The name of God we will be digging into today is Elohim Shamayim… God of Heaven. This name of God is used only about twenty times in Scripture. It has it’s root in the book of Daniel…

In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “ Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts of the field until seven periods of time pass over him,” this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules.

Daniel 4:23-26

…but it is mentioned at least eight times in the book of Ezra. As a matter of fact the book of Ezra begins with the mention of this name of God.

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Ezra 1:1-2

The last name of God we looked at was Lord Of All The Earth. So how is God of Heaven different from Lord of All the Earth?

When we look at the context of the Scripture passages that use Lord of All the Earth we see that these are all referring to a future day. They all refer to the day when Christ will return and physically rule this earth with a rod of iron. I look forward to that day…

However God of Heaven is the name that even those who refuse to bow down and give their allegiance to the Creator God in this life will use. This name of God shows us how although our God is in heaven He still rules over the affairs of man and over this earth. He rules from heaven. God does not have to be standing before us in all His glory to see that His will is accomplished. He simply speaks His will from heaven and all the earth obeys.

We see this beautifully in the book of Esther. The name of God is not even mentioned in this book but His presence and His purpose and His hand on this recorded event in history is unmistakable.

We also clearly see God ruling from heaven in the book of Ezra. The book of Ezra takes place during the reign of King Artaxerxes and King Darius. This is after Nebuchadnezzar, after Belteshazzar and the writing on the wall, this is after Cyrus, king of Persia.

Let us remember that it was Cyrus that God moved to write and record the decree that allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple (Isaiah 45:1-5, Ezra 1:1-4, Nehemiah 2:3-8), exactly seventy years after their Babylonian captivity that was purposed by God (Jeremiah 25:11, Daniel 9:2).

Ezra is there in Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple is at work and the people of the land, those not Jews want to help build the temple, but the head fathers of the children of Israel say no. These people worshiped God as a god, just one of many, they were not Jews and they would not be a part of the hands on of the rebuilding of His temple. Well these people get a little ticked because Zerubbabel and Jeshua have told them “no” (Ezra 4:3), so they concoct a lie and send it in a letter to King Artaxerxes.

This King sends orders to stop the rebuilding of the temple. It stopped until the second year of King Darius. The people began to rebuild and when they were questioned they sent their own letter to King Darius.

Thus they answered us, saying, ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth and are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. But because our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon. However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.

Ezra 5:11-13

So Darius gets up and goes through the record books to check out their story and low and behold there it is… the written decree. Darius immediately sends his reply that the building is to continue and not only that the taxes of the nation would fund it.

Leave this work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. Moreover, I issue a decree concerning what you are to do for these elders of Judah in the rebuilding of this house of God: the full cost is to be paid to these people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the River, and that without delay.Whatever is needed, both young bulls, rams, and lambs for a burnt offering to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem request, it is to be given to them daily without fail, that they may offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. And I issued a decree that any man who violates this edict, a timber shall be drawn from his house and he shall be impaled on it and his house shall be made a refuse heap on account of this. May the God who has caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who attempts to change it, so as to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree, let it be carried out with all diligence!”

Ezra 6:7-12

So if the taxes would fund it guess who would pay for the rebuilding of the temple? Yep, that’s right, those that wrote the lie letter that caused the pause in the rebuilding.

This is our God of Heaven at work.

We may not see Him with our eyes in all His glory… we couldn’t handle it if He did show Himself to us in that way… His holy fire would consume this sin saturated flesh of ours… but His presence and the glory of His majesty is still clearly displayed to all the world. All the way to the very end…

There are only two times that this name of God is used in the New Testament and it’s in the book of Revelation

But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “ Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Revelation 11:11-13

Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom becamedarkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.

Revelation 16:10-11

Once again we see how even those who refuse to bow down to Him cannot refute that He is indeed the God of Heaven.

But here’s the thing.

In the gospel of Matthew the term Kingdom of Heaven is used thirty times.

You see here is the day that the God of Heaven came down and He cries out to us all.

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, 

“ Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 4:17

Jesus still cries out. The God of Heaven came down and He died for the sins of the world. Today, now, still from His throne in Heaven, through His body (the church) on this earth, He stretches out His nail-scared hand to the world and He cries repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

He wants you to know Him as more than this distant God of Heaven… He wants you to be able to call Him Father. He wants you to be able to call Him Redeemer. He wants you to be able to call Him Savior. He wants you to be able to call Him, El Elohe… Jehovahm-shammah… Jehovah-nissi… Jehovah-rapha… Jehovah- raah… Jehovah-mekkodishkem… Jehovah-tsidkenu.

But before you can do that you must first call Him Adonai…

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord,

and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,

you will be saved;

Romans 10:9

The name of God that we talked about in our last chapel meeting was Father. In the Old Testament God was only referred to as a father figuratively. We read in the book of Exodus of God referring to Israel as His firstborn son.

Then you shall say to Pharaoh,

‘Thus says the LORD, “Israel is My son, My firstborn.

Exodus 4:22

In the book of Deuteronomy we read…

Do you thus repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people?

Is not He your Father who has bought you?

He has made you and established you.

Deuteronomy 32:6

In the Psalms we read…

Just as a father has compassion on his children,

So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

Psalm 103:13

and in the book of Malachi we read…

Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us?

Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother

so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?

Malachi 2:10

God is a father to us all in the fact that He is the Creator God. It is He that has made us. He alone knit each of us in our mother’s womb and breathed life into us and sustains our days. He is, as a father, to us all.

God used the example of a father in the Old Testament to describe His relationship toward those who obeyed Him and served Him, but not one of those who served the Holy One of Israel in the Old Testament ever addressed Him with the intimate, personal, name of Father.

No one that is, until a carpenter from Nazareth walked into town.

When Jesus Christ came on the scene He called God, Father. The first ever to address Him with such a personal name. He alone had the right to call God this name.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,

and we saw His glory,

glory as of the only begotten from the Father,

full of grace and truth.

John 1:1, 14

When Christ came, He showed us that not everyone can call God Father, simply because they are a being created by Him. There is a big difference in creating something and giving birth to something.

When I gave birth to my daughters they were birthed with parts of me forever with them. They received my freckles, my blue eyes, my same birthmarks, many of my quirks and characteristics transferred from me to them… because I birthed them. My husband I begot them, and anyone who sees them can clearly see the proof that they belong to us.

Jesus made this truth clear to the Pharisees and He has made it clear to us.

I speak the things which I have seen with My Father;

therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.

They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. 

But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth,

which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 

You are doing the deeds of your father.”

They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication;

we have one Father: God.” 

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me,

for I proceeded forth and have come from God,

for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. 

Why do you not understand what I am saying?

 It is because you cannot hear My word. 

You are of your father the devil,

and you want to do the desires of your father.

John 8:38-44

Jesus made it pretty clear that not everyone can call God Father, because everyone is not His child. To be His child you must be birthed by Him and adopted by His Spirit.

But as many as received Him,

to them He gave the right to become children of God,

even to those who believe in His name, 

who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh

nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:12-13

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again,

but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons

by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

Romans 8:14-16

So we see now that being able to call God Father is something very special. We have seen that no one ever called God Father until the first coming of Christ. Let us stop for a moment and think about this…

Let’s go back to the day that a twelve year old boy looked at His foster father and said “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49)

Let’s go to the day that crowds formed and the disciples followed. Let’s go to the day that they watched this man who lived a life so pure and so compassionate and spoke with such authority. Let’s go to the day that a nation had gone over 400 years without hearing from their God, without even having a prophet in the land… and now this man called the One whose name was too holy to be spoken or written, Father.

How can we know that Jesus made an impression on His disciples with the intimate relationship that He appeared to have with the Creator of the Universe?

We know this by the questions they asked Him… especially one in particular.

“It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place,

after He had finished, one of the disciples said to Him,

“Lord, teach us to pray…”

Luke 11:1

The disciples had seen Jesus heal the sick. They had seen Him raise the dead. They had seen Him make blind men see. They had seen Him make the deaf hear and they had seen Him cast out demons… but they didn’t ask Him to teach them how to do these things. They asked Him to teach them how to pray.

Jesus, teach us how to talk to God like You do.

We want to know Him like You know Him.

How can You call Him Father?

How can you speak with Him so casually?

You do not pray like the Pharisees pray…

Jesus, teach us to pray…

And Jesus then taught them to pray… and He taught them to address God as Father… but to remember that hallowed be His name.  So yes, in and by and through Christ we can call God Father, but we must never forget that in this personal and intimate relationship His name is still to be hallowed, respected, reverenced, feared.

And if we call Him Father… we should show that we are His, that He has birthed us…

because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

If you address as Father

the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work,

conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth…

1 Peter 1:16-17

Let us never forget how special it is to be able to call God, Father. Let us live our lives in such a way that others will see our relationship with our God,

 and look at us and want what we have…

                         and ask us to teach them to pray…