Walking With Jesus Today

Who Is Jesus, Really? LORD and Savior – Lesson 14

Scripture Lesson:”But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18, KJV)

In our final lesson in the Who Is Jesus, Really? study series, we examine 2 Peter 3 from the perspective, Jesus, LORD and Savior.

Have you ever heard the title Savior, the name, EHYEH? How about YAHOWAH? ADONAI? ADONAY? JEHOVAH? LORD? What do they all mean? What do they all require of us as followers of Jesus the Son of GOD?

Most of us are comfortable understanding that a savior is one who saves a person from evil. In the highest consideration, the title is assigned to Jesus the Christ (Messiah), the Promised One of Israel, Who would save the people from their sins; their Savior. We as followers of Jesus are most familiar and accepting of this title being the true representation of Jesus.

However, we tend to fall more ignorant, without accurate or true knowledge regarding LORD.

Moses was introduced to EHYEH (“I AM THE ONE WHO IS AND WILL BE”) by EHYEH on Mount Horeb before the burning bush that was not consumed. He was then instructed to introduce EHYEH as YAHWEH (“THE GOD OF YOUR ANCESTORS”) to the people of Israel in Egyptian bondage. Through the centuries, the Israelites thought the name YAHWEH to be too sacred to pronounce in the reading of their Bible, decided to use the name ADONAI (LORD) to indicated the divine name of GOD, YAHWEH.

When the Bible was translated into English, the translators adopted the same practice, spelling the name LORD; all caps.

In later times, the Ancient Jewish Scribes wanted to ensure there was no mistake in pronouncing the divine name of GOD while reading the Jewish Bible that they created a visual device, YAHOWAH, to remind the Bible readers to say, ADONAI when they see the symbol. This symbol derived from the consonants in YAHWEH (YHWH) and the addition of the vowels in ADONAY (AOA) producing YAHOWAH.

Christian Scribes who didn’t know that YAHOWAH was an artificial WORD, began saying it aloud and spell it in their writings. This is the word that eventually entered the English language as JEHOVAH.

Now that we understand that LORD represents the divine name of GOD (“I AM WHO WAS, WHO IS, AND WHO WILL BE”) and that it is the name of Jesus, what then is required of us as His followers? What manner of life are we to live? Peter addresses this completely in the third (3rd) chapter of his second (2nd) epistle to the scattered Jewish and Gentile Believers. What about you? Are you ready to live “a pattern of daily life that sets you apart as believers; displaying a profound reverence toward our awesome GOD, while we earnestly look for and await the coming of the day of GOD?” (2 Peter 3:11,12, AMP)

I say, “Yes” to my LORD and Savior. Join me.