March 11th, 2018 THE POWER OF GOD S NAMES JEHOVAH AND ADONAI Terry Baldwin 1 [ TITLE SLIDE ] PRAY FOR TERESA ALDERFER STORY: A little girl in school was drawing a picture, and the teacher came over to her and asked, What are you drawing? The girl said, Well, I m drawing a picture of God. Teacher said, You can t draw a picture of God, no one knows what God looks like. Well, they will when I m finished. Everybody has their Concept of what God looks like - Ask people to draw picture of God... There d be many different expressions of how we perceive God - God wants you to personally KNOW Him - That s why He PROHIBITED His people from drawing or carving any images of Him - God wants us to KNOW HIM and worship Him... NOT our Imagination One way God has chosen to reveal Himself to us... through HIS NAMES God has a specific name that Relates to our Reality - Most of God s names come out of situations where God reveals Himself... in the reality of where people are - Healer / Deliverer / Supplier / Father / Friend - The best way to know God s name... is to NEED HIM
- God wants us to EXPERIENCE His name... not just Recite it LAST WEEK: 2 ELOHIM / God the POWERFUL CREATOR, MIGHTY GOD Today... JEHOVAH & ADONAI JEHOVAH STORY OF MOSES FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH GOD - Exodus 3 - Bush on fire / Moses Moses... / God wants Mose to do mighty task - It didn t make SENSE for Moses to go back... When it doesn t make sense... God s about to reveal Himself to you NEW WAY When it doesn t make sense... Tithing / Forgiveness God gives Moses His name [ Exodus 3.10-14 NLT ] 10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt. 11 But Moses protested to God, Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt? 12 God answered, I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain. 13 But Moses protested, If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, The God of your ancestors has sent me to you, they will ask me, What is his name? Then what should I tell them? ( Recap I need to know who You are by You TELLING ME YOUR NAME!! ) 14 God replied to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you. What Kind of Name Is That?? - I AM WHO I AM... This name was sacred to Jews 4 consonants Sacred Name of God YHWH - Could not be pronounced w/o Vowels
Vowels were added so we can say it... 3 YAHWEH When YAHWEH gets translated into english... JEHOVAH The Relational God Reason why it s a Sacred name... It s the name God gave to Himself - We read it as... - LORD = JEHOVAH - Lord = ADONAI - Bible uses God s name almost 7000 times God wanted a Relationship with His people in Egypt That s why He told Moses... Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you. Let s Talk about this name... I AM / YAHWEH / JEHOVAH 1. JEHOVAH is SELF-EXISTENT - God s existence doesn t depend on anyone or anything else I AM THAT I AM - You ARE because you were Created - He doesn t owe His existence to Parents or Another Creator - God is only completely self-sufficient & self-generating Being in universe 2. The name JEHOVAH illustrates SELF-SUFFICIENCY - You and I need... air, warmth, food, shelter, clothing... - JEHOVAH doesn t have to go OUTSIDE Himself for anything - Doesn t need food to exist / No car to get around - All JEHOVA needs is within Himself
- If I AM needs something... I AM goes to I AM... I AM THAT I AM The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; - Acts 17.24-25 4 - God does not need us, BUT amazingly... - He loves us passionately... He wants us to live with Him forever 3. GOD DOESN T CHANGE - He s same Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow - Creator and Sustainer of the stars and galaxies, doesn t change - God s character and attributes are the same at every point in time, from eternity past to eternity future 4. GOD IS ETERNAL I AM - JEHOVAH or I AM is Present Tense... - Not I WAS or I WILL BE... - JEHOVAH God Lives forever in the Present Tense - Everything for God is RIGHT NOW... we can t relate - God ALWAYS exist and ALWAYS will - When God talks to us He uses... tomorrow, yesterday But when we talk of Him, He is eternal and everything is NOW SO... when God says something will happen in future... BET ON IT! 5. GOD IS PERSONAL - JEHOVAH created us to WALK with us and TALK with us
- JEHOVAH Relational God... 6. GOD IS SELF-DEFINED 5 - I AM THAT I AM = I am NOT what you expect me to be - Let Me tell you about ME - We will NEVER be able to completely comprehend GOD, He s INFINITE - So much to learn about God, He s cancelling NIGHT so we don t miss anything - You ll have new body so you won t get tired and need a break - Heaven is the none stop, uninterrupted, knowledge of God - Why Angels bowing down to God saying HOLY, HOLY... God (JEHOVAH / YAHWEH / 4 Letters) RELATIONAL GOD Genesis 1 describes God as... ELOHIM God, God, God...elohim infinite, all-powerful God who created all things Genesis 2 God combines... JEHOVAH ELOHIM The LORD God.. The LORD God.. - Why does God now combine the two Names? You can t get God s power until you have God s RELATIONSHIP - Many want ELOHIM... but they don t want JEHOVAH - If you want to experience ELOHIM... draw near to JEHOVAH
6 That s why Genesis 3 satan says to Eve... Did God (Elohim) really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden? - He doesn t mind Religion if there s no RELATIONSHIP - He knows if there s no Relationship, there ll be NO POWER MAKE GETTING TO KNOW JEHOVAH A PRIORITY: - When a guy really cares about a girl, he makes getting to know her priority - Calls her / Listens to her / Takes her on dates / Learns her likes and dislikes / Expresses his feelings for her - BUT... if a guy says, I want to get to know you, - But Never Calls / Never Spends Time / that guy is lying! In the same way, if Christians say they want to get to know Jehovah, but they don t spend time with Him, talk with Him, worship Him, and obey Him, they are lying. ADONAI The God who Rules = Lord - This name refers to... MASTER or RULER The One who is in charge This name it s calling us to Submission - ELOHIM is the Power - JEHOVAH is the Relationship
- ADONAI is the Positioning yourself UNDER JEHOVAH so that you can experience ELOHIM - YIELDING TO GOD AS MASTER Psalms 97.5b says - ADONAI is ruler of the Whole Earth 7 - When we run our lives our own way... we re jeopardizing relationship - losing experiencing ELOHIM ADONAI wants us to Recognize and SUBMIT to Him as Master THAT S WHY... When Moses Recognizes God as ADONAI in chapter 4... God began to Lead Moses in Victory and Power - Chapter 3 God said He is JEHOVAH... - Chapter 4 Moses calls Him ADONAI an submits... - NOW Power of God is Experienced!! CLOSING: [ Isaiah 6.1 NLT ] In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. - Isaiah is comparing King who died... with KING who s still ALIVE - We are to submit to THE KING no matter what s happening to kings around us EXAMPLE: In courts on TV (Judge Judy / Brown)... They try court cases before these Judges. BEFORE you get on TV, you must agree to something
YOU MUST SUBMIT TO JUDGES RULING! 8 A lot of us want to get GOD s ruling to DECIDE if we are going to SUBMIT - Don t get God s ruling and THEN make decision!! - He says you call me Lord and let me render my Decision - SUBMIT to draw NEARER - then you ll receive POWER PROBLEM IS WE DON T WANT FULL TIME SUBMISSION - Many want FULL TIME BLESSING... they give PART TIME SUBMISSION STORY: Chicken and Pig Bacon & Eggs, desperately needed - store window...for you it s a CONTRIBUTION...for me it s a TOTAL COMMITMENT! - For many Christian we want to give EGG here and there... GOD WANT S YOU TO FULLY SUBMIT TO WHO HE IS If you want to see ELOHIM... Draw near to JEHOVAH and Submit to ADONAI