The next term in the scripture we see used to
identify God is “LORD God.”
Genesis 2:4 “These are the generations of the heavens and of the
earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and
the heavens….”
The Hebrew for this term is listed in Strong’s
concordance as “Yhwh elohim.” The Hebrew
language has no vowels, so vowels were eventually inferred; and Jehovah became
the Latin expression of the term “Yhwh.”
YHWH is often recorded as LORD (all capitals) in most translations of
scripture; some others I checked use the terms Adonai, Jehovah, or Yahweh. It is also recorded as GOD (all capitals) in
combination with the term Lord, as shown in Genesis 15:2 below.
The term “Yhwh” (Jehovah) in scripture addresses
the self-Existent or Eternal One. In
other words, it declares the unique position of authority and power of God; He
is, always has been and always will be.
As referenced at the end of the last post, that is just beyond our human
comprehension. I can repeat the truth
and believe it by faith, but I cannot understand it. Again, as stated in the previous post, that
is as it should be; if we could fully understand God, He would not be God. We can only understand Him in light of what
He chooses to reveal to us about Himself.
“Adonay” (Adonai) is often used in scripture in
the phrase “Lord GOD,” but note that “Lord” is spelled with both upper and
lower case letters. It addresses the
sovereignty of God as our master, the One in power and authority over us; and
it is first used in the following verse.
Genesis 15:2 “And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me,
seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of
Damascus?”
Abram understood that his God was THE GOD,
ultimate in power and authority as the eternal, self-existent God. Only that God could act supernaturally to fulfill
the promise He had made to Abraham to make him a great nation since his wife
Sarai was barren.
Before moving on to address the many names of God
used in combination with “Yhwh,” I want to include one more name of God—I
AM. It is the name by which God
identified Himself to Moses as the burning bush.
Exodus 3:14 “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said,
Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
The Hebrew for “I AM” is “hayah,” and is
identified in Strong’s as the root word for “Yhwh.” It is a word that expresses “existence or
being.” I think God used this name to
emphasize to His people His uniqueness from all other recognized “gods.” He is and always has been; He is not a
figment of man’s imagination nor is He dependent in any way upon man. Later in scripture He would go on to instruct
His people not to create any image to represent Him in worship.
Exodus 20:2–5 “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other
gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness
of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that
is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them….”
Only false gods depended upon such man-made images
to help propagate their lies. I AM, the
one true GOD, is the author of creation, the source of “being” Who declares
Himself supernaturally to His people.
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