The LORD thy God

The phrase is found in 264 verses and, according to my Bible Software, 196 of those verses are in the book of Deuteronomy. The exodus people had become God's people and the whole of Deuteronomy is based on the fact that this miracle has already taken place. Let me give you some more statistics...

Whenever we find the word LORD or GOD in upper case in our Bibles it is an indication that the original Hebrew word is a proper name. It is the name enshrined in many of our hymns and often in our personal testimony as Jehovah. (It was almost certainly pronounced more like Yahweh but the name Yahweh has very little personal history for most Christians, so I'll stick to Jehovah.) In the old KJV you will find the name Jehovah, and its cognates, used in just five verses. In more modern versions it has vanished altogether; e.g. the ESV. the NJKV, the NASB, the NIV, the NLT. God's proper name has vanished from our modern versions. The old ASV on the other hand uses it constantly, 6777 times! (For study I heartily recommend the ASV for the Old Testament!)

The Sinai Covenant people grew nervous of the name Jehovah. They were aware of the warning for anyone using the name wrongly; Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Ex 20:7 ASV. To avoid the danger they refused to use it altogether and a tradition grew of saying 'Lord' whenever the proper name Jehovah appeared in the scripture reading. Alternatively they would use the word 'Shem' which means 'name'. Perhaps our translators share their nervousness? The downside is that the proper name of God is seldom used and we are much the poorer for that.

Have you ever had someone introduce themselves to you and say "my friends call me Ron" or something similar. It is an endearing thing to do. I have travelled in many countries where Christians are much more formal and would far prefer to call me Pastor or Brother. I always encourage them to call me Ron. I want them to get to know me as a person not as a role. Let me illustrate. I have a dear friend who was my pastor for many years. I always referred to him as Rector. That designation developed its own unique atmosphere and became more like a proper name. I can never say the word 'Rector' without a rich flow of memories. Some time ago, he is now in his 90s, he suggested I might call him 'Philip'. I can't do it. My emotions don't respond to 'Philip'. My emotional memory doesn't know who Philip is!

God introduced himself to the exodus people as 'Jehovah'. The name was designed to acquire its own rich emotional memories. And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am Jehovah: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them. Ex 6:2–3 ASV.

Think about it for a while. We'll pause and next time we will look at some of the emotional memories that the name Jehovah was intended to carry.

A promise for those in transition

In our prayer meeting last night we were praying for many in transition. Young teens about to leave for university, pre-teens about to move to senior school, folk on the threshold of hospital treatment, folks in the early days of bereavement. For these and many others life changing events are taking place. These can be unsettling times when the familiar begins to give way to the unknown, sometimes as a result of our decisions, sometimes as a result of the decisions of others. Sometimes the new future is embraced with anticipation, sometimes it casts a long shadow of uncertainty and anxiety. A word from the Old Testament scriptures came to mind…

Therefore say, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.” ’ Ezek 11:16 NKJV.

This promise comes on the heels of God's judgement of Israel and Judah as a result of their sin. Their experience to come was the result of their own actions and a modern disciplinarian might well have said "they made their bed, let them lie in it". In other words, this is their own fault let them stew in their juice! But even in the midst of God's disciplining of our lives he brings this promise. Wherever they find themselves and irrespective of where the fault lies God will not abandon them. Their new circumstances will never be 'God-forsaken'. The Lord, Jehovah declares "although I have cast them off", "although I have scattered them" they will not be God forsaken; " I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone." God's earthly 'sanctuary' the temple was gone, there was no turning back the clock. The Davidic dynasty and the priesthood were gone. The familiar supports of their faith were all gone… "yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them".

God, himself, would still be available as a place to find refuge. He, himself, would be place of rest and security. God, of course, is always more permanent than his gifts. If we have God himself available the transition, even the judgement, can be a time of genuine blessing.

The Old King James version gives a fascinating insight into God's way of measuring the next step into uncertainty.

Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. Psa 55:19 KJV.

Those actual uncertainties and the absolute certainty that 'change is here to stay' become the setting for a new era of discovery in which we may discover God in a new way. Don't let the fear of the unknown tomorrow paralyse you. Whatever else may change, God will not. Whatever tomorrow holds for you He himself will continue to be available as the place where you can find refuge and the presence of your God.

“For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Mal 3:6 NKJV.

The Paralysis of Omnipotence

This is the next passage in G Campbell Morgan's commentary on the Gospel according to Mark. He covers the attitude of the people at Nazareth to Christ's return visit. The locals knew Jesus of Nazareth so well, they knew his family, his personal history as the local carpenter and they were astonished at the power they had heard of and at the wisdom of the 'local boy'. In fact the passage records two different kinds of astonishment.

1. Mark 6:2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!
2. Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Mark 6:5–6 NKJV.

Campbell Morgan uses a surprising phrase to describe the second instance. He calls it the 'paralysis of omnipotence'. It is a shocking phrase and something of an oxymoron. How can anything hinder omnipotence?

And yet clearly it did.

It is a sobering passage of Scripture. Christ comes, apparently with the desire in his heart to accomplish the will of the Father and his intentions are frustrated. I am choosing my words carefully. I am not saying he 'felt' frustrated but that his intentions were frustrated. He knew the will of His Father. He was anointed with 'power and the Holy Spirit'. He came to 'do' that will and yet He was 'not able' do what he wanted to do. As the passage declares he was 'not able to do a work of power there', other than to lay his hands on a few sick folk and heal them.

And the thing which caused the paralysis of omnipotence was 'unbelief'. Is 'unbelief' more powerful than omnipotence? We are touching this amazing mystery again that God, although omnipotent, will not use his omnipotence to force human beings to do things which they do not desire. It seems that in that crowd there were some who did respond to him and to those 'who received him he gave the right to become'. Perhaps it is the same in almost every gathering of people. There will be those who shut out the word of Christ and shrink away from his outstretched hand. He can do no work of power for such. But there are those who receive his word and long for his touch.

Christ marvelled at the 'unbelief' of those who rejected him. Has God given any greater power that the power to say 'No' to God? Will he 'marvel' at our reluctance to hear what he says to us, or will there be rejoicing in his presence as we voice our 'Yes, Lord'?

Keep Calm and Don't Panic

This wartime slogan has gone through thousands of permutations in the last couple of years. You will find the general idea of the slogan on T-shirts, coffee mugs, posters. It would be hard to go out in public in the UK and not see some reference to the idea. There is one place however where you will not find it, heaven. Only people who can't see the throne need this kind of advice and the presence of the Throne is fundamental to our revelation of heaven. 'The Throne' appears 33 times in the book of the Revelation. It is one of the central revelations of the Revelation.

Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. Rev 4:2 NKJV.

John's world was falling apart. Jerusalem, the city he had known so well in his youth was destroyed. The temple and the priesthood were gone. All his brother-apostles were gone; he is the last swallow of the summer. The local churches that he knows best are in disarray; leadership is degenerating into control. Then to top it all he is exiled to a island and most likely put under house arrest. But comfort does not come from a poster or fridge-magnet bearing the words "keep calm and don't panic" but from a revelation of things as they are to the eye opened by the Spirit. He beholds, amidst all the shambles of his earthly experience, a throne set in heaven, and it is occupied; One sat on the throne. As long as that throne is occupied by its rightful owner we have no need of worldly epigrams.

We don't need to be in heaven to see the Throne. Christ saw it after a busy day of teaching as he lay asleep with his head on a cushion in the stern of a small boat on the Galilean sea.

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? Mark 4:37–40 NKJV.

They mistook his faith for complacency and passivity; true faith is neither.
An old hymn captures the truth…

Give to me a vision

Reaching to the throne.

Let me see earth’s problems

In that light alone:

‘Tis Thy Word assures me

All shall work for good,

Things that long have baffled

Soon be understood.
ECW Boulton

Prayer... without wrath and reasoning

Paul shares his heart longings with Timothy.

I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; 1 Tim 2:8 NKJV.

He prefaces this statement by showing us what he has in mind when he calls for such prayer;

for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, 1 Tim 2:2–6 NKJV.

It is good to see just how comprehensive Paul's prayer-list really is. He asks for prayer for kings and all those who are in authority. When he says this he doesn't just mean the politician we voted for. In fact, his reference to 'the king' is a reference to Nero, one of the worst enemies that the Christians every had.

He says we are to pray for quiet and peaceable lives and the reasons he gives are important. God, he says, 'wants' tranquility and then he reveals what he really wants prayer for. God he says …desires 'all men' to come to the truth. And all man can be saved because the ransom that Christ paid was for 'all men';

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, 1 Tim 2:5–6 NKJV.

He then instructs us how we are to pray and specifies that our prayer is to be without wrath or reasoning. We may have expected the first but what are we to make of the second. I am taking my text from the Darby Translation;

I will therefore that the men pray in every place, lifting up pious hands, without wrath or reasoning. 1 Tim 2:8 DRBY.

Most versions translate it along the lines of 'without wrath or doubting/quarrelling. The Greek word is dialogue. The word means to 'talk something through'. It is not necessarily a conversation between two parties but points to the kind of thought processes so loved in modern education. We debate within ourselves, we question our positions, we keep asking the questions… although not in prayer, apparently.

Real prayer must be allowed to flow. Who knows where it will take us. I wonder sometimes whether someone prayed like this in the early days of the Acts. Perhaps in their flow of prayer they found themselves praying for their chief persecutor, that man Saul from Tarsus. It would have been easy to pray with 'wrath' after all as Ananias once complained;

Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem." Acts 9:13 NKJV.

That would have been the problem that brought in the reasoning. Surely, it doesn't make sense to pray for Saul the Persecutor. You can almost hear the stream of 'buts'. Perhaps someone just prayed and in the flow of their prayer they found themselves praying for unimaginable things.

Sometimes we can have too much information when we pray. Our experience of life has taught us that often people do not get 'saved' or 'healed' so we need to be a little cautious in how we pray, or do we? Is our prayer the deliberate reasoned argument of the barrister or is it the instinctive cry of the child to its father?

Way back in a time of much trouble Habakkuk complained to God of the behaviour of the people of God. "I have it in hand" said God "I am bringing the Assyrians to punish them". "Surely not" protested Habakkuk "that solution is worse than the problem". There was, apparently, no reply from God to this protest. Habakkuk set himself to pray;

I will stand upon my watchtower, and station myself upon the fortress, and will watch to see what He will say in me, and what I answer to my complaint. Hab 2:1 Keil & Delitsch.

That subtle correction of Habakkuk 2:1 is important; (I) will watch to see what He will say in me. The next verse continues the story; And Jehovah answered me Hab 2:2 ASV.

Somehow we need to withdraw to the Watchtower and hold our tongue until God 'answers' by saying something 'in me'. Then we can flow in our prayer. We may even discover, as did Habakkuk, that such prayer is but a short step from prophecy.

The Gentle Commandment

There is an old story told about a farmer who rolled an ostrich egg into the chicken coop with the words; "that's just to encourage you!" It is the kind of encouragement we probably feel when we read of God's next self-revelation to Abraham; And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be thou perfect. Gen 17:1 ASV. More modern versions sometimes substitute the word 'blameless' for the older 'perfect'; I am not sure it is much more of a comfort.

How can we possibly react to a word from God which says 'be perfect'? If that commandment stood alone it would be crushing, but it doesn't. It is the culmination of another of God's wonderful self-revelations. God's word to Abraham does not begin with 'be perfect' but with 'I am God Almighty'. The word deserves a little examination.

This title or self-revelation of God became the prevailing revelation of the patriarchs. God's later words to Moses make this very plain; and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them. Ex 6:3 ASV. If it was in the 'role' of God Almighty that God began his work with the fathers of the nation of Israel it may repay us to look more closely into the meaning of the phrase.

The Hebrew for this self-revelation is El Shaddai and is usually translated as 'God Almighty'. It conveys the idea of a God who is omnipotent, a very muscular God. This is an honest translation but there is another possibility. The Hebrew word 'shad' is the word for a woman's breast. It is the suckling's place of all-sufficiency and safety. There is at least one verse in the Bible where both words are used together; Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee, With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that coucheth beneath, Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb. Gen 49:25 ASV. It seems that what God was revealing to Abraham was not just a masculine almightiness but a gentler all-sufficiency.

This is not to emasculate God. Paul once referred to himself as a mother feeding her own children at her breast; ...though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 1 Th 2:6–7 ESV. And the point that Paul is making is that he and his fellow labourers were 'gentle'; it is an adjective not often associated in our minds with apostolic labours. It harmonises with a unexpected testimony of David to God's dealings with him; “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great. 2 Sam 22:36 NKJV.

If the command to 'be perfect' comes from the macho strength of a muscular God we may not find ourselves 'encouraged' but what if it comes from the God of tender all-sufficiency? Now, how shall we respond?

There is another level of this God's command that we must consider. The All-Sufficient God did not simply command Abraham to 'be perfect' but commanded him to 'walk before me and me perfect'. God's pattern for Abraham's 'perfection' or 'blamelessness' was not the idealism of some man-made standard of perfection. Rather it was the insistence that Abraham walked, step by step, as the All Sufficient God directed him. Such a man may not meet standards set for him by others or even by himself, but others are not the judges whose standards Abraham must meet. Abraham is only responsible to God. Phew, what a burden that can lift from a weary soul!

Another brought the same gentle, freeing, revelation; ...no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matt 11:27–29 NKJV

I am the God of the past and of the future

Genesis 15 contains one of the most important verses in the Bible. God has undertaken to be both Abraham's shield and his exceedingly great reward but Abraham has a question; But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Gen 15:2 NKJV. His safety and provision have no point if he has no descendant. His chief household steward stands to inherit if Abraham has no blood line. God's answer is a breathtaking glimpse of the starry heavens and a breathtaking promise.

This is the context for one of the most important verses of the Bible; And he believed in Jehovah. And he reckoned it to him for righteousness. Gen 15:6 ASV. This event becomes the template for saving faith. He rests his cause in God alone and the record declares that as a consequence God 'reckoned it to him for righteousness'. Abraham's acceptance with God was not to be based on his own achievement but upon God's free grace. This is a thrilling moment in Bible history but I want to concentrate on the revelation that follows.

We have said that these personal introductions or self-revelations of God are vital links to the way in which God wants us to 'see' him. In the moment we call 'now' Abraham is probably elated by his victory but subdued by his childlessness. He looks into the skies and sees myriads of stars, he looks into his own moment of 'now' and sees empty hands; I am childless. This is the exact moment, the perfect context in which God will reveal more of who he is to Abraham. In such moments God chooses to reveal himself to Abraham not only as the possessor of heaven and earth but as the Lord of history. Jehovah holds all things in his hands and he holds time too.

And he said unto him, I am Jehovah that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. Gen 15:7 ASV. When we are mid-process it is all too easy to be lost in the momentary detail. God's revelation of who he is declares that both the past and the future are in God's control. In fact, there is something of a guarantee in the past that stretches into the future. God is reminding Abraham of his own past; I am Jehovah that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees. The reason you have come to this moment in time Abraham, is that I did something in your past. I brought you out. You walked on your own feet but the truth is 'I brought you out'.

And my purpose in bringing you out was to take you in, to give this land to you as your inheritance. I am Jehovah that brought thee out … to give thee this land to inherit it. Gen 15:7 ASV. God never runs out of resources. He has counted the cost, he knows he can complete what he has begun. There is a painful cry in the prophecy of Habakkuk; O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years! Hab 3:2 NKJV. Sometimes we need a special revelation 'in the midst of the years'. God is the God of beginnings and completions, he is also the God of the middle years, that time of life that we call 'now'.

The Father is seeking...

I have just restarted my Biblebase Daily Bible Readings readings based on the Earley Christian Fellowship's Church Life School which we ran some years ago. I am reading in Genesis, the book of beginnings. In many ways Genesis is like a seed plot, all kinds of wonderful truths that flower later in the Bible can be found in the seed-plot of Genesis.

For example. How often have you heard it said that the first reference to worship in the Bible is in the story of Abraham's intended sacrifice of Isaac? This is the verse in mind:

And Abraham said to his young men,“Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” Gen 22:5 NKJV.

It is true that this is the first use of the English word worship but it is not the first time the Hebrew word for worship is used.

The Hebrew word for worship used here in Genesis 22:5 is [Hebrew Strong’s 7812] shachah, it is a word which means to prostrate oneself (especially reflexive, in homage to royalty or God): and is usually translated by the old King James Version as 'worship'. This is the word used by Abraham en route to Moriah. It is used earlier in Abraham's story in the record of 3 mysterious visitors to his tent door;

So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, Gen 18:2 NKJV.

That is a vivid picture. Old Abraham runs to meet them and then throws himself on his face at their feet. Later we find Lot greets these mysterious messengers of God in a similar fashion. (Gen 19:1 NKJV)

If we were trying to find a modern equivalent what words would be use? I have a suggestion, surrender. The position adopted by Abraham and later by Lot indicated total and absolute surrender to another.

When the Hebrew scholars translated the word shachah into the Greek language for a translation known as the Septuagint they usually used the ordinary Greek word for worship, [Greek Strongs 4352] proskuneO. It is a word with an interesting history. The letters kune link it with the Greek word for a dog. It seems that originally the word indicated the kind of total surrender that a dog gave to its master when it licked his hand. We are back to that word surrender again.

Apparently the Bible's idea of worship is constantly linked with the idea of total surrender. Perhaps, mischievously, I found myself putting the Bible word into some of our more common uses of the word worship. How does a Surrender Service sound? or a Surrender Band or perhaps even a Surrender Leader?

And it was not curiosity alone which made me try using the word in its older sense. I found my thoughts centring around two profound statements of Christ...

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’  Matt 4:10 NKJV.

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:23–24 NKJV.

We magnify Your name, Lord,
We worship and adore You,
For who You are, for what You've done
Among Your people here.
We open up our lives to You,
Lay down our minds and wills,
We want You Lord to have Your way,
For we delight in You.