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There is a word so special that for centuries scholars have fought over its importance. When the ancient scribes came to write it they washed themselves for fear of dirtying the very writing of the word with their sin-soiled hands.It's a name so holy that little children learning to read or recite passages of the ancient Hebrew law would be gently guided by their mothers and teachers "Sh, Sh,it's a word we don't speak".
What is this word? Well, it's just four Hebrew letters, and because it was regarded as too sacred to say, no one is sure now how to pronounce it. It is, of course, found in the Old Testament, and some scholars have pronounced the sacred name as 'Yahweh'.That's the word they got when they put into those four letters the vowels from another Hebrew word 'Adonai', meaning Lord. When you anglicise 'Yahweh' you get the word Jehovah.
Now you recognise the word. It's the personal name of God! Yes, his personal name. The word - 'Elohim' means God.
'Theos' means God as distinct from mankind: but his personal name, his identifying name, is Yahweh, or Jehovah; or, if you prefer it in English, it is "I AM".
The 'I AM' is a kind of 'perfect plus' word: I was .. I shall be .. I am. The ever-present one: the great "I AM". So many of God's decrees (as in Leviticus, for example) end with the phrase ... "I am the Lord, your God", as if he's signed it with his name. By New Testament times that name was so sacred it was used only once each year by the High Priest of Israel on the day of atonement in the Most Holy Place. Then came a young man, with a northern accent, a Rabbi without any degrees or academic training - and he used the Name ... and he used it ... about HIMSELF. No wonder genuine religious people were horrified and set out to get him crucified. Who did he think he was - God?
"You are not yet fifty years old", the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"
"I tell you the truth", Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"
At this they picked up stones to stone him ......John 8: 57-59a
A Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I believe that you are God the Son, the Redeemer, the very glory of the Father, in our changing flesh. You alone command my loyalty, my love and my life.
Now read Isaiah Chapter 41.
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