The Names of God Pt. II
Life & Light Community Church
Message from 9/3/2022
Life & Light Community Church began in the early months of 2020. What began as an opportunity for me, my wife and step-kids to continue to worship together, has now evolved into a ministry that has expanded to include close friends, family, and those who are simply hungry for the word of God. You can find us on Facebook, so please, feel free to reach out and join us.
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:12–13 (NASB95)
Scripture tells us that “whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13).” But which name are you calling upon? Yes, that’s right, our Lord God has more than one name. The Names of God, which we are looking at today, are found in the Old Testament. Each name shows a different characteristic or attribute of God. These names are revealed to those who needed God, and a specific part of God, at that moment in time. There are some amazing things revealed about God in His names and those things will help the Christ follower develop a deeper faith.
This message will seek to help the Christ follower understand why The Names of God are important to develop a deeper faith.
The Names of God help the Christ follower know the One who has called them into fellowship on a deeper, more personal level.
1). The importance of Adonai to the Christ follower.
Adonai is the Master and Majestic Lord; He is our Authority.
The first name we will explore in Part II of the series The Names of God, is Adonai. Adonai means the Lord or My Great Lord. For the Christ follower today, Adonai is the Master and Majestic Lord. Adonai is our TOTAL Authority. Adonai is the plural form of Adon, meaning Lord, and takes the place of YHWH. To help us see this and understand it better, we will examine a few Scripture references. First up is Psalm 8:
“O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!”
Psalm 8:1–9 (NASB95)
Psalm 8 begins and ends with the proclamation, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” This is NOT a question but a proclamation of the majesty of our Great God. Psalm 8 is a psalm of David to the majesty of Adonai. Adonai uses the weak to overthrow the mighty. David ponders the thought that Adonai has entrusted His creation to the dominion of man and then David ends with a note of praise.
Our next Scripture comes from the prophet Isaiah,
“A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Isaiah 40:3–5 (NASB95)
Isaiah describes “a voice of one calling” to “clear the way” for Adonai and to “make smooth in the desert.” This passage has been attributed to the ministry of John the Baptist and we see this very description from the Baptist himself in John 1:23. This voice calls for the valleys to be lifted up, the mountains and hills made low, the rough ground made smooth, and the rugged terrain to become a broad valley – all of this for the Master and Majestic Lord of Creation.
The third Scripture we will look at comes from Ezekiel,
“Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord God.”
Ezekiel 16:8 (NASB95)
Here, Adonai enters into a covenant with His people, though they have acted like an adulterous woman. Many believe this is only for the nation of Israel, but if you read closely, Ezekiel makes his prophecy after he had entered Babylonian captivity with the rest of Israel. Ezekiel is speaking specifically to the HOUSE of Israel, not the NATION of Israel. What is the difference? The House of Israel is made up of the Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom, sent into Assyrian captivity long before the HOUSE of Judah went to Babylonian captivity. Time and space constraints do not allow me to delve fully into this subject, but the “Lost Tribes” of Israel have not yet fully returned to Israel, that is yet to be fulfilled. The point here is that Adonai is in covenant with these tribes as well, and the picture of the skirt covering the nakedness of the House of Israel is a symbol of marriage. Adonai will keep His promise to marry His bride at the return of His Son, Yeshua!
Our final Scripture comes from Habakkuk,
“The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.”
Habakkuk 3:19 (NASB95)
Hinds’ feet refers to the gazelle, a sure-footed animal who climbs the “high places. In the same way, Adonai provides our strength and makes our footing sure as He calls us to climb the “high places” of our faith in Yeshua.
Questions for discussion/reflection:
What do you praise Adonai for today?
How does your witness “clear the way” and “make smooth” for the coming of Adonai?
How is Adonai keeping His promises to you today?
How is Adonai your strength today?
The Names of God help the Christ follower know the One who has called them into fellowship on a deeper, more personal level.
2). The importance of Jehovah to the Christ follower.
Jehovah never changes and His promises never fail.
The next name we will examine is Jehovah, meaning “I AM,” or the “One Who is,” and the “Self-Existent One.” Jehovah never changes and His promises never fail. Jehovah comes from a 16th century German scholar who wrote the name YHWH using the vowels of Adonai – YaHoVaH. Our first three Scriptures come from Exodus, first 3:14,
“God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 3:14 (NASB95)
We have already discussed this name in some depth in Part I of this series. This is the name given to Moses as he is sent to the sons of Israel held in captivity to Egypt. Our second Scripture is also from Exodus, this time 6:2-4,
“God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. “I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned.”
Exodus 6:2–4 (NASB95)
Once again, Jehovah is speaking to Moses, this time about the covenants with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Though Jehovah has made covenants with each of them, He has not made Himself known to them. Yet, Jehovah has made Himself known to Moses, for this passage comes right before Jehovah unleashes the plagues on Egypt and His promise of action.
Our final Scripture from Exodus is 34:5-7,
“The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
Exodus 34:5–7 (NASB95)
Once again, we find Moses talking with Jehovah, this time Jehovah has come down in a cloud and stood before Moses. Jehovah has come to provide a self-revelation as The Self-Existent One, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth. He is filled with grace, forgives sin, and yet remains a just Judge and King.
Finally, we have Psalm 102, which you can read for yourself, which is a prayer to Jehovah, written by a man in the midst of affliction. Verses 1-11 spell out his trouble before moving on to how he finds his confidence in the sovereign purposes of Jehovah (12-22), before he then concludes by contrasting the unchangeableness of Jehovah with his own fragile existence (23-28).
Questions for discussion/reflection:
How is Jehovah making Himself known to you?
How is Jehovah giving you a self-revelation of who He is?
How is Jehovah revealing His unchangeableness to you during this season of life?
The Names of God help the Christ follower know the One who has called them into fellowship on a deeper, more personal level.
3). The importance of El Roi to the Christ follower.
El Roi knows us and knows our trouble.
The final name of God we will examine today is El Roi. El Roi means “The God Who Sees me.” El Roi knows us and knows our trouble, He knows all our thoughts and feelings. The first Scripture we will look at is found in Genesis 16:11-14:
“The angel of the Lord said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers.” Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?” Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.”
Genesis 16:11–14 (NASB95)
El Roi appears to Hagar, the maid of Sarai, in her trouble and proclaims the birth of a son, Ishmael, and prophecies the trouble he faces in the future. Hagar declares, “You are El Roi – the “God Who Sees me.” We must also note that the name Ishmael means “God hears,” and the name of the well, Beer-lahai-roi, means “a well of the Living One who sees me.” El Roi is well acquainted with His people and their troubles.
Our final Scripture comes from psalm 139:7-12:
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night, Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.”
Psalm 139:7–12 (NASB95)
This is a psalm of David. Here he focuses on four great attributes of El Roi: His knowledge of all things (1-6); His presence everywhere (7-12); His power in forming man (13-18); and His holiness, which destroys evil people and searches the hearts of the Christ follower (19-24). His presence everywhere is in focus with El Roi – the God Who Sees me, regardless of where I go. If I go to heaven – El Roi is there. If I go to Sheol – El Roi is there. If I take wing at dawn or dwell in the depths of the sea – El Roi is there. If darkness overwhelms me and night is all around me – El Roi is there.
Questions for discussion/reflection:
What trouble does El Roi see you facing today?
Where are you today that El Roi is with you, in trouble, sorrow, pain or joy?
The Names of God help the Christ follower know the One who has called them into fellowship on a deeper, more personal level.
The names of God are important to the Christ follower for they reveal a new attribute and/or characteristic of our great God. Whether He is Adonai, My Great Lord, the Master and Majestic Lord, our total authority; or Jehovah, the One Who is, the Self-Existent One who never changes and His promises never fail; or perhaps He is El Roi, the God Who Sees me, who knows me and knows all my troubles, the One who knows my thoughts and feelings, Our God is the Great I Am, He is who we need Him to be in our trouble, our sorrow, our pain and in our joy.
Turn to God, call on His mighty name, and know that He knows you, He knows your trouble, He never changes, and His promises will never fail you.
We do all things for the glory of God, through Christ our Lord.
Amen and amen.
Next Week: The Names of God Pt. III
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