{"id":4641,"date":"2013-09-06T08:59:31","date_gmt":"2013-09-06T14:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/?p=4641"},"modified":"2013-09-06T09:07:49","modified_gmt":"2013-09-06T15:07:49","slug":"yahweh-sermon-series-wrap-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/2013\/09\/yahweh-sermon-series-wrap-up\/","title":{"rendered":"“Yahweh,” Sermon Series Wrap-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Sunday we will wrap up our series studying God’s name, Yahweh<\/a>, with a sermon from Ezekiel 48:35, “The Lord<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0is There.” On the following Sunday, September 15, Ryan will be back in the pulpit to begin a new series through 1 and 2 Samuel, “In Search of The King.”<\/p>\n

Before this series is over, though, we simply must include here the text of a reflection on God’s name from an article by John Piper, “Yahweh Is the Sweetest Name I Know<\/a>.” Enjoy!<\/p>\n

You are not wrong to sing, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jesus is the sweetest name I know,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d even though Yahweh is.<\/p>\n

Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why.<\/p>\n

God gave himself the name Yahweh. No man gave him this name. It is God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chosen personal name. He loves to be known by this name. It is used over 5,000 times in the Old Testament. It is almost always translated by L\u00e1\u00b4\u008f\u00ca\u20ac\u00e1\u00b4\u2026 (small caps). But it is not a title. It is a personal name, like James or Elizabeth.<\/p>\n

You know the name Yahweh best from its shortened form Yah at the end of Hallelujah, which means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153praise Yahweh.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I love to think about this when I sing. When I sing, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hallelujah,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I love to really mean, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No! I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t praise you Bel, or Nebo, or Molech, or Rimmon, or Dagon, or Chemosh. I turn from you with disdain to Yah! I praise Yah. Hallelu Yah!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

God announced his name to Moses in Exodus 3:15. God said to Moses, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Say this to the people of Israel, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcYahweh, the God of your fathers. . . . This is my name forever.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

He preceded this announcement with two other statements so the meaning would be clear. He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am who I am\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (verse 14a). And he said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Say to the people of Israel, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcI am has sent me to you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (verse 14b).<\/p>\n

The Hebrew name Yahweh is connected to the Hebrew verb \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d So Yahweh is most fundamentally the One-Who-Is. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am who I am\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is the most foundational meaning of Yahweh. It means: My am-ness comes from my am-ness. My being from my being. My existence from my existence.<\/p>\n

There are vast personal and covenantal implications of this. But this is foundational. No beginning. No ending. No dependence. He simply is, always was, and always will be. He communicates all of this with a personal name. To be sure, he has titles, and he has attributes. But this is a personal name. He packs the weightiest truth about himself into a personal name. Infinite greatness and personal knowability are in the name Yahweh.<\/p>\n

Then in the fullness of time, Yahweh came into the world to seek and save the lost. The angel said to Joseph, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Matthew 1:21). Jesus is an English transliteration of the Greek Iesoun. And this in turn is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Joshua. And Joshua is a combination of Yah and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153salvation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153save\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. It means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yahweh saves.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

So Jesus means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yahweh saves.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jesus is Yahweh with a human nature coming to save his people from sin.<\/p>\n

Paul confirms this in Philippians 2:11. He says of the risen Jesus, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That is a quote from Isaiah 45:23 where Yahweh is the one to whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. Paul is saying that, in the end, the whole world will acknowledge that Jesus is in fact Yahweh incarnate.<\/p>\n

So you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to choose between singing, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jesus is the sweetest name I know,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yahweh is the sweetest name I know.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Indeed you dare not choose.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, it is true. One clear and astounding evidence of God’s mercy for sinners is that he came to us himself in the person of his Son. Jesus is<\/em> Yahweh come to his people.<\/p>\n

If you haven’t had a chance to join us for each of the last five Sundays, each of the sermons is available in audio and video at the\u00c2\u00a0Messages<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0page:<\/p>\n