God the Father
Yahweh Rohi – The Lord is My Shepherd
“The LORD is my shepherd [YHWH Ra’ah]. I lack nothing” (Psalm 23:1) Philip Keller gives us a beautiful description of what the shepherd means to the sheep. He explains, “[David] knew from firsthand experience that the lot in life of any particular sheep depended on the type of man who owned it. Some men were…
Read MoreYahweh1 Tsidkenu – The Lord Our Righteousness
[1] See the companion article “Who is Jehovah?” for an explanation of why I will use Yahweh rather than Jehovah except in quoted material. This name for God, Yahweh Tsidkenu, is used only two times in Scripture, both in the book of Jeremiah: “The days are coming,” declares the LORD [YHWH], “when I will raise…
Read MoreWere the Days of Creation 24 Hours Long? The Structural Correlation between Genesis 1 and 2
Having examined the literary arrangement of Genesis 1 and then Genesis 2, we can now reflect on how they correspond and the significance of their development. As you may recall, Genesis 1 is a highly structured account which presents days 1-3 in parallel with days 4-6. These two halves correspond not only in their intricate…
Read MoreYahweh Sabaoth– The Lord of Hosts
The name Yahweh Sabaoth first appears in 1 Samuel 1:3, where it is translated Lord Almighty. We are told that Elkanah, who would later give birth to Samuel, every year “went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh.”
Read MoreYahweh1 Shalom – The Lord is Peace
As our story opens, Israel is not at peace. In fact, they are being so oppressed they are hiding in caves. Little wonder that our hero, Gideon, voices that age-old question: (to paraphrase) “If there is a God, why are we in so much trouble?” But let’s back up. There is a pattern that repeats…
Read MoreYahweh Nissi1 – The Lord My Banner
R.L. Wilson Let’s put this in context. The Israelites has already experienced a miraculous escape through the Red Sea. They had already seen God turn bitter water sweet. Only a short time before this, while they were in the Desert of Sin, God had begun to provide daily bread and meat (manna and quail) for…
Read MoreYahweh Rapha* – The Lord Who Heals You
“He said, ‘If you listen carefully to the LORD [YHWH] your God [Elohim] and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals…
Read MoreYahweh-Jireh – The God Who Sees
We all know the story. Abraham has finally, at the age of 100, had the son God promised to him so many years before. It had been a long, long wait with many pitfalls along the way. Finally, Abraham could sit back and relax. His future looked secure. Ah, but God! “Some time later God…
Read MoreEl Olam – The Everlasting God
What does the phrase El Olam mean? In Psalm 90:1-2, it says Lord [Adonai], you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting [olam] to everlasting [olam] you are God [El].
Read MoreCan You Ever Know Enough About God?
Can you ever know enough about God? In his book Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit, Francis Chan asks this provocative question: “Is it possible to get enough or even too much God? Is there a point when a person can be satisfied with the amount of intimacy, knowledge, and power of God he or she experiences?”[1] He responds to his own question by adding, “I don’t see how there can be, because doesn’t every encounter with God only cause us to thirst for Him more?”[2]
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