What’s a Yahweh?

May 2, 2023
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“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord.”   

Jeremiah 17:7

The connection between relational clarity, trust, and blessing is mega important. You can have gold for me, but if I do not trust you how can I receive it? 

I am sure if you take a quick review of your relationships, you will easily see the influence of relational clarity on trust. “I know that person well enough to NOT trust them.” “I know that person well enough to consider trusting them more.”  

Biblically, relational clarity is the source of Kingdom blessing. We miss out on so many blessings (so much gold) because we struggle to trust our Father and we can struggle to trust our Father because we are not super clear about who He is.  

The prophet Jeremiah connects clarity, intimacy, and blessing in Jeremiah 17:7, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord.”  

Blessing flows from trusting. 

Trusting flows from understanding who I am supposed to trust. According to Jeremiah, I am supposed to trust the Lord, but who is He exactly?   

Notice I am asking who is the LORD and not Lord. The degree of difference between the two is difficult to calculate! In the Old Testament you will see both formats of the word “Lord” used. Whenever the Old Testament uses LORD, the author is referring to one called Yahweh. Whenever “Lord” is used the author is referring to any person who has positional authority over another. Our Jeremiah 17:7 passage uses Lord, which we just learned means Yahweh. So blessing flows from trusting Yahweh.  

Now that we have that cleared up you can have a great day! 

Haha…that just creates a new question – what’s a Yahweh? 

Yahweh (pronounced yah-way) is the name God gives Himself when He meets with Moses in the famed burning bush scene of Exodus 3. We learn in Exodus 1 that the nation of Israel is trapped under Egyptian rule. Egypt, the dominant world power at the time, has enslaved God’s people. In Exodus 3 we learn God’s rescue plan.  

God appears to Moses in a burning bush, telling Moses His plan. Moses is to confront the Egyptian leader, Pharoah, and be Israel’s liberator. Moses, who for the past forty years has tended sheep, is far from excited! Moses needs repeated assurance from God that He will secure Moses’ and Israel’s victory.  

Watch this sample of the conversation between God and Moses from Exodus: 

Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 

Exodus 3:13-14

God seeks to calm Moses’ fears by giving Moses His name. “I AM WHO I AM,” in the Hebrew transliterates to the word, “Yahweh.” Through the name Yahweh, God declares that His faithfulness to His promises is in the essence of who He is. God does not say, “I am faithful,” in a way that could be understood that His faithfulness is in anyway separated from, or an extension of, His essence. Faithfulness is not an external virtue of God. When asked by Moses for assurance, God responds by declaring that His faithfulness to His promises is part of His essence.  

To not be faithful is to not be God. This is Yahweh. 

Therefore, Moses can trust because Yahweh has promised. 

Therefore, Moses can confidently stand before Pharoah and all the tribes of Israel BECAUSE Yahweh has secured Moses’ victory.   

Alright, got that so far? Now, watch how cool this gets for us.  

In the New Testament, we learn that Yahweh, the LORD, is our Father! (See Matthew 22:44 and Psalm 110:1.) Boom. The One who reveals Himself to Moses as faithful according to His essence is the same One who adopts us into His family through the purchase price of Jesus His Son.  

Yahweh, LORD, is our Father. So, everywhere in the Old Testament where we see LORD, we, because we live in the New Testament, have the benefit of seeing that is our Father! So, we can understand Jeremiah’s words in our earlier passage to say to us today, “Blessed is the man who trusts in our Father and whose trust is our Father.” 

As you read the Old Testament and see Yahweh in action you can learn more about the character of your Father. You can see Him deliver, love, heal, rebuke and lead. Each lesson can add to your understanding of who He is which can deepen your trust which allows you to experience more blessings. So that when you pray to your Father, know that you are talking to Yahweh, the covenant making/keeping God of the Old Testament. When you rest your life’s decisions and needs in your Father’s hands know that His faithfulness is a part of His essence.  

That Yahweh is your Father, and your Father is Yahweh, can tremendously help you know Him, trust Him, and experience His blessing! 

How cool is that? 

Now, there are some people today who believe we shouldn’t call God, “God.” They believe we should call Him, “Yahweh.” That somehow invoking this Hebrew name is a purer, truer name.  

Eh, no.  

Simply said, if Jesus wanted to us to call Him, “Yahweh,” why wouldn’t He tell us to do so? The OVERWHELMING designation Jesus uses when He speaks of God is Father. Jesus, the Son, has come to proclaim the greatness and glory of His Dad. Jesus, the Son, has come to pay the price of our adoption and reconciliation. By grace you have been made a son or daughter of your Heavenly Father. And your Father, who is perfect in His parenting, will be faithful to you! 

So, what’s a Yahweh? He is your Father who waits to care for you in absolute perfection.   

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