Lesson for November 3, 2019
The Compound Names of Jehovah – Lesson 1
Jehovah (JHWH in Hebrew) is the personal name of each member of the Godhead, in contrast to Elohim in Hebrew, which is plural and refers to the name of God from the standpoint of His attributes. Elohim being plural refers to two or three members of the Trinity when it is used. Jehovah is a singular name and refers to a specific member of the Trinity. The root meaning of Jehovah in English is “the self-existing One.”
Three persons are Jevohah: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each one is separate and distinct as a Person. Therefore, Jehovah is used for each one. The majority of the time Jehovah refers to Jesus Christ because He is the revealed member of the Godhead. The context of the passage determines Who the name Jehovah is referring to. As the revealed member of the Godhead, it was Jesus Who appeared to Abraham, spoke to Moses and spoke from Heaven to the children of Israel. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the God (Jehovah) of Israel, though they do not recognize Him as such.
There are a number of compound names for Jehovah. Each name is based on an attribute of God and has a specific meaning with regard to the children of Israel and certainly has application for believers in the Church Age. The attributes of God never change therefore the compound names of God have eternal meaning for believers throughout all dispensations.
The Compound Names
Jehovah-Jireh means the Lord our provider. God provides for the believer in the Church Age logistical grace. Logistical grace is defined as divine planning, divine support, divine provision, and divine blessing for the execution of Protocol Plan of God by the Royal Family of God for the fulfillment of God’s will, purpose, and plan for your life. (Genesis 22:1-14; 23:13-14)
Logistical grace includes three factors of divine provision.
- Life support is provided for every Church Age believer. This explains how and why we are alive. The only reason we are alive is because of logistical grace. We do not earn or deserve it; there’s no work we can accomplish to keep ourselves alive.
- Blessing is provided for every Church Age believer, both winners and loser. This demonstrates the justice of God, in that the justice of God sends life support and blessing to the indwelling righteousness of God in both winners and losers. This emphasizes grace. You are alive only because of the grace of God, not because of anything you do. Winners utilize logistical grace losers never utilize it.
- Divine provision is provided for every Church Age believer to execute the Protocol Plan of God. All doctrine comes from the prepared pastor-teacher. If you have persistent positive volition, you will find doctrine and the right pastor-teacher teach you.
The basis of logistical grace is divine integrity. God is infinite, eternal, and absolute holiness, which may be classified as divine integrity or absolute unchangeable divine virtue. The integrity of God is composed of His perfect righteousness and justice. God loves His own integrity. At the moment of salvation, the righteousness of God is imputed to the believer by the justice of God. The righteousness of God demands blessing from the justice of God whether we fail or succeed as Christians. This is why God provides logistical grace to both winners and losers.
Believers who fail to execute the Christian life still have the forty things they received at salvation, one of which is the righteousness of God. This means God will support and sustain us regardless of how deserving or undeserving we are. At the moment of salvation through faith in Christ, the righteousness of God is imputed to us. This is true in every dispensation. There are three results from the imputation of divine righteousness to the believer.
- God looks at His righteousness imputed to us and declares us to be righteous. We receive instant justification, Romans 5:1.
- God’s love changes from impersonal love to personal love toward His perfect righteousness imputed to us. God can now love us personally.
- We receive logistical grace.
In the function of the policy of grace, there can be no compromise of divine attributes. God has found a way, through logistical grace, to bless each believer without compromising His attributes. God’s perfect righteousness is the principle of divine integrity, while God’s perfect justice is the function of divine integrity. That is the basis for logistical grace. God cannot accept anything less than perfect righteousness as the object of divine blessing. Therefore, God cannot bless anything less than His own perfect righteousness. The indwelling righteousness of God is the recipient of all life support and all blessing from God.
The justice of God is the source of life support and blessing. Divine justice is the point of reference with mankind since the fall of mankind. Between His perfect righteousness and justice, God has found a way to administer logistical grace blessing to every Church Age believer. The principle of logistical grace demands that divine justice provide life support and blessing to the indwelling righteousness of God.
Therefore, the grace pipeline is established, which excludes man’s works and ability; man doesn’t earn or deserve any of these blessings.
The basis for logistical grace includes both the possession of divine righteousness imputed at salvation plus the human spirit created by the Holy Spirit at salvation. Besides providing life support and blessing, logistical grace is for the perception and execution of the Protocol Plan of God. Everything is provided, so that every believer has equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute God’s plan and glorify God.
At one end of the pipeline is divine justice, the source of divine blessing to all believers, winners or losers. At the other end of the pipeline is divine righteousness, the recipient of divine blessing given to every Church Age believer, winner or loser. This pipeline cannot be destroyed. Since the source of all logistical grace blessing is the justice of God, this means God is fair in supporting winners and losers alike. Since God is perfect, it is impossible for God to provide blessing for imperfect people. We are not blessed because of what we do for God, but because of what God has done for us. Therefore, the pipeline excludes all human ability, morality, talent, giving, sacrifice, service, or any function of legalism as the source of divine blessing.
The existence of this pipeline after salvation means that God is free to bless all believers, winners and losers, spiritual or carnal, without compromising His own divine attributes. God found a way to bless us through the divine policy called grace. God cannot accept anything less than perfect righteousness and cannot bless anything less than perfect righteousness. Consequently, the justice of God sends His grace blessing down the pipeline. All life support and blessing to both winner and loser comes this way. This means that in logistical grace, the justice of God is the source of all divine support and blessing, and the righteousness of God is the recipient of that divine support and blessing.
Jehovah-Nissi means the Lord our banner. This means that Jesus Christ goes before us as standard bearer for us to follow. Jesus Christ is the unique Person of the universe. He is the only Person in history to be both fully God and fully man. The term for this unique union is derived from the Greek word hupostatis meaning essence. In the case of Christ, it is both divine and human essence in one Person forever. He is the God-Man. (Exodus 17:8-16; Hebrews 1:3)
Christ was born of a virgin and without a sin nature. He is superior to man because He is God. He is superior to sinful humanity because He is sinless. Even though His two natures are united in one Person, they retain their separate identities. The attributes of one do not belong to the other. Deity remains deity and humanity remains humanity. Because of this unique union, Christ is the perfect mediator between God and man. Christ is also our Prototype (banner), in that He lived an impeccable (sinless) life under the control of God the Holy Spirit. (I Timothy 2:5) Having no sin of His own to pay for, He was uniquely qualified to pay for the sin of the entire human race.
Jesus, as a man, is seated at the right hand of the Father at this very moment. Deity is omnipresent and does not sit; only His humanity sits. And it is His humanity that will return to earth at the Second Coming. Theologically we say that Jesus is undiminished deity and true humanity in one Person forever. He is undiminished deity in that He is as much God as the Father and the Holy Spirit in essence, attributes and character. He is true humanity in that He possesses a body, a soul and a spirit. (Acts 5:31; Hebrews 1:3, 4:15,10:5; I Peter 2:24; Matthew 26:38; Mark 2:8; Luke 23:46; I John 3:3)