The name of God the Son that we looked at our first day in co-op chapel was Huios. We saw how Jesus was the Son, not because He was formed in Mary’s womb, but because He always was the Son. He was the Son of God who was sent to earth by the Father.

The next name we looked at next was Eschatos Adam. 

We find this name of Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15…

So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.”

The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 

However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural;

then the spiritual. 

The first man is from the earth, earthy;

the second man is from heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:45-47

Jesus is the Last Adam.

The word last in this verse is Eschatos and it means extreme last, last in time or in place, last in a series of places, last in temporal succession, last referring to time, of space, the uttermost part, the end, the end of the earth, of rank, of worth,… the extreme last   

In other words Jesus is IT.

I am going to pull from a study I wrote titled “Between the Trees”  to help illustrate…

Now we are all, every one of us on this earth, born in the family tree of the first Adam. This family tree is dysfunctional to say the least. This family tree is full of adulterers, liars, murderers, fornicators, hypocrites, idolaters, pagans, homosexuals, prostitutes, thieves, rebels without causes of any worth. This family tree is infected with a deep rooted sin disease that manifests itself in horrible ways with grave consequences and this tree is dead and is dying and eventually will be completely destroyed…

Now there is another tree… God’s family tree. The only way to have access to this family tree is through holiness, righteousness, justice, love, and obedience.

God offered those in the family tree of the first Adam a way to get to His tree. He laid down stepping stones. He laid down The Law. Walking in the Law leads us to the tree… but there’s a catch… if we ever miss a stone or break a stone… we plummet to our death… because there is a huge chasm between the trees.

You see no one in the family tree of the first Adam could ever make it all the across the chasm… eventually they would miss a stone and missing one stone is as bad as missing all the stones, because just one leads to our death. So those in this family tree of the first Adam called out on the name of the Lord… and the Lord heard their cry.

God took His own Huios from His family tree and sent Him to the family tree of the first Adam… and He became the Eschatos Adam.

For the first time in history someone in the tree of the first Adam could make it across the chasm… He could walk every stone and He laid the bridge, He made the way for all who follow His path, to the Father’s family tree. He alone can give us the right to this family tree… He is the One who set up the adoption agency and paid all the fees to give us the right to become children of God.

He is the Eschatos, the last, there is no other Adam to come, and no other from the first Adam’s family tree who can deliver us. He is IT.

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:12-21

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…

This is a name of God that I believe many of us might realize we find hard to trust in when we really think about it. The name of God is Jehovah-gmolah and it means the Lord our Recompense.

We see this name of God in the book of Jeremiah

For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, 
And her mighty men will be captured, 
Their bows are shattered; 
For the LORD is a God of recompense, 
He will fully repay.

Jeremiah 51:56

When we look at the context of this passage we know that it was at this time that God was using the nation of Babylon to judge the children of Israel for their disobedience to Him. He was using this Babylon’s rebellion to Him to discipline Israel’s rebellion. Then what we see here in Jeremiah 51:56 is God assuring His children that after He had disciplined them He would then indeed deal with Babylon.

Is it not laid up in store with Me, 
Sealed up in My treasuries? 
‘Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, 
In due time their foot will slip; 
For the day of their calamity is near, 
And the impending things are hastening upon them.’ 
“For the LORD will vindicate His people, 
And will have compassion on His servants, 
When He sees that their strength is gone, 
And there is none remaining, bond or free. 
“And He will say, ‘Where are their gods, 
The rock in which they sought refuge? 
‘Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, 
And drank the wine of their drink offering? 
Let them rise up and help you, 
Let them be your hiding place! 
‘See now that I, I am He, 
And there is no god besides Me; 
It is I who put to death and give life. 
I have wounded and it is I who heal, 
And there is no one who can deliver from My hand. 
‘Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, 
And say, as I live forever, 
If I sharpen My flashing sword, 
And My hand takes hold on justice, 
I will render vengeance on My adversaries, 
And I will repay those who hate Me. 

Deuteronomy 32:34-41

God was giving Israel an opportunity to call on these god’s they chose to worship instead of Him… and when they realized that these gods could not save them, God knew they would call on Him.

How awesome it is that God is willing to take us back.

Sometimes we let other gods come before our God and we disciplined, sometimes we just need sifted like wheat, sometimes we are being used by God to teach another how to trust Him in a hard time, sometimes we are being prepared for something that is coming later…  sometimes bad things happen, sometimes people are not so nice, but in all the sometimes God tells us to trust Him at all times.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 

Be of the same mind toward one another; 

do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. 

Do not be wise in your own estimation. 

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. 

Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 

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. 

“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM,

AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK;

FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” 

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:14-21

Here’s a little example of being overcome with evil:

As you watched that video I am sure you laughed… it’s pretty funny.

But the reality is that in the real world what you see is absolutely no redemption. There is no peace. There is no forgiveness. There is no end to the “get backs”. It just keeps going one. One hurting the other right after the other.

Have you been there?

Have you been overcome by evil?

Have you been hurt by the evil of another and instead of returning good to them you were overcome by their evil and returned evil for evil.

At some point someone has to choose to stop the endless cycle of evil… and it can only be stopped by choosing not to return evil for evil.

But Jesus was saying, “ Father, forgive them;

for they do not know what they are doing.”

And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.

Luke 23:34

How grateful I am that Jesus chose to return good for my evil…

And now as His redeemed I am told to go and do likewise. He is my example. And here is the thing… if I am the Spirit filled child of God and am being hurt by someone who knows God not then whose responsibility is it to be the one that says enough is enough? Yes, that’s right. It’s mine. Those who know God not fall in the “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” category.

However if you know God… you know exactly what you do

                      and you know exactly what you are to do.

You just have to choose to do it.

You have to choose to trust in Jehovah-gmolah.

Do not say, “I will repay evil”; 

Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.

Proverbs 20:22  

The name of God we will be looking at today is a part of the character of God that a lot of people do not like and do not want to talk about. However, with our God, we must take all of Him or none of Him. We don’t get to pick and choose which parts of His character we want to experience and ignore the rest.

The name is Jehovah-makkeh and it means the LORD shall Smite Thee. Yes, LORD-smiteth. Our God is a God who means what He says and says what He means and He will smite those who ignore His word, especially those who are His.

We see this name of God in the book of Ezekiel. 

My eye will show no pity nor will I spare.

I will repay you according to your ways,

while your abominations are in your midst;

then you will know that I, the LORD, do the smiting.

Ezekiel 7:9

The children of Israel were called out by God to be a nation that would represent Him to an entire world. They were not just a nation. He called them His firstborn. He called them His own possession…

Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD,

“Israel is My son, My firstborn.

Exodus 4:22

Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,

then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples,

for all the earth is Mine;

Exodus 19:5

They were supposed to be an example to all other nations, to teach them how to turn away from vain idols and to show them the way to worship the One True Living God, but they didn’t. Instead of showing the world the image of God they chose to take on the image of the nations around them and they bowed down to their idols and took on their ways… and God was not happy.

God’s last word to His people before 400 yrs of silence was to remind them that He was Jehovah-makkeh.

  He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children

and the hearts of the children to their fathers,

so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.

Malachi 4:6

So what about today?

Has God’s character changed in these last days?

Who are we in Christ? Are we sons and daughters? Are we His possession?

 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,

John 1:12

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!”

Romans 8:14-15

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD,

A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION,

so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him

who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

1 Peter 2:9

Well… there you go.

Yes, if we are indeed in Christ then we are His children. We are His possession. And as you read in 1 Peter 2:9 we are called to proclaim His excellencies. We are called to represent Him to those around us. We are called to reflect His image. We are His witnesses.

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;

and you shall be My witnesses

both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,

and even to the remotest part of the earth.

 Acts 1:8

You are His witness. Every where you go you carry His name. It was by and through the acceptance and confession of His name that you were saved. Faith in His name to be the only name by which you might be saved. You are birthed a new creation in His name. You carry His name.

How do you carry it?

I, as  woman, carry the name of my earthly father, the name of my husband, and the name of my God. Do I carry these names well?

My husband and I have three girls. They carry the name of their father. Every where they go they carry our name. Therefore we expect them to carry it well. Every where they go they represent us and our family. We expect them to represent us well.

One of my favorite teenage lines used by probably every teenager in America when they are in trouble is “You don’t really care about me, all you care about is what people think of you!” This is supposed to dump heaps of condemnation on you as a parent and make you choose to question your choice to firmly address an issue of sin and rebellion in your child’s life, the hope is to get your attention off of them and on to you, to put you on the defence. It’s emotional manipulation. Don’t fall for it. Stand firm and remind them that yes indeed they do carry your name and if they have confessed Christ, they carry His as well. 

You see, in order to ensure our children carry our name well, we discipline them, and we train them up in the Word of God. 

Here’s another thing: If we are somewhere in a group of other kids and all the kids are acting like a bunch of fools running around screaming or being disrespectful to a teacher or leader… the kids we snatch up and jerk a knot in are our kids. We discipline our own. Judgment begins at home.

For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God;

and if it begins with us first,

what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

1 Peter 4:17

However here’s the thing, it never fails that when we address our own children all the other children somehow amazingly choose to straighten up as well.

We discpline our children because we love them too much to allow them to be undisciplined. And precious one, our God loves us to much to leave us undisciplined. He is the LORD that smites. He will stripe our legs when we need it.

FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”

 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons;

for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 

But if you are without discipline,of which all have become partakers,

then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

 Hebrews 12:6-8

So when the smiteth cometh here’s the thing…

 Be careful, do not turn to evil,
For you have preferred this to affliction.

Job 36:21

Do not prefer your sin over the smiting of God to get rid of the sin in your life. Discipline isn’t pleasurable. It can hurt. It can be embarrassing. It can be uncomfortable.

However it is always for our good.

The name of God that we will look at today can be found in the book of beginnings…

Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan,

when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city. 

He bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent

from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father,

for one hundred pieces of money. 

Then he erected there an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel. 

Genesis 33:18-20

El-Elohe-Israel, this name of God means God, the God of Israel.

Now to understand the full power of this name of God, of this passage of Scripture, we have to go back and look at the context. We have to back and look at Israel. We have to go back and remember that Israel was first Jacob.

Jacob got in a good bit of trouble with his dad Isaac and his big brother Esau. He let his mother lead him into deceiving his father in order to receive the blessing of the firstborn. The sad thing about this was that Rebekah had been foretold by God when the twins were still in her womb that the older would serve the younger, but instead of waiting on God and trusting in His word, she decided to “help” God out… just like her mother-in-law Sarah did.

This blessing deception ended with Esau ready to literally kill Jacob. So their mother, once again comes up with scheme before her husband. She has Jacob sent off to live with her family under the guise that she has sent him in the hope that he would find a wife.

Now on the way, Jacob stops to sleep on a rock in Beersheba. We read in Genesis 28:10-21 how God comes and speaks to him in a dream. We read of “Jacob’s ladder.” We also read how Jacob responds to this dream. He acknowledges that this is indeed God speaking to him… but pay close attention to his words.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying,

“If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take,

and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, 

and I return to my father’s house in safety,

then the LORD will be my God.

Genesis 28:20-21

Did you catch that?

Did you just see that Jacob has not made God his God. He is still just the God of his father Isaac and the God of his father Abraham… He is not the God of Jacob. There is no relationship between God and Jacob. We even see here that Jacob has taken a bargaining mindset with the Creator of the universe and the Sustainer of his very breath.

If God will do A,B, and C then Jacob will do God the honor of letting Him be his God…

Wow.

Yeh.

Unfortunately that mindset is still very much alive and well today in the hearts and minds of men and women everywhere.

Now over fourteen years later, after Jacob has found not one wife, but two, his beloved Rachel and her sister Leah, he has finally decided it is time to leave Uncle Laban and return home. We read in Genesis 31 how Laban’s other sons and servants are not to fond of Jacob… basically because God has been blessing him like crazy and he has gained a lot of livestock and made his Uncle quite prosperous. So Jacob goes to his wives and tells them it’s time to move on… in this conversation we see once again that even though Jacob acknowledges that God has been with him and that it is indeed God that has blessed him… he still does not claim God as his personal God.

“I see your father’s attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as formerly,

but the God of my father has been with me.

Genesis 31:5

Now after Jacob has separated from his Uncle Laban and is traveling toward home he gets word that his big brother Esau is coming after him with 400 men. This kind of shakes Jacob up a little bit. He gets a little scared. So he actually did what a lot of us do when we get scared… he prays.

Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac,

O LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country

and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’ 

I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness

and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant;

for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. 

 Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother,

from the hand of Esau; for I fear him,

that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. 

For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea,

which is too great to be numbered.’”

Genesis 32:9-12

However, in his prayer we see that God is still the God of his fathers… not his God.

But we also see Jacob beginning to take a different attitude with the God of his fathers. This time he is not bargaining with God. He is on his face before him acknowledging that he has not deserved any of the kindness that God has shown him. He is begging God to keep His word even though he does not deserve for Him to keep it.

This is one of the awesome things about our God… the keeping of His word, His promises, is not dependent upon us. He keeps His word because He is God not because we are good.

Now later in this chapter Jacob sends his family across a stream and he stays behind… to just be alone. This is where God has to get all of us. He has to get us alone. Away from all distractions, excuses, false senses of security.

While alone a “man” shows up and begins wrestling with Jacob. Jacob holds tight and keeps fighting. He finally grabs hold of the man and says that he will not let him go until he blesses him. (Now I hope you have picked up that this was not just an ordinary man that showed up while Jacob was alone)

 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 

When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh;

so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. 

Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.”

But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 

So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 

He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel;

for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

Genesis 32:24-28

Why on earth did this man want Jacob to say his name?

Jacob’s name meant deceiver… and that’s exactly who Jacob was. He was a deceiver. He was a con-artist. He was selfish and set on himself… Jacob had to admit who he was. The real A, B, and C that Jacob needed to address was..

A– admit that you are a sinner

B– believe upon the Word

C– call upon His name and confess him as LORD

Now God was getting somewhere with Jacob. He had made it to step A. He had admitted that he was indeed a deceiver, a sinner. There were no excuses, no justifying his actions, no bargaining games, he was admitting I am the problem. It was here that Jacob was beginning to see that God needed to be his God, not on the basis of earning his worship, but because God was worthy of his worship, and he (Jacob) just needed to be thankful that God was willing to accept his worship.

So now when we read El-Elohe-Israel we see the true impact of this confession of Jacob.  He was a man with a new name… and a personal God. A God that was no longer just his daddy’s God, no longer just his grandaddy’s God, but his God. God, the God of Israel.

Then he erected there an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Genesis 33:20

So the question is… is He your God?

For such is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will guide us until death.

Psalm 48:14

The name of God that we will be looking at today is Jehovah-hossenu, the LORD our Maker. We read this name of God all through the Scriptures… it’s one of my favorite. This name is different from Elohim, that shows us God as Creator. Elohim shows us how God creates out of nothing… but Jehovah-hoseenu shows us how God takes something and He molds it and shapes it.

Our God is Elohim and He is Jehovah-hoseenu.

O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. 
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 
For the LORD is a great God
And a great King above all gods, 
In whose hand are the depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also. 
The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. 
For He is our God…

Psalm 95:1-7

As we have studied these names we have often looked at God’s relationship with Israel. We have to remember that when God called Israel out of Egypt, He sent them to the wilderness so that He could Egypt out of them.

But there were many who rejected His molding hands… and they quarreled against Him. Sometimes molding and shaping is not a pleasurable experience.

 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—
An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’

Isaiah 45:9

But now, O LORD, You are our Father,
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all of us are the work of Your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

Life is so much better when we just submit to the potter’s hand instead of fighting against it. You know when God called us out of the world and into Christ… He still has to get the world out of us. We are new fresh cut of clay in Christ, ready to be molded and shaped.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;

the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

We are the work of His hands. He takes us as we are and then He begins to do His wonders in our hearts and in our minds and in our souls. He begins preparing us for what He has in store for us. He has a work for us to do. He called us for a purpose and He is going to get us ready for it.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

However, whatever good works He has for us…

I believe His number one intent is to conform us into the image of His Son.

For those whom He foreknew, 

He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son,

so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

Romans 8:29

It doesn’t matter what shape we are in when we come to Him… He is Jehovah-hoseenu. He is the Master Potter, the LORD our Maker, and He is more than capable to conform us and mold us and shape us into His own possession… He is able to make us worthy of our calling. He will accomplish His work in us, and because He will, we will accomplish our work in Him.

who will transform the body of our humble state

into conformity with the body of His glory,

by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

Philippians 3:21

The last name of God we looked at was Jehovah-shammah, the LORD is There. As we looked at this name we looked at Ezekiel 8-11 and we saw how the children of Israel had  provoked the Lord to jealousy as they committed abominations against Him, even in His temple. We saw how God began to move out of the temple and then we saw Him leave…

The name that we will be looking at today ties into what we learned last week.

The name of God that we will be looking at today is Qanna and it means Jealous.

Watch yourself that you make no covenant

with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going,

or it will become a snare in your midst. 

But rather, you are to tear down their altars

and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim—

for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD,

whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God—

Exodus 34:12-14

God has never made His desire for exclusivity a secret… He was to be the only God that Israel was to bow before…

Then God spoke all these words, saying,

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before Me.

“You shall not make for yourself an idol,

or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath

or in the water under the earth. 

You shall not worship them or serve them;

for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…

Exodus 20:1-5

So in Ezekiel, when we looked at Jehovah-shammah we saw that God, whose name is Qanna, left the temple. His shekina glory lifted from the Holy of Holies and now remained at a distance from Jerusalem. The question I want to ask you now is… did His glory return? Would the covenant keeping God ever show Himself to His people again?

To find the answer to that question let us turn to the Gospels.

In the beginning wasthe 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

There it is. There’s the answer… YES! Yes, this covenant keeping God would indeed!

Now did His glory ever enter His temple again?

And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision,

His name was then called Jesus,

the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed,

 they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

Luke 2:21-22

Well, there you go… another yes!

Yes the glory of God would enter His temple again.

If God, whose name is Qanna, was willing to show His glory to His people again and was willing to enter the temple again… would He also still be jealous… or had His jealousy subsided?

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 

And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves,

and the money changers seated at their tables.

 And He made a scourge of cords,

and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen;

 and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; 

and to those who were selling the doves He said, “

Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” 

His disciples remembered that it was written,

“ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”

John 2:13-17

The answer once again is Yes!

Yes, God’s name was still Qanna. He was still jealous for His people and He was still jealous for His temple. Now if He was jealous for His people and His temple in the days of Ezekiel and He was jealous for His people and His temple in the days of Christ’s first coming… is He jealous still?

Do not be bound together with unbelievers;

for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness,

or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Or what harmony has Christ with Belial,

or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols?

For we arethe temple ofthe living God; just as God said,

“I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM;

AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 

“Therefore,COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,”

says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN;…  

2 Corinthians 6:14-17

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves

from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

 2 Corinthians 7:1

I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness;

but indeed you are bearing with me. 

For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy;

for I betrothed you to one husband,

so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. 

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness,

your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:1-3

The answer once again is YES! His name is still Qanna.

He is jealous for you and He is jealous for His temple… and you are His temple.

Your body is His temple.

So let me ask you are their tables in your temple that need overturned? Are there carved images and idols that need washed away by the Word? Your God is jealous for you. He desires and demands an exclusive relationship with… there are to be no other gods on the side.  No little black book hid in the closet… He wants all of you and He doesn’t plan on sharing you with the world, nor your own flesh. You are to be forsaking all others and clinging only to Him.

The last question is simple,

Are you?

Are you forsaking all others and clinging only to Him?