Jehovah - Yahweh

My dear friends in Christ,

     This Sunday we are two-thirds of the way through our summer series on the names of God. Let’s take a minute and quickly review the names we’ve covered so far: 1) Trinity—Father, Son, Holy Spirit; 2) Jehovah-Shammah—The LORD Is There; 3) Adonai—Lord; 4) El—The Mighty God; 5) El-Roi—The Mighty God Sees; 6) Jehovah-Tsidkenu—The LORD Our Righteousness; 7) Jehovah-Sebaoth—The LORD of Hosts; and 8) Elohim—God.

     If you look closely, one of those names repeats more often than the rest. Can you spot it? That’s right—the name Jehovah. That holds true for the rest of the Bible. The name Jehovah occurs over 2800 times. The name we heard about last week, Elohim, comes in a close second at about 2600 uses. As we take a closer look at this special name Jehovah / Yahweh, we’ll see why God uses it so often. Here’s what it looks like in Hebrew. If we write the letters in English, here’s what they look like: either HVHJ or HWHY. For centuries this special name has been known as the “Tetragrammaton.” That name simply means “four letters.”

     When we add the vowels and write the name left to right, here’s what we come up with: Jehovah or Yahweh. We really don’t know the correct way to pronounce this name. The scribes who copied the Old Testament books considered this name so special and so sacred that they refused to write out the pronunciation. Even today when the Scriptures are read in the synagogue, they will not pronounce this name. Instead, they pronounce it like one of the names we’ve already studied—Adonai, Lord. In order to preserve that respect for this special name, but to let us know that the tetragrammaton is used in the text, the translators print the name like this: LORD, in all capital letters. Then we know God used this special name, Jehovah / Yahweh.

     Now that we’ve learned a little bit about the name, let’s explore what it means. God introduced himself to Moses at the burning bush with this name. Moses was tending his father-in-law’s herd of sheep. He saw a bush that was on fire, but it did not burn up. As he walked closer, a voice came from the bush and demanded that he take off his sandals. God spoke to him. God had heard cries for help from his people who had become slaves in Egypt. God came to help them, and he called Moses to lead them out of Egypt. Moses wasn’t sure he was the one for the job. God promised to be with him and help him. Then Moses said, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” (Exodus 3:13). "God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’’" (Exodus 3:14).

        How do you introduce yourself to someone? You probably shake hands and say, “Hi, I’m ….”

        How did God introduce himself to Moses and the Israelites? “I AM WHO I AM.” Here’s how it sounds in Hebrew: אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה

        Which part of speech is his name—noun, verb, or adjective? Verb, even though names are usually nouns.

        What does this name tell us about God?

     When I meet someone, I might say, “Hi, I am Jon Brohn.” I could tell them all kinds of things about myself. “I am 42 years old. I live in North Hudson, Wisconsin.” God doesn’t need to do that. The LORD simply introduces himself as Jehovah—I AM. He is. He always has been. He always will be. When he looks in the mirror, he doesn’t see any changes. He doesn’t get taller. He doesn’t get new teeth or lose old ones. No gray hairs or wrinkles show up. He never changes. He tells us, “I the LORD do not change” (Malachi 3:6).

     Because he never changes, he never changes his mind. When he says something, he means it. During a second visit with Moses the LORD explains further what Jehovah means. "Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, … ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin" (Exodus 34:5-7).

      The LORD says, “I AM” compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, full of love, faithful, forgiving. If that’s his name, can he ever change his mind? No! He can’t change. He is I AM.

     We can’t leave out the last part of Jehovah. “Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation’" (Exodus 34:5-7).

     The LORD does not leave the guilty unpunished. He will punish sin, especially when moms and dads teach their children to follow in their sinful footsteps and ignore the LORD’s word. If that’s his name, can he ever change? No! He is I AM.

     The scribes treated the name Jehovah / Yahweh with the utmost respect. How do treat the LORD and this name he has revealed to us? That’s where the great I AM and the not-so-great “I am” butt heads. We have the entire collection of what Jehovah has revealed to us. We’ve read the Bible. We’ve studied it. We’ve listened to every time we come to church. “I” love most of it—the compassion, love, and forgiveness. But when Jehovah calls our lifestyle “sin” and promises to punish us, “I” treat him like I’m a 13 year-old who is convinced “I” am going to win. The first thing out of my mouth is, “Nuh uh!” The LORD wants the marriage bed kept pure, and promises to punish those who take advantage of it outside of marriage. “Nuh uh!” “I” don’t want to hear it. The LORD calls lying a sin, even when it’s just twisting the truth a little bit to stay out of trouble. “Nuh uh!” “I” want to get away with it! The LORD wants 100% of my attention and my action directed toward him? “Nuh uh!” We are so caught up in “I” that we can sit here in God’s house and casually say, “None of this applies to me. I don’t think that way. I don’t believe that’s what God meant. That’s not my interpretation.”

     Who is changing? Jehovah? He can’t change. He can’t go back on what he has said. It’s all about him and his glory, not about us. He said, "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another" (Isaiah 42:8).

     The LORD is Jehovah—I AM. He promises to punish sin. We haven’t done what he demands so he has to punish us, doesn’t he? There’s one last thing to learn about Jehovah—the great I AM. We leap ahead almost 1500 years after the LORD appeared to Moses at the burning bush. We find Jesus in the temple courts, teaching the people about Jehovah. The people claimed he was demon-possessed because of the things he taught and did. Jesus had something even more controversial to say: “‘Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.’ ‘You are not yet fifty years old,’ the Jews said to him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’ ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I AM!’" (John 8:56-58).

     What name belonged to Jesus? I AM—Jehovah

     With these words, “Before Abraham was, I AM,” Jesus wants us to see the connection between Jehovah who promises to punish our sin and Jehovah who promises to forgive us. Jehovah didn’t change his mind. He didn’t say, “Just follow all these rules and your life will turn out okay.” The LORD didn’t say, “I’ll be there in the good times, but in the bad times, you’re on your own.” I AM  kept all of his promises. He sent his Son into this pit we call humanity. His entire life could be defined with the word “unfair.” The king was born in a stable. He had no royal trust fund—just the donations of people who heard him and believed his message. He didn’t command armies—just a small group of fishermen and outcasts from society. He didn’t carry out judgment against his enemies. He was murdered. I AM knows what the pit of life in this sinful world is like.

     Friday night I watched Dateline NBC. They told the story of a young doctor, Andrew Bagby. His friends and relatives all described him as a genuinely loving, caring, giving person. He was the guy every one of his friends wanted as the best man at their wedding. He had been dating a woman, and when he broke off the relationship, she convinced him to talk with her once more, and then shot him. She escaped to Newfoundland to avoid being arrested, and gave birth to Andrew’s son. Andrew’s parents moved from California to Newfoundland to be close to their new grandson and to protect him from her mother. All their love and support couldn’t save the little boy. His mother drugged his bottle, strapped him to herself, and jumped to her death in the cold waters of the Atlantic.

     In the interview that followed, Andrew’s mother commented that she learned something about God from their experience. When her son was murdered, her first thought was suicide. She felt like her life was over. Thankfully, she didn’t go through with it. After she lost her grandson, she had some time to reflect on what God had done for her. She had the perfect life—wonderful parents, met and married a great husband, worked as a nurse and loved her job, had a wonderful son, and a beautiful grandson. It was easy to love God when things were great. But when things were in the pit, God was there in the pit, too.

     Jesus wants you to know that Jehovah-Yahweh doesn’t change and doesn’t forget about us. He kept his promise to punish our sins—he punished Jesus for us. He kept his promise to forgive us when we argue with him and say, “Nuh uh!” He is with us even when our life is in the pit: "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you" (Isaiah 54:10).

     Jehovah-Yahweh, the great I AM. That’s the name we can trust. Remember it forever and ever. Amen.

 

To God alone the glory!                Pastor Jon Brohn