Mar. 31, 2021

“THE POWERFUL  NAMES  OF GOD”

“JEHOVAH- THE RELATIONAL GOD”

EXODUS 3:13-15

Have you ever had your photo taken in one of those tiny booths at the mall?

Our finite minds cannot conceive of the infinite God. All we’re able to grasp about our Lord is based on what He has revealed to us.

As we progress through Scripture, we soon come in contact with a name of God with which most of us are familiar. It’s also the name most frequently used throughout the Old Testament- 6519 times. In our contemporary mindset, it’s God’s most famous name. The name is JEHOVAH

The Experience at the Bush:

To best understand the meaning of the name Jehovah, we need to take a look at the life of Moses. In Exodus 3, we find Moses struggling with his purpose.

God’s greatest aim is always His own glory. God’s purposes on earth are for the advancement of His kingdom and His glory. 

Exodus 8:1 “And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”

Exodus 3:13 “Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

So God says back to Moses:

Exodus 3:14-15 “And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord 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 this is My memorial to all generations.”

Initially, this rendering of God’s name YHWH was Yahweh. When it was translated into English, it became the name which most of us today know it as- Jehovah. So when you hear the name Jehovah, keep in mind that this is the Hebrew name Yahweh, which comes from the God-given name YHWH, meaning “I am the existing one,” and on another note, when you come across Lord or God written in all caps, you can know that it’s a translation of the Hebrew word YHWH (Yahweh or Jehovah).

I Am Who I Am:

When we talk about Jehovah, we’re talking about His person, His character.

The Changing Changelessness of God

God is immutable. He does not change.

Malachi 3:6 ““For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Jonah 3:10

Exodus 32:14

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

Jehovah is the great immutable God. He is who He is, and He continues to be who He is all through eternity.

When God Doesn’t Make Sense

Deuteronomy 32:4 “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice;

Righteous and upright is He.”

Exodus 4:11 “So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?”

Jehovah is God interacting with His creation at a whole new level.

Genesis 2:4 “This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” 

Just as we saw Jehovah interacting with Moses and his calling in Exodus 3, we see Him interacting with mankind and His creation in Genesis 2. The Lord Jehovah God:

vs.7- He formed man.

vs.8- planted a garden

vs.9- caused it to grow

vs.15- took the man and put him in the garden

vs.16- commanded the man

vs.19- formed every beast…and brought them to the man.

vs.21- caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man

vs.21- took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh.

vs.21- fashioned into a woman the rib He had taken.

Satan comes along and deceives Adam and Eve:

Genesis 3:2-3 “And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”

Satan was okay with Eve acknowledging God; he just didn’t want her having a personal relationship under Jehovah’s authority.

Getting To Know Jehovah

So how do we get to know God as Jehovah? 

Exodus 32:9 “And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.”

Exodus 32:11 “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.”

Exodus 32:18 “And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”

Exodus 32:19-23

Moses had come face-to-face with Jehovah God, and he wanted to know more.

Do you know why so many people don’t know Jehovah and don’t experience Him personally in their daily lives?

God will come as intimately close to us as possible-if we ask Him and seek Him as Moses did.

James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”