Wednesday Bible study: Y is for Yahweh

This is the most important name we will hit in this journey- it is known as the Tetragrammiton, it is sometimes mispronounced as Jehovah, and it is what God called Himself when Moses asked His Name...

Exo 3:14  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" 

Note also that Jesus, establishing Himself as God, also used it...

Joh 8:57  The Jews said to Jesus, "What? How can you say you have seen Abraham? You are not even 50 years old!" 

Joh 8:58  Jesus answered, "The fact is, before Abraham was born, I AM." 

And the actual word-

יהוה

yehôvâh

yeh-ho-vaw'

From H1961; (the) self Existent or eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God: - Jehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050, H3069.

...is what you are reading every time you see LORD in all caps in your Bible.  As you can see, it means  'self-existent'- and there are a lot of conceptual/philosophical ramifications to that, many of them beyond our faculties to grasp.  So I prayed that God would show me a better way to approach the subject- and He did.

What I was led to do was to look up the FIRST time the term 'LORD God' (Yahweh elohim) was used in the first few books of the Old Testament.  Because there is a reason that the two linked is more powerful.  In the first chapter of Genesis, the term God- elohim- is used exclusively.  It is plural, denoting the nature of God as both one and Three-In-One.  But in the next chapter, as He deals with His creation, the personal LORD God comes into play.  So what I am going to do is, I'm going to give you those 'first verses'.  Then I am going to break them down two different ways, with some adds thrown in along the way.  Here we go!

Gen 2:4  These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 

Exo 3:15  And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. 

Lev 4:22  "When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the LORD his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt... 

Num 10:10  Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God. 

Deu 1:5  Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 

Deu 1:6  "The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, 'You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 

Jos 1:9  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD thy God is with you wherever you go." 

Jdg 2:12  And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. 

Rth 2:11  But Boaz answered her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 

Rth 2:12  The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!" 

Before I start the main thrust here, I noted that two words came up more than once- generations and memorial, and I want you to think of what follows in the terms of these two.  Generations is actually two different words in Genesis 2 and Exodus 3.  The first refers to the idea of descendants, people through whom the things of the LORD God will be passed on; the second is referring to the cycle of time itself, beyond any single life.  Memorial is differentiated by purpose.  In Exodus 3 it is God's memorial to all time; in Numbers 10 it is our worship presented BEFORE God.  So we have two things going on here- God being shown to all generations across all time, and the interaction between God and Men.

I said I wanted to attack this two different ways, and the first might seem insignificant but it isn't- note that sometimes the phrase "LORD God" is together, and sometimes there is a qualifier between them.  Let's look at these qualifiers:

Genesis- no qualifier.  As He created everything ALONE, by Himself, there is no qualifier needed to understand the verse.  God can do anything, and needs no man as a 'base of reference."

Exodus- 'The LORD GOD of your fathers, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob'.  Here the qualifier is to be used on the Hebrews in Egypt to remind them of the continuity ACROSS the physical generations.

Leviticus- 'The LORD his God.  Referring to a ruler of the people, this reminds him that he in turn is subject to God.

Numbers- 'I am the LORD your God', reminding the people that they are HIS creation, His possession, passed along the generations of TIME.

Deuteronomy- 'The LORD our God', reminding us that He holds us as a group (My sheep, as Jesus called us), not just as individuals.

Joshua- 'The LORD thy God', the intensely personal designation, here between Himself and Joshua, but in fact between EACH of us and Himself.

Judges- 'The LORD God of their fathers, indicating that they had stepped out of the continuity across time by their sin- and were no longer His.

Ruth- 'The Lord God of Israel', reminding those of us who come to Him from outside the bounds of descent that Israel is still His particular people, and we are saved THROUGH THEM.

The next way I want to look at these from is His actions to us.

Genesis- He is the CREATOR.

Exodus- He has shown us His NAME and nature.

Leviticus- He has rules; we are expected to OBEY.

Numbers- Our prime duty is His WORSHIP.

Deuteronomy- He MOTIVATES us in what we are called to do for Him.

Joshua- He is ALWAYS PRESENT in our lives, across lines and times.

Judges- Disobedience provokes Him to ANGER.  The line of descent does not guarantee salvation.
Ruth- This was my favorite, because we who are not Jews, like Ruth, can come to Him in trust, be accepted and earn a REWARD.


Wow, this really is 'the OT in 8 verses'!  We see His nature, His interaction, our duty, and our hope, all in one package!  And all from one phrase- I AM.