Doing Right in the Sight of the Lord - (Part 4)
(A continuation Read Isaiah 6:1-6. ) Before we look at the terms in Isaiah 6, let us mention God’s different names, in the OT: Elohim, Jehovah, El-Shaddai, Adonai, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah –Rapha, Jehovah-Nissi, Jehovah-MeKaddishkem, Jehovah –Shalom’ Jehovah-Tsidkenu’ Jehovah-Rohi, Jehovah-Shammah.
These names are compound names for God which reveal Him in some aspects of His character and dealings with people. God gave us these names to express different aspects of His Being, character and different relationships to people. Amazingly, each character points to their fulfilment in the person and works of Jesus Christ. (Nathan Stone)
For example: Jehovah-Jireh means God will provide. Do you know the story behind those words in Genesis 22. Abraham said to his son (to make the story short) Isaac “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” These words reveal to us that God is our provider. In salvation, God Himself provided a sacrifice for us, to take our place on the cross-in the person of His Son. You will notice all these names point to the person and works of Christ.
You will notice the spelling of the word LORD and Lord in Isaiah 6 In the NKJV v 1 “I saw the Lord”…v. 3. “the LORD of host…” v. 5…”seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” The first word Lord begins with a capital letter and the rest are in lower case. The other one “LORD”, is where all are in capital letters, mostly used in other translations.
The reason for their difference, is that there are two Hebrew words used in the original text, but were written in the English version by the word Lord (capital letter and lower case).
What is the difference between the two words?
The different use of the terms LORD and Lord indicate the care with which people communicated and wrote God’s holy nature.
In Isaiah 6:1 the word Lord is in the lower case except the first letter “L”. This indicates to us that the word Lord in the original is Adonai which means the Sovereign One. It is not just a name, but a title for God. Indeed God is Supreme as He has shown Himself in various ways in the OT. The word Adonai is mentioned most probably over 300 times. It is significant because it is almost always in the plural form and possessive –meaning “my Lords’. This confirms the idea of a trinity which is also found in the name Elohim (meaning the omnipotent, absolute Creator and Ruler of the universe)
Very often in the OT the word lord is referred to men in various ways “master” “sir” “lord” When referred to men it is “adon” in singular form. But when referred to God it is in plural form Adonai. This confirms the Trinitarian doctrine.
Are you not amazed how these different Names and usage indicate God’s person and character and how He relates Himself to us the crowning glory of His creation? God longs for your relationship and fellowship. God did the first move. How about you? His loving arms and grace is waiting…
