The Names of God Revealed to Abraham

NAMES OF GOD SERIES

THE NAMES OF GOD REVEALED TO ABRAHAM:

EL ELEYON, ADONAI, EL SHADDAI, JEHOVAH JIREH

God reveals His Names by degrees

Most of the names of God are found in the Old Testament although there are also some in the New Testament as well. But the Old Testament has a richness of the names of God. First of all we want to establish that God does reveal Himself by degrees. And each degree that He reveals Himself, He always reveals by His name. We need to establish the fact that God does reveal Himself by degree throughout the ages. In Exodus 6, God in a private conversation with Moses said "

Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; because of My mighty hand he will let them go; because of My mighty hand he will drive them out of his country. God spoke to Moses and said to him, I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord did not make known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan where they will live as aliens." Now there is a statement that God said I have revealed Myself to Abraham, I have revealed Myself to Isaac and I have revealed Myself to Jacob but I have not revealed Myself by My name. Which to Moses He says I am revealing to you now.

By that statement we know that Abraham had a revelation of God. Moses had a greater measure. But what measure did Abraham have? What measure did Moses had and the other prophets and later on the apostles of God? What measure did they have? So we are going to discover the Names of God very systematically. We are going to start first of all with the revelation of God's Names to Abraham. There is a general name for God and then there are specific names for God. Different people know us by different names. Those who are closer to you have a special name or special address of addressing you. In the same way as man comes to God, God reveals Himself to that degree. And He reveals more as we become closer to Him.

The General Word for God

It’s important to know the name of God because by knowing the name of God, we know who God is. God and His names are related. In the English language we have the word God. And then we have the word Lord. These two words are frequently used besides all the other adjectives that we add like All Mighty God, Eternal God etc but we know Him as the big word GOD. Sometimes the scriptures use the word Lord. But there is difference. God is the actual English definition of the Supreme Being and Creator of the universe. The word Lord describes His position. He is Lord and Master. And we need to understand that in all the languages of man these two words are present.

For example, in the Chinese language they have the word Tee Kong that means the God of Heaven. And sometimes we as Christians are too strict and we say no. The name of God is Jesus Christ. By saying that, we are denying that the Chinese has a revelation of God. All men even though they have false worship, still call God by certain names. However, due to ignorance they sometimes call gods too what are actually evil spirits. In Acts 17, Paul in order to reach out to the Greeks in Athens, said that he is going to tell them about the unknown god which he saw inscribed on their altar. So he used their terminology. And for many years the early missionaries to China who were trying to reach out to the Chinese largely failed because it was like that they were introducing a new god. But finally one day one missionary came by and said, "I am not introducing to you a new god." According to Chinese beliefs Tee Kong the God of the Heaven has many smaller gods, like the kitchen god, the front god, the window god and other gods which are actually evil spirits. But they acknowledge that there is one almighty God up there. This missionary came and said, "Look, I am trying to tell you about the God of the heaven. One day He sent His Son." So instead of using a new vocabulary, he took their vocabulary Tee Kong and said that Tee Kong has sent His Son. Then the Chinese said, "We didn’t know Tee Kong has a Son." "Yes, He has a Son and His Son is Jesus Christ." And so he introduced God to the Chinese that way.

For many years there was a certain tribe in Africa which many missionaries tried to evangelise but they could not. Many of this tribe's customs and cultures were devilish. But one day a missionary observed a very peculiar custom that they had. When a tribe wants to make peace with another tribe, the tribal chief wishing to make peace would get one of his newly born babies to be delivered to the other tribal chief as a peace child. The other tribal chief would accept and adopt that peace child and peace would be restored to the two tribes. The missionary took that custom and explained that Jesus Christ is the peace child between God and man. Then the tribe understood and they came to know the Lord. It is just a matter of communication. A lot of people want to know God but our approach is wrong.

There is another missionary who went to a certain place where the people there have never seen a lamb before. So when he said that Jesus is the Lamb of God, they couldn't understand what is a lamb. The only creatures they knew were pigs. And they used pigs for all their sacrifices. I know it sound sacrilegious. But he said Jesus is the sacrificial pig for your sin. And he communicated the gospel to them. And he brought the whole tribe to know the Lord. Then later he showed them the He was not a pig. He was the Lamb.

The Hebrew Word for God

The Hebrew word for God is El. El is the normal generic name for God. El is singular. When the Hebrews want to make a word plural, they add the word im. So El is the name for God in the singular. Elohim is the name for God in plural. When the Bible speaks of the name of God it seldom uses the word El. Elohim is used more often than El. The Hebrews have a revelation of God as Elohim. The Bible says the gospel was preached first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. The Gentiles could never conceive that God was a Trinity. The Hebrew called Him Elohim. Strictly translated Elohim means Gods.

So there is Elohim, and there is El. These are general words for God. If the word for God in the bible is Elohim which is plural, why did the English translators translate Elohim as God instead of Gods? It is because there is a difficulty in the translation. In the English language, it is grammatically wrong to say that Gods is there. We say God is there. A singular noun goes with a verb that emphasises singularity. But the Hebrews, strictly speaking, say Gods is. God is revealing Himself in His name as Elohim. That the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit are one. They one in such a manner that you could not separate them. You could treat them as a singularity. He says, "Hear, O Israel, there is one God."

And the word one is not the singular word for one. It is the union word for one. There are two Hebrew words for one. One is numerical one; the other is unity one. For example when we say we are one in the Spirit, it doesn’t mean that we have been meshed up into one in body. It means we are united in our purpose and in our objective. So the English has two usage for the word one. The Hebrew conveys the meaning of one God by using two different Hebrew words: El and Elohim. The word El conveys the idea of being God like. The plural Elohim when used for God in the Old Testament is singular in meaning, and is often called "plural of majesty."

Elohim is the general Hebrew word for the name of God, which is equivalent to the general words in all human languages, used for the name of God. What happens is many people know God by general names like Elohim, Tee Kong, Tuhan etc but they do not know Him any further. We want to look at the revelation of God's names to Abraham to know Him more and more.

Yahweh the unsearchable God

Let us look at the Hebrew transliteration in Gen. 12: 7- 8 where the names of God are preserved. Then Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendents I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of Yahweh.

Now Jehovah and Yahweh are the same name for God. Jehovah or Yahweh simply means I Am. When God revealed Himself to Moses as I Am who I Am, He says I am Yahweh. . The old translation of the Hebrew word for God is YHWH and there are no vowels. Nobody knows exactly how it is pronounced. And in the olden days when they translated the bible, they translated it as the YHWH. You see the Hebrews were so afraid of God that they give God a special name and in fact that was traced back to Moses. The Hebrews didn't dare to pronounce His special name. And nobody knows how to pronounce it today. But from the Hebrew transliteration it sounds like Yah Weh. So it is spelled as Yahweh. The consonants as found in Jehovah are in its English form. In the English just remember that the words Jehovah and Yahweh are from the same Hebrew word. The earlier translators translated it as Jehovah. The modern scholars who have studied the scriptures more have tended to lean on to the other sound of it being Yahweh instead of Jehovah. But both are translated from the same Hebrew name.

The name Jehovah or Yahweh is a compound of three Hebrew words. The first one is the word Jeh. It means He will be. Then the second one is the word H which is pronounced as some said as hovah. So they got Yehovah. So that is the second sound. The third letter is W which means being. Then the last sound, the Vah sound means He was. So by putting the three together you have Jehovah. The Jeh means He will be. Hovah means being. And Vah meaning He was. You have the three coming together as: He will be, He is and He was. So that name Yahweh or Jehovah means God who will be, who is and who was. He is the God of eternity, who exists in the past, in the present and in the future as the unchanging all powerful being that He is. He is timeless, ageless, and changeless. That is Jehovah.

The actual meaning when it comes together means I Am the I. The word I Am doesn’t express the God who is just in the present. Usually when we say I am in our English language, we mean the present tense, for example, I am here, as opposed to past tense I was there, or to future tense I will be there. When we use the "am" we use it in the present tense. Now the I Am that is used as the title of God has a deeper meaning than that. It is not the normal I am. It is the I Am that means one who has eternity and time together as one. In other words, the past, the present and the future to Him is the same. When He says I Am, He is saying I am the One who existed in the past, I am the One who exists in the present and I am the One who continue to exist in the future. And He says that is who I Am to whom there is no past, no future and everything is just one time span. That is the meaning of Jehovah or I Am. Together it means He who shall be and He who is and He who shall be.

We also need to understand that the name Jehovah or Yahweh is used in a very intimate and covenanted sense. It is like God’s special intimate pet name or personal name. If you were Mr. Tan Ah Kow, you wouldn’t call your wife Mrs. Tan Ah Kow could you please come. You possibly address your wife by her first name or by a special name. Some people use endearing names like darling or honey. Sometimes you give a special pet name to people you like very much. So everyone has a special intimate name that no stranger can use. Those who don’t have an intimate relationship cannot use that special name.

Now that is the same place where the name Jehovah or Yahweh stands. Jehovah or Yahweh is like God’s special personal intimate name that He will only allow those who are very close to Him to use. Others are strictly speaking using titles like El, Elohim El Elyon, El Shaddai when addressing Him. If you hear the conversation of people, you will know how close they are. You will get rid of all those titles although the titles are still there and you need to know where a relationship of a title begins and where it ends. No child whose father is a doctor calls his father doctor. He does away with the title doctor and he just calls his father papa. So the words papa, mama or daddy are all these special loving words that are spoken.

The above is an excursion into the background of the name Jehovah or Yahweh. Now God had not revealed Himself as Yahweh to Abraham yet. But in the first instance when God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 12:1 the Bible called Him Yahweh. Yahweh revealed Himself to Abraham, but Abraham didn’t know God as Yahweh. So Abraham had a revelation of God but the fullness of God as Yahweh was not revealed to him. To Abraham, God was still the unsearchable Yahweh.

A New Revelation of God's Name: El Elyon and Adonai

And as we watch the progress in the life of Abraham, we see that at first all Abraham had was the general unsearchable God. He didn’t know Yahweh intimately as Yahweh. But he knew Yahweh as the Elohim and the El. He knew Yahweh as the Elohim the Almighty God. He knew Yahweh as the God Elohim who called him to dwell in a land that He will give him. He knew Yahweh as the triumphant God Elohim who leads him to victories. That was his relationship with God. That is the relationship that many people who believe in God have. They know God as Elohim but they do not know God intimately as Yahweh because their relationship with God is not intimate and tender. They can’t hear Him clearly although they do try to speak to Him.

So here in Genesis 12 we see Abraham beginning to walk with God. He begins to talk with God. Now lets look at Genesis 13 as he progresses in his life and see the revelation of God in his life. God was waiting for Abraham. Now you notice this thing about God. God doesn’t simply reveal Himself until you pay a price, until you fully obey Him. God will withhold the revelation of Himself to you until you fully obey Him. Abraham left his hometown and his home country. But he did not fully obey God. God told Abraham in Genesis 12 that he should leave his country and his kindred and his father’s house. All he was to take along was only his family. But when he left his homeland, he brought his nephew Lot along with him. He had not fully obeyed God. Abraham waited on God to fulfil His promises to him. But God waited on Abraham to fully obey Him. And for some people the same story goes on for forty years or eighty years. For Abraham it was a shorter period. God still did not reveal Himself fully to Abraham. However, God protected Abraham but he didn’t know that his relationship with God has not been fully established yet.

One day there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of Lot and the herdsmen of Abraham. And then Lot separated from him. When Lot separated from Abraham, God then revealed Himself. Remember the earlier word in Genesis 12 was Yahweh the unsearchable God. Now in Genesis 13:14 And the Lord said to Abraham after Lot had separated from him. So what we have here is the Lord revealing after. The bible is so particular. Immediately after he separated from Lot. Lets look at the Hebrew transliteration in chapter 13 verse 11 it says Lot chose all the plain etc. and verse 12 Abraham settled in the land of Canaan and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain. Verse 13 the men of Sodom were wicked and evil and sinners. And verse 14 Yahweh said onto Abraham after Lot was separated from him. So again it is the same word Yahweh speaking onto Abraham.

By the time we come to Genesis 13:18 we see that Abraham had fully obeyed God in taking only his family. It says then Abraham removed his tents and came and dwell and settle in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there a sacrifice on an altar onto Yahweh. It is still Yahweh as God deals in his life. And it goes about with this general God the Yahweh. And he walks and he builds a sacrifice on to God. Notice now there are two sacrifices. He builds an altar. He is reaching out to God.

In Genesis 14 we see how after rescuing Lot in a battle, Abraham met a man who knew God. His name is Melchizedek (Gen 14:18). It says then Melchizedek the king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High. And then many blessings are pronounced on Abraham of God Most High. Then in verse 22 Abraham said I lifted up my hand to God Most High the Possessor of heaven and earth. He had a certain covenant in relationship with God.

Now these are the Hebrew words that are being used and played upon that are in Genesis 14:1. Let me read to you in the transliteration and Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine. And he was the priest of the Most High Elyon. That is the second name we are learning now. You have learned Elohim. El Elyon is spelled Elyon God Most High. We don’t have all these words when we read the English translations. So in the Hebrew transliteration we find the original words used for God. And Melchizedek in Genesis 14:19 blessed Abraham and said "Blessed be Abraham of El Elyon Possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be the El Elyon which had delivered thine enemies into thy hand." And Abraham gave Melchizedek tithes. And the king of Sodom said to Abraham, "Give me the persons and keep the goods." And then Abraham said in Genesis 14:22 I have lifted up my hand onto Yahweh the El Elyon. Now there is a revelation here. I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh the unsearchable God, to the El Elyon. This is the first time Abraham uses that name when he met Melchizedek. Abraham is now walking in a deeper level in his relationship with God.

Lets read on in Genesis 15: 1, after this, the word of Yahweh came to Abraham in a vision saying fear not Abraham I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abraham said Adonai Yahweh Lord God. He uses a different word. In chapter 14 and 15 we see the progression of three names: Yahweh, which covers the revelation of El and Elohim, El Elyon, and another name, Adonai. Adonai means Lord. The word Adonai is a common word because the normal way a servant addresses a master in Hebrew is Adonai. So we know that Abraham is now using that word for God.

What is happening here is that is that every time God reveals Himself to Abraham there is a surrendering on Abraham's part. You could observe it when you study the names of God. God waited until Abraham had separated from Lot. And then He revealed Himself more. And Abraham said he had lifted his hands to God. The lifting of his hands indicates that he had a covenant in his relationship with God. When we a have covenant relationship with God through our tithes and vows, we are in relationship with El Elyon and Adonai. Every time you give your tithe to God, you are acknowledging that He is El Elyon. El Elyon means the Most High, the Highest. The name of El Elyon includes the title of Possessor of the heaven and the earth. El Elyon speaks about God’s ownership over the earth. Abraham is recognising that even as man can own something down here, God owns everything. Do you know that many Christians do not tithe? They do not know God as El Elyon or Adonai. They may be singing "El Shaddai El Shaddai," with their lips but their hearts does not really know God as Adonai.

When you call God, "Adonai" you are saying, "God, You are El Elyon. You own the universe. You own everything. I am only a tenant. And as a tenant this is my dues to you, my tithes that I pay to you." Melchizedek was a priest of El Elyon. And he received tithes on behalf of God. That is the revelation of God. Now Abraham has moved deeper. God is not just El and Elohim. If you are not a tither God is only El and Elohim to you. He is God but He is not El Elyon, Possessor of heaven and earth to you; your relationship is only with El and Elohim, like most ordinary human beings that believe in a general God. But when you start tithing, you get into a relationship with El Elyon.

Remember there is a progressive revelation of God. If you are stuck some where in your obedience to God, the further revelations of God will also get stuck. That is why if we hold back our tithes, we will also hold back the revelation of God. God withdraws from revealing Himself as El Elyon because to non-tithers, God is only El Elohim since they do not recognise him as the Possessor of the heaven and earth. The day you recognise Him as the Possessor of the heaven and earth, you must pay your tithe.

What happens when you begin to pay your tithes? After Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, God appeared to Abraham as Adonai (Gen 15:1). God is saying to the one who pays his tithes, "I am your master, I am your senior partner. I am the Chairman of the board of directors of your business." There is a step-by-step revelation of God Himself to you as you go step by step to fully obey Him. The first step is when people don’t believe in God. Then you step closer to God and you begin to know Him as El. You begin to know God. Then you step closer. He is Elohim. You begin to know He is a Trinity. All the other religions stop at El. But the Hebrew revelation goes one step further. He is a Triune God, Elohim. But some people stop here. If you want to go further and step closer to God and know Him as El Elyon, you must acknowledge that He is the owner of this universe and you are only a tenant. How much does He charge? Ten percent.

Many people don’t dare to cross that borderline. And in the church people are teaching about God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit, Yahweh etc but you can never get into those revelations because all these steps are progressive. If you don’t pass the stage of knowing God as El Elyon, you can never experience the other revelations of God. We need to pass the stage of knowing God as El Elyon. We need to worship God as Elohim, as El Elyon so that God becomes our Adonai. If you regularly acknowledge God as El Elyon the God of the universe by giving your tithes and offerings, you enter into a relationship with God who becomes your Adonai.

Abraham said I have lifted up my hand to El Elyon and I will not take a shoelace from anyone except from El Elyon. He owns me and I owe Him my life. God appeared to Abraham and said, "Abraham you have accepted me as El Elyon and because of this I am revealing to you that I am your exceeding great reward (Gen 15). After these things the word of Yahweh (see Yahweh is the true name of God) came onto Abraham in a vision and said," Fear not," (the Hebrew word means to be in awe), "I am thy shield and your exceedingly great reward." And the words exceeding great reward in the Hebrew means the mighty abundant hire. In other words, God told Abraham that he is now working for Him. What God is saying is this: "Because you have acknowledged Me as your owner, I am giving you a pay rise. From now onwards I am your mighty abundant reward."

A Second New Revelation: El Shaddai

But Abraham didn’t just stop there with God. Abraham moved on. So now he has known God as Elohim, as El Elyon and as Adonai. God continues to reveal Himself. When Abraham was ninety-nine years old and Yahweh appeared to Abraham, there was another new revelation. Abraham was not fully faithful yet God remains true to His promises because Abraham's heart was right. There were twelve silent years when he had Ishmael. When he was 99 years old, God revealed Himself in a deeper way. He revealed Himself as El Shaddai.

Genesis 17:1-5 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am El Shaddai; walk before my face and be blameless. I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly. Then Abram fell on his face, and Elohim talked with him, saying: "As for me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.

And this time there was an increase of God's revelation of His names to Abraham. Abraham knew God as Elohim. He knew God as El Elyon. He knew God as Adonai. And after walking with God faithfully, he now knows God as El Shaddai. El is the general Hebrew word meaning "God." It tells us that He made everything in the past and keeps it all going today. Shaddai is a term to describe a mother lovingly nursing her child. Together the name El Shaddai speaks of a God who is totally able to satisfy anyone who trusts in Him.

Although we may not have the same progressive revelation of God because we walk straight into Jesus Christ, our Christian life will probably be in the same direction. We struggle with God as the master in our life. We make Jesus Saviour but we don’t make Jesus Lord. We still have the same struggle. We are in the stage of struggling to have Him as our Adonai. But when we pass that stage of submitting to Him as our Adonai, He becomes the Lord and Master in every room and corner of our life. We will hold nothing back from Him. We really love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. What is God trying to do? He is saying to Abraham, "You are now no more just my workman. You are now no more just my hireling whom I have a contract with. You are no more just an employee. You are now my child whom I hold to my bosom. You are now a part of my family." God welcomes Abraham to His family. The word Shaddai is the Hebrew word for the woman’s breasts by which she nurses the little child. And God is saying, "I am the one who now nurse you. I am the one who gives you life. You are now a part of me."

And you notice something new taking place. Now God says, "I want you to do two things. I want you to be circumcised and I want you to change your name." When your name is changed, you are now adopted into God’s family. "I am now the one who carries you in my bosom. And every need in your life I will supply." God is revealing Himself as El Shaddai. There are many children of God who only know how to think and behave like servants of God. There are many people who never pass that stage in their Christian life. Some Christians are still in the stage where God is Elohim to them. Some Christians cannot even pass the stage where God is El Elyon to them. They cannot even bring their tithes and offerings. Some Christians cannot even make Jesus Lord, although He is their Saviour. But when Abraham had died to self, God conquered every room in his life. There was nothing more in his life that God could not lay a hold on. God said to Abraham, "You are now my family." That is why in chapter 17 the blessings of God even go further. He talked about fruitfulness. He talked about the covenant that He has with him. As for the blessings in Genesis 17:15-16 Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai but Sarah will be her name. And I will bless her. And she shall be a blessing. You are now going to represent me to the world. Just as I bless the world, you are the one who is going to bless the world." Now Abraham continues that walk with God. He is now a member of the family of God.

That is why in Genesis 18 we see Abraham functioning as an important director in the board of directors' meeting when God brought up the case of His impending judgement upon Sodom and Gomorrah. God said, "Shall I not tell Abraham what I am doing?" Remember the words of Jesus, "a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I call you friends. I call you into my family. Your are now not my servants." Jesus said in John 15:16 I will tell you what I am doing. So God tells Abraham He had to bring judgement to Sodom and Gomorrah. God asks, "Shall I not let Abraham know what I am doing? He is now not just my employee. He is now on my board of directors. He is in my family." And Abraham learned to use his authority. And God said to Abraham, "I am going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah." Now if Abraham did not know El Shaddai and if all he knew was Adonai, he will not be able to say what he intercede on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah as recorded in Genesis 18. His words wouldn’t count. An employee only receives an order. But a board director can bring forth arguments and influence decisions. When Abraham surrendered all, he found he was never the loser. You can never out give God. There is no sacrifice too hard, no difficulty that God will not reward you back. God welcomed Abraham as El Shaddai. And knowing God as El Shaddai, being in the family of God, being in the board of directors, Abraham asks God, "What happens if there are fifty righteous people. Will you destroy the place?" God said if there were fifty righteous people He would not destroy the place. Then Abraham asks that if there are forty righteous people will He destroy the place. God said He would not destroy. Abraham was fearful. He had never had this kind of authority before. Then he approached with fear and asks what happen if there were only ten righteous people. God said that He would not destroy. But see what happens when God becomes as El Shaddai to Abraham. He allows Abraham into His own confidences and boardroom meeting to discuss with Him His impending decisions. What a wonderful relationship.

A Third Revelation: Jehovah Jireh

But as Abraham became blessed in God, there was one more revelation of His name that God gave him before he died. That is in Genesis 22:1-2 Now it came to pass after these things that Elohim tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." Then He said "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." Basically God is saying to Abraham to give Isaac as an offering to Him. And Abraham did as he was told here. Every word used for God in Genesis 22: 8, 9 and 10 was Elohim. However in Genesis 22: 11 the word used for word was Yahweh, "the angel of Yahweh called him out from heaven" as Abraham was tested in his love for God. His son was tied to the altar. You see a lot of people say God will take things from you to test you. I don’t see God taking anything from him. God was not the one who took the knife. Abraham had to take the knife himself. It is only the devil that steals from you, not God. It is only the devil that destroys you, not God. God is a gentleman. He asks you your permission. And God didn’t take Abraham's son. Abraham had to take his own son. And God says to Abraham, "Show me that you love Me. Show Me you love Me more that all these blessings." God wanted Abraham to love Him not because of what He has done for him or has blessed him. He is El Shaddai. He is a part of the family.

But God wants to know whether Abraham enjoyed being a part of His family because of the inheritance in His family or because he really loves Him. Abraham was the one who had to take the knife and slay Isaac. As he was about to plunge the knife into Isaac's heart, God Almighty called and said this to him. Genesis 22: 10-18 And Abraham stretched out his hands and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am." And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear Elohim, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place Yahweh Jireh. Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven and said, "By myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendents as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendents shall possess the gates of their enemies. In thy seed all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you obeyed My voice."

So the last revelation of God to Abraham was Yahweh Jireh, which means God is my Provider. The meaning of this goes deeper than that. It is God revealed in Jesus Christ providing for Abraham. Abraham in the Old Testament had a glimpse of the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. And that is why in the New Testament, we are told in Galatians that Abraham had the gospel preached to him. And how in Gal. 3: 13,14 it says Jesus became the curse that the blessings of Abraham might come on us. What Abraham received that day was the covenant of Jesus Christ that He is going to come as the seed of Abraham. And he had a glimpse and he saw Jesus Christ in the redeeming ram. Almost like Simeon in the gospel of Luke when Simeon held Jesus in his hands. Simeon said now let thy servant go in peace. Now God has brought him to that special revelation of God his son the seed of Abraham.

Now the word Jehovah or Yahweh is like a close intimate name of God as papa. Then instead of just being generally known as papa, He shows us all the intimate things that He is. When we say Jehovah Jireh (which means God is my Provider) or Jehovah Rapha (which means God is my Healer), it doesn’t mean that God can provide or heal alone. It doesn’t mean that God has the power to provide or heal. It means all those things. But it means that He is Provision. It means He is Healing. There is difference between having the power and being the power. There is a difference of having the healing and being the healing. What He is saying is that God is Healing. He exists in that state and condition of power, providing, and healing. That is the strength of that meaning Jehovah. It expresses the inner being of God, a part of Him. For example, you could say that person is good at playing the guitar. He has the talent for playing the guitar. Now that is good and nice. But when you say that he is a musician, what does it tell you? Not just that he has the talent for playing the guitar, but that he has musical qualities existing within his very being.

When God calls Himself by the title Jehovah, it is qualifying the being of God. That is why God is particular to whom He shows Himself to be in the Jehovah titles. As we look at the Jehovah titles, we have to consider the last revelation to Abraham, Jehovah Jireh in Gen. 22:14. And Abraham called the name of the place The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided." However the word Jehovah Jireh doesn’t mean God will provide. Jehovah Jireh actually literally mean God sees. See the transliteration of Gen. 22 when the revelation or the experience that Abraham had with God in regard to his son was fulfilled. The Hebrew translation says in Genesis 22:14. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh, is said to this day in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. Yahweh, it shall be seen. In other words that is the place where Yahweh is seen. Now you can see your way, you get your provision. If you don’t see your way, you don’t get your provision.

If you see the God who can remove the mountain, then your mountains are small. They become little molehills. They can be kicked off into the sea. When you see Goliath, you can’t see God. When you see God, Goliath is only a little virus. When you see Jesus in the boat, you are not afraid of the storms. When you are afraid of the storms, you have forgotten Jesus in the boat. Like Peter walking in the water in Matthew 14, when he saw Jesus, he had faith. When he saw the waves, he had no faith. It depends on who or what he sees.

So here Jehovah Jireh doesn’t just mean that the Lord provides. It means that the Lord sees. And you see the Lord. That is the mountain where the Lord can be seen. And every revelation of God is important. Now God is telling us something special in His revelations of Jehovah. In each one of His revelations He is revealing a part of His heart. There are principles involved. In God’s revelation of Jehovah Jireh to Abraham in Genesis 22, we see first of all, that there is total obedience. Abraham was for a total obedient and total surrender. He had to be willing to give up and surrender his only son whom he loves very much and he obeyed. In other words, you can’t really see Jehovah Jireh until you have been obedient to God. God is not your Jehovah Jireh when you don’t have total absolute surrender and obedience. If you really want to see the miraculous flow of Jehovah Jireh, the God who can supply every need, demands that we have total surrender and obedience to God. Before God provided, Abraham gave.

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