply does things according to His own time table
The people thought God had forgotten them. He had been the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but He did not seem to be their God. He seemed distant and foreign. But Jehovah is not distant, he is a present help in time of need. For those who are tempted to relegate God to some bygone era, let me tell you...
E. He is relevant
1. God’s introduction to Moses was as the great I AM
a. Not the great I was
b. Not the great I will be
c. I am
(1) right now
(2) at this moment
(3) actively involved in a necessary way in the most intimate affairs of men
2. Jehovah is not some ancient relic
a. Some have called Him a useless crutch
(1) enlightened society has left God behind
(a) killed him with reason
(b) destroyed him with science
(2) he is thought to be nothing more than a support for the weak minded to lean on
b. Some have made him out to be the great clock maker - old deists
(1) the craftsman put the pieces together in his workshop
(2) he wound the clock right after creation then left it alone
c. Either way, they see no need for God today
3. Jehovah is vital to every area of life today
a. The societies who destroy God kill themselves
(1) look at America
(2) we began destroying ourselves when we began removing God from our collective consciousness
(a) destroying the fabric of our culture
i) marriage ripped apart
ii) sanctity of life trampled under foot
iii) reason for existence has disappeared
(b) literally killing ourselves over time
i) 30 million abortions
ii) assisted suicide
iii) doctors even promote and practice infanticide and euthanasia
a) killing off the weak
b) eliminating those who are useless to the new societies goals
b. God alone provides the necessary stability that permits societies to thrive
(1) he provides the foundation on which healthy nations build
(2) he provides the absolutes that are necessary for stability
God is as relevant today ss He was on the first day of creation. We can no more exist apart from God today than creation could come into existence on its own in Genesis 1. We need the absolutes that God provides in order to function. We can see the necessity for these absolutes easily if we will only take the time to look. Where would we be without the absolute laws of gravity. Of course we imagine floating of into space like the cartoons, but it is much more serious than that. With out the laws of gravity being permanent, the earth would spin out of its orbit around the sun. We would either be drawn into or flung away from its life giving warmth. Either move would mean the end of life. And as much as we need the absolute physical laws that God has provided, we need the absolute moral stability that God provides even more. Life is short, but the spiritual choices we make are eternal. So it should not surprise us to see that as Jehovah shows his present relevance to man, he also reveals that...
F. He is moral
1. he is holy
a. Sacred, set apart
(1) from creation
(2) from sin
b. See How Moses is instructed to approach
c. All Jews knew how sacred this name was
(1) Jehovah is English for YaHWeH
(2) even the Hebrew is not exact
(a) instructed not to take God’s name in vain
(b) wrote only the consonants to be sure they obeyed
(c) YHWH (JHVH in German) - started adding the vowels from different word for Lord which means master around 900 BC
(3) this is how sacred God’s name was to His people
(a) we are so flippant with His name
(b) yet his name is only holy because of who He is
2. He is righteous
a. He always conducts himself in accordance with his holiness
b. Jehovah expelled man from the garden
c. Jehovah rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gommorah
d. Jehovah executes judgement against violation of holiness
3. He is loving
a. Holiness and righteousness must condemn
b. Love seeks to redeem
(1) see His promise to Israel - 8
(a) he was coming to deliver them
(2) Jehovah sought Adam and Eve in the Garden
(3) Jehovah established the sacrificial system
(a) explained in the first 7 chapters of Leviticus
(b) Called Elohim only once
(c) Called Jehovah 86 times
4. The account of the flood is a perfect example
a. In Gen 6 Elohim ordered 2 of every animal enter the ark
(1) God of creation
(2) ruler and preserver of what He had made
b. In Gen 7 Jehovah ordered 7 of ever clean beast to the ark
(1) no longer just a matter of preservation of life
(2) this represented a preservation of fellowship
II. What response does Jehovah desire - why did God reveal Himself to man, what does He want us to do with the knowledge of this revelation
A. Accept the moral obligation Jehovah places on all men
1. Jehovah is a moral being
2. He has placed all men under moral obligation as well
a. He has given mandates to obey
(1) God gave commands to Adam and Eve
(2) every man is under obligation to observe God’s commands
b. He has promised just rewards for our actions
(1) blessing poured out on the obedient
(2) wrath poured out on the disobedient
3. Morality is not subjective
a. Man tends to believe he is the standard of morality
(1) culture sets rights and wrongs
(2) majority chooses what is acceptable
(3) today, right and wrong is purely individual
(a) result of evolution
(b) removes the creator
(c) removes absolutes
(d) nothing new - In genesis every man did that which was right in his own eyes
b. God says He is the standard
(1) Lev 19:2 - Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.
(2) You shall be holy because Jehovah, your Elohim is holy
(3) right and wrong is established eternally by God, explained in His word
(a) what He says is right, is right
i) it is right to give God absolute control over every area of your life
ii) it is right to reserve physical relationships for marriage
(b) what He says is wrong is wrong
i) homosexuality is sin
ii) murder is sin
a) whether it happens in a shoot out during a robbery
b) or it happens in a right to life clinic and the law calls it abortion
(4) there is only one moral standard in the universe, and that is the standard of Jehovah
4. Jehovah desires that man accept the moral code that God has laid out in Scripture
a. When we sin, we do not defy the moral norms of society
b. We sin against the holy, righteous God of all creation
B. Answer the call for personal relationship Jehovah offers to all men
1. Jehovah’s righteousness demands that He judge man according to His moral code - and we all fail the test
a. None righteous
b. All have sinned - missed the mark
2. Jehovah’s love extends an invitation to redemption despite our failure
a. Redemption does not just ignore God’s righteousness
b. Redemption satisfies God’s righteousness
(1) Exodus 34:6-7 - And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty;
(2) God loves man so much that He offers to pay the debt for sin himself
(3) but he will never ignore sin
3. Just as God does not force obedience, he does not force fellowship
a. He invites fellowship
b. But we can only come to Him on His terms
(1) Cain and Able provide a very clear picture of this - Gen 4
(2) God hd taught them how to have fellowship
(a) the wages of sin is death
(b) fellowship required a blood sacrifice
i) Able brought the bloody sacrifice
ii) Cain tried to worship God on his own terms
a) willing to accept his need for God
b) wanted to prove he could help his cause
(3) this is how people often try to come to God
(a) they recognize they are not perfect
(b) but they only want God on their terms
i) not too many restrictions in life
ii) they want to be able to pay part of the price of their sin themselves
a) try to meet as much of God’s moral code as possible
b) try to do enough good stuff to balance out the bad stuff
c) but those are not God’s terms
(4) God says
(a) men are helpless to satisfy their sin debt
(b) that only Jesus can provide salvation for us
i) admitting our sinfulness
ii) admitting our helplessness
iii) asking for forgiveness based on Jesus death on the cross
iv) turning from our sin and putting all our dependance on Him entirely for justification before God
v) then keeping the slate clean by confession and repentance - I John 1:9
4. This is the only way to have fellowship with Jehovah
Close
Maybe you are here today, and you are a Christian, you have asked God to forgive you for your sin. But now you are trying to get God to play by your rules. You are not maintaining fellowship with Jehovah because you are not willing to submit to God’s moral code.
Maybe you are here today and you have never answered God’s invitation for fellowship. You are still trying to live like Cain, and force God to just take what you give Him. You will never have fellowship with God this way. The only relationship Cain had with God was one of rejection and punishment. But God offers more, if you are willing to come on His terms.
