2006-03-03
Good Morning Cherished of God,
The Holy Spirit is purposely leading me to spend extra time on the first index sentence of the Lord's Prayer [MT 6: 9-13] because He has things He wants all of us to know. For the sake of recall, the first index sentence is: "Our Father hallowed by Thy name..." No other being in the universe has the right to command us to worship Him or give Him this kind of reverence, because no other being deserves it as our awesome God does.
Years ago I wrote a course called "The Names of God," never dreaming that it was in preparation to write about those names as I do here. In this context, the meaning of the Hebrew names of God will help us understand why He alone has the right to expect our worship. Hebrew names always either depict an attribute or something important about the person's relationship to or purpose for God. God's names show both His attributes and His deeds or capabilities. Let's look at them now.
El Elyon means "God is sovereign. This means no other entity has the power to rule, make decisions, or otherwise lead over Him. Our God is not only the ultimate source of power, but He is the ultimate source of wisdom, compassion, and all the other elements that make a righteous Sovereign. He is Lord of the universe, and many Jewish prayers in Hebrew remind us of that. Take for example any prayer that begins in Hebrew: "Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam....," which when translated into English means, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, King of the universe..." falls into this category. The prayers over the candles, the bread, and the wine are examples of this. Another way of translating El Elyon is the God Most High as used in GN 14: 20, "May the Most High God, Who gave you [Abram] victory over your enemies, be praised!" And Abram gave Mechizedek a tenth of all the loot he had recovered."
Eloheim is a name for God which is actually plural in Hebrew and means Creator. I find this very compelling in view of it's use in places like GN 2: 7, "Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; He breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live." Traditional Jews take this name to mean God, a word which they consider so holy that they refuse to write it out. Instead, the write it G_d out of respect for their Creator. Messianic Jews and Christians recognize the Trinitarian nature of God, our Creator, which acknowledges its plural ending in Hebrew and God's unique place in their lives. This is God in three personalities, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
El Shaddai, another name for God, means the All Sufficient One. In Hebrew, the word "El" means mighty or strong. Our Senior Pastor, Dean Nadasdy, often ends his prayers with the phrase, "In the strong name of Jesus Christ." That is no accident. It's recognition that no higher or stronger power exists than that of our God, of Whom Jesus Christ is the second personality. While the translation of the word "Shaddai" is not clear, most scholars lean toward "All Sufficient One." Some believe that it speaks of God in His might and power as seen in His judgments. An OT use of this name is seen in GN 17: 1-3, "When Abram was ninety years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, 'I am the Almighty God. Obey Me and always do what is right. I will make My covenant with you and give you many descendants.' Abram bowed down with his face touching the ground..." Whenever I hear the words El Shaddai, I think of that wonderful song with same title. It's a reminder to me of the greatness of the God I worship. A dear friend now-deceased, Gwen Frazier, gave me a note which I keep attached to my computer where I can't miss seeing it every day which expresses El Shaddai perfectly. "Good morning! This is God! I will be handling all your problems today. I will not need your help. So have a good day!"
Jehovah is the name that begins many other names for God. This word means the Self-Existent One. What better place can we see this in God's answer to Moses' question in EX 3: 13-14? "But Moses replied, 'When I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors sent me to you,' they will ask me, 'What is His name?' 'So what can I tell them?' God said, 'I AM WHO I AM. You must tell them: 'The One Who is called I AM has sent me to you.'" God goes on to say that this is His name forever. Jehovah, the Self-Existent One is the Alpha and the Omega, the same yesterday, today, and forever [HE 13: 8]. When we delve into what the Holy Spirit wants us to know, our faith is strengthened as we get better acquainted with God. It is no longer a case of "I believe because I was told to believe in Him." Instead, our faith is real, and it wells up from our innermost being. Understanding God is a first step. Experiencing God through serving Him is the next one. Our God loves each of us no matter what our circumstances might be. All we have to do is repent of our sins and believe in His Son. While Abram never knew the Lord Jesus in his own time, he certainly knew God well enough to believe genuinely in Him. That is why we can believe GN 15: 6, "Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him." God justifies anyone who does the same with all his heart.
PRAYER: O Lord, we thank You for sending us the Holy Spirit Who leads us into deeper understanding of You. He makes our paths to that understanding interesting and fulfilling. He reminds us of Your constant love and presence in our lives. We utter PS 33: 22, "Yes, Lord, let Your constant love surround us, for our hopes are in You alone." Lest we should forget, the Spirit reminds us of the great sacrifice You and the Son made for us with His death. JN 3 :16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son on the cross, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have everlasting life." It is no accident that You want us to spend time learning Your names. Your great desire is to have us know you better and to be brought back to Your side for a blissful eternity with You. This was Your decision even before You created the earth. EPH 1: 4-5, "Even before the world was made , God had already chosen us to be His through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before Him. Because of His love God had already decided that through Jesus Christ He would make us His sons-this was His pleasure and purpose." As our Lord and Creator, You deserve our praise and worship, and so we pray You will look into our hearts and see the love we have for You. We acknowledge Your sovereignty over us and the whole universe, as our El Elyon. IS 45: 6-7, "I am the Lord, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord Who does all these." You are our Creator, and there is no other who could have done this. COL 1: 16, "For through Him [Jesus Christ] God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through Him and for Him." With You, El Shaddai, there is no need for any other god, for Your You and Your grace is sufficient [2 COR 12: 9-10]. You are the beginning and the end of everything, totally self-existent [HE 13: 8], the same yesterday, today, and forever. We worship, thank, and praise You in Christ's strong name; Amen.
This review of the meanings of God's names as they relate to the first index sentence of the Lord's Prayer is too fascinating to leave for the moment. So, next week, I will continue with more of God's names. If we haven't been convinced by now that God deserves our worship as step one in prayer, we surely will be before the Holy Spirit gets done with us. So, try not to miss a delicious word He gives me next week. Never before has there been any deity who seeks a relationship that is so real and personal with us as our God does. No claims made by other belief systems can replace that relationship or what it does for us. Our sins are forgiven and forgotten [HE 8: 12]. Our sicknesses are healed [PS 103: 1-3]. Encouragement comes our way when we are tired from doing spiritual warfare [PS 64: 10]. He shares our victories with us, when we share His victory over spiritual death through the Son's Atonement [1 COR 15: 57]. He enables sinners to live a lives of righteousness and purity [JER 31: 33-34]. He comforts us when we mourn the loss of loved ones [MT 5: 4]. He teaches us through His word how to confront the enemy and how to deal with challenging situations in our lives [2 TIM 3: 16-17]. He shows us how to care for others even through we were born into total selfishness [JN 13: 34-35]. For what more could we ask?
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn