October 29, 2009 JEHOVAH IS HIS NAME by Russell S. Miller Printer Friendly Version In Genesis 15:5,6, God told Abraham to look up and count the stars, for "So shall thy seed be", and Abraham "believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness". But who is the "God" in whom Abraham believed, what is His name? When the Israelites were in the bondage of Egyptian slavery and Moses was commanded to deliver them out of Egypt, he also inquired about God's name: "...Behold, 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? "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Ex.3:13,14). Now in Exodus 6:3, the Lord again spoke to Moses: "And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by My name JEHOVAH was I not known to them". So it was Jehovah, the Lord God Almighty, in whom Abraham believed, the same Lord who "made Heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is" (Gen.1:1; Ex.20:11; Eph.3:9). In John 8:56 Christ spoke to the Jews of His day about Abraham's God: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad". How often in John's gospel the Lord speaks this truth, that "...Before Abraham was, I AM" (8:56; 6:35; 8:12; 10:7-11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1-5). This is most interesting, because, in the darkness of that night of Christ's betrayal and arrest, they fell over "backward" upon hearing those two little words, "I AM" (John 18:5,6). The Eternal God was in their presence! And they could only arrest Him, as He voluntarily surrendered to God's purpose. So, Jehovah, of the Old Testament, is the Lord Jesus Christ, of the New Testament. In his epistles, the Apostle Paul relates that this same JESUS "took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: "And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil.2:7,8). Thus, the Apostle points peoples of all nationalities to the Christ of Calvary's cross as the only means of salvation today: "For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom.4:3-5). Jehovah means Saviour, Jesus Christ is our only Saviour, consequently, God will also "count" your "faith" for "righteousness", if you will simply believe what the Bible says about Jesus Christ: "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins ... that He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in JESUS" (Rom.3:24-26). To the Reader: Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface: "It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles." We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.