January 4, 2015
The “J” Factor: God
Has a Name
Exodus 3:1-14 NOTES NOT EDITED
SIS—For faith to be vital, vibrant, transforming
and effective it must be personal.
Let us begin this
first sermon of the New Year by reading our text together: Exodus 3:1-14
As we enter into a
New Year, I look around at our world and wonder how much worse things can
become. Our nation seems like a powder
keg about to explode. We literally have
riots in the streets. We have police
officers being executed while they sit in their patrol cars. Record numbers of American adults are out of
work. The Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS) moves as a scourge across the Middle East, regularly beheading innocent
men and women, and even children.
At the same time
that evil seems to be increasing at alarming rates, the Church in America
continues to slide further and further into a pit of irrelevance. In 2009 82% of American adults professed a
belief in God. In the last 5 years that
number has decreased by 8%. Only about 7
out of 10 Americans even believe in God, much less serve Him in any significant
way! During that same time period,
belief in evolution increased by 5%.
My point is that
Christianity as a factor in American life is rapidly declining, and as a
consequence, evil is spiraling. Let me
add some statistics that should give us cause for alarm.
Of the 250,000
Protestant churches in America, 200,000 are either stagnant (with no growth) or
declining. That is 80% of the churches in America and maybe the one you attend,
if you attend at all. 4,000 churches
close their doors every single year. There
is less than half of the number of churches today than there were only 100
years ago.
3,500 people leave
the church every single day. Since 1950,
there are 1/3rd fewer churches in the U.S.
I’ve taken this
time to remind us of the “state of the Church” in America to bring us to the
point of asking: “What is wrong with
Christianity in America?” Wrapped inside
this question is the solution to a more vibrant, effective, transforming faith.
The answer to that
question is rather simple: for the vast
majority of Americans—including regular church-goers—God is merely an idea and
not a person. In order for faith to be vital, vibrant, effective and
life-transforming, it must be personal.
God is a person—a
person Who has a Name. In fact, “God,”
is not a name at all. God is a
“title.” God is a category—such as dog,
tree, or man. I am a man but that is not
my name. Man is “what” I am but not
“who” I am. You cannot have a
relationship with me simply by knowing what category I am in. The same is true for the God of the
Bible. When the Person in the category
of “God” (and there is only one representative in that category) wanted to
establish a relationship with a people (the Israelites) He gave them His name.
It may be that
Yaweh is the “hiphil” stem of hyh
which would give the name the meaning of “The One Who Causes Life.” Whatever the Hebrew meaning may be it most
certainly focuses on the “eternal, causeless, creative” aspect of a Personal
God. Many scholars have noted that our
cosmos not only shows evidence of a Creator, but of a Personal Creator, or “Intelligent
Design.” Let me explain it this
way. Most scientists recognize the fact
that our universe, particularly in reference to earth, is uniquely “designed”
to support life. The parameters
necessary for life are so exacting as to be ascribed a name in science—the
“anthropic principle.” From the tilt of
the earth’s axis to the strength of earth’s magnetic field, all the conditions
on earth are exactly—to the nth degree—as they need to be to support
life.
However, the
exacting conditions necessary to support life, cannot of themselves account for
life on our planet—or anything else in existence for that matter. There must be some “Intelligent, Personal”
action to set factors in motion for a creation event. Let me give you an example of how a
“personal” intervention is necessary for any creative event to take place. Take a match for an example. There are different varieties of matches, but
they work basically the same way. The
conditions necessary for combustion exist on the head of the match—often a
friction-sensitive material called, “red phosphorous” and a more flammable
“white phosophorous.” A small wooden
stick—itself flammable—is dipped with the components necessary to create
fire. Yet, left alone, the match will
just sit there. The conditions for
combustion are insufficient to “cause” combustion. A match lights when a “person” picks up the
match and strikes it sufficiently to set in motion the chemical processes to
cause fire. The “sufficient cause” is a
person. Scientists talk about all the
conditions that existed to support life—and they are correct. However, evolution alone is insufficient to
account for life because motion requires a mover and the first motion requires
a “Prime Mover,” or a personal force.
Now, I’ve belabored
the point of the necessity for “personal” involvement to cause anything to
happen so that you will better appreciate the “personal” nature of
Christianity. In order for faith to be vibrant, effective, and life-transforming, it
must be personal. Without a
“personal relationship” with the God of the Bible, faith is impossible. The best one can hope for is religion, and
religion has never been particularly helpful.
The reason faith does not work for most people is because God is simply an
“idea,” not a person.
Yet, the Bible
stressed the “personal” nature of the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible has a name. The personal nature of Yahweh is a key issue
in Christian theology. The story of the
Exodus is the archetypal story of the Bible setting the foundation for the
story of redemption culminating in the work of Jesus Christ. It gives us one of the most important
principles in the Bible: God’s name.
1. God’s
Personal Name
In the 42nd
chapter of Isaiah, God is comforting His people who will be in bondage in
Babylon as this prophecy unfolds. In
general, this passage is a promise to all God’s people for all time after His
Servant, Jesus Christ, comes to earth to die to provide salvation for all
people. The interesting thing about this
prophetic promise and proclamation of hope is that it is centered around God’s
name—the name He discloses Himself.
Isaiah 42:8 says,
8 I am Yahweh, that is My name;
I
will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols.
In most other translations—the
KJV, ESV, NIV, and even the NET Bible—the translations use the title, “LORD,”
where the HCSB uses the translation “Yahweh.”
You will notice that in all these modern translations the word, “lord,”
is in all capital letters. This is done
in modern Bibles to identify what is technically called the “tetragrammaton,”
or “four (tetra) letters (grammaton).”
In the original text the “tetragrammaton” represents the four Hebrew
letters: yōd (י, transliterated as a “y”), hē (ה, hay, or h), vav (ו,
representing the letter “w” or sometimes “v”) and a final hē. Thus, we have the
letters (consonants), “YHWH” (יהוה , read right to left). Without vowels this cannot be pronounced,
which is not a problem for Jews since they felt the Divine name was too holy to
pronounce. Later, for vocalization
purposes the vowels from adonai (Lord),
and elohim (God) were added to make
the word, Yahweh. A few thousand years later Yahweh,
through Latin into English became our common word, “Jehovah.”
This personal name
for God first occurs in Genesis 2:4: These
are the records of the heavens and the
earth, concerning their creation at the time
that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
The term, “Lord
God” translates the Hebrew term, “Yahweh elohim.” Now stick with me we are going to see why all
this is important to us today. In
chapter one of Genesis the term for God that is used in describing the Creator
was, “Elohim.” This title for the
Creator is used 30 times in 31 verses.
Clearly, the focus of creation is on the Creator, not the creation. But, in chapter two of Genesis the Holy
Spirit inspires Moses to refer to Elohim as, “Yahweh Elohim,” or “LORD God” in
our translations.
Before I tell you
why that is significant, let me share a bit more about what “Yahweh”
means. For this, let us go back to our
text in Exodus 3. Whereas, Genesis 2:4
is the first use of Yahweh (of many) in the prior to Exodus, it is only in
Exodus that God tells us what His divine name means. In Exodus 3:13-14 we read:
13 Then Moses asked God, “If I go to
the Israelites and say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and
they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what should I tell them?” 14 God
replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This
is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”
Now, don’t slack
off on your listening as we examine a little more Hebrew. God says that the meaning of His name is “I
Am Who I Am,” shortened to, “I Am.” This
may sound like a verse from Dr. Seuss but it makes perfect sense when you think
about it. The key issue in God’s name is
His “eternal existence.” God does not
have a “was” or a “will be” but only an “Am.”
God is eternal and has no past or future. The word translated “am” is from the Hebrew
root, hayah—he, yod, he—which is the base form for the word, “Yahweh.” God gives His name in Genesis 2:4 and
translates it in Exodus 3:14. An
alternative translation of Yahweh is often given as, “The One Who Causes Life”
(the hiphil form of hayah.)
OK, now I am sure
you have had enough of this language study.
What does it mean for you and I that the name of God was changed from
chapter 1 of Genesis to chapter 2? Well,
what changed in chapter two? Chapter 1
already gave us the entire creation account, but what is different in chapter
2? You will note that chapter 2
highlights, or recounts in greater detail, God’s creation of man and
women. In other words, chapter two is more
“personal” than chapter one. Chapter 2
establishes the intimate, PERSONAL, and special relationship God has with man
(and woman).
Yahweh is God’s
“personal” name that focuses on the covenant relationship He has with man. Elohim is not a name. It is a title. It is a concept. Without Yahweh, elohim remains distant, transcendent,
unapproachable, and incomprehensible.
God gave Moses His “personal” name because God wants a “personal”
relationship with us. God doesn’t want
us to simply give an intellectual assent to His existence. God, Yahweh, wants to share Himself with us.
Unless the Bible so
clearly demonstrated the fact that God wants a personal relationship with His
creatures, the idea would be totally incomprehensible to man and infinitely
beyond our intellectual capabilities.
We still have the
remnants of the Christmas season all around us.
In the shadow of the Christmas season is the bright hope that God,
Yahweh, is with us. Let us recall the
words of Matthew, 1:23:
23 See, the virgin will become
pregnant and give birth to a son,
and
they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated
“God
is with us.”
God is a
person. God has a name. That name is, “Yahweh.” It is His personal name disclosed by Himself
to tell us He wants a personal relationship with us. I may not understand “why” He would want a
relationship with me, but I need only know that He does.
2. God’s
Descriptive Names
Now, if you are
like me, then about now your mind must be numb.
All this talk about “waws” and “yōds”
and “hē’s” and tetragrammatons
gives us little help or hope if it does not mean something in our everyday
life. Even saying God wants to have a
“personal” relationship with me is very problematic. How can that even be possible? I cannot see Him. He does not (though He could) talk with me in
an audible voice (which would likely be Hebrew which would not be very helpful
to me). What good is it to know God’s
personal name is “Yahweh?” It is good in
every way. Look again at what knowing
the Personal Name of God did for Moses and the Israelites (Ex. 3:15-20):
15 God also said to Moses, “Say this
to the Israelites: Yahweh, 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;
this is how I am to be remembered in every generation. 16 “Go
and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: Yahweh, the God of your
fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I
have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised you
that I will bring you up from the misery of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites,
Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and
honey. 18 They will listen to what you say. Then you, along
with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: Yahweh,
the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day
trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God. 19 “However,
I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, unless he is forced by
a strong hand. 20 I will
stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles that I will perform
in it. After that, he will let you go.
Knowing the Divine
Name, the Personal Name, of God Almighty delivered the entire nation of
Israel—perhaps over 2 million people—out of the grip of the most powerful man
on earth, the Pharaoh. Now, deliverance
from brutal slavery would have been more than enough reward for the Israelites,
but God did not send them away empty handed.
Look at verses 21-22:
21 And I will give these people such
favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go
empty-handed. 22 Each
woman will ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and
gold jewelry, and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters.
So you will plunder the Egyptians.”
God not delivers
souls—God delivers the goods! A personal
relationship with Yahweh is “good” by any standard of measure one might want to
apply.
God has only one
name, Yahweh, but in the Bible God is described by many other names. I call them “God’s Descriptive Names.” These names describe the benefits of a
personal relationship with Yahweh. I
won’t go over all of God’s descriptive names, but here are a few.
(1) Yahweh Nissi—Yahweh is My Banner (Ex. 17:15)
15 And Moses built an altar and named it, “The Lord Is My Banner.” 16 He said, “Indeed, my hand
is lifted up toward the Lord’s throne.
The Lord will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
“Nissi”
refers to a pole
with an flag attached. In battle opposing nations would fly their own flag on a
pole at each of their respective front lines. This was to give their soldiers a
feeling of hope and a focal point. This is what God is to us: a banner of
encouragement to give us hope and a focal point.
When we “focus” on
Yahweh we have hope and the expectation of victory regardless of what enemy we
might face in life.
(2) Yahweh Raah—Yahweh is My Shepherd (Ps. 23:1)
The
Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.
Just as an earthly
shepherd protected, cared for, and indeed loved his sheep, Jehovah Raah,
protects, cares for, and loves us.
(3) Yahweh Rapha—Yahweh is My Healer (Ex. 15:26)
26 He said, “If you will carefully
obey the Lord your God, do what is right in His eyes, pay attention to His
commands, and keep all His statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you
that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am Yahweh who heals you.”
Neither disease,
nor death, have the final say in the life of a believer. With merely the Word
of His mouth God can put away disease from our lives and through His Son has
even conquered death. A follower of
Yahweh will not endure affliction alone, and will not endure it forever.
(4)
Yahweh Shammah—The Lord Is There For Me (Ezek.48:35)
In describing the
City of God, Heaven, the Word says:
35 The perimeter of the city will be
six miles, and the name of the city from that day on will be: Yahweh Is There.”
Shammah is a symbolic name for the
earthly Jerusalem from the root, sham, meaning
“there.” Heaven is not defined by “where
it is,” but by “Who is there!” A
follower of Yahweh has the promise of God’s eternal presence from the moment of
salvation and for eternity.
(5) Yahweh Tsidkenu—Yahweh is My Righteousness (Jer.
23:6)
In speaking about
the result of the Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the cross, Jeremiah prophesied:
In
His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.
This
is what He will be named: Yahweh Our
Righteousness.
This is perhaps the
greatest “good” that can come from a personal relationship with Yahweh. We are made “right in His eyes” because of
the work of His Son, Jesus Christ. We do
not have to flounder in in self-righteous acts to try to justify ourselves
before God. God provides the
“righteousness” He, Himself requires.
The N.T. says,
2Cor.
5:21 He
made the One who did not know sin to be
sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of
God in Him.
So, you see by the
descriptive names of Yahweh that there are infinite benefits from a personal
relationship with Him. God’s personal
name combined with many descriptive names demonstrate just how very important
it is to know God as a person, not just a religious concept or philosophic
idea.
Yet, there is one
more name by which we must engage with God, besides His personal name and His
descriptive names. It is His
3. Redemptive
Name
There is no more
important name given under heaven among men than the name, Jesus—the Redemptive
Name of God. Peter and John as they
stood accused by the Jewish leadership of causing trouble by healing a man in
the name of Jesus, they gave this testimony as their defense (Acts 4:11, 12):
11 This Jesus is
the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 There
is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to
people, and we must be saved by it.”
It is not popular
to preach that Jesus is the only way of salvation. In fact, it is becoming increasingly less
popular to preach that the only true religion is Christianity. In a few years, it may even be illegal to
preach this in America, if things continue in the direction we are currently
heading.
But, truth is true
even when it is unpopular.
God gave us His
“personal” Name to make it clear He wants to have a personal relationship with
us. The Bible gives us an abundance of
descriptive names of Yahweh to demonstrate the “eternal rewards” of a personal
relationship with Yahweh. The Bible
gives us the “redemptive name” of God—Jesus—so that we will no the only way to
eternal life. Jesus, Himself said (Jn.
14:6):
“I
am the way, the truth, and the life.
No
one comes to the Father except through Me.
In
order for faith to be vital, vibrant, transforming and effective it must be
personal—a personal relationship with Yahweh through Jesus Christ.
You will often hear
people chant the mantra: “All roads lead
to heaven,” or “All roads lead to God.”
This is a damnable lie straight from the Devil’s lips. The Bible says clearly (Mat. 7:13-14),
“Enter
through the narrow gate. For the gate is
wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go
through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road
that leads to life, and few find it.
Now, it is logical
to say, the Bible is incorrect.
But, if the Bible IS correct, then all other religions must be wrong. It is also logical to suggest that all
religions are wrong, but it is not logical to say that all religions are
right, given the reality that all religions teach different paths to
salvation. If there is ANY WAY at all to
be saved, it must be different, unique, and exclusive. Given this logical constraint I must make a
choice: what way will I follow.
The Bible tells us
that God’s Redemptive Name is “Jesus.”
Jesus is God the Son, Who became flesh and died as a sacrifice for the
sins of man on the cross. There is “no
other name” by which one can be saved.
All other paths are the “broad way leading to destruction.”
Year
after year after year
in 37 years of ministry I have watched people flounder like a catfish on a
river bank flopping madly to try to get to a place of safety, satisfaction, and
purpose in life, to no avail. I’ve seen
very few—myself included—live what I would consider a truly vibrant, vital,
transforming, effective Christian life.
After 37 years of
seeing this pattern of floundering over and over again, and coming to end of
yet another year and the beginning of yet another New Year . . . I asked
myself, “Why is it like this?” Why does
Christianity seem so anemic in America.
The answer came
back to me as I watched the current movie version of “Exodus—God and Kings.”
I reread Exodus 3 and God gave me
the answer to why Christianity doesn’t seem to work very well for most people
in America.
The answer was that
God was nothing more than a “religious idea”—sometimes a very lofty idea for
people—nothing more than a philosophical concept. God for most people is not, Yahweh, the
Creator that so much wants to have a personal relationship with us.
I’ve narrowed my
New Year’s resolution down to “one.” I
suspect it may take this whole year—indeed the rest of my natural life to
fulfill this resolution. My New Year’s
resolution is: Do whatever it takes to get to know Yahweh better!
Pray more. Study more.
Give more. Serve more. Whatever it takes.
I would encourage
you to consider joining me in this “one New Year’s Resolution.”
<<end>>
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.