THE NAMES OF GOD----ADONAI
MASTER AND RULER
We have studied two other Names of God so far. I am confused as to why the translators of the Holy Bible have decided, in essence, to change God's Names. I understand that His numerous Names are mostly found in the Old Testament and we now live under grace, but having those Names gives us a deeper understanding of our Holy God. Who doesn't want to know all we can about The One Who created us, Who loves us? Here's a little tidbit I didn't know before: when LORD is used in all capitals, the Name is actually YHWY (Jehovah); when only the first letter is in caps, Lord, the Name is "Master" (Adonai).
Let's begin this study in the New Testament with the opening greeting from the Apostle Paul in the Book of Romans: 1) Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. (King James Version) The New Living Translation says "slave" rather than "servant", which is synonymous. The Apostle Paul willingly gave up his freedom, his life, to become a slave to the One Who paid the price for him. Some of us know God as Elohim, Creator, but when we surrender all to Him, we experience Adonai, Master, Ruler.
When a master owns a slave, he is responsible to provide the basics for him: food, clothing, shelter, drink. He is responsible for the slave's well being. When the slave accepts his position of slave, and gives everything that is in him to the master, then he is promoted, given more responsibility, maybe even given gifts. I am a slave to God. He alone owns all there is, He alone made all there is. My problem is that when He changes my assignment, I grumble. I am working on that because I am sure it aggravates my Holy God. It is just my flesh trying to control my circumstances, not necessarily my assignment. I am totally about God.
Now, as an example of Master/slave, let us look at Gideon. I love the story about Gideon. I can so relate to putting the blanket out to see where the dew is on it for confirmation of what I THOUGHT God told me. haha. The story is found in Judges, beginning in chapter 6: God was punishing Israel for disobeying Him. He had told them to shy away from worshiping idols, but they did it anyway. So, God allowed Midian to win a war against Israel. This story begins as Israel cries out to God for relief from the oppression of the Midianites. (Haven't we done the same thing when things get rough?)
verse 11) The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. You can't hide anything from God. He saw what Gideon was doing.
12) When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, He said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."
13) "Pardon me, my lord, " Gideon replied, "but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian."
14) The Lord turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"
15) "Pardon me, my lord, " Gideon replied, "but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." We also make the excuse that we are nobody when God sends us on a mission. Why would He send us?!? But He sees us as "mighty warriors"! Even if we want to hide from that one mistake we made years ago, if God doesn't care about us "threshing wheat in the winepress so the Midianites wouldn't know, He will use us anyway! Don't worry about it!
16) The Lord answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive."
Gideon made asked the Angel of the Lord to wait for him and he went to his tent and prepared a goat and unleavened bread and broth and brought it back and sat it before The Lord. God consumed it with fire and disappeared. Then Gideon realized he had been face to face with the Angel of the Lord and was terrified. But God told him not to be afraid, he would not die. Then Gideon built an altar to The Lord right there. The Lord became Gideon's Master, Owner, Adonai. Gideon would obey his Master.
Even though Gideon talked with the angel of God face to face, he still needed reassurance that he understood Him right. Read it for yourself in Chapter 6. But God wanted it understood that the victory was His, so He thinned the camp of Gideon from 30,000 men to 300 men. Then, God saw that Gideon needed a little more reassurance, so He sent Gideon and his servant to eavesdrop on a conversation between a couple of men in the opposing camp, telling about a dream one of them had. Finally, Gideon was "fired up:" about following God's instructions.
Chapter 7, verse 15) When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands."
16) Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
You can read about the victory in the rest of Chapter 7. There is a number of points to take away from this: 1) When you recognize God as your Master and Owner, and obey His instruction, He will give you the victory, no matter who you are or what your circumstances. 2) He will destroy the "Midianites" in your own life when you call out to Him: shame, anxiety, addiction, whatever is holding you back from a thriving relationship with Him. He is Jehovah and desires a relationship with you. He will slay that which keeps you from Him if you will surrender to His power. 3) He tells us over and over in His Word to "fear not, He is with us". Recognize that He has given you the ability to take care of yourself: to eat, to drink, to breathe, to support yourself. Do not fall in the trap of thinking YOU are able, because YOU are not. YOU are nothing without HIM.
Is God the Lord and Master of you? Looking at your life, your checkbook, your calendar, it there evidence that you honor your Master above all else? Have you even accepted the unbelievable gift of salvation? click here for more information on salvation: https://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html.
As always, if this ministry is a blessing to you, please pray that God gives us wisdom and uses us for His glory.
We would love to hear from you, so leave us your thoughts in a comment. Also, if this post is a blessing to you, please share on your favorite social media. Thank you so much!
When a master owns a slave, he is responsible to provide the basics for him: food, clothing, shelter, drink. He is responsible for the slave's well being. When the slave accepts his position of slave, and gives everything that is in him to the master, then he is promoted, given more responsibility, maybe even given gifts. I am a slave to God. He alone owns all there is, He alone made all there is. My problem is that when He changes my assignment, I grumble. I am working on that because I am sure it aggravates my Holy God. It is just my flesh trying to control my circumstances, not necessarily my assignment. I am totally about God.
Now, as an example of Master/slave, let us look at Gideon. I love the story about Gideon. I can so relate to putting the blanket out to see where the dew is on it for confirmation of what I THOUGHT God told me. haha. The story is found in Judges, beginning in chapter 6: God was punishing Israel for disobeying Him. He had told them to shy away from worshiping idols, but they did it anyway. So, God allowed Midian to win a war against Israel. This story begins as Israel cries out to God for relief from the oppression of the Midianites. (Haven't we done the same thing when things get rough?)
verse 11) The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. You can't hide anything from God. He saw what Gideon was doing.
12) When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, He said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."
13) "Pardon me, my lord, " Gideon replied, "but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian."
14) The Lord turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"
15) "Pardon me, my lord, " Gideon replied, "but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." We also make the excuse that we are nobody when God sends us on a mission. Why would He send us?!? But He sees us as "mighty warriors"! Even if we want to hide from that one mistake we made years ago, if God doesn't care about us "threshing wheat in the winepress so the Midianites wouldn't know, He will use us anyway! Don't worry about it!
16) The Lord answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive."
Gideon made asked the Angel of the Lord to wait for him and he went to his tent and prepared a goat and unleavened bread and broth and brought it back and sat it before The Lord. God consumed it with fire and disappeared. Then Gideon realized he had been face to face with the Angel of the Lord and was terrified. But God told him not to be afraid, he would not die. Then Gideon built an altar to The Lord right there. The Lord became Gideon's Master, Owner, Adonai. Gideon would obey his Master.
Even though Gideon talked with the angel of God face to face, he still needed reassurance that he understood Him right. Read it for yourself in Chapter 6. But God wanted it understood that the victory was His, so He thinned the camp of Gideon from 30,000 men to 300 men. Then, God saw that Gideon needed a little more reassurance, so He sent Gideon and his servant to eavesdrop on a conversation between a couple of men in the opposing camp, telling about a dream one of them had. Finally, Gideon was "fired up:" about following God's instructions.
Chapter 7, verse 15) When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands."
16) Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
You can read about the victory in the rest of Chapter 7. There is a number of points to take away from this: 1) When you recognize God as your Master and Owner, and obey His instruction, He will give you the victory, no matter who you are or what your circumstances. 2) He will destroy the "Midianites" in your own life when you call out to Him: shame, anxiety, addiction, whatever is holding you back from a thriving relationship with Him. He is Jehovah and desires a relationship with you. He will slay that which keeps you from Him if you will surrender to His power. 3) He tells us over and over in His Word to "fear not, He is with us". Recognize that He has given you the ability to take care of yourself: to eat, to drink, to breathe, to support yourself. Do not fall in the trap of thinking YOU are able, because YOU are not. YOU are nothing without HIM.
Is God the Lord and Master of you? Looking at your life, your checkbook, your calendar, it there evidence that you honor your Master above all else? Have you even accepted the unbelievable gift of salvation? click here for more information on salvation: https://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html.
As always, if this ministry is a blessing to you, please pray that God gives us wisdom and uses us for His glory.
We would love to hear from you, so leave us your thoughts in a comment. Also, if this post is a blessing to you, please share on your favorite social media. Thank you so much!
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