Last time we looked at the question, “How do we end our prayers?” Most of us end our prayers with the little phrase, “In the name of Jesus. Amen.” Now, I ask you this: how does the Lord’s Prayer begin? “Our Father, which art in Heaven”—what? “Hallowed be Thy Name.” We have seen the danger of taking the name of the LORD our God in vain. We saw that not only does the third of the ten commandments forbid a person from falsely taking an oath in the name of YHVH, but it also prohibits the flippant use of the name of God—as well as the name of Jesus Christ. Today, however, we will see how to use God’s name properly, and that if we do make an oath in the name of God, and it turns out that the person we are making that promise to has not been quite honest with us—their dishonesty is irrelevant, we are still bound by that oath to Almighty God. What we’re going to see today is that even godly people can be fooled.
How many times have we had people come up in here, clapping and smiling in church, and then they walk out the door and they're swimming in all kinds of sin, not feeling bad about it. And then next Sunday they're back in here, smiling and “praising God.” It happens. We call that person our “brother” or “sister” in Christ, when they have no intention of obeying Christ’s commands. Well, we shouldn’t feel too bad, because one of the most godly men who ever walked the face of the earth was deceived in much the same way.
Joshua 9:1-6-- 1 And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon—the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—heard about it, 2 that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord. 3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, 5 old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. 6 And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us.”
The Gibeonites were not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. While The Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite…gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel, thinking that by their sheer numbers and force they could defeat the armies of the Living God, when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. They knew who was fighting on the side of Joshua. They knew that if an army that was as relatively puny as that of Israel could defeat a strong city like Jericho, just by marching outside the walls and shouting and blowing trumpets—that they had Someone even greater fighting for them.
But, Joshua, being a man of God, decided to test them first, Joshua 9:7--Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with you?” Before we go any further, let me just point out that Gibeon was the chief city of the Hivites. These broke away from the main body of Hivites; they were Hivites who lived in the city of Gibeon. So in Joshua’s response, we see a man who knew the commands of God and held those commands in the highest regard. Listen to Exodus 23:27-33—"27 I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you…31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32 You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you." So what Joshua is saying here is, “Hey, you might be some of the people that God has forbidden us from making covenants with. So why should we make a covenant with you?”
So far, Joshua is showing discernment. But again, these people are crafty, and they have a response all thought out. Joshua 9:8-13--8 But they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?” 9 So they said to him: “From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, 10 and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan—to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. 11 Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.”’ 12 This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy. 13 And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.” How many times do people come up here, hat in hand, looking for all the world like they don’t have two nickels to rub together. They’ll be begging for the Center to pay their light bill, pay their phone bill, and pay this bill and that bill. But when they walk out the door, they get into their car that has the 26” spinning rims and the $2000 stereo system—and drive a couple blocks down the road and spend $100 on crack cocaine. But they don’t have money to pay their bills. They are portraying themselves as being weak and destitute in order to take advantage of the people of God.
That’s kinda what we have here. And the first thing that Joshua should have done was to ask counsel of the LORD. BUT, sadly, Joshua 9:14-15—14 Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD. 15 So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them. These Gibeonites wanted to enter into a covenant with the Israelites—a covenant in the name of YHVH. And if we are going to make a covenant in the name of YHVH, should we ask Him if it’s a good idea? If some other church were to approach us about entering into a partnership for whatever reason—should we ask the Lord if it’s a good idea, and maybe check some things out about the other church? But, Joshua and the princes of Israel were fooled by outward appearances, and rather than inquire of the LORD, they entered into an oath in the name of YHVH to spare these people. We can't really say that they were guilty of breaking the commandment against entering into covenant with certain peoples, because they were under the impression that these people were not of the forbidden groups—the Jebusite, the Canaanite, the Hittite. So the worst thing they could be accused of was being a bit too hasty. Which is why the apostle Paul, in the New Testament, says in 1st Timothy 5:22—Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins; keep yourself pure. What he’s saying here is, before you lay hands on someone and ordain them into the ministry, he should be thoroughly examined, to see if he is in right standing with God. Then—and only then—should he be ordained.
And this episode in the life of Joshua is a perfect example of this. He did not consult God, he depended on outward appearances and smooth talk and a good bit of acting, and swore by the name of YHVH that the people of Israel would not harm these folks. If we enter into a covenant in the name of YHVH, are we bound to keep it? Psalm 15:1-4—1 LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? 2 He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart…4 He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. Which is why we are now encouraged, in the NT, to NOT take oaths. Matthew 5:33-37—“33 Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”James 5:12—But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," lest you fall into judgment. So the people of Israel have entered into a covenant, in the name of YHVH, to not do any hurt to these people, thinking that these were poor, wretched nomads simply passing through.
And now we get to the point where our actions must match our words. And we see what it means to keep an oath made to God even if it means we look foolish for doing so. Joshua 9:16-21--16 And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. 17 Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim. 18 But the children of Israel did not attack them, because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers. 19 Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.” 21 And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had promised them.” The rulers decided to keep their oath, even though it was entered into under false premises, in order to uphold the name of God, rather than go back on their word, and bring reproach upon the name of YHVH their God. When we mess up and make a mistake, and we get ourselves into some kind of pickle because we leaped before we looked, and we have to decide between suffering a loss on one hand, or bringing shame to God on the other—it’s really a no-brainer. The honor and reverence of the name of God is to be defended at all costs.
In the early church, there was a fellow named Polycarp, who was actually a student of the apostle John. He was discovered by the Roman government, and brought before the court and ordered to renounce the name of Christ and burn incense to the Caesar. If he didn’t, then he would be burned. His response: “Eighty and six years, have I served him and He never did me harm. How, then, can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?” These rulers of Israel were not being threatened with being burned, only with being made to look like fools. So now that the horse was out of the barn, they decided to think about what to do next, and decided that upholding the honor of the name of this great God who brought them out of Egypt was more important than their image. Our friends Keil and Delitzsch said this:
“They were bound to observe the oath which they had once sworn, if only to prevent the sincerity of the God by whom they had sworn from being rendered doubtful in the eyes of the Gibeonites; but they were not justified in taking the oath. They had done this without asking the mouth of YHVH, and thus had sinned against the Lord their God. But they could not repair this fault by breaking the oath which they had thus imprudently taken, i.e., by committing a fresh sin; for the violation of an oath is always sin, even when the oath has been taken [impulsively], and it is afterwards discovered that what was sworn to was not in accordance with the will of God, and that an observance of the oath will certainly be hurtful.”
Now, if we are a Christian—meaning, in a way, that we have taken the name of Christ upon ourselves—when we make a promise to someone, we are making that promise in the name of the Lord. When we pray, we are praying in the name of Jesus—whether we tack that little phrase on at the end or not. Because what it really means to be praying “in the name of Jesus, Amen” is that we are asking that the will of the Father be done. Matthew 6:10—“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.”John 4:34—“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me.” And we are praying in accordance with love and righteousness. Again, the difference between loving your Aunt Hildegard and hoping for her cancer to be cured versus demanding that God gives you the brand new Land Rover that you just know that you deserve.
And to finish this up, let’s take a look at the embodiment of one who came in the name of the LORD God. Turn to Matthew 21. This is what is called Christ’s “Triumphal Entry” the day when He rode into Jerusalem. And the people are clapping and shouting and throwing down palm branches as the King rides through on a donkey. A few days later they would all be calling for His death. Such is the fickleness of man. Matthew 21:9—Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!" The people shout 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' This is a direct quote from Psalm 118:26. If one is claiming that they come “in the name of the LORD”, they are claiming that God Himself sent them. That they speak on behalf of, and with all the authority of, Almighty God. The Old Testament prophets could claim to be speaking “in the name of YHVH” because they were speaking what they heard from God directly, and with His authority. The New Testament apostles could speak with all the authority of Christ—who is God—because they had been given that authority by Christ. Which was why men like Paul and Peter could cast out unclean spirits with the mere mention of Christ’s name, but the Jewish exorcists and the seven sons of Sceva could not. Paul and Peter had the authority to use Jesus’ name—the others did not. When Jesus spoke, He was speaking with the full authority of God—for one, because he IS God—but also because He had been given that authority by the Father.
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:28-29—28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. And, in some of the last recorded words of our Lord before He ascended to the Father after His resurrection, He tells His disciples in Matthew 28:18—“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” So, coming back around and completing the circle, when we pray “in the name of Jesus” we are praying in the name of the One who came in the name of YHVH—the LORD. Which is why James 5:14-15 says, 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Now, the sickness here is not a physical ailment. Actually, James is referring to an old Jewish teaching (James was, after all, writing to Jewish Christians who were pretty familiar with Jewish writings). What he is probably calling to mind is a writing of Rabbi Simeon, who said this:
Q: What should a man do who goes to visit the sick? A: He who studies to restore the health of the body, should first lay the foundation in the health of the soul. The wise men have said, ‘No healing is equal to that which comes from the word of God and prayer.’
What is the root cause of sickness? Sin. We will be sick in this life. We will eventually die. BUT if we know Christ as our Savior, when we die we will go to be with the Father, and one day we will receive new bodies that will never ever get sick or break down ever again for all eternity—THAT is true healing. Salvation comes through the name of Jesus. And when one takes upon themselves the name of Jesus, in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), then, James goes on to say in that same passage, James 5:16—The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Next week we will summarize for just a minute before we begin talking about the Sabbath.
How we end our prayers? “In the name of Jesus.” But how many times do we really grasp what it means to finish a prayer with that little phrase? Because to say that is a whole lot more serious than we think it is. If a person says that they are praying “in the name of Jesus”—in the name of the Lord Jesus, who is fully God—is to say that they are praying in the name of YHVH—the LORD. And there are many who are praying things that are clearly contradictory to the ways of the LORD YHVH, but they will claim that they are praying in the name of the LORD YHVH. Now, let me make a distinction here. If you are praying for your Aunt Hildegarde, that God would heal her cancer, and you ask this “in the name of Jesus”—even though it may not be God’s will to cure her cancer, but if you are praying out of love for your Aunt Hildegarde, then that is not necessarily taking the name of the Lord in vain. However, if a person feels like they don’t own enough stuff, and they are ripping out verses from the Bible and claiming that God “owes them” a big-screen TV and a house in Sequoia Hills , and they are making these demands “in the name of Jesus”—then it’s a whole ‘nother matter altogether. And there are folks who do this. Listen to this gem from Kenneth Copeland:
"As a believer, you have a right to make commands in the name of Jesus. Each time you stand on the Word, you are commanding God to a certain extent, because it is His Word" (Kenneth Copeland, Our Covenant with God, p. 32).
He is saying that you have the right to command God in the name of Jesus. Which brings us to today’s text. 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.” If someone is declaring that they are making a demand on God “in the name of the Lord” then they are standing on thin ice, because God considers His name to be held in the highest esteem and reverence possible. Look at the last part of this verse: “The LORD (YHVH) will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” This is what Keil and Delitzsch had to say about Exodus 20:7—
“[This commandment] prohibits all uses of the name of God for vain and unworthy objects, and includes not only false swearing, which is condemned in Leviticus 19:12 as [profaning] the name of YHVH, but trivial swearing in the ordinary [conversations] of life, and every use of the name of God in the service of untruth and lying, for [cursing others], witchcraft, or [séances]; whereas the true [use] of the name of God is confined to ‘invocation, prayer, praise, and thanksgiving,’ which proceeds from a pure, believing heart. The natural heart is very liable to transgress this command, and therefore it is solemnly enforced by the threat, ‘for YHVH will not hold him guiltless’.”
If I'm trying to convince someone that I'm telling the truth, I may finally come to the point where I say “I swear to God I'm telling the truth!” If I do that, I had better be telling the truth. And that’s what is spelled out in the Law. Exodus 22:10-11—“If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven away, no one seeing it, then an oath of the LORD shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbor's goods.” In other words, if I ask Yitzhak to watch my goats while I go out of town, then I come back and my goats are gone and Yitzhak tells me that someone stole them, and nobody saw it, then we would take an oath in the name of YHVH, and Yitzhak would swear by the name of God that he didn’t do anything mischievous to my goats. But Yitzhak had better be telling the truth, or he will have taken the name of YHVH in vain, and as God says in Leviticus 19:12—“You shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.” If Yitzhak has sworn that oath to God—by doing that, he has called God as a witness. So, basically, what I do, being the offended party, is to say, “OK, you’ve said it. You’ve taken an oath to God; you are in His hands now.” And what that means is, if he did indeed pilfer my goats, then the responsibility for punishment has been taken out my hands, and placed it into God’s hands. And if Yitzhak lied, then he will receive punishment directly from God. Romans 12:19—Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. So if we take an oath in the name of the LORD, and we are taking that oath in vain, then God is the one who will take vengeance on us. Not a very pleasant proposition.
But listen to the goodness and faithfulness of our God, when He swears an oath and makes a promise. Hebrews 6:13-16—When God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." And so, after [Abraham] had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Like we just saw, if you swear by the name of God—it’s out of my hands, you are now in God’s hands. But we don’t have to worry about whether or not God is telling the truth because it goes on to say, Hebrews 6:17-18--Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath—there is nothing greater than God, so He swore by Himself—that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. God IS truth. As we talked about last week—not only is He true, He is truth. When He promises to do something, He will swear an oath by HIMSELF to do it. And because He CANNOT lie, if He makes a promise, He will do it.
Men, on the other hand, aren't always so honest. And many times, men will not hold the name of God in such high regard. And not only will they swear an oath in the name of God—an oath they never meant to keep—they will simply toss around the name of God and use it in some of the most despicable ways possible. The first example of this is in Leviticus 24, so let’s turn there. Leviticus 24:10-12—Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. And the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the LORD might be shown to them. In much the same way that it didn’t take the children of Israel very long to construct an idol and say “this is YHVH, who brought us out of Egypt,” it didn’t take long before we have an example of someone using the name of YHVH as a cuss word. And as God promised, He will not hold that person guiltless who takes His name in vain. We see that as we look down in Leviticus 24:13-16—And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the LORD, he shall be put to death…You shall have the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the LORD your God.'…Then Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they took outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him with stones. So the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses. Before we go any further, remember last week, what were the Jews going to do when Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I AM?” They took up stones to stone Him. What were they going to do when He said “I and My Father are one?” They took up stones to stone Him. They took outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him with stones. Seems a little harsh, doesn’t it? Well, to us it seems harsh. But we’re not talking about just anybody’s name here. We are talking about the name of God Himself. And God guards His name above everything else. And while we may think this was going a bit overboard, God does not think it too great a punishment. And when you get right down to it, whose opinion matters more? Blaspheming His name carries with it a much harsher punishment—either in this life or the depths of Hell—than nearly any other sin. Because His name is not like any other name.
Is it hard to find a movie these days—or even a TV show for that matter—is it hard to find one that uses God’s name as a profanity? “Get out of my G.D. house” Or they’ll use the name of Jesus Christ as a profanity? Now, the culture we live in may not think there’s anything wrong with that. But does our culture determine what is and is not acceptable to God? God does not say “Culture will determine whether you can use My name as a curse word.” He says “I will not hold him guiltless.” Another way to say it is “I will hold that person personally accountable to Me for how they use My name.” Now, not only is this degree of punishment fit for those who blaspheme the name of the Father, it is also true of those who blaspheme the name of Christ—because He was the manifestation of God’s name. John 17:4—“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world.” He has been given the name that is above every name. Philippians 2:9-11—Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And also, He bears that name upon His thigh and upon His robe. Revelation 19:13, 16—He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God…And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And if we honor the name of Christ, we will enter into eternal life. John 20:31—These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.Acts 4:12—“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” So the name of God is not something that is to be trifled with. Now, we see a couple other places where punishment is dealt out to one who claims to be speaking in the name of the Lord.
Turn to Deuteronomy 18:20-22—“The prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.' You may say in your heart, 'How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?' When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” And what will happen to that prophet? He will die. If a prophet was going around claiming to be prophesying “in the name of the LORD” and what he was prophesying did not come to pass, he was taken outside of the camp and stoned to death. Again, let’s shine spotlight upon TBN. So many of them call themselves “prophets.” And they go around saying things like “God spoke to me and said…” If God did not speak to that person—and just for the record, He didn’t—and yet they are standing there saying that “God told me…” then they are claiming to speak in the name of God, and what would have happened to that person under the Law of Moses? Their body would still be rotting under a pile of rubble in the Middle Eastern desert.
Let me put it to you this way: if I'm going around saying that I'm speaking on behalf of Grace Community Church, and I'm saying that we believe some sort of goofy, off-the-wall doctrine, what am I doing to the name of GCC? I'm bringing shame and reproach on the name of GCC. Now, take that principle and apply it to the name of God Himself. Suppose some lunatic were to stand before a crowd in the Orlando Civic Center on December 31st, 1989 and say that “God told me that Fidel Castro will die sometime in the 1990’s” and that a major earthquake would devastate the east coast of the USA, and that God would destroy the homosexual community with fire somewhere around 1993-1994—and yet Fidel Castro is still alive to this day, there was no earthquake and homosexuality is still running rampant—then what kind of reputation does that give of God? At best it says that God just kinda guesses at things. But at worst, it says that God is a liar. (BTW, those were actual "prophecies" delivered by Benny Hinn on December 31, 1989, at the Orlando Civic Center) Now, we may hear someone try and wiggle out of this by saying, “Well, yeah, but that was just in the Old Testament”—think again. What did Jesus say? Matthew 5:17-18—“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” We don’t stone false prophets these days—we leave them in the hands of God. And we let Him deal with them as He will. And He will.
And we see that, as we finish up with a New Testament example of someone claiming the name of Christ in vain. Turn to Acts 19. The name of Jesus is not some kind of magic incantation that a person can simply spit out of their mouth and make demons disappear. Demons are spiritual beings and they cannot be overwhelmed by physical acts. As Paul says in Ephesians 6:12—We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. But in Acts 19, we see a fellow who has heard of this Jesus guy, and has taken it upon himself to try and fight a demon-possessed man using the name of Jesus—a name he had no right to use. Acts 19:13-14—Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" These guys had no idea who Jesus was, but they had heard Paul preaching about some guy named Jesus and thought they could simply toss out His name, and the spirits would leave.
Only those who are known by Christ can call upon the name of Christ. And the thing about demons is, they know Jesus. Mark 1:23-26—Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us?" But Jesus rebuked him, saying,"Be quiet, and come out of him!"And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. They know Jesus. And they can spot a phony. And only Christ—and His apostles—had that kind of power over demons. Not even angels did this. Jude 1:9—Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" So, what happened to these sons of Sceva? Acts 19:15-16—Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. We also see from this what Jesus meant when He said in Mark 3:24-26—“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.” You had the demon possessed man on the one side; you had the Jewish exorcists—who were deceived by Satan—on the other. This kingdom is divided against itself, Satan has risen up against himself, and God gets the glory. Acts 19:17—This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
This is really an important event in the Bible. It shows us just how dangerous it is to throw around the name of our God, and the consequences that come from doing so. Now, next week, we’re going to get a glimpse of the other side of the coin—that is, the blessings that come from using the name of God properly, and keeping a vow even if it does us harm.
We have been talking about how God revealed Himself to Moses using the name “I AM.” And since Jesus Christ IS God, then He is also entitled to refer to Himself by the name “I AM”. Even though He entered our world, being born to the Virgin Mary, He had previously existed with the Father since eternity past, long before the creation of the world. The apostle John calls Christ the Word of God in the first verse of his gospel, and tells us in John 1:1—In the beginning was the word…and the Word was God. So not only did the Father exist from eternity past, but the Word of God existed from eternity past. And that is the point that Jesus is making here in this confrontation with the Pharisees. Let me set the scene for you because it is a long exchange, and we’re gonna come in on the tail end of it. The debate was over whether Jesus was a credible witness on His own behalf. According to OT Law, two or three witnesses were required to establish something as being true (see Deuteronomy 19:15). But Jesus makes the point that He did not speak on His own behalf, and He did not come to earth of His own accord, but the Father is still with Him and the Father, therefore, is bearing witness of Him by remaining with Him. (For more on the "I AM" statements of Christ, see Permalink here)
And He lets them know, in no uncertain terms, that anyone who continues in sin is a slave to sin, and is of their father, the devil. That’s when everything goes kablooey. The Pharisees go off the rails and go running to Abraham for their safety and cling to fact that they are physical descendants of Abraham, and they cry out “We have Abraham for our father!” (John 8:39). But Jesus lets them know that their physical descent from Abraham, along with a dollar, will get them a cup of coffee. Jesus then brings up the fact that Abraham is dead—his body is dead, that is—but that anyone who follows Christ will never see death. And this is where we’re going to pick it up.
John 8:52-53--52 Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ 53 Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?” Real quick. Remember last week, Jesus told us that God IS the God of Abraham, God IS the God of Isaac and God IS the God of Jacob. Even after Abraham’s body was put in a grave, God IS still the God of Abraham. It was only Abraham’s body that died. So they’ve already got it wrong, and Jesus is about to let them know it. John 8:54-58--54 Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. 55 Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”57 Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them,“Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” If you get that knock on the door from folks who claim to be witnesses announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom, they will whip out that little pamphlet called “Should You Believe in the Trinity” and they will jump through all kinds of hoops and twist themselves into a linguistic pretzel to make it sound like Jesus did not say what He said. There’s even a section entitled “I AM”—question mark. It should be “I AM”—exclamation point!
It’s not a question of whether Jesus is “I AM.” It’s a fact. Today we’re going to go through the places where Jesus makes this statement, and to do this I want to mention one more time the quote from the commentary by Keil and Delitzsch on what happened at the burning bush in Exodus 3:
“God would manifest in deeds the nature expressed in His name. God therefore told Moses His name, or, to speak more correctly, He explained the name יהוה [YHVH]…in this way, אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה [hayah asher hayah], “I am that I am,” and designated Himself by this name as the absolute God of the fathers.”
Now, when we see Jesus using the title “I AM” in the gospel of John, that’s the literal way to read it. The Greek is εγω ειμι (ego eimi)—first person, singular, present tense. “I”—first person, singular. “AM”—present tense. Now, the Jehovah's Witnesses will stand there and say that Jesus was simply stating that He had been alive before Abraham was born. They of course teach that Jesus was nothing more than a glorified angel—Michael the archangel to be exact. Well, there are a whole lot of flaws in their thinking.
First of all, look in verse 59, and what are the Pharisees getting ready to do? John 8:59--Then they took up stones to throw at Him. If He were simply claiming to be a couple thousand years old, they would have simply laughed Him to scorn. BUT—they would not take up stones to stone Him just for making such a claim. The fact that they were ready to stone Him is a very strong indicator that Jesus was referring to Himself as “I AM.” Jesus says, in John 10:30—“I and My Father are One.” Was He claiming that He and YHVH have one mindset? That He and Elohim are One in agreement? Is He saying that His beliefs and those of The Holy One of Israel are one and the same? NO! Because again, we see the same response from the Pharisees, in John 10:31—Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. For what? John 10:32-33—32 Jesus answered them,"Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?"33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God." The reason these Jews get so angry with Christ saying that He and the Father are “One” I believe is because Jesus is making a reference to Deuteronomy 6:4—Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One. This is one of the most sacred—if not THE most sacred—passages in all the Hebrew Scriptures concerning God being the only God. For Jesus to say that He and the Father are ONE—as Deuteronomy 6:4 says that God is One—He was not beating around the bush. He was letting them know, in no uncertain terms, that He was, indeed, God, and that this most cherished text was actually talking about Him. We’ll look at both of those passages when we get to Deuteronomy 6.
Now, we mentioned earlier that when God uses the title “I AM” that it’s not simply a tag He places on Himself—as if He just woke up one day and said, “Hey, I think I'll call myself "I AM". Rather, "I AM" is God’s way of letting us know that everything that is righteous, just, loving, patient, hopeful, faithful, and so forth all exist because God IS those things—when we use those words to talk about God, they're not really adjectives. That is, they're not simply ways of describing God, but rather they are more like nouns, which act as a way of pointing out what God is. To kinda make it a little clearer, think of it this way: What is righteousness? God is! What is lovingkindness and patience? God is! What is faithfulness and truth? God is! And we can take that same idea and apply it to the times when Jesus referred to Himself as "I AM". And we’re really just gonna skim the surface on these, because we could spend weeks on each one.
John 6:35--And Jesus said to them,"I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." Background: the day before, He had fed the 5000 with 2 smoked salmon and 5 loaves of pita bread. All their bellies were full, and everybody was happy! So, the next day, the same people go looking for Jesus and they see Him walking around and they run up and they want to hear more of the wonderful teachings He gave them! Right? Well, maybe not so much. John 6:26-27--26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” The food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give us is Himself—He IS that bread. Jesus does not simply give us eternal life—He IS eternal life. John 1:4—In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.1st John 5:20—And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. And we see this a little more clearly in John 11.
Lazarus is dying; Jesus has heard the news that Lazarus is dying. (NOTE--This is NOT the same Lazarus as in the story Jesus recounts in Luke 16:19-31). But He doesn’t go running to the house of Lazarus and Mary and Martha. Why? Wouldn’t you want to see your friend before he died? Well, we see the answer in John 11:4--When Jesus heard that, He said,“This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now, in verses 14-15, Jesus says something that doesn’t quite make sense to a lot of people. John 11:14-15--14 Then Jesus said to them plainly,“Lazarus is dead.15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.” That kinda flies in the face of most people’s thinking. Almost sounds like Jesus is saying, “Boy, I'm sure glad he’s dead.” But Jesus WAS glad that Lazarus was dead because now He can show the world—both His disciples AND those who opposed Him so viciously—that He IS Life. John 11:23-25--23 Jesus said to her,“Your brother will rise again.”24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her,"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." Lazarus’ body was dead. BUT Christ not only HAD the power to raise Him to life, He IS the power to raise dead men to life. What better way to show that than with a man who has been dead for four days.
But the greatest miracle of all—not only does He raise physically dead men to physical life; He raises spiritually dead men to everlasting life. Ephesians 2:1-5—1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience…4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. Were it not for Christ Jesus, the Son of God, coming to earth and bringing life to dead men, we would still be estranged from God, and we would have no hope for anything.
Which brings us to our next passage, John 14:3-6--"3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know."5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him,"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." We could spend a month on this one. This goes back to what we were talking about earlier, that not only is God righteous—He is righteousness. Not only is God just—He is justice. So, Christ being God in the flesh, not only does Christ show us the way—He is the way. Not only is He true—He is the truth. Not only does He give life—He is the life. If Christ had not come to earth—if the Son of God had not left His throne in glory to walk among us filthy, dirty humans, we would have had no way of being reconciled to God. If God the Son had not clothed Himself in flesh, we would have no advocate, no mediator with God. We would have been left alone to find our own way to God—something that everyone all around the world is seeking to do. That’s something that hasn’t changed since Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin with fig leaves when God required death. And when you tell people that Christ is the only way to God, you will get one of two responses. God will either open their eyes and draw them to Himself, so that they can accept that truth and love that truth and be saved by that truth—or they will reject it, turn away form it, call you all kinds of names because of that truth. Nothing has really changed in 2000 years. As one fellow put it, “The enemies of God still hate God. And they don’t care for you either.”
Sinful man still wants to find his own way to God. But there is only one door that leads to Heaven. And that is Christ. He says that in John 10:7-10--7 Then Jesus said to them again,"Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." Used to be that if you wanted to get into the city of Oak Ridge, there were a few gates you could enter through. That’s it. And you weren’t getting into Oak Ridge unless you belonged there. If you didn’t belong there, and you were caught trying to sneak in some other way, you were shot on sight, no questions asked. Now, getting into Heaven is a process that is quite a bit more peaceful than that. But it’s the same principle—if you want to get into Heaven, there is only ONE way—that is Christ. You either go through Him, or you ain't getting in. Period, paragraph, end of story. Saying this to someone today will have them telling you that you're a bigot, that you're a simpleton, and mostly they will say that you're narrow-minded. That’s when we say “Yes, I am narrow-minded. I've got my mind on the narrow way!”Matthew 7:13-14—"13 Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Don’t listen to anyone who says that “All roads lead to Heaven” or something like “Well, everybody’s going to Heaven, they just have to find their own way.” Christ did not die on a cross so people could worship a false God and be allowed into the presence of the Father. The cross is the only way that anybody’s getting into Heaven, and if they don’t like it then they're lost! One door, one way, one gate.
Finally, Jesus shows us that He is the One who will lead us on that Way, through that door, through that gate. John 10:11--"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."Psalm 23, how does it start? You could ask 100 people to quote a passage of Scripture, and most of them would probably quote Psalm 23. They may not know what it means, but they know what it says. Most people who don’t know Christ think of it as some kind of secret password that helps get you out of some kind of jam they're in. But it’s more than that. Many times in the Scripture, those who belong to God are referred to as “sheep.” Leave a bunch of sheep by themselves, and they won’t last a day. Why? Because sheep are dumb. We’re sheep. I think you can do the math on that one. Sheep are dumb and they need a shepherd. And if we are sheep, then we need a shepherd. A shepherd does not hate his sheep. He nurtures them, takes care of the, feeds them, waters them, and drives off any kind of animal that would try to attack them. Jesus is our Shepherd. I think you can do the math on that one.
Let’s finish up with what Jesus said about His role as our shepherd. John 10:11-18--“11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” The Lord—Jesus—is our Shepherd. He leads us by still waters, He feeds us the bread which leads to eternal life. And He is that bread. He is the way to the Father, He is our resurrection. He is all these things because HE IS.
We’ve looked at the first two Commandments in the Law of God. In the first commandment, we are forbidden from worshipping any other God but God. Exodus 20:2-3--“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.” Then in the second commandment we are forbidden from making anything that we would call a “representation” of God, since God is perfect and holy and sinless, and anything we make would be imperfect and would be made out of material that has been cursed by sin. Exodus 20:4-5--“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” And in this third commandment, God makes it clear that His name is a very sacred and very holy name, and that we should treat that name with all the honor and reverence it deserves. Not only should we be careful to not go around using it like it’s just another word, we should be careful in saying something like “I swear to God…”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.” We’re going to talk about the name itself—what that name is, what it means, and how it is used in Scripture. Next week, we’re going to talk about what it means to “take the name of the LORD in vain.” We tend to think that means using phrases that start with “GD” or “JC”. That’s part of it, but there is more to it than that, and we’ll discuss that next time. But this morning we are going to talk about the name of the LORD.
In most Bibles, when you're reading the OT, you may see the word “LORD” in all capital letters. When you see that, that is how the translators render the Hebrew word “YHVH”. Sometimes you will see the word “GOD” in all capital letters, and this means the same thing. “YHVH” is the name that God uses to refer to Himself. It comes from a Hebrew word that means “I will be.” YHVH literally means “I AM.” The name is made up of the Hebrew characters י-ה-ו-ה (Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey). In English, these come out to roughly the letters Y-H-V-H. Before we go any further, just a very quick lesson in Hebrew—and by “quick” I mean “microscopic.” The Hebrew language has one vowel, א (Aleph). The other 21 characters are consonants. The way they make vowels is by taking a consonant and putting either one, two, or three little dots, under or inside the letter, in a certain pattern, and these are called “vowel points.” And that is what creates the vowel sound.
Now, what they did for the name of God was, they took the י-ה-ו-ה (Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey) and they used the vowel points from the word “Adonai” which is the generic term for “lord.” And what you wind up with is a word that sounds like this: “YaHoVaH.” I want to share with you a little something I read recently about this subject. Zola Leavitt is a Hebrew scholar, and a professing Christian Jew. I don’t know all of his theology, but I can tell you this much—he knows a whole lot more about the Hebrew language than I do. I'll let him explain a little (emphases mine):
“The Third Commandment (Exodus 20:7) states, "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." On account of this, the Masoretes [Jewish scribes of the 700’s-1100’s] ensured that the Name of the LORD would not be taken in vain by substituting the vowel marks for Adonai and putting them under the letters …and this has led to the obviously incorrect pronunciation of the Name as "Jehovah" (in older English, "J" had a "y" sound)…Yahweh is most likely also an incorrect transliteration, since there is no "w" sound in Hebrew. Since ancient Hebrew did not use any vowel markings, the actual pronunciation of the sacred Name is simply not known. In ancient Temple times, only the Kohen Gadol (high priest) would utter the Name during Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement; the one day when he would go into the Most Holy Place]. The Jewish tradition is to not pronounce the sacred Name at all, but to substitute the word Adonai ("my Lord") in its place. Thus, when reading Torah, you do not attempt to vocalize the Name, but say Adonai instead. When not reading Torah, most observant Jews refer to the sacred Name simply as Hashem or "the Name" (Lev. 24:16). In Hebrew the sacred Name is called Shem HaMeforash, "the unspeakable Name." (Zola Leavitt Ministries)
Here's a little video, I'm sure many of us have seen this at some point in our lives. It's from the movie "The Ten Commandments", the famous scene from Exodus 3, the first time that God reveals Himself—and His name—to Moses, at the burning bush.
Exodus 3:14-15—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.’” 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.’” Now, it was not as though the people did not know the name of God. In fact, this was not the first time God had revealed His name. We see that as far back as Genesis, people were calling on His name. 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 YHVH [the LORD]. God spoke this name to Abraham in Genesis 15:7—Then He said to him, “I am YHVH [the LORD], who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” So when Moses asks God, “When…they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?” It’s not that the people would not have any idea what name God used to identify Himself. He was, after all, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. They had known His name for hundreds of years. So the question became a matter of the meaning of the name God used to refer to Himself. Keil and Delitzsch explain it like this:
“God therefore told him His name, or, to speak more correctly, He explained the name, יהוה, by which He had made Himself known to Abraham…in this way, אֶהְיֶהאֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה, “I am that I am,” and designated Himself by this name as the absolute God of the fathers, acting with unrestrained liberty and self-dependence.”
John Gill said it like this:
“This signifies the real being of God, his self-existence, and that he is the Being of beings; as also it denotes his eternity and immutability, and his constancy and faithfulness in fulfilling his promises, for it includes all time, past, present, and to come; and the sense is, not only I am what I am at present, but I am what I have been, and I am what I shall be, and shall be what I am.”
God does not depend on anyone for anything, and He is self-existent. That is, His existence is dependent upon nothing and no one. Skeptics and atheists like to ask the age-old question, “Who created God?” No one! He IS. He is eternal, He is uncreated, He IS. Period. Revelation 4:6-8—And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back…The four living creatures, each having six wings…do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” The fact that His name is “I AM” speaks to His eternality—that is, from eternity past to eternity future, all time is the same to Him. To us, yesterday was yesterday and tomorrow is tomorrow. But to God, every day is today. He is an eternal being, and from eternity past to eternity future, He will always be the same. And since mankind was created in the image of God, man is an eternal being as well. We did not exist from eternity past, but we will exist in eternity future. And yes, it is all one “eternity” but since we humans are stuck in time and are bound by time, we see things as past, present and future, whereas God sees it all as being in the present. And even though our bodies may stop functioning and “fall asleep”, our spirit will exist forever in one of two places.
This is the point Jesus makes in Matthew 23:23-32—The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her." Jesus answered and said to them,"You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' ? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." The point that Jesus is making here is this: God does not stop being the God of His people simply because their bodies fall asleep. When God spoke to Moses at the burning bush, He did not say, “I WAS the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” He said, “I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Psalm 90:2—Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. Notice the Psalmist does not say “You were God and You will be God.” From eternity past to eternity future—He IS God. Present tense. Eternity past, eternity future—it’s all the same to God. In Hebrews 1:10, the writer shares with us these words that God spoke concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, and quotes Psalm 102:25-27— Keep in mind, this is God the Father talking about God the Son—“Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.” So we see God the Father saying that the Son laid the foundation of the earth, the heavens are the works of the Son’s hands, and that the Son is the same forever and His years will have no end.
Keep in mind that Jesus Christ is God. That He has existed since eternity past with the Father. The apostle John opens his account of the gospel by referring to Jesus as The Word. And in John 1:1, when John says In the beginning was the Word, “was” is in a tense which one fellow says “conveys no idea of origin for God or for the Logos, simply continuous existence.”And the Word was with God—not just “with” the Father, as though He were simply in the same general vicinity—but with the Father, “not merely as being near or beside, but as a living union and communion; implying the active notion of [harmonious relationship].” And this relationship between the Father and the Son, again, goes all the way back to eternity past. They have shared this love, they will forever share this love, it has never changed and it will never change. And the last part of John 1:1—And the Word was God. And that is, in fact, the proper way to translate that last part. (See my post on this matter here). And being God, we can see why the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 13:8—Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Finally, the Holy Spirit is also eternal, and shared the same love and communion with the Father and the Son. Hebrews 9:13-14—For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer…sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?Acts 5:3-4—Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?...You have not lied to men but to God." And we can also see how all three members of the Trinity were involved in creation. Psalm 33:6—By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. And then we could go all the way back to Genesis 1:1-2—In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. So now, if we put all of this together—that God the Father is eternal, that God the Son is eternal, that God the Holy Spirit is eternal, and that these are always the same and have never changed and never will change—now we see why God calls Himself YHVH, “I AM.”
