God As God (Part 3)

by J. H. Johnson, Kilmarnock, Scotland | Category: God As God | Jun 1999

Of the names of God in the Old Testament Hebrew, there are three which contain in them the beginnings of the wonderful revelations of God which are to be found in the Scriptures. This month the Hebrew word Jehovah (Yahweh) usually translated LORD is explored.

JEHOVAH (YAHWEH)

A.THE ETERNAL GOD

(1)The name Jehovah has the root meaning of 'I will be' according to Exodus 3:15 (RV margin). He is the Eternally Existing One. Moses addresses Jehovah in Psalm 90 and says, 'from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God' (v.2), and in Revelation chapter 4 the four living creatures have no rest day and night saying, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come' (v.8 NIV).

(2)God is without limits. He is the 'high and lofty One' who inhabits 'eternity, whose name is Holy' and He says, 'I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit' (Is. 57:15). 'Heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him' (2 Chr. 2:6). He spans the infinities of space and time and He is infinite in knowledge and understanding (Ps. 147:5). He searches and knows the heart of each one of the 51/2 billion souls alive on earth at this present time on the five continents of the world, and He hears 'the sighing of the prisoner'! (Ps. 79:11).

(3)He knows the future. 'Known to God from eternity are all His works' (Acts 15:18 NKJV). He knew all about each one of us before the foundation of the world. Indeed He 'saved us, and called us, with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal' (2 Tim. 1:9).

B.I AM THAT I AM

(1)To Moses' question as to what he should say to the children of Israel when they asked the name of the One who sent him, God said, 'I AM THAT I AM' and added, 'Thus shalt thou say... I AM hath sent me unto you' (Ex. 3:14). I AM emphasises the fact that God has no beginning and He has no end. It will be recalled that in reply to the Jews' cynical question, 'Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?' the Lord Jesus said, 'Before Abraham was, I AM' (John 8:57,58).

(2)On the other hand, 'I AM THAT I AM' has the thought both of the Eternally Existent One and of the unchanging and unchangeable character of God, which is reiterated in Psalm 102:27 'But thou art the same' and in Malachi 3:6, 'I JEHOVAH change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed'.

C.THE NAME JEHOVAH IS ASSOCIATED WITH GRACE, MERCY AND COVENANT

We have space for only a few examples:

Grace: 'But Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah' (Gen. 6:8).

Mercy: In Genesis 19 Lot is aware that Jehovah is about to destroy Sodom and in verse 19 he says, 'Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life...'

Covenant: At Sinai Jehovah called unto Moses, 'Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel... Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine...' (Ex. 19:3-5). The unchangeable character of God is seen in the New Testament statements: 'God is Love' and 'God is Light'.

GOD IS LOVE

(1)Even in the Old Testament we see this truth in Jehovah's proclamation of His name: 'The LORD, the LORD (JEHOVAH, JEHOVAH), a God full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin: and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation' (Ex. 34:6).

We might note in passing that, according to Professor Barclay, 'to a Greek the use of the word compassion about any one who was divine would seem completely and utterly and totally incredible'. According to the Stoics, 'the supreme and essential characteristic of God is apatheia. By apatheia they did not mean apathy, in the sense of indifference. They meant incapability of feeling. They argued in this way. If a man can feel either sorrow or joy, it means that someone else can bring sorrow or joy to him. That is to say, it means that someone else can affect him, can alter his feelings, can make him happy or sad, it means that that person has power over him, and is therefore, for the moment at least, greater than he. If God could feel sorrow or joy at anything that happens to man, it would mean that man can affect God, that man has that much power over God: but it is impossible that anyone should have any power over God, for no one can be greater than God: therefore God can have no feeling, He must be essentially without feeling: He must be, in the technical sense of the word, by nature apathetic. The Greeks believed in a God who could not feel. To them a divine being who was moved with compassion was incredible'.

(2)In the New Testament the proclamation of the Name of Jehovah is expanded and expounded in the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. 'Behold, your God!' (Is. 40:9) and we look at the child in the manger wrapped 'in swaddling clothes' (Luke 2:7). 'Behold, your God!' and we see a Man working as a carpenter in Nazareth (Mark 6:3). 'Behold, your God!' and we see Jesus taking a little child in His arms (Mark 9:36). 'Behold, your God!' and we hear a Man say, 'The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head' (Mat. 8:20). 'Behold, your God!' and we see a Man who is the holy Son of God being nailed through His hands and feet to a wooden Cross. The same one who as God is mighty and despises not any is being despised by sinners and being mocked and taunted and then being made the Scapegoat for our sins, when God made Him 'who knew no sin... to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him'. (2 Cor. 5:21). 'Jesus... having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them to the uttermost' (John 13:1 RVM). At Calvary when the darkness was clearing, He cried with a loud voice, 'It is finished' (John 19:30), then the work of salvation was completed - a work that 'shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God hath done it, that men should fear before him' (Eccles. 3:14). In resurrection power and glory Jesus appears to John in Patmos, 'Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the Living one; and I became dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades' (Rev. 1:17,18 RVM).

GOD IS LIGHT

(1)'God is light, and in him is no darkness at all' (1 John 1:5). He is 'the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning' (James 1:17). He hates lies, pride and hypocrisy - Solomon lists seven things which the Lord hates, which are an abomination to Him: 'Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood; an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief; a false witness that uttereth lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren' (Prov. 6:17-19). He is the God of truth and 'cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man' (James 1:13). He is 'King of the ages' (Rev. 15:3) and 'true and righteous are his judgements' (Rev. 19:2).

(2)'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come' (Rev. 4:8 NIV). Before His throne is a sea like unto crystal and seven lamps of fire 'which are the seven Spirits of God' (Rev. 4:5,6). With the holiness of God is clearly associated the awesome beauty of God. The scriptural phrase, 'the beauty of holiness' (Ps. 29:2) shows that beauty and holiness are inseparable. By faith we have seen the King of Grace 'wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment' (John 19:5), carrying His Cross and then being nailed to it. But the day is near at hand when we 'shall see the king in his beauty' in the glory of His grace in that beautiful 'land of far distances' (Is. 33:17 RVM).

(3)In Psalm 16 we read 'In thy presence is fulness of joy' (v.11). Here is a threefold cord of glorious truths - holiness, beauty and joy - that belong to the presence of God. While it is true that because 'our God is a consuming fire' we worship Him 'with reverence and awe' (Heb. 12:28,29), it is also true that the worshipper of God goes 'to the altar of God' and to God his or her 'exceeding joy' (Ps. 43:4). Reverence, awe and joy are not incompatible in the worship of God, but are mingled emotions of those who worship God 'in spirit and truth' (John 4:23).

LOVE AND LIGHT

It is at the Cross that we see in their fullest splendour that God is Love and God is light. There God's love is seen in its fulness for God 'spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all' (Rom. 8:32) 'to shew his righteousness, because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God' (Rom. 3:25). He 'is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power eternal. Amen' (1 Tim. 6:15,16).

J. H. Johnson, Kilmarnock, Scotland | Jun 1999
God As God