The Primary names of God

Without a doubt Sir Isaac Newton is my favorite Scientist, he is argueably the best scientist God ever created. I would like to try to prove my point.

Isaac Newton was born in 1643 and his mother tried to take him out of school to be a farmer, and thought he could never be a genius but everyone else believed differently.

He went to Caimbrige University which closed down in 1665 - 1666 due to the great plague, lest you think that COVID was a one off. He used that time to attempt to conquer questions about planetary motion that had been posed by relatively new heliocentric ideas of Galileo that the sun was the center of the solar system and not the earth.

He believed that God had order and was sovereign in the heavens. He locked himself away and developed differential and integral calculus to come up with his initial ideas on universal laws of gravity to accurately describe the seemingly random motion of planets and comets. And then he turned 25 and really got to work.

He then invented a reflecting telescope and plublished groundbreaking work on light that white light was all the colors of the rainbow mixed together his work on light and optics revolutionized the world as we knew it and this was all before he reached the age of 30

In his thirties he wrote pricipia de mathematicia a book that I reference almost daily in Physics class with his three laws of motion. You see all of next year most of what I will teach for a entire year of Physics class came from Newton, sprinkle in a few other guys most of which just expanded his ideas.

You probably know his three laws even though you didn’t know it…

Objects in motion tend to stay in motion and objects at rest tend to stay at rest

Force equals mass times acceleration

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

He finishes this and he is forty and gives us more information like the coefficient of gravity and the laws of universal gravity which in a couple of weeks my science class will be using to calculate what they would weigh on the moon.

BUT..… Newton is a hole lot more than that

Did you realize that he wrote a lot more about the Bible than he did science. He published over a million words about this book especially on the books of Daniel and Revelation. I am not sure if Newton was a born again Christian but I like to think he was. I will find out one day, but he was obsessed with eschatology the study of end times and the return of Christ and believed those books to contain the finger prints of a God who predicts the future by looking at the historical accuracy of the predictions in the Bible and he believed that Christ couldn’t come back until after 2060 to that I would say that God will come back exactly when he means to I would find it funny if God came back in 2059. BUT I am not hear to talk about Science today this is just supposed to be an introduction. I want to talk about GOD

We are going to look at the names of God. We like Newton believe in ONE GOD!

We also believe in the Trinity something that Newton questioned that is why I wonder about his salvation. I can’t know. The great God three in one and we are going to look at the many names of God which I believe are a lot like the color spectra of the rainbow that when put together give us that great brilliant white light.

Jesus: “I am the light of the world”

John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Jesus said I am the Light of the world two times in the gospel of John once to when the religious leaders brough the adulteress woman to him and once again when he healed a blind man in John 9. Jesus spoke that the world is a dark place and that he is the light the driving force that drives the light away.

His names aren’t seperate Gods when we look at things like Jehovah Jireh vs El Shaddai we are not looking at two different gods little g we are looking at ONE GREAT GOD who is the light of the world through a prism just like Newton did those 450 years ago, when you put all the titles all the attributes of God together you get a pure bright appearance of His majesty. It’s like something that just baffles me, when we mix all the colors of the rainbow together on a light bar you get the most brilliant white I don’t understand how that works light is super confusing and thats a science topic for another day but put them all together and you get brilliance put all the names of God together and you see holiness.

So lets get our prisms out and look at the amazing color palate of the names of God

God’s name is Holy and should be treated so.

Luke 11:2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.”

In the LORDs prayer it starts out with how holy God’s name is and I would tell you first and foremost USE GODS NAME Appropriately. When you smack your finger with a hammer don’t shout out GOD! NO it deserves reverence. I would encourage you to use the names of God in prayer. Not just God, their is power in the names of Jesus and better appriation for God in understanding his names

The Primary names of God!

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

It is important to just know the names of God to get to know your creator and God better.

1 Elohim (God)- All powerful creator.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

This is the generic word for god, but there is nothing simple about the word. I say that because this word is not only used for the God that we worship but also for other gods

elohim (little e emphasized) can be used other gods.

Exodus 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.

you have heard us say god little g when we refer to false gods, Like the hindus have their false gods including shiva and vishnu while the muslims pride themselves as being the true monotheistic religion and worship allah, those are little g gods and we know what we means when we talk about them but we should still understand that when we use that word elohim it means God the great the powerful Almighty Creator of Universe don’t let false gods take anything away from the word. When I look to the heavens and say GOD help I know what I am talking about.

We only have one true God!

Joshua 23:7 and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them,

You need to understand the difference in gods.

Exodus 23:13 “And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.”

Understand that word circumspect I told the church this on a Sunday evening recently it means that you can stand back and see what really is going on you see the bigger picture. We don’t serve the same God as the muslims just a little different. This means that you should see things for what they really are when concerning the Mormons who deny the diety of Christ. When they say God they are saying something different than you are,

2 Adonai (Lord) - The Lord our Master

Genesis 18:2–3 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.

This implies the headship of God and should be looked at as the place that we hold in relationship to him this name of God is a more proper name for god and gets a little bit more specific it gets its root from Adom which means master controller and we should be the bondservant of God like many of the New Testament writers wrote about their position in Christ he is the master the controller of the soul. This word is not used as much as the next one we will get to but it is important. I view the names of God as similiar to the trinity, with Adonai kind of being like the Holy Spirit maybe the forgotten of the three but no less important. Don’t forget that God is you master, just like you shouldn’t forget about the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the Master

John 13:13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.

Jesus is our Adonai, He is the one that we worship the one that should pay are allegiance to. I will just say this I am very proud to be an American. I am proud of the men and women who died so that we can be free, but if I had my druthers God would always come first. Here is my opinion you don’t have to share my opinion. Whenever we say the pledge of allegiance and then the pledge to the Christian Flag I think I wish I could change the order. I don’t complain because the Bible does not say thou shalt say the pledges in this order and it does tell us to honor the king so I don’t worry about the order but I will tell you this Jesus is my king I am a citizen of heaven happily and proudly serving as an ambassador with duel citiczenship of the USA that is not to belittle the US it is just to exalt my God to where I believe He needs to be

3 YAHWEH (LORD) or Jehovah - The Self Existent One

Genesis 4:26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.

The word LORD Jehovah YAHWEH is the special Holy Name of God that’s root is from the word we call become or BEHOLD

YAHWEH - The Great I am

Exodus 3:14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ 

This word of God is said more often in the bible for God tham any other with 6,823 uses WOW! When someone talks about worshiping Yahweh or Jehovah I think to myself yes now we are getting more specific if the muslim’s god is Allah our’s is Yahweh

YAHWEH is connected to God’s presence and power.

Isaiah 18:7 In that time a present will be brought to the LORD of hosts From a people tall and smooth of skin, And from a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, Whose land the rivers divide— To the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, To Mount Zion.

YAHWEH was a word used with blessing and greeting.

Ruth 2:4 “Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered him, “The LORD bless you!””

It was used the same way we say God bless you. I wish we would say may God cause his face to shine on you or may Jesus shine through you today.

YAHWEH was a special name.

Numbers 6:23–27 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’ “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”

YAHWEH was connected to the Holy of Holies.

Deuteronomy 12:5 “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.

YAHWEH speaks to the eternal nature of God.

Exodus 3:15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.”

YAHWEH eventually became the unspoken name of God. After syncretism infected the land and the children of Israel became invaded by foreign lands like the Babylonian and Roman empire it slowly became unspoken

YAHWEH is Holy.

Exodus 20:7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

YAHWEH became the tetragammaton.

1 Chronicles 28:9 ““As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”

It just became those 4 letters and unspoken so that some Roman pagan or Babylonian pagan wouldn’t defile the name of God like Beltshazzar defiled the items of the temple in the on the night of the writing on the wall

It is the thought I get when I hear someone especially a Christian say GOD or JESUS CHRIST as an expliative. That is a tough one though because it is the holy name of God and you should use it often with the respect and dignity it is due.

It is a big deal when Jesus says “I AM.”

John 8:58–59 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Jesus has already claimed to be the Son of God making Himself equal with God and here He goes a step further. It is in this time that the name of God was unspoken YAHWEH was sacred. Yod He Vav He

That He has its meaning in I AM the self existing one. Jesus is here holding up the prism to the Light of God’s holiness in the darkness. I have to set the stage for you a little bit.

Jesus has just had the woman caught in adultery brought to her. SIN and Wickedness. Jesus writes something mysterious in the sand, Don’t know what it is just like I can’t tell you if the unspoken word is Jehovah or Yahweh and says let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

Jesus is YAHWEH

John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.

Jesus Defends His claim one point at a time.

That’s the prism

Jesus points to the cross.

John 8:28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.”

Jesus than says You will know the TRUTH! Jesus is undeniably saying there is one truth you need to know. This isn’t like someone talking about a 911 conspiracy theory. People use this out of context all the time. There is one truth Jesus is taking a prism to the holiness of God. Here’s the truth when You look into the light of the World you see God the Father the great creator God the Son the Holy one the Savior, the Ever present Spirit, the teacher the comforter. You see Elohim, Adonai and Jehovah.

Jesus then lit up the truth that those religious leaders were serving the devil.

The truth is that men walk in darkness.

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Jesus is the one true God.

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

I find it interesting that Jesus said these words in the temple how far was he from the holy of Holies, He couldn’t have been much closer the place of prominance the place associated with that name and He says behold the man who is God. He backed up the truth when He rose from the dead. God Jesus the Holy Spirit the 3 in one they are my Elohim (Great All powerful Creator, my Adonai my master, and my YAHWEH! HE IS MY JESUS My Savior