Skip to main content

bible reading feb 20

Bible reading for Feb 20:  
Exodus 3; Luke 6.

Yesterday's post is here.  

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."  And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:14)

God's name.  At the burning bush, God reveals his name to Moses as "I am".  When spoken in the third person singular ("he is") the word is yhwh (with vowel pointing: Yahweh). These Hebrew letters, YHWH, are called the "Tetragrammaton," and no one is completely certain how the name was pronounced.  But this name, usually translated as "LORD" in modern versions, is used over 5,000 times in the Scriptures.   

What's in a name?  What's does God's name mean?  The meaning could be summarized as, "The God Who Is".  But there's a lot of meaning packed into that name. YHWH gives us insight into God's character and attributes... 

1)  He is personal:  “I am” [not, "it is"]

2)  He is eternal:  “I am what I am” [not bound by time = “who is and who was and who is to come” (Rev 1:8)] 

3)  He is living and true:  “I am [and others are not]” (Deut 5:26; 1 Thess 1:9)

4)  He is independent and self-sufficient:  “I am who I am [in myself and apart from anything else]” (Ps 90:1-2; Isa 43:10-12)

5)  He is sovereign (supreme):  “I [alone] am”  [I.e., above all others] (Ex 20:1-3; Dan 4:34-35) 

6)  He is immutable (unchanging): “I am who I am [permanently]” (Mal 3:6)

7)  He is incomprehensible:   “I am who I am [beyond your full understanding]"  (Rom 11:33)

8)  He is present and faithful:  “I am [with you]” = "I will be with you" (Ex 3:12) 

9)  He is merciful provider:  “I am [what my people need]”  [E.g., Jesus: "I am the bread of life", etc.]  

The Lord (Yahweh) is sovereign over, and independent of, all creation.  His presence with his people guarantees the fulfillment of all his promises.  In the Gospel of John it is significant that the Lord Jesus makes many "I am" statements, e.g., John 8:58.  

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8)


===================   

And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. (Luke 6:17-18)

Jesus' teaching in Luke 6 is very similar in structure and wording as that recorded in Matthew's sermon on the mount (Matt 5).  Note, however, that Matthew says, "seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him" (Matt 5:1).  Whereas, Luke writes, "he came down with them and stood on a level place" (Luke 6:17).  It may be that these are two different ways of describing the same event (and Luke is summarizing the sermon), or possibly, these were two different occasions. It would not be unusual for Jesus, over his three years of ministry, to give the same or similar messages to different audiences.  


Image at top: Painting, "The Burning Bush", by Jamie Holbrook. 
We are following the Robert Murray M'Cheyne (RMM) two-year reading schedule, as arranged by D. A. Carson.  A PDF copy is available here
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

clement quotes hebrews

Clement of Rome wrote to the church in Corinth around AD 90.  This is perhaps the same Clement, companion of Paul, mentioned in Philippians 4:3.  Many hold him to be the first bishop / pope in Rome, aka St. Clement I.   Clement quotes from the letter to the Hebrews.  Origin suggested that Clement was in fact the writer (as transcriber or amanuensis) of Hebrews.  Perhaps this letter began as a "word of exhortation" given by Paul at the synagogue (Heb 13:22; cf Acts 13:15) which then became a circular letter for the churches.  Other possible authors of Hebrews include Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos.  The theology is Pauline, but the transcriber is obviously second-generation (Heb. 2:3-4). At any rate, this early church leader in Rome, is already quoting Hebrews in his letter in AD 90:    CHAPTER 36  ALL BLESSINGS ARE GIVEN TO US THROUGH CHRIST This is the way, beloved, in which we find our Savior, even Jesus Christ,  the High Priest of all our offerings, the defender and he

Howard Hendricks on OT books chronology

When I was in seminary, Howard Hendricks (aka "Prof") gave us a little card with the books of the OT chronologically arranged. The scanned copy I have was a bit blurry and I wanted to make something like this available for our church class in OT theology ("Story of Redemption"). A few minor edits and here it is...

one-liners

Here are 25 of my favorite one-liners from comedian Steven Wright:   1)  I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize. 2)  Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back. 3)  Half the people you know are below average. 4)  82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot. 5)  A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. 6)  All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand. 7)  The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. 8)  OK, so what's the speed of dark? 9)  How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink? 10)  If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. 11)  Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. 12)  When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane. 13)  Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now. 14)  I intend to live forever ... So far, so good. 15)  If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? 16)  Eagles may soar, but weasels don'