Difference between revisions of "Jehovah"

Latest revision as of 22:13, 19 May 2019

Jehovah

Remember, the words GOD and LORD (all capital letters) in the King James version are best translated Jehovah. Jehovah is the personal name of God. It is that Name which is above every other name. The meaning of the word is Redeemer. Every time it is used in the Scriptures it is connected with deliverance by God: "And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD [Jehovah] helped him; and God moved them to depart from him" (II Chron. 18:31).

While the personal name of God, Jehovah, was written, it was never pronounced. The Jews considered that name too sacred to be spoken by human lips. It is a possibility that this pronunciation is not correct even today, for the Hebrew language is written without any vowels. The name Jehovah, in the Hebrew, is spelled JHVH. We trust that we are pronouncing it correctly: It could be pronounced Jeheveh, or Jihivih, or Jahavah, or many other different ways. When the scribes came to this name Jehovah to copy, they washed their bodies, and the pens with which they spelled this name were cleansed. Even in public, when readers of sacred Scriptures came to this word they would not pronounce it, fearing they would take it in vain, but would substitute the word Elohim or Adonai in its place. One reason why the word Jehovah was suppressed was to impress its sacredness upon the minds of the people.

When the LORD [Jehovah] appeared unto Moses in the burning bush, and commissioned him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land, Moses asked, "When I come unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?" God said unto him, "I AM THAT I AM ... I AM hath sent me unto you" (Ex. 3:13,14). Jehovah is the eternal I AM. There is no past nor future with Jehovah; He is the Eternal Present, the self-existent One — One that made Himself known.

In Exodus 20:2 we read: "I am the LORD thy God…" "I am Jehovah thy Elohim." There were many different Elohims, but there was only one Jehovah. You read in the Word, the "Elohim of Israel"; but never, the "Jehovah of Israel"; for there were no more Jehovahs. When Elijah and the prophets of Baal had a contest, it was to determine which was Elohim (God), Jehovah or Baal.

Yes, Jehovah was always related in a redemptive way with his own people, but His relationship to His creatures (this includes unregenerate men) was always as Elohim. The same today. God is God of all the unsaved, but He is Jehovah, the Father, of all who are saved. The Book of Jonah illustrates this. In chapters three and four the people called upon Elohim, but Jonah called upon Jehovah! They were lost; he was saved. They became saved, and could, after their salvation, call God Jehovah. See other Scriptures: Judges 7:14,15; II Chronicles 19:6-9; Genesis 7:16; I Samuel 17:46.

We have another name for God, and that is JAH. It is found only once in the King James version, but it occurs forty-eight other times in the corrected translations. Some Bible scholars believe that JAH is an abbreviation of Jehovah. The meaning is the same. "Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him" (Ps. 68:4). The name JAH is always connected with praise, and is first found in Exodus 15:2.

We believe that the word "God" (Elohim), being plural in Genesis 1:1, definitely suggests that the Trinity created the heavens and the earth. Yet we find that modern thought interprets this differently. Modern thought says that this portion of the Word should read, "In the beginning Gods created the heavens and the earth." And the reason for this, they say, is that Israel, to begin with, believed in many gods, but that their religion evolved into monotheism. This form of reasoning has proved difficult to many college students. Is there any Scripture which will refute this? Absolutely. Turn to Deuteronomy 6:4 — "Hear, 0 Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord." Now, put the correct words of Elohim and Jehovah in this passage and you will see that the Word plainly reveals the Trinity of Genesis 1:1: "Hear, 0 Israel, JEHOVAH our ELOHIM [three or more persons] is one JEHOVAH.' Therefore, man began with a belief in one God and later degenerated into the depths "and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things" (Rom. 1:23).

C. Adonai. The term Adonai really means master, or owner; one who owns, one who rules, one who blessed his own. It is found first in Genesis 15:1, 2: "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?" Adonai can always be known by the word "Lord," or "lord" in the Old Testament of the King James Version. There are two different forms of this word: Adon, which is singular, and Adonai, which is plural.
Adonai is used two ways in the Scriptures when related to man and his earthly relationships: As a master of his slaves — "And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter. And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master…" (Gen. 24:9, l0); and as a husband to his wife — "Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord [Adonai]…" (I Peter 3:6a). See also Genesis 18:12.
A Hebrew could sell himself to another Hebrew, who became his master. But he could not sell himself forever; for at the Sabbatical Year, or the Year of Jubilee, all slaves were freed. Yet, there was a way by which a slave could become a slave forever, and that was by choice: "And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever" (Ex. 21:5, 6). Paul said that he was a bond slave (servant) of Jesus Christ, bought by blood and bound by Love! Every time you use the name Lord Jesus Christ, you say, "He is my Master." "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am" (John 13:13).

Jehovistic Combinations

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