Steven Avery
Administrator
THE UNCHANGING NATURE OF YAHWEH
The name Yahweh is the given name of God, disclosed to Moses in their exchange in Exodus 3; it means "I AM WHO I AM." Yahweh is unchanging in His integrity, consistency, and identity. Still, in His revelation to mankind, He is constantly unfolding more—more power, grace, love, and more of what we need to rediscover union with Him. Down through the ages, Yahweh identifies Himself in terms of all the things He becomes to facilitate mankind's relationship with Him. He calls Himself El Shaddai, "God Almighty," the provider; Yahweh Tsidkenu, "The Lord our Righteousness"; Yahweh Shalom, "The Lord our Peace"; Yahweh Rapha, 'The Lord our Healer"; Yahweh Nissi, "The Lord our Banner"; Yahweh Rohi, "The Lord our Shepherd"; Yahweh Jireh, "The Lord will Provide"; Yahweh Shammah, 'The Lord is There"; and Yahweh Sabaoth, "The Lord of Hosts." Throughout the ages, God has shown Himself in these unfolding revelations of grace to His people. He is Yahweh, and He changes not, but He constantly reveals more of His unchanging self to His people.
When the angel foretells the birth of Jesus to Mary, he says, "You shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). This name, Yeshua, is "Joshua" if translated directly from the Hebrew to the English, instead of via the Greek. It would have been the same name describing Moses' successor and also the high priest at the time of the second temple. This name Joshua, or Yeshua, combines "Yah," which is an abbreviation of Yahweh, and "Hosea," meaning salvation.
Using "Yah" to refer to "Yahweh" is typical throughout the Old Testament. We still use this today when we say "Hallelu-Yah," which means "Praise be to Yahweh.” The psalmists use this term repeatedly: "Praise be to Yah," "Sing unto Yah," and so on.
THE FULFILLMENT OF SALVATION
So, at the birth of Jesus, God is saying, "Call His name Yeshua—Yahweh becomes salvation—for now I am becoming salvation. I have become everything you needed until now, and now, the final act, I am becoming your atonement, reconciliation, forgiveness, power, and mercy." In the life of Jesus, we see all these facets of salvation unfold in and through Him. He becomes like us. He becomes an example. He becomes a conduit of grace and power through miracles of mercy. He becomes our teacher. He becomes our lawgiver, fulfilling the law in so doing. And at last, He becomes our sacrifice. He becomes our high priest, making the sacrifice, and He becomes our temple, and He becomes the God to whom the sacrifice is made. In the outpouring of His Spirit, we're told that "the last Adam became a life-giving spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45). His final expression is to become the indwelling reality of the Father in the church in like measure, in like kind, as the Father dwelt in Jesus—though in the Son, He dwelt without measure, and in each of us, we have but a measure.
What we are supposed to see on the cross is not the kindness of one person of the Godhead and the anger of another. Instead, we're supposed to see the Father paying the debt to His own word and justice and fully manifesting His love, kindness, and redemption to us. It's human theology that has confused this. Still, in the second epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul writes, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself" (2 Cor. 5:19). The Father was in Christ doing the reconciling. He didn't give His only begotten Son because He was angry with us. He gave His only begotten Son the humanity He was living in because He so loved us: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16).
Last edited: