WEBVTT 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:37.200 As Webb just prayed, the reason that our world is the way it is, the reason that people are the way they are, is because Philippians chapter 2 and verse 9 has not yet come to full fruition in our world. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:53.840 Where God has highly exalted the Lord Jesus Christ and given him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:59.439 That's why we live in a fallen world that is a mess. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:08.879 Because Christ has not yet returned to bring to fruition every knee bowing and every tongue confessing. 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:20.480 Many do not acknowledge that God has highly exalted Christ and given him the name that is above every name. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:32.400 Charles Simeon, a prominent pastor in Cambridge, England in the 1800s, declared, the greatest argument of Scripture is the glory of God's name. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:37.200 Do you know what it means? 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:49.120 And maybe even more importantly, what it means for you that God has bestowed on Jesus the name that is above every name. 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:59.519 I want to use that statement as a starting point this morning to explain what is implied by Philippians chapter two, verse nine. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:11.840 Therefore, God has highly exalted Jesus and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:20.479 The name is a deeply significant term in the Jewish community. 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:30.240 It's a term of reverence, of great intensity and respect that drives their worship of their God. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:34.240 In Hebrew, it's called Hashem. 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:41.039 Orthodox Jews refer to God using that term. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:46.479 The God of the Old Testament is known as Hashem, the name. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:56.400 Knowing that little detail about Judaism makes the Apostle Paul's claim about Jesus Christ incredibly bold. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:01.919 Maybe even blasphemous. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:26.319 And if it is true, if God has bestowed on Jesus Christ Hashem that is above every name, then every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:37.360 It's clear that the Old Testament declares God to be Hashem, the name. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:48.800 And it's clear from Philippians chapter 2, verse 9, that Jesus is given the name Hashem. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:53.599 The name that is above every name. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:59.840 That is the concise yet very complex point of Philippians chapter 2, verse 9. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:12.479 And what I want to do in the rest of our time this morning could easily get off track because I can get very giddy about this and just keep going and roll all afternoon. 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:15.360 I'm going to try to keep this confined. 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:30.639 I want to trace God's name, Hashem, from its Old Testament revelation in Exodus through its reverence in the Psalms and prophets to Malachi's reward for those who fear it. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:38.000 The echoes of the name in the Gospels and its redefinition in Philippians 2. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:47.439 All of that will lead us to worship Christ as the light of light and God of very God. 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:53.839 Now it's simply not possible for us to be exhaustive this morning. 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:58.240 It may feel to you sometimes like it is exhaustive, but trust me, it's not. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:11.920 But I want us to gain a biblical theological perspective from all of Scripture so that we feel what is happening in Philippians 2, verse 9. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:18.800 In many ways, this is the pinnacle of what we've been building towards in all of our study of Philippians. 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:25.439 So please open your Bibles with me, not to Philippians 2, but to Exodus chapter 3. 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:31.759 Exodus chapter 3, as we consider the revelation of God's name. 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:35.920 The revelation of God's name in Exodus chapter 3. 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:44.480 God is known by generic and descriptive terms in the book of Genesis. 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:49.519 So there's simply the word El or Elohim in the book of Genesis. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:58.560 There are descriptive names of God, such as the Most High God or God Almighty, El Shaddai, or the God who sees. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:07.600 Genesis presents God as the mighty sovereign of our world. 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:10.319 It doesn't make an argument for his existence. 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:13.360 Genesis just simply assumes God is. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:16.639 And this is what he's like. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:22.319 That changes in Exodus. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:35.040 God introduces himself, not with descriptive terms, not with generic terms, but with his personal name. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:42.879 Genesis, you'll remember, ends with Abraham and Isaac's descendants living in Egypt. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:47.279 Jacob dies, and then Joseph dies. 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:52.079 And so Exodus begins with a very somber tone. 00:06:52.240 --> 00:07:00.959 In Exodus chapter 1, verse 8, it says, There arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:09.040 But chapter 2 of Exodus ends with a hint of hope. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:15.279 It says, God saw the people of Israel, and God knew. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:27.600 God sees and God knows. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:36.720 But in terms of referring to God, nothing changes in Exodus 1 or Exodus 2. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:46.240 Suddenly, though, in Exodus 3, everything changes because we see for the very first time a proper name. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:52.560 Moses is keeping his sheep near Horeb, the mountain of God, in chapter 3 of Exodus. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:57.759 And it's here that we see that an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses. 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:03.920 In chapter 3, verse 4, it says that this messenger is God himself. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:14.319 It says, when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, saying, Moses, Moses. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:24.639 This God, we find out in verse 6 of chapter 3, is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:32.960 He's the God of Genesis, he's the God of creation, of promise, of judgment, and the calling of God's people, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:38.480 And this God, the God of Genesis, the God of the patriarchs, has a name. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:45.200 This needs some explanation if you aren't familiar with the details. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:48.240 Some of you may, this may be old hat to you. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:49.200 Praise God. 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:53.200 You can help the rest of us come along with you. 00:08:53.519 --> 00:09:06.879 It may feel a bit in the weeds or a bit over your head, but it's vital to understanding the name of God in the New Testament and what's going on in your Bibles. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:15.200 So it says in verse 4 of Exodus 3 that the Lord saw that Moses turned aside. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.320 That Lord is the God who calls to him. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:22.559 But you notice that that word Lord is in all capital letters. 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:27.919 That word in Hebrew is made up of four Hebrew consonants. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:36.879 Y-H-W-H, or some pronounce the say that the W is a V sound instead of a W sound. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:39.600 Y-H W H. 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:43.440 Vowel sounds aren't represented in Hebrew written text. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:50.799 So God explains this name in chapter 3, verses 14, 13, 14, and 15. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:52.799 So we have this introduction. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:10:02.320 This God who has this four-letter name calls to Moses, and we're left wondering, who is this guy? 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:03.759 Who is this God? 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:05.120 What is he like? 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:09.039 We're told in Exodus chapter 3, verse 13. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:21.120 Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name? 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:23.360 What do I say? 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:29.360 God said to Moses, I am who I am. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:36.639 And he said, Say this to the people of Israel, I am has sent me to you. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:42.720 God also said to Moses, Say this to the people of Israel. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:49.840 The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:54.240 This is my name forever. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:59.600 And thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:13.120 In verse 15, we have those all capital letter Lord again, which is this YHWH name made up of four Hebrew consonants. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:16.639 And God defines that name in verse 14. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:19.360 He says, He is the I am. 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:26.879 Now that word for I am is is similar to the name that God gives himself. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:35.440 When he says I am, that's a for you English people, English grammar people, that's a verb of being. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:37.679 It means to be. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:41.200 It tells us that God is the existing one. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:43.600 He's the one who is. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:46.080 He always is. 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:55.679 But remember, the name of God that he announced is all consonants. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:05.120 Ancient Hebrew didn't use vowels in writing, so we have to make educated guesses as to what the vowel sounds were that went with those consonants. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:11.200 Today, our best guess is that it was pronounced Yahweh or maybe Yahweh. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:19.440 Now, a little bit later, God said to Moses in Exodus chapter 6, verses 2 and 3. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:23.200 He says, I am Yahweh. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:32.799 I appeared to Abraham, I appeared to Isaac, I appeared to Jacob as God Almighty, as El Shaddai. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:40.960 But by my name, Yahweh, I did not make myself known to them. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:50.399 Now pair that back with where we already were in Exodus chapter 3, verse 15, where he said, This is my name forever. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:54.639 And this is the way I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:13:01.679 God gave his name, his personal name, to Israel, his covenant people. 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:11.600 Those who are close to him by faith have the privilege of knowing his name and calling him by name. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.879 That's how Exodus reveals God's name. 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:21.279 Now let's consider how the Old Testament reveres God's name. 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:23.360 And for most of this, we're going to be in the Psalms. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:25.919 So if you want to turn to the Psalms, you can. 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:34.639 We're going to be going through this pretty rapidly because there's so many passages in Psalms that refer to the name. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:36.720 The name of God. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:40.159 We're going to start in Psalm chapter 8. 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:50.799 Again, you can go through the book of Psalms and exhaustively mark every time we see the name of Yahweh. 00:13:52.639 --> 00:14:03.919 We're going to start in Exodus chapter 8 and verse 1 in our Bibles to see how Israel revered God's name. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:09.120 Exodus chapter 1, I'm sorry, not Exodus, Psalm 1, 8, verse 1. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:11.200 Getting my numbers all mixed up. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:13.039 Too many verses this morning. 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:19.679 Oh Yahweh, our Lord. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:26.080 How majestic is your name in all the earth. 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:30.720 You've set your glory above the heavens. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:34.159 Notice how glory is connected to the name. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:40.399 Oh Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name. 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:45.759 So there's a sense in which God's name is now connected to who He is. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:55.840 It's not a word that is majestic, it's the person that is represented by that name that is majestic. 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:05.600 Over a chapter in chapter 9, verse 2, it says, those who trust in your name, no, not 9, 19. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:12.799 See, I look at my Bible and it doesn't say the right thing. 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:14.639 That's not the right one either. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:17.519 Is it 9-2? 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:23.120 9-2 is that works. 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:24.879 I will be glad and exalt in you. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:27.759 I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:30.080 See, this is what happens when we skip church. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:34.879 I redo my slides, and then they're not what it's supposed to be. 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:38.320 Let's go on to chapter 29, verse 2. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:45.200 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due his name. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:53.519 Ascribe means to give it to him, to mark it down, as if put it in stone. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:59.279 Give to Yahweh the glory due his name. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:04.879 Worship Yahweh in the splendor of holiness. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:22.480 Again and again we see Yahweh and the name, his name, my name, over and over again, coupled with different other terms like glory or worship, honor, splendor of holiness. 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.039 Psalm 54 is another one. 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:27.840 Psalm 54, verse 6. 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:34.639 The psalmist speaks of worship and says, with a free will offering I will sacrifice to you. 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:41.840 I will give thanks to your name, O Yahweh, for it is good. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:50.000 How often do we come and give our offering to our God because his name is good? 00:16:52.399 --> 00:17:00.639 How often do we do we sacrifice to our God because we recognize his name represents goodness? 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:04.880 Because he is the epitome of goodness. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:08.880 This goes beyond the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:25.359 In Psalm 86, verse 9, we are told that all of the nations that God has made will come and worship before him, says, before you, O Yahweh, and shall glorify your name. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:29.599 How many nations will come and glorify his name? 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:31.119 All of them. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:37.519 All nations will come and will glorify your name. 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:38.720 What name? 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:42.079 Yahweh, his name, the name. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:45.680 Psalm 116. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:51.119 Psalm 116, verse 13. 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:59.759 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of Yahweh. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:12.640 We have echoes there of Romans chapter 10, where those who call on the name of God, who verbalize it, confess his name, will be saved. 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:18.000 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of Yahweh. 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:23.200 So there's a brief summary of how the psalmists revere God's name. 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:27.119 But it doesn't just stay with the psalmist, it goes all the way through the prophets. 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:35.599 So for example, in Isaiah chapter 25, it tells us, Oh Yahweh, you are my God, and I will exalt you. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:39.359 I will praise your name. 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:46.640 For you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:55.599 God's name, Yahweh, is linked to faithfulness and surety. 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:00.160 We all, as human beings, get known, right? 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:02.720 We are known by something. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:09.759 Some of us are known as scatterbrained, some of us are known as always late, some whatever the case may be. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:12.240 We're all different, unique people. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:16.640 God is known by his faithfulness and his surety. 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:19.839 These things are tied to his name. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:26.319 And so those elements of who he is generate praise for his name. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:34.480 Another prophet, Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 10 and verse 6, there is none like you, O Yahweh. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:39.599 You are great, and your name is great in might. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:46.400 Implying there are no other names that are great in might. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:48.960 One more. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:53.759 Micah, Prophet Micah in chapter four, verse five. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:58.720 All the peoples walk in the name of its God. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:08.799 But we will walk in the name of Yahweh, our God, forever and ever. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:21:02.079 Whether we recognize or honor that verbally or not, but we, but we will walk in the name Hashem of our God. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:11.119 That's just a survey of the deep reverence given to the name of Yahweh in the Old Testament. 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:25.200 But even that small survey shows that ancient Israel regarded Hashem, the name, the actual personal covenant name of God with special respect and honor. 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:31.599 Israel praised and glorified Yahweh's name. 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:42.240 So declaring love, giving service to and trusting in the name of Yahweh was a declaration of faith. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:59.839 It said, Yahweh is the living I am, not Dagon, the fish god of the Philistines, not Baal, the storm god of the Middle East, not Anu of the Canaanites, not Telepinos of the Hittites, not Amon Ra of the Egyptians, Yahweh is the great Abraham. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:05.279 I am Moses. 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:11.920 Go and tell them I am who sent you. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:16.400 And this is Hashem. 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:19.279 This is my name. 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:20.480 Forever. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:31.039 God performed an act of divine self-revelation by revealing his name to Moses. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:37.839 And Israel declared that Yahweh is God every time they repeated that. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:46.240 And that all the other gods in the cultures surrounding them were worthless idols. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:55.839 Now you might have noticed that every time I said the name Yahweh, your Bible has Lord in all capital letters. 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:11.680 If the revealed name of God was so significant, and that was how he was to be known forever, why is it, and how did it come to be that our Bibles now substitute the word Lord for YHWH? 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:13.519 Great question. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:20.799 The short answer is that people were afraid of breaking one of the Ten Commandments. 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:24.880 If I give you five seconds, you'll be able to come up with it, right? 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:30.880 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:34.160 They were afraid of that. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:37.920 Now that that came with some strictness. 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:50.559 Because later on in the law, in Leviticus chapter 24, God issued the death penalty for anyone who blasphemed Hashem. 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:55.440 That makes you take it a little bit more seriously, doesn't it? 00:23:56.400 --> 00:24:00.559 If you blaspheme Hashem, you die. 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:13.039 As Judaism developed in the few hundred years before Christ, the Jewish rabbis developed a pattern that they called making a hedge of the law. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:24.720 They instituted new rules, not new biblical commands, but new Judaism laws to help keep people safe from blaspheming the name of Yahweh. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:31.839 So they said, to keep you from going this far, we're going to put up a fence that says, don't go any further. 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:33.039 Right? 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:41.920 So they stopped pronouncing the name of God out of fearful respect and fear of sinning. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:44.240 They just stopped. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:54.559 Instead, every time they came to the name in their reading, they substituted the Hebrew word Adonai, which means Lord. 00:24:57.119 --> 00:24:58.559 This still goes on today. 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:12.079 In Jewish cultures and Jewish synagogues, whenever they're reading the Old Testament and they come to the what's called technically the Tetra Grammaton, the four writings, the four letters, they say Adonai. 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:14.720 Lord. 00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:34.079 And so some scribes invented a way to add vowel markers to Hebrew letters. 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:47.440 Those vowel markers are small dots and lines above or below Hebrew letters that represent sounds, vowel sounds as we know them. 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:55.359 They didn't want people to forget how to read and say the Hebrew words. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:26:06.480 But in doing this, in adding those vowel sounds to the Hebrew letters, they essentially made it impossible to pronounce God's name. 00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:17.440 Those scribes added the vowels for Otonai to the letters of YHWH. 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:28.160 So you have consonants of one word and vowels from another word being brought together, which makes it essentially unpronounceable in Hebrew. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:36.000 And that was to remind readers that when you see that word, you say Adonai. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:40.319 Because we don't pronounce Hashem. 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:48.559 We don't pronounce Hashem because we don't want to take the name in vain. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:27:01.200 In 1278 A.D., a Spanish monk named Raimundo Martini wrote a book in Latin called The Pugio Fade, the dagger of faith. 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:19.680 And in that book, he wrote out both the consonants and the vowels that were in the Hebrew now, and he wrote those out in Latin, coming up with Yahuwah, or in some other later versions, Yahuwah. 00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:29.119 Then in 1519, a Roman Catholic scholar and priest, Petrus Galatinus, spelled it Yehua. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:39.279 That spelling, especially in Roman script, looked like Jehovah. 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:48.400 The word used by William Tyndale for the divine name in the first English translation of the Bible. 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:57.920 In English translations from William Tyndale to the 1901 American Standard Version used Tyndale's version, Jehovah. 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:06.400 But now you know, for better or worse, that Jehovah is a made-up word. 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:30.960 It comes from the consonants of the divine name revealed in Exodus chapter 3 and the vowels of Adonai put together and then kind of transferred by transliteration, just what are the equating letters in another language from Latin and into English. 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:44.559 Now modern translations after the 1901 American Standard Version use Lord with those all capital letters to mark the divine name. 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:49.920 Sometimes you'll even see God with all capital letters, and that's the same thing. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:53.759 That's the same pattern that's being followed. 00:28:54.160 --> 00:29:01.279 So now you know why I will often say the name Yahweh when reading Old Testament texts. 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:05.759 So, Stephen, how will you read Psalm 80 differently now? 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:10.640 But do you see the problem that we have now? 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:16.160 If we know what's behind this and we see Lord in all capital letters, what do we do? 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:19.279 Now you know why. 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:29.279 I say the word name Yahweh when reading Old Testament text, because it's the closest thing that we have to what God told Moses. 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:34.240 And it's his name forever. 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:39.599 It is not sin to say his name when reading it in his word. 00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:47.759 And I think it helps us feel a sense of closeness when we use a person's name. 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:56.000 God told Isaiah, I am Yahweh. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:29:59.200 That is my name. 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:06.000 My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:15.200 Now I want to shift to the last book of the Old Testament, to Malachi, to see the reward of God's name. 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:17.839 The reward of God's name. 00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:24.079 Malachi is directed toward returned Jewish exiles who spent 70 years in Babylon. 00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:37.599 Some of them returned to the promised land to resettle it, to rebuild the temple, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, to repopulate the land that God gave them. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:40.240 But they struggled to establish themselves. 00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:42.000 They struggled to rebuild the temple. 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:47.119 They struggled to live faithfully by God's law. 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:54.960 And so in Malachi chapter 3, God promises to send a refiner to purify his people. 00:30:55.519 --> 00:31:03.200 He says in Malachi chapter 3, verse 5, I will draw near to you in judgment. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:22.880 I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and against those who thrust aside the sojourner and do not fear me, says Yahweh of hosts. 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:31.839 This is significant because it says that those who don't live faithfully by God's ways do not fear him. 00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:46.880 Fearing Yahweh is equated with following him, with believing him, with trusting him, with thinking and acting like him, because those who fear him do what he says. 00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:52.720 Now notice what it says in Malachi 3, 16. 00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:59.119 It says, Then those who feared Yahweh spoke with one another. 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:00.880 Oh, okay. 00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:07.359 Before those who don't fear are going to be getting judgment because they don't trust Yahweh. 00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:10.079 They don't have faith in him and so live faithfully. 00:32:10.240 --> 00:32:16.000 But now we're talking about those who do fear him, who do have faith in his name. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:19.920 Those who feared Yahweh spoke with one another. 00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:34.960 And Yahweh paid attention and he heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared Yahweh and esteemed Hashem, his name. 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:42.319 They, they shall be mine, says Yahweh of hosts. 00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:46.319 In the day when I make up my treasured possession. 00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:51.119 Here's the reward for fearing the name. 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:55.279 We become his treasured possession. 00:32:57.839 --> 00:32:59.599 You all have a treasured possession. 00:33:02.160 --> 00:33:04.000 It may be a rabbit's foot. 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:08.720 It may be a pet dog. 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:12.480 It may be an heirloom that's been passed down. 00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:15.839 It's something that you have emotion for. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:21.119 It's something that you protect and you value. 00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:29.599 God says in Malachi 3, those who fear my name are going to become my treasured possession. 00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:40.400 Those who fear God are those who trust in him, who believe in his name, and their reward is to be his treasured possession. 00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:44.160 Those who belong to Yahweh believe in him and fear him. 00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:48.240 It is faith in Yahweh alone that saves. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:34:02.400 This is why the prophet Joel would say in Joel chapter 2, verse 32, that everyone who calls on Hashem of Yahweh will be saved. 00:34:04.720 --> 00:34:12.320 You are familiar with that, I'm sure, because that is quoted by the Apostle Peter in Acts on the day of Pentecost. 00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:21.920 When he says to everyone, everybody who calls on Hashem will be saved. 00:34:23.519 --> 00:34:25.199 But that's getting ahead of ourselves. 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:30.960 First, we need to move to the reporting of God's name in the Gospels. 00:34:31.599 --> 00:34:35.280 The reporting of God's name in the Gospels. 00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:42.719 If you just turn over a couple of pages, or maybe just one page in your Bible, to Matthew chapter 1. 00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:47.679 Matthew reports something incredibly significant. 00:34:49.360 --> 00:34:54.480 I wana kids, I want to know if you remember this because we talked about this Wednesday night. 00:34:54.719 --> 00:34:58.719 And I said you'll get more information if you come to church on Sunday. 00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:03.199 So I want to know does this sound like what we talked about on Wednesday? 00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:08.880 Matthew chapter 1, verses 21 and 23. 00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:13.440 Mary is told, you shall call his name. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:18.320 Yahweh is salvation. 00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:25.199 Jesus is the Greek word for Joshua. 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:31.440 And in Hebrew, Joshua means Yahweh is salvation. 00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:36.000 You shall call his name Yahweh is salvation. 00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:36.480 Why? 00:35:36.800 --> 00:35:40.400 Because he will save his people from their sins. 00:35:40.639 --> 00:35:44.159 And they shall call Hashem Immanuel. 00:35:46.960 --> 00:35:52.639 They shall call his name God with us. 00:35:54.320 --> 00:36:01.519 Called God with us because in the Old Testament, the only one who is Savior is God, over and over and over again. 00:36:02.079 --> 00:36:12.719 So it's critical that Matthew identify Jesus with the saving God and Hashem. 00:36:15.360 --> 00:36:17.679 Mark chapter five. 00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:22.239 A demon says, What have you to do with me? 00:36:23.760 --> 00:36:28.960 Yahweh is salvation, son of the most high God. 00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:36.559 We've seen already in our survey of Psalms that Yahweh is called the Most High. 00:36:37.760 --> 00:36:49.039 So we see links and connections that are saying there's something unique and special about this Jesus and Hashem of the Old Testament. 00:36:49.760 --> 00:37:03.360 Luke chapter 2 in the Christmas story in Luke, unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Meshiach Yahweh. 00:37:05.840 --> 00:37:13.280 Because by the time of the New Testament, Yahweh is no longer pronounced. 00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:20.960 It was switched out for Adonai, which in Greek becomes Kyros. 00:37:22.159 --> 00:37:22.800 Lord. 00:37:28.480 --> 00:37:30.960 In case that's not significant enough for you. 00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:33.360 We get to John chapter 8. 00:37:35.119 --> 00:37:42.480 Where Jesus says, before Abraham was, I am. 00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:50.880 He uses tenses to identify and mark his deity. 00:37:51.280 --> 00:37:53.360 Abraham was past tense. 00:37:53.440 --> 00:37:54.800 He no longer is. 00:37:57.760 --> 00:38:09.440 But even before Abraham was, Exodus chapter 3, verse 13, 14, and 15, I am. 00:38:11.280 --> 00:38:13.519 Do you see what Jesus is doing? 00:38:14.480 --> 00:38:17.199 He's saying, Hashem is here. 00:38:18.719 --> 00:38:22.400 That's why it's so fascinating at the end of the Gospel of John. 00:38:22.960 --> 00:38:31.119 Doubting Thomas sees the risen Christ and he says, My Lord and my God. 00:38:34.320 --> 00:38:36.320 Yahweh, my God. 00:38:38.239 --> 00:38:43.280 The Gospel accounts reveal that Yahweh has taken on the form of a human being. 00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:54.400 And we discover that God the Son, God of very God, left the glories of heaven to dwell in a human body so that God could be with mankind once again. 00:38:54.639 --> 00:39:01.920 And so we come to Philippians chapter 2, and we find a redefinition of God's name. 00:39:04.079 --> 00:39:11.760 Not a changing, not a switching out, but a clarification, if you will. 00:39:12.159 --> 00:39:17.679 Philippians 2 brings all of this together and redefines the name of God in Scripture. 00:39:18.000 --> 00:39:24.639 God the Son is eternally one with God the Father and God the Spirit, fully God of fully God. 00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:34.960 But in his humanity, he did not appear as the glorious eternal Yahweh because he emptied himself by taking the form of a human being. 00:39:36.159 --> 00:39:45.760 He became obedient to the point of death to fulfill God's covenant promise to redeem his treasured possession. 00:39:46.639 --> 00:39:57.360 Those who fear in him, who believe in the name of Yahweh and put their trust in him, who will be saved by his power. 00:39:58.000 --> 00:40:02.800 Yahweh, God with us, was born as Jesus, the humble Savior. 00:40:02.960 --> 00:40:10.480 Yahweh himself, the name above all names, took it upon himself to conquer death and free us from sin. 00:40:10.639 --> 00:40:17.039 Therefore, God, the Father, has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name. 00:40:18.320 --> 00:40:26.320 So that the incarnate Son, the human Jesus, will have, possess forever the name that is above all names. 00:40:26.559 --> 00:40:33.119 Jesus, the God man, provides the path for mankind to be restored to Yahweh. 00:40:35.119 --> 00:40:40.239 Yahweh, in a way no one expected, became man. 00:40:43.039 --> 00:40:59.760 And so it's essential to show that Jesus, the man, is the incarnated name to whom everyone will give reverence. 00:41:01.199 --> 00:41:07.440 The God of creation, the God who covenants with people to be their God and make them his possession. 00:41:07.679 --> 00:41:11.519 Yahweh has come as Savior, as Jesus. 00:41:12.239 --> 00:41:16.719 And this leads us very well into our own reverence for the name. 00:41:16.960 --> 00:41:22.719 Malachi chapter 3 becomes the hinge upon which the name of God in Scripture swings. 00:41:22.960 --> 00:41:32.320 Those who fear in and believe in Yahweh are remembered by him and written down in his book and become his treasured possession. 00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:39.360 So Peter can declare that it stands in Scripture. 00:41:48.079 --> 00:41:52.079 And whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. 00:41:53.199 --> 00:41:56.239 So the honor is for those who of you who believe. 00:41:56.800 --> 00:42:05.679 For for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. 00:42:09.119 --> 00:42:42.880 But you but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness, out of worshiping something else, into his marvelous light. 00:42:43.119 --> 00:42:50.559 Because once you were not a people, but now you are a people, for you have received mercy from him. 00:42:52.159 --> 00:43:00.000 Because the name Yahweh is now found in the name Jesus, who is the Christ, the cornerstone. 00:43:00.320 --> 00:43:06.559 Those who fear his name become his own possession, treasured possession. 00:43:07.039 --> 00:43:08.159 Excuse me. 00:43:08.480 --> 00:43:15.760 Yahweh is the personal name of the sovereign covenanting God who saves his people. 00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:18.159 That was the name given to Moses. 00:43:18.480 --> 00:43:23.679 That was the name revered by the poets and the prophets. 00:43:25.280 --> 00:43:33.039 But as he promised in Psalm 86, 9, all nations will come and worship him through his saving name. 00:43:33.840 --> 00:43:43.760 For it is at the name of Jesus that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Hashem. 00:43:46.960 --> 00:43:49.599 He is Yahweh. 00:43:53.199 --> 00:43:54.400 Don't wait. 00:43:56.400 --> 00:43:57.440 Don't wait. 00:43:59.119 --> 00:43:59.760 Confess him. 00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:03.360 As Lord Yahweh now. 00:44:05.360 --> 00:44:16.320 If you're not a believer, trust in his name for your salvation, so that your name becomes recorded in his book and you become his treasured possession. 00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:44.239 If you are a believer, revere his name by trusting in him at every moment, rejecting sin and living obediently, faithfully, by worshiping him in the beauty of holiness, by recognizing that Hashem came and took on flesh and dwelt among us, becoming obedient to the point of death, so that he might have you as his treasured possession. 00:44:44.800 --> 00:44:55.760 My friends, God will complete his good and perfect work when the one who is called the Word of God in Revelation chapter 19 returns. 00:44:57.119 --> 00:45:01.199 He will come, that text says, riding on a white horse. 00:45:01.360 --> 00:45:08.880 And we are told that he has a robe, and on his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written. 00:45:09.519 --> 00:45:13.760 King of kings and Yahweh of gods. 00:45:15.360 --> 00:45:30.880 Because God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus you and I might bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Yahweh to the glory of God the Father. 00:45:32.079 --> 00:45:33.039 Let's pray. 00:45:34.880 --> 00:45:48.079 Lord God, may you reveal yourself in ways that makes the world see that Jesus Christ is the name. 00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:57.440 So that many would be moved to cast aside the trinkets that they trust in. 00:45:59.679 --> 00:46:06.079 The hopes that they have that will fade away, the things that will just be gone. 00:46:07.519 --> 00:46:29.920 And put our trust in the God of gods, the Yahweh of all gods, who came to show us that Yahweh is salvation by dying for our sins and opening the way for everyone who trusts in Him to be saved. 00:46:30.400 --> 00:46:32.880 Lord Jesus, we lift up your name this morning. 00:46:33.039 --> 00:46:36.639 We give you honor and praise by confessing our sin. 00:46:37.599 --> 00:46:46.559 For in confessing our sin and our failures before you, we lift you high and show that there is a great distance between us. 00:46:56.400 --> 00:46:58.559 So our names are written in your book. 00:47:00.079 --> 00:47:03.519 And we can be called sons and daughters of the living God. 00:47:05.599 --> 00:47:08.079 What a great and awesome God we serve. 00:47:09.840 --> 00:47:13.039 Forgive us for taking your name in vain. 00:47:14.559 --> 00:47:21.039 Not by speaking it, but by abusing you, the one behind it. 00:47:23.280 --> 00:47:29.679 Give us grace and mercy and wisdom to lift you up before all of the world that watches. 00:47:31.679 --> 00:47:35.920 So they too may be drawn to love the one we love. 00:47:37.360 --> 00:47:38.000 Amen. 00:47:40.159 --> 00:47:43.920 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:47:44.079 --> 00:47:50.960 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:47:51.199 --> 00:47:55.280 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.