Christ in all the scriptures
"The Lord our God" Deuteronomy 1
Any study of scripture should major on the character of God, and this chapter is outstanding in that respect. No less than 13 times the title "the Lord God" is declared, bringing before us the supreme majesty of His person.
Deuteronomy 1v6, "The Lord our God..."; 1v10 "The Lord your God..."; 1v11, "The Lord God of your fathers..."; 1v19, "...as the Lord our God commanded us"; 1v20, "...which the Lord our God doth give unto us"; 1v21, "Behold the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee..."; again 1v21, "...as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee"; 1v25, "It is a good land which the Lord our God doth give us"; 1v26, "...ye rebelled against the commandment of the Lord our God"; 1v30, "The Lord your God which goeth before you..."; 1v31, "In the wilderness... the Lord thy God bare (carried) thee..."; 1v32, "...ye did not believe the Lord your God"; 1v41, "...we will go up and fight according to all that the Lord our God commanded";
Emphatically, therefore, at the outset of what are the last words of Moses to Israel, whom he had led over 40 years, he majors on the awesome nature of their God. This is the basis of everything, a knowledge of who He is. Each title presents an attribute of the Supreme being in the universe. It became a study for all Jewish children, and should be a major part of Gentile church teaching today. In a modern world, where we have become fixated with the glory of men, the need of the day is to become besotted by One who is higher, greater, more worthy of our adoration than all lesser created things or people. This is the first and foremost Yahweh (Jehovah) title of God in the bible of which there are many. We can tabulate them in order as they appear in scripture.
Yahweh Elohim Genesis 2v4 Eternal, unchanging, covenant-keeping, creator God.
Yahweh Elyon Genesis 14v22 The most high God, possessor of heaven and earth.
Yahweh Jireh Genesis 22v14 The God who provides for every need.
Yahweh Rapha Exodus 15v26 The God who heals.
Yahweh Nissi Exodus 17v15 The Lord our banner.
Yahweh Mekadeshkem Exodus 31v13 The Lord our sanctifier.
Yahweh Shalom Judges 6v24 The Lord our reconciler, our peace.
Yahweh Sabaoth 1st Samuel 1v3 The Lord of hosts (commander of countless armies).
Yahweh Rohi Psalm 23v1 The Lord our shepherd.
Yahweh Yasha Isaiah 49v26 The Lord our Saviour.
Yahweh Tsidkenu Jeremiah 23v6 The Lord our righteousness.
Yahweh Shammah Ezekiel 48v35 The Lord is present.
This is our God, our redeemer, supreme in all His attributes. God's people should know the Divine titles; I believe there should be a curriculum of teaching on the attributes of God, so that we understand the wonder of Deity. In any course of study, the Divine titles should be priority. There are more than thirty other aspects related to Yahweh, the above are best known, and should be memorised and meditated upon for our good and that of God's people in our circle. Beyond that there are many other titles, and we need to know them all. If our gatherings are to be inspiring, if our lives are to be a blessing, it will be in the measure we understand and make known the majesty of our God. Moses underlines this at the outset of Deuteronomy, his farewell book.
When God is revered, as He should be, in the hearts of His people, there are trends of behaviour that will result, which were patently missing in the congregation of Israel. We can look at that next time. For now we must grasp the awesome nature of our God, to understand in our minds, and rejoice in our hearts for all His greatness.
Yahweh (Jehovah) He is Eternal; Elohim, He is Pre-eminent.
Yahweh, literally means "He who is", transliterated "which is, which was, which is to come" in later scriptures. He spans all time, He is self-existing, without beginning and without end. He is the God who ratifies His covenants, and nowhere is this more evident than with the murmuring and vacillating Israel reviewed in this chapter. The faithfulness of God and the fickleness of men are in sharp contrast here. He is the unchanging God, as James puts it, "With whom there is no variableness nor shadow cast by turning". He is the "same yesterday, today, and forever". Unlike men He is absolutely dependable. He is worthy of our total devotion, as was the case with Caleb who "wholly followed the Lord".
Elohim means the supreme object of worship; it is the plural of Elohe pointing to the Trinity, the truth developed in the New Testament as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is God the three in one; three distinct persons acting in unbreakable unity. This fact is established from the beginning in Genesis 1, "in the beginning Elohim (plural) created (singular) the heaven and the earth"-Gen. 1v1; "let us make man in our image, after our likeness..."-1v26. This is repeated many times throughout scripture, e.g. Genesis 11v7, "Let us go down and there confound their language...". All attributes apply to each of the three persons who make up the Godhead.
He is the eternal, unchanging being, who always acts in accordance with His supreme, incomparable attributes; He is apart, higher greater than all, pre-eminent in every sphere. This is the God who has called us and fitted us for highest service.
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