 |
Table of ContentsOpening LetterWho 'We' Are **The Names of God — Adonai & Elohim** |
The Grace to Overcome A Once-in-a-Lifetime Event! Why Study the Names of God? Thanks from Pedakakani Children Thoughts from an Evangelist's Heart | Going Out God's Goodness About 'Niceness' If You Die Wrong Upcoming Events NAE BattleCry Youth Campaign Prayer and Leadership Conference | Shorts Crash Report Just Thinking... The Hippo & Tortoise Another Learning Experience |
 Greetings, dear friends!I have been really blessed recently by the responses I'm receiving from many of you concerning our "Names of God" Bible study. Thank you for all the positive feedback — and even the lovingly offered criticisms! Several of you requested print copies of the studies, so I'm instituting another improvement to the newsletter. Beginning with this month's study, I am including a link for a print-friendly copy of each "Names of God" Bible study (that means they will contain only the Bible study topic and won't have any hypertext links in them). Since I didn't do this for the first three studies, I'm including links for those also. I hope this will help you, at least for the short term. Later, I may create these studies in Adobe PDFs which you can then download directly to your computer. In addition to the "thank you's", two subscribers offered the following opinions: "Watchman Paul" observed, "...in our prayer life it is the how we know God that is more important than speaking the literal translation that matters most to God...(Jeremiah 31:34)." And another friend wrote, "What matters is that in our hearts, we know that GOD is LORD OF ALL!" Thanks to both of you for reminding me of the importance of keeping a proper perspective during this study. Certainly, you're right! What matters most is that we are convinced in our hearts that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the only true God and is Lord of all. It's important for you all to understand that I'm not suggesting we use them as some sort of magic spell or rote hocus-pocus to manipulate God or our circumstances. Heaven forbid! God knows our hearts and He knows when we're sincere or when we're trying to twist an event to our favor by the improper and disrespectful use of His name(s). No matter how much we know, we must remain vigilant to not use His name(s) in vain! Please keep this in mind: The reason God gave us His names — and the purpose of this Bible study — is not so we can throw His name around as though we would be able to impress God or others with how 'smart' or 'godly' we are. But God said, "I am Yahweh" at least 160 times in the Old Testament, so it's apparently important to Him that we know who He is — as revealed in His names. I am convinced that this knowledge will result in us going fully into the fire of God, delving deeper into His Heart, and wholeheartedly pursuing holiness. Not just knowing about Him — as some are content to remain — but drawing closer to Him as He passionately pursues us, removes the veil from our understanding, and reveals to us all that He is and wants to be in our lives! Or, as Rev. Dr. Nathan Stone wrote: "...we will glorify [God] and enjoy Him — only in proportion as we know Him." "...not very many people know much about the person of God as revealed in His names. Surely a study of these names should be a most profitable way of increasing that knowledge." I hope this helps to clarify my position and not confuse you even more. I am so passionate about sharing the message God has laid on my heart, but it's sometimes very difficult to communicate that passion in writing. I pray that the Holy Spirit of the one true living God will be in these teachings and that we'll all be drawn into a more intimate relationship with Yahweh, the sovereign covenant-keeping God, and Jesus, the Christ. As we continue our study of God's names, I pray that God will ignite a flame within your heart and soul to fall more in love with Him through the knowledge of His names, and to share these teachings with others. Be blessed in Jesus' name, and remember: The Christian life is not what we do for God, but what God does for us! Your sister & servant in Christ,  My Redeemer Lives Christian Ministry Because of the volume of e-mail I receive, it is impossible for me to respond to every person who writes. If you have an opinion or question, please understand that I will not offer personal advice or debate theological issues. You are welcome to send your opinions, corrections and questions, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to respond. If you're looking for some good Bible study sources, I suggest Bible.org - Trustworthy Bible Study Resources, Blue Letter Bible Study Resources, Precept Ministries International, and Shepherd Serve all of which offer hundreds of pages of well-organized teaching articles and Bible studies. |
To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world. Back to top |
snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand." John 10:28-29 Back to top |
 Adonai..&..Elohim "Let them praise the name of the LORD: for His Name alone is excellent; His glory [is] above the earth and heaven." Psalm 148:13 (KJV) Editor's Note: As there is considerable variance among Bible scholars as to former customs, usage, and translations of the various names of God in the Bible, the neutrality and factual accuracy of this article may be disputed. These articles are a summation of those ideas and conclusions on which most scholars agree. Did you know that Adonai and Elohim are plural Hebrew nouns? Two common names of God in the Biblia Hebraica (Hebrew Bible) are "Adonai" which is Hebrew for "Lord", and "Elohim" which expresses concepts of divinity (i.e., "God"). Technically, the word "Adonai" is the plural form of "Adon", meaning "my lord"; and the name "Elohim" is the masculine plural form of "Eloah". The singular Adon was used by the Phoenicians for their pagan god Tammuz and is the origin of the Greek name Adonis. The ordinary feminine singular word "Eloah" refers to the pagan polytheistic notion of multiple gods, or to powerful men or judges (Exodus 21:6 "...then his master [eloah] shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the door-post, and his master [eloah] shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever."). Since Adonai and Elohim are written in the plural form, many Christians have used this as a foundation on which to build the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. However, while these names are written in the plural form, they regularly employ singular verbs in Hebrew grammar and are singular in usage. Therefore, acting as singular nouns with singular verbs, many believe these names represent a plural of majesty, perhaps pointing out that this one God embodies all the attributes of the many pagan gods worshipped by other peoples. Adonai (Hebrew: Adonay) was used as a substitute for the name Yahweh (YHWH). If you'll recall, last month I told you that the Tetragrammaton YHWH appears approximately 6000 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. To avoid violating the commandment "You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain" (Exodus 20:7), sometimes Adonai was used as a substitute for Yahweh (YHWH) or the vowels "a-o-a" were inserted between the letters "YHWH" to remind people to not pronounce the name "Yahweh". Adonai (Lord) means "master", "owner", or "sovereign ruler" and generally denotes the authority and position of God. Adonai is first used in Genesis 15:2 where Abram asked, "Lord Yahweh [Adonai], what will You give me, seeing I go childless...?" The word Adonai, in reference to God, occurs 300 times in the Old Testament — especially in Isaiah, Ezekiel (200 times), and Daniel (10 times in the 9th chapter). It is usually written "Lord" in most English Bibles, "Jehovah" in the American Standard Version (ASV) of the Bible, and "Yahweh" or "Lord" in the online World English Bible. Primarily, the name Adonai stresses man's relationship to God as his Master, Authority, and Provider. Some examples of where the name "Adonai" is used...
Elohim is the first name for God used in the Bible. Elohim is the name of God that occurs first in Scripture in Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God [Elohim] created the heavens and the earth." The name occurs 2,570 times in the Old Testament: 32 times in Genesis; and almost exclusively in Ecclesiastes, Daniel, and Jonah. Elohim was often used in place of "YHWH Adonai" to avoid duplication of the name "Adonai" whenever the Hebrew compound name "YHWH Adonai" appeared in Scripture. The name "Elohim" is used in Scripture when emphasizing God's might, His creative power, and His attributes of justice and rulership. It denotes the power and pre-eminence (conspicuous glory) of God and is especially used in relation to God's sovereignty, creative work, and mighty works for Israel. Variations of this name include "El", "Eloha", "Elohai" (my God) and "Elohaynu" (our God). In the Pentateuch the name "Elohim" portrays God as the transcendent Being, the Creator of the universe. Some examples where the name "Elohim" is used...
 Click here for a print-friendly copy of this Bible studyYou may also print copies of previous studies by clicking the appropriate links: Names of God - Introduction Names of God - References to "name" Names of God - YHWH / Jehovah Sources for this study include: BELIEVE Religious Information Collection Bible.org - Trustworthy Bible Study Resources Blue Letter Bible Study Tools Elwell Evangelical Dictionary Judaism 101 Wikipedia — the free encyclopedia 2001 MT-based public domain update of 1901 American Standard Version (ASV) Previous Month's "Names of God" Bible Study, "YHWH / Jehovah" Back to top |
 Creatively fresh and unique, the songs of The Secret Place are simple, intimate expressions of spontaneous prophetic worship |
by Rev. Dr. Nathan Stone The first question in some of our catechisms is, "What is the chief end of man?" and the answer is, "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." But we will experience God in such fashion and we will glorify Him and enjoy Him — only in proportion as we know Him. The knowledge of God is more essential for the Christian, and indeed for all the world, than the knowledge of anything else — yes, of all things together. The prayer of the Lord Jesus for His disciples in John 17:3 was: "And this is life eternal that they should know Thee the only true God, and Him whom Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ" (ASV). And speaking of this Christ, our Jehovah-Jesus, Paul sums up in Philippians 3:10 the great goal of his life: "That I may know Him."  "I suppose if sin had not entered the world," says one writer, "acquiring the knowledge of God would have been the high occupation of man forever and ever." It is for a lack of knowledge of God that the prophet Hosea informs his people they are destroyed. And it is from the lack of knowledge of God that many are without spiritual power or life. There is little real knowledge in these days of the one, true God. There are many ways, of course, in which we may study God. The God who of old time spoke "unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken to us in his Son," the epistle to the Hebrews tells us. And this Son, Jesus Christ, while on earth said in the great discourse and prayer with God: "I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world..." (John 17:6). "And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:26). True, it is in the face of Jesus Christ we best see the glory of God; yet while we are in the flesh we can only know in part at most. And it behooves us to know all we can learn of God. All the Scriptures are profitable to us for instruction and edification, but perhaps not very many people know much about the person of God as revealed in His names. Surely a study of these names should be a most profitable way of increasing that knowledge. When Moses received a commission from God to go to His oppressed people in Egypt and deliver them from bondage, he said: "When I come unto the children of Israel, and shall 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?" (Exodus 3:13).  Now the word "God" or even "Lord", as we see it in our English Bibles, conveys little more to us than the designation of the Supreme Being and Sovereign of the universe. It tells little about His character and ways. Indeed we cannot say all that the mysterious word "God" means to us until we know more about Him. And we can know little of what the word "God" means until we go to the language from which the word God is translated, the language which is the first written record of the revelation of Himself, the language in which He spoke to Moses and the prophets. Now a name in the Old Testament was often an indication of a person's character or of some peculiar quality. But what one name could be adequate to God's greatness? After all, as one writer declares, a name imposes some limitation. It means that an object or person is this and not that, is here and not there. And if the Heaven of heavens cannot contain God, how can a name describe Him? What a request of Moses, then, that was — that the infinite God should reveal Himself to finite man by any one name! Even so, the Old Testament contains a number of names and compound names for God which reveal Him in some aspect of His character and dealings with mankind. by Moody Bible Institute of Chicago Click here for a print-friendly copy of this article |
Save time! Save money! Support this ministry! |
We will never see this again in our lifetime . . . nor will the people of the next 50-to-1000 lifetimes! Mars, the 'Red Planet' is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close may in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the past 5,000 years; and they speculate it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again. The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. To the naked eye, Mars will look as large as the full moon.  ............ Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10:00 P.M. and reach its azimuth at about 3:00 A.M. By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 A.M. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. |