Worship Insights: The Names of God - Jehovah

Last time we looked at the word for Elohim which spoke to God's creative power and covenant redemptive love as the Creator.  This time we dare look at the holiest of all names for God which the Jews to this day consider to holy to even speak because the name connotes the perfect holiness and flawless righteousness of God.

The Jewish name Jehovah translates LORD in all caps to distinguish it from the other name for Lord, called Adonai.  This is the name for God that is most frequently used in the Old Testament for God occurring some 6,823 times.  The name Jehovah does not appear until Genesis 2:4 as it is used in relation to the creation of man for God relates to humanity on a higher level than the rest of lower creation.  Prior to this he is simply God or Elohim, after man's creation, he is referred to as Jehovah-Elohim.  Prior to this Adam and all creation primarily knew and related to God only as Elohim.  Whereas the name Elohim assumes a love toward all of creation, Jehovah reveals the moral and spiritual attributes of God which would have been known to Adam and Eve as we see demonstrated in Gen 2-3.  Thus, when Adam and Eve rebelled they were not only rebelling against their Elohim but against their Jehovah-Elohim of whom they knew to be perfectly holy and righteous in all His ways.  When Jehovah-Elohim comes looking for Adam and Eve after their treachery he comes not as Elohim but as Jehovah-Elohim -- their Creator and LORD who is both perfectly righteous and holy; so holy and sacred that the Israelites fear to speak HIS name...in large part because of the revelation of God's holy and righteous nature in this passage.  In fact, to this day this name is never uttered in a synagogue or among the Jewish people.  Adonai, closely associated which means Lord or Master, is used instead.

Man was created in the image of God which was one of "righteousness and true holiness" and is even confirmed to us in the New Testament in the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:24.  Because Jehovah is righteous, just, and holy - Jehovah demands righteousness, justice, and holiness from the creatures who have been created in his image.  To the unjust and disobedient Jehovah pronounces judgments and metes out punishment.  It is a righteous and truly holy Jehovah-Elohim who banishes man from the garden.  It is Jehovah who continually says of the wicked and the corrupt, "I will destroy".  It is Jehovah who said to Moses: "Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book."  (Exod. 32:33)  Why?  Because, "Jehovah is righteous, and He loves righteousness." (Psalm 11:7)  "Jehovah, our Elohim is righteous in all His works." (Daniel 9:14) "You shall be holy for I, Jehovah, your Elohim, am holy." (Lev. 19:2)

But Jehovah is also Love.  His love makes him grieve for the sins and sorrows of his creation.  He said in Jeremiah 31:3, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love."  Although God had to punish Israel for their disobedience many times, the writer of Judges said, "His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel." Whenever we see the name Jehovah after the time of man's fall, Jehovah is reaching down to man to restore him to right relationship.  At the close of the fourth chapter of Genesis Adam and Eve have their first-born son and named him Enos which means "weak and fallen state".  The bible says it was after this time that men began to call upon the name of Jehovah.  Why?  Because man knew it needed more than an omnipotent, almighty, and transcendent God to restore and redeem them.  They needed a God of love, divine unmerited favor, and fellowship that would be willing to reach down to them in their weakened and helpless state and restore them after having sinned against the LORD of holiness and righteousness.  So what did Jehovah do?  He responded in covenants and acts of deliverance.  He even said to Israel when in cruel Egyptian bondage and to all of those who are in slavery to sin, "I am Jehovah, I will bring you out." (Exod. 6:6) Following the exodus, God descended upon Mt. Sinai and revealed himself as Jehovah proclaiming, "I am Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth; keeping loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin."  (Exod. 34:5-7)

May this understanding deepen our respect and produce within us a greater reverence for the holiness and righteousness of our LORD God.  Not only should the redeemed demonstrate greater respect and reverence toward Jehovah-God in our corporate gatherings - we too should continually remind ourselves that we are the temple of the Holy Ghost, created in righteousness and holiness after the image of our maker.  Therefore, we should walk humbly and be quick to repent of known (and even unknown) sins, for we are called to be holy as HE is holy.  As those who have been grafted in by His unmerited favor in Christ through faith, we too ought to live as a modern-day Israelite nation before a corrupt world.  We are a chosen generation called to be a holy priesthood and a peculiar set-apart people to the LORD who has called us out from darkness into His glorious light that we might show forth His praises and shine brightly HIS glory before all men.

Dear Heavenly Father, our Jehovah-Elohim, help us to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to pursue holiness without which no man shall see God, and to apprehend our restored status in Christ that your name may truly be glorified in us. Amen.