GOD’S WORD FOR AUGUST 24 ~ ~ Genesis 15;1 ~ ~ “ …… I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
ADONAI in the Bible occurs in Genesis 15:1-2:
“After these things the word of the LORD (JEHOVAH) came to Abram in a vision, saying, “do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great.” Abram said, “O Lord God (ADONAI JEHOVAH), what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
God had promised Abram that He was going to make him a great nation and that He would give him an heir—a child—even in his old age. Interestingly, God had made that promise to Abram as YAHWEH JEHOVAH, the self-revealing God.
This is similar to going to church or listening to someone teach about the Bible. You hear the Word of God—what God said. When you come to understand God and His plans based on His Word, you are encountering JEHOVAH, the one who reveals Himself to you.
Then, like Abram, you will often make a decision or perform an action based on what God has revealed. Abram has responded to God by moving his family to the Promised Land. In fact, he had been there for a decade by the time we catch up with him in Genesis 15.
A ten-year gap separates Genesis 12 and Genesis 15. God had made His promise, and yet there was still no baby. This understandably causes Abram to wonder what’s going on. Abram remembers what God said, and yet he sees that nothing has been done. So he approaches God again to try to find out why the gap is there and when the promise will be fulfilled.
Notice the different ways the word “Lord” appears in the first two verses of Genesis 15. In the first verse, it’s written in all caps as LORD, meaning YAHWEY (JEHOVAH). Yet in verse 2, only the “L” is capitalized because the Hebrew word is ADONAI. Abram had heard what God has said when He revealed Himself and His plan, but Abram had not yet seen the fulfillment of God’s promise, so he appealed to God’s character as owner.
Has this ever happened to you? You heard God’s Word, and you believed that God revealed something to you, but you didn’t see it come to pass. In fact, perhaps a long time passed since you believed that God had revealed His will to you, but still nothing happened.
After a decade went by, Abram wasted no time in appealing to God as absolute ruler and owner. Then the LORD (JEHOVAH) reveals even more to Abram.
Genesis 15:4-5:
“This man (Eliezer) will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And he took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be”
Abram believed the Lord, and that was counted to him as righteousness. Then Abram appealed to God once again as master and ruler when he asked, “O Lord God (ADONAI JEHOVAH) how may I know that I will possess it? (verse 8)
Studying which name God uses when he reveals Himself to Abram and which name Abram uses when he responds give us a greater glimpse into the multifaceted nature of God. Abram was in the hopeless situation. At close to age 100, he was old and cold. Helping his wife conceive a child, seemed like a real impossibility, besides, she was 90 years old herself, and childless!!!!
It would have been much easier had God brought about Isaac’s conception some ten years earlier when he had made the promise to Abram, but now things looked bleak. Yet God will often delay carrying out His promises until He sees a heart of surrender and submission. In fact, submission to God as absolute ruler and master—submission to Him as ADONAI—can affect the timing of His promises in your life. In addition, we can see in Genesis 15 that submission also affects our communication with God and enhances our intimacy with Him.
(More about that tomorrow)