Names of God; part 18. The compound names of YHVH … "I am _______."

Title: Names of God; part 17. The compound names of YHVH … "I am _______."

 

Compound names of YHVH. “I keep on being that which I keep on being.” The compound provides the “that” of which He always was, is, and will be.

 

YHVH yireh (He has, is, and will always provide). On this very hill God would provide is only begotten Son as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.

 

YHVH roph’ekha (who keeps healing you) or YHVH your physician. Rapha = physician, but added is the suffix kah - the singular “you” or “your”. I was, am, and always will be your personal Physician.

 

The name reveals that God is the Great Physician who is yours personally and individually.

 

At Rephidim on the way to Mt. Sinai, Joshua fought the Amalekites in the valley and won a victory while Moses, sitting on the hilltop, held up his hands with the aid of Aaron and Hur.

 

EXO 17:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this in a book as a memorial, and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." [David would do this]

 

EXO 17:15 And Moses built an altar, and named it The Lord is My Banner;

 

EXO 17:16 and he said, "The Lord has sworn; the Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation."

 

To commemorate the victory, Moses built an altar and called it YHVH nissi, YHVH is my banner.

 

In ancient battles, the standard was extremely important. To be the standard bearer was an honor. Troops would rally to it, but if the enemy captured it, then it was very likely that the battle was lost.

 

Therefore, the banner represents us in conflict. No matter how bad things may look, the Lord is always holding the banner. We rally to Him and we fix our eyes on Him and we will find victory.

 

JER 50:1 The word which the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:

 

JER 50:2 Declare and proclaim among the nations.

Proclaim it and lift up a standard [nissi].

Do not conceal it but say,

'Babylon has been captured,

Bel [Baal of the Babylonians] has been put to shame,

Marduk has been shattered;

Her images have been put to shame, her idols have been shattered.'

 

This name or title reminded Israel that only as they rallied around the Yavah as their banner would they continue to win victories. It also let them know that no enemy could bring their banner down as long as Yavah was their banner.

 

The Lord fights for us as we keep silent. He is our banner. We are to keep our eyes upon Him in faith and in that same faith, continue to follow His commands or follow the colors no matter what the enemy does.

 

HEB 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

 

HEB 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

 

HEB 12:3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.

 

HEB 12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;

 

Gideon called Him YHVH shalom, YHVH is peace.

 

JDG 6:21 Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

 

JDG 6:22 When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, he said, "Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face."

 

JDG 6:23 And the Lord said to him, "Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die."

 

JDG 6:24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it The Lord is Peace.

 

In the midst of trial or anything that seeks to rob you of your peace, can you claim that your Father is peace and maintain your peace and rest?

 

We certainly know God is always at peace, but we're not God. However, we also know that God became a man and was tempted in all things as we are.

 

HEB 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

 

HEB 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

 

HEB 4:16 Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

 

We face many such tests, and they are all designed for our good and to increase our faith. They drive us to the throne of God, the only place where true mercy and grace may be found.  

 

Yavah is there:

The future city of the King during the Millennial reign, which if literally interpreted from Ezekiel is not Jerusalem, is called Yavah Shammah.

 

EZE 48:35 "The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, 'The Lord is there.'"

 

Ezekiel prophesied that the name of the future city would be YHVH shammah, "Yavah is there" an assurance of divine presence.

 

We must know the presence of God every day. Unlike the OT, the NT believer is indwelt by God. There is nowhere that we can go that Yavah will not be there.

 

The Lord of Hosts (Yavah tsbaoth [tsev-ah-oat]):

1SA 17:41 Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.

 

1SA 17:42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance.

 

1SA 17:43 And the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

 

1SA 17:44 The Philistine also said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field."

 

1SA 17:45 Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.

 

1SA 17:46 This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

 

1SA 17:47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hands."

 

I never waste an opportunity in our studies to go to this scene, though I know you all practically know it by heart. It is timeless and it is how we  must face every obstacle in our lives. Not that we're going to defeat every giant in our way in a matter of moments, but that we face every obstacle stating in our hearts that in the victory which is within our souls, which is peace and patience and love during the trial, that the world may know that there is a God in the church.

 

One might think that Elohim would better suit the situation since He is revealing power, but more than the show of power, which over one little, loudmouthed jerk is not anything like creating the universe (Goliath wasn’t big to God), more than a show of power is God’s deliverance of Israel from their fear through the ruddy young man David.

 

YHVH tsbaoth [tsev-ah-oat], Yavah of hosts, is His divine, heavenly title. The psalmists and the prophets use it frequently, often implying that the hosts are angels who do God's will (cf. PSA 89:5-8; 148:2).

 

David fully assessed the situation and concluded that the giant must fall by God's will and since there was no one willing to step out there, that he would do it. Anyone who stepped out there in faith would have dropped him and beheaded him.

 

We can assess the will of God in a situation and understand that God will fulfill it, whether we are the instrument in His hand or someone else.

 

PSA 89:1 I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever;

To all generations I will make known Thy faithfulness with my mouth.

 

PSA 89:2 For I have said, "Lovingkindness will be built up forever;

In the heavens Thou wilt establish Thy faithfulness."

 

PSA 89:3 "I have made a covenant with My chosen;

I have sworn to David My servant,

 

PSA 89:4 I will establish your seed forever,

And build up your throne to all generations. "

Selah.

 

PSA 89:5 And the heavens will praise Thy wonders, O Lord;

Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

 

PSA 89:6 For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord?

Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord,

 

PSA 89:7 A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones,

And awesome above all those who are around Him?

 

PSA 89:8 O Lord God of hosts, who is like Thee, O mighty Lord?

Thy faithfulness also surrounds Thee.

 

PSA 89:9 Thou dost rule the swelling of the sea;

When its waves rise, Thou dost still them.

 

PSA 89:10 Thou Thyself didst crush Rahab [proud one who opposes God] like one who is slain;

Thou didst scatter Thine enemies with Thy mighty arm.

 

YHVH tsbaoth points to the remnant of Israel, the faithful and even some unfaithful, who despite everything, were delivered by the Lord of Hosts.

 

ROM 9:27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved;

 

ROM 9:28 for the Lord will execute His word upon the earth, thoroughly and quickly."

 

ROM 9:29 And just as Isaiah foretold,

"Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left to us a posterity,

We would have become as Sodom, and would have resembled Gomorrah.”

 

Paul didn’t translate the name since in this section of Romans (chaps. 9-11) he was appealing to unbelieving Jews who knew the name to refer to God’s sovereignty over all powers of the universe, which He had finally vanquished through the death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.