08-20-06-The Names of God-Adonai
In our study of the names of God, we have seen Him revealed to us as Elohim—Sovereign Ruler and Creator, Jehovah/Yahweh—the great “I AM Who I AM,” and El Shaddai—the All Sufficient and Bountiful One who blesses. Today, we are going to look at the name Lord or Adonai.
We have seen that in the Bible when the name Lord is in small capitals, it means Jehovah. However, there is another way that we see the same word Lord written and it is with the L capitalized and the rest of the word in lower case (Lord) like you would write your name. It is in this way that it means Adonai not Jehovah. In Gen 15:1-2 we see both of these words used.
¨ After this, the word of the Lord (Jehovah) came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” 2 But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord (Adonai Jehovah —Lord God—NASB, KJV, NKJV), what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
The name that Abram spoke here was literally Adonai Jehovah. God had already revealed Himself to Abram as Jehovah when He called Abram from Ur of the Chaldees (Gen 12:1), and Abram had walked with God for many years. So he responded out of reverence by addressing God as Adonai or Lord and attaching it to God’s name. Adonai or Lord signifies ownership or mastership. Abram is acknowledging that Jehovah is not only the Almighty Creator and Ruler of the universe, but also the Master who has ownership of his life.
136 אֲדֹנָי [’Adonay /ad·o·noy/] n m. Am emphatic form of 113; TWOT 27b; GK 151; 434 occurrences; AV translates as “Lord” 431 times, “lord” twice, and “God” once. 1 my lord, lord. 1a of men. 1b of God. 2 Lord—title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence.[i]
There is a key phrase in vs. 1 “After this.” After what? If we look back in chapter 14 we see Lot, Abram’s nephew, getting in trouble and Abram coming to his rescue. Abram takes 318 trained men (14:14) and wins a great victory against 5 mighty kings and their armies. Obviously, he knew that he did not win this battle by his own might, but with the Lord’s help. So after seeing God fighting for him and being blessed by Melchizedek, king of Salem, God appears to him and tells Abram that He is his shield and great reward.
Now I want you to notice how God has revealed Himself to Abram—initially as Jehovah the covenant making God (Gen 12), then as El Shaddai the one who blessed him abundantly (Gen 17). But in between these 2 revelations, Abram come to know Him more personally and calls Him Lord—Adonai. Abram acknowledges God’s ownership over all that he has including his very life. He realizes that before He can know God as El Shaddai and receive the blessings, he must bow his knee to his Lord and Master.
Many Old Testament characters acknowledged the Lordship of God. David the mighty king of Israel who was lord over many:
¨ Psalms 16:2 (NIV) Keep me safe, O God (Elohim), for in you I take refuge. 2 I said to the Lord (Jehovah), “You are my Lord (Adonai); apart from you I have no good thing.”
¨ Psalm 57:9-10 (NIV) I will praise you, O Lord (Adonai), among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others in the Old Testament acknowledged that God was Lord. In fact in most cases we see the compound name Lord God (Jehovah Adonai) used. They understood His greatness and ruler ship over them.
In the “Four Spiritual Laws” (which you may have used as a witnessing tool), the question that is asked is who is on the throne of our life? When we ask a non-believer that question he will say that he is. If you ask a Christian, they will say Jesus is. Yet, often times we act or do things no differently then a non-believer. So who is on the throne—us or God?
Jesus had much to say about this subject. So let’s look at a few verses that are in the Gospels:
¨ Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
¨ Luke 6:46 (NIV) “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
Talk about a simple but direct question! Jesus said they were using the right words, but there was no truth to them. Jesus said, the one who knows me as Lord does the will of my Father (Jehovah). Notice He says you call me “Lord, Lord”—there is a double emphasis—meaning not only do you just say I am Lord, but you call me your Lord and Master! However, notice what He said, you say it but you don’t live it. Ouch! I don’t know about you but many times I have been guilty of that very thing.
There is only one way in which a man’s sincerity can be proved, and that is by his practice. Fine words can never be a substitute for fine deeds. There is only one proof of love, and that proof is obedience. There is no point in saying that we love a person, and then doing things which break that person’s heart. When we were young maybe we used sometimes to say to our mothers, “Mother, I love you.” And maybe mother sometimes smiled a little wistfully and said, “I wish you would show it a little more in the way you behave.” So often we confess God with our lips and deny him with our lives. It is not difficult to recite a creed, but it is difficult to live the Christian life. Faith without practice is a contradiction in terms, and love without obedience is an impossibility.[ii]
In Bible times the idea of a master and a slave was a common thing. Moses, David, and the prophets, were called servants of the Lord. The apostles and many New Testament believers described themselves as God’s servants (Titus 1:1; Jas. 1:1; 1 Pet. 2:16; cf. Acts 2:18). This shows us the intimacy that is a part of being in relationship to God as our Lord. The Lord or Master of the house knows each of his servants intimately and takes care of them.
The doubling of a name (e.g. Lord, Lord) was an address of intimacy (Gen. 22:11; 1 Sam. 3:10; 2 Sam. 18:33; Luke 22:31). It is not claims or feelings of intimacy with Jesus that matter, nor is it simply good works, even miraculous ones; only doing the will of the Father matters. Genuine intimacy with the Father means knowing God and being known by God (1 Cor. 8:2, 3).[iii]
The whole issue of Lordship is one of control and surrender. Who is in control and who is surrendered. If God is truly God (Jehovah/Elohim, etc) then He is the One who is in control of our lives. If we place ourselves in control, then we become the master and God becomes the servant. But if He is the Master and we are the servants, then we must be surrendered to His will. This means that He has the right to chose what is best for our lives, what we are to do, where we are to go, etc.
For example, when I was in the Air Force we put in requests for our assignments, which we called a “dream sheet” because it was highly unlikely that you would get what you wanted—in other words it was just a dream. The facts were that the Air Force was in charge and told you where you were going to be assigned. They were the master and you were the servant who simply took the orders and did what you were told. It was unthinkable to challenge an assignment because the powers that be knew what was best and the needs of the Air Force outweighed your personal needs. I simply had to surrender my will to the needs of the Air Force. (There were some exceptions, if there were special circumstances, but these were rare). When I got saved in 1973 at Sheppard AFB, TX, the first thing I did was turn over my assignments to the Lord. He has directed my footsteps and determined where I was to go from that point on in my life—while I was in the Air Force and after I got out. I truly say that I can look back at each assignment and see what I was there for or what I needed to learn that only could be done at that place.
The New Testament is very clear as to who is Lord—Jesus!
¨ Phil 2:5-11 (NIV) Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus is Lord, whether we acknowledge it or not. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We have just been given the privilege today to bow our knees and confess Him as our Lord and Savior
Yet, sadly in our modern day culture we do not understand, nor even like, Lordship. Our motto today is “I did it my way.” We want our burgers “our way” and we must have the right to pick and chose everything, including our religion. We reject that our parents/teachers can tell us to do anything that we don’t “feel” like doing. Why we may think that it is wrong that the speed limit is set at 55 MPH on IL 13, so we go 60-65 MPH and don’t let anyone get in our way or we’ll run them over.
Now it is easy for us to agree with these statements when it comes to the world, but let’s be honest today and look at ourselves as the church. Are we really much different than the world at times? Do we decide what are the right rules to guide our life rather than what the Bible says? When we get in trouble, do we turn to God’s Word for the answers or somewhere else? In our consumer oriented society do we pick and chose what church to go to like we would a restaurant. Who has the best menu or what is to our liking—i.e. the best music, best choir, best children’s program, best speaker, etc. Why do we have to be finished with our worship service by Noon? What if God wanted to go until 12:30 PM would we allow it or would we blame the preacher for keeping us too late? If God is the Lord of the church, does He have the right to ask us to do something that we may not like or feel kike doing—i.e. praying, witnessing, going to church faithfully, etc.
The whole point is that we must accept the Lordship of God if we want God’s blessings on our life. Obedience to God’s Word brings blessings. It also establishes who is Lord and who is servant. If we obey Him and His commands, then He is Lord of our lives. Lordship of God is a characteristic that we cannot deny. His Lordship is a part of the relationship that He has always had with His people. If He is not Lord or the Master of our lives, then we are. If He is not Lord of all, then He is not Lord at all! Let us end today by praying a prayer of repentance confessing that we have placed ourselves on the throne of our lives instead of God and then surrender to Him as the Lord and Master (Adonai) of our lives.
Father, we come to you asking forgiveness for the sin of placing ourselves on the throne of our lives. We have done things our way instead of your way. We have tried to be the boss instead of allowing you to be the Lord and Master. We have tried to decide what is right and what is wrong instead of listening to you. Adonai, we humbly confess our sin and ask you to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We surrender our lives to you and ask you to take control of every part of our lives. We confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives—to the glory of God the Father. In Jesus name, Amen.
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n n: noun
m m: masculine
TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger
AV Authorized Version
[i]Strong, J. (1996). The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the test of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) (H136). Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship.
[ii]The Gospel of Matthew : Volume. 2000, c1975 (W. Barclay, lecturer in the University of Glasgow, Ed.). The Daily study Bible series, Rev. ed. (289). Philadelphia: The Westminster Press.
cf. compare, see
[iii]New Geneva study Bible. 1997, c1995 (electronic ed.) (Mt 7:21). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.