SUNDAY SERVICE NOTES - B.Mahoso
THE NAMES OF GOD, Bishop J. Dube, 27 January 2008
Sunday 27 January 2008 saw Dr J. Dube ,Bishop of the United Baptist Church in Zimbabwe delivering the first part of his series on THE NAMES OF GOD at our beloved United Baptist City Church(Harare).
On this chilly, rainy summer Sunday the congregation at the United Baptist City Church (Harare), commonly referred to as U.B.C.C (Harare) had a chance to tap from our great source of wisdom. Firstly he elaborated why there is need for today’s’ Christian has to understand and appreciate who God is and what His various names mean and their significance at the time they were used in the Bible times and to us now.
In this first part of – THE NAMES OF GOD – Bishop Dube dwelt on explaining what are termed Gods’ Primary names.
These are the names in Hebrew;
1. Elohim El Elah
2 .Y H W H
3 .Adon Adonai (Adonay)
THE NAMES IN DETAIL...
1. Elohim El Elah
In the book of Genesis in the first chapter the first name of God is revealed, Elohim (singular) meaning THE STRONG ONE and El Elah is a pledge to say " I SWEAR IAM ELOHIM,I AM THE STRONG ONE!". This name is revealed in the first verse of the Holy Bible which says "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." In Hebrew God would be Elohim, the strong one.
Further in the same chapter it is revealed that this God, Elohim is Triune. That is to say God is in Trinity, which is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.In verse 26 of the first chapter of Genesis it reads "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."From this we also learn that God,Elohim ,is the Creator for He created all things.Below is an extract from the book of Genesis chapter one.
Book 01
Genesis
001:001
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
001:002
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
001:003
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
001:004
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
001:005
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
001:006
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
001:007
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
001:008
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
001:009
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
001:010
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
001:011
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
001:012
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
001:013
And the evening and the morning were the third day.
001:014
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
001:015
And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
001:016
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
001:017
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
001:018
And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
001:019
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
001:020
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
001:021
And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
001:022
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
001:023
And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
001:024
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
001:025
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
001:026
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
001:027
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
001:028
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
001:029
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
001:030
And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
001:031
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
2. Y H W H
This is the second name of God as revealed to us in the Bible as Lord God in Genesis 2 verse 4 "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,….."
In Hebrew the worshipers would omit pronouncing this name they feared using this Holy name YHWH. Later in Biblical times it was changed to YeHoWaH (pronounced JEHOVHA)
In Genesis 2 verse 21 meaning God the Redeemer, it reads "And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof" Here the name LORD God is Jehovah.
3.Adon Adonai
This is the third name of God and was the one merged into Y H WH into YeHoWaH or YAHOVAH which we now use as Jehovah.
The second part of the series will first dwell on this third name Adon Adonai and go on to the Secondary names.
A VIDEO TO THIS EDUCATIVE SERIES BY BISHOP J. DHUBE WILL BE AVAILABLE ON C.D AND DVD SOON.WATCH THIS SPACE!
