Names of God – Pt 23
“As is Your name, God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness.” Psalm 48:10
El Echad – One God (Malachi 2:10)
In the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, we find the prophet sharing God’s admonishing, encouraging, chastising and promising Israel of good things to come…and the greatest thing to come, The Messiah!
In the midst of this poignant message Malachi declares a Name of God that echoes throughout all of the Scriptures and all of Time and Eternity. In Malachi 2:10, he proclaims that God is “EL ECHAD – ONE GOD” which repeats the greatest command given to Moses by God in Deuteronomy 6:4 before the Israelites are to enter The Promised Land and in Mark 12:29 where Jesus repeats this as the First and Greatest Command, “Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!”
In declaring this again approximately 400 years before Christ comes and with the silence from God during that same period, God is reminding us of the greatest of Truths that we must come to know as our own and that is that God is One, The Only God and exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit as One…and He is the Only One worthy of our worship and praise!
Christ tells us very clearly that He is “EL ECHAD – ONE GOD” as He is One with The Father God (John 10:30; 17:21-22). God The Father, Son and Holy Spirit alone are One God and alone are worthy of our praise.
Christ has made it so that we can be in a relationship with “EL ECHAD – ONE GOD” and worship Him forever because of the sacrifice that He made. We can come into His presence and give Him praise and thanksgiving as the ONE TRUE GOD!
Do you know God in Christ and through The Holy Spirit as “EL ECHAD – ONE GOD” and as your Savior and Lord?
Jehovah Channun – The God Who is Gracious or El Channun – The Lord Full of Grace (Jonah 4:2)
The next name we’ll look at is from the prophet Jonah, who himself was quite cantankerous. However in stark contrast to Jonah’s attitude of bitterness and revenge toward the evil Ninevites, he recognizes and calls God by the name, “JEHOVAH CHANNUN – THE GOD WHO IS GRACIOUS or EL CHANNUN – THE LORD GOD FULL OF GRACE!” (Jonah 4:2)
Nineveh was the capitol of the powerful ancient Assyrian empire. The Assyrians were known as the most ruthless and evil people of their day in the way that they conquered other kingdoms and peoples and killed and tortured them.
Isn’t it interesting that right in the midst of this horrifically evil empire, and an angry, vengeful and prideful prophet of Israel, that God expresses Himself through that very stubborn prophet, Jonah, as “JEHOVAH CHANNUN – THE GOD WHO IS GRACIOUS or EL CHANNUN – THE LORD GOD FULL OF GRACE!” Isn’t that just like God? And thanks to The God of Grace that He is!
Apart from Christ, we are all just as prone to and involved in sin, evil, pride and anger…BUT Jesus came full or Truth and GRACE (John 1:14, 16-17) as “JEHOVAH CHANNUN – THE GOD WHO IS GRACIOUS or EL CHANNUN – THE LORD GOD FULL OF GRACE!”
Grace literally means that we receive (love, forgiveness, peace, hope, joy, salvation, eternal life) what we don’t deserve and could never earn because Christ paid the price and gifted it to us by GRACE through faith!
Both the Ninevites and Jonah, as well as you and me, deserve God’s wrath and punishment…but He is a God of Grace and Christ is the conduit of that grace to us!
Have you by faith received the free gift of grace in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9)?
Yahweh Gmolah – The God of Recompense (Jeremiah 51:56)
Have you ever struggled with a spirit of revenge when someone, anyone has done you wrong. I’ve found that often those who call themselves Christians can say and do the most hurtful things and hold grudges more than others.
However, God has a different response that we are to have and we find it in His Name revealed in Jeremiah 51:56 – “YAHWEH GMOLAH – THE GOD OF RECOMPENSE.”
In Jeremiah’s prophecies and revelation of God, it is God bringing vengeance on Babylon, an enemy of Israel, who would go far beyond what God intended when they would take Israel captive as punishment for their rebellion against God. His payback is perfect…ours is not.
We must remember this in our walk with Christ as Savior and Lord as Paul reveals in Romans 12 as he lays out how we are to live as Christ followers. In v. 19-21 Paul specifically tells us to turn our vengeance and grudges into service and sharing with even our enemies. He says that YAHWEH GMOLAH – THE GOD OF RECOMPENSE will take care of any vengeance and we are to know that we can trust Him to do so perfectly because that is Who He Is!
John tells us in Revelation that there will be a day that He will bring final vengeance, wrath and judgment when Christ returns to make all things right (Revelation 20:11-15)…perfect vengeance and judgment from Christ who is YAHWEH GMOLAH – THE GOD OF RECOMPENSE!
I pray that you know Christ as Savior and Lord and are willing to trust His perfect recompense as He has paid the price not only for you but for all who will believe. He is patient and kind, desiring that all will repent but there will be a day for those who don’t do so. Let Him handle it and let us keep pointing others to Him in repentance, kindness and love.
Let us know at Love and Lordship or loveandlordship@gmail.com if you have questions or would like to know more?
Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – Jehovah God is El Echad – The One (and Only) God Who is also El Channun – Full of Grace and that is much needed because He is also Yahweh Gmolah – The God of Recompense! Have you received Christ who paid the recompense by Grace of the One God…or will you have to pay that on Judgment Day? I pray that you know Him!
Love and Lordship…Action Item –
- Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
- Write down what each of the Names of God in this post mean to you.
- What does it mean to you that God declares Himself as the One and Only God?
- What do you see in His Names that reflect His Grace and His Recompense (punishment or reward)?
Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com to find out more about how you can know God the Father, Christ His Son and The Holy Spirit.
Check out this week’s Love & Lordship Mentoring Minute Video