I thought it was so cool how DJ first explained the significance of God giving us his name before explaining how we misuse it. God gave us his name for relationship with us. It's hard to really be able to know someone without knowing their name, that's why its almost always the first thing we do when we meet people. God revealed his name, Yahweh, to the Israelites, when he rescued them to establish relationship with them. Just calling him God, is like calling people Barney, Driver, Camper, etc. during the summer. Those are roles, and while they tell us what someone does, they don't tell who a person is. The person informs the role, not the other way around. And to really know Yahweh, we should seek to know him for who he is, not just what he does. And the name Yahweh tells us He really is, was, and will be with us and for us. And that's amazing!
Here's some other things that stood out:
- calling upon His name is the highest form of praise, because we are acknowledging we can't make it without Him. In this we are also saying that we trust Him to be faithful and that we believe He is who He says He is.
- When we use His name as a magic word, we think we have the power. God's name holds power because He has power, not us.
Yahweh, thank you for giving us the gift of your name. May we regard it as the gift that it is and honor you with it! Amen
I love the connection to role, Ellie. Yahweh is more than just the role of God, which means He is also greater than what we expect or hope for Him to accomplish in our lives through His "role" as God.
ReplyDeleteProfessor Carr....way to pull out the trainee material!! Yahweh informs the role of God, that is why there is no other "god" outside of Yahweh!
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