The Hand Of God (Elohim) Versus The Heart Of The LORD (Yahweh)

1st Service of 20 January 2008 (Sunday) preached by Pastor Prince on YHWH / Elohim

Psalm 133

¹ Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!

²It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
³It is like the dew of Hermon,
Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the LORD [YHWH] commanded the blessing–
Life forevermore.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God [ELOHIM] created the heavens and the earth.

You only find YHWH or LORD, as translated into English, from Genesis 2:7 onwards.

Genesis 2:7

And the LORD [YHWH] God [ELOHIM] formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Side Track: Sulaiman is Arabic for Solomon. Yusof Ishak is Arabic for Joseph Isaac.

YHWH = Grace and the heart of our Covenant-keeping GOD.

Elohim = Hand and power of GOD

In O.T., people could only see GOD’s hand and not his heart which was revealed by Jesus Christ in N.T.

In NT, Jesus Christ did not want the woman with the issue of blood (the “Woman”) to take from his back like Moses did (Moses could only see the back parts of GOD’s glory in the cleft of the rock) and so turned around to let Woman see his face and later told Woman to “Go into Peace”. She was only person addressed personally as, “Daughter” by Jesus.

Jesus health is contagious in the new order. In the old order, disease was contagious.

KYRIOS (Strong’s #2962)

Thayer’s definition:

1) he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord

a) the possessor and disposer of a thing

1) the owner; one who has control of the person, the master

2) in the state: the sovereign, prince, chief, the Roman emperor

b) is a title of honour expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master

c) this title is given to: God, the Messiah

Similar in concept to Hebrew word ADONAI.

However, ADONAI and YHWH are different concepts. See Psalm 16:2

[O my soul], thou hast said unto the LORD [YHWH], Thou [art] my Lord [ADONAI]: my goodness [extendeth] not to thee;

Therefore, we are also not to have impression that KYRIOS – which is often translated into the word LORD in NT – has the meaning of: master. Rather it should be understood as the title given to Messiah ie. YHWH

Isaiah 40:3

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD [YHWH], make straight in the desert a highway for our God [ELOHIM].

Genesis 7:16

And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God [ELOHIM] had commanded him: and the LORD [YHWH] shut him in.

ELOHIM brought judgement. YHWH shut Noah in.

Exodus 6:2

And God [ELOHIM] spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I [am] the LORD [YHWH]:

Exodus 6:3

And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by [the name of] God Almighty [EL SHADDAI], but by my name JEHOVAH [YHWH] was I not known to them.

Even then, Abraham had a greater revelation of YHWH than his sons.

Genesis 15:1

After these things the word of the LORD [YHWH] came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward.

Genesis 15:2

And Abram said, Lord GOD [ADONAI ELOHIM], what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house [is] this Eliezer of Damascus?

Thus, we can see that Abram, at that time, did not initially see GOD as YHWH until verse 6.

Genesis 15:5

And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

Genesis 15:6

And he believed in the LORD [YHWH]; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Genesis 17

In Genesis 17:1, the LORD (YHWH) revealed to Abram that He had been all along the El Shadai, and added a הָ [pronounced hey, a picture of YHWH's Grace]  to Abram’s name to transform it to Abraham.

אַבְרָם

Strong’s #87 – Abram = exalted father / father of elevation

אַבְרָהָם

Strong’s #85 – Abraham = father of many

Lesson in Leadership: God want his leaders to be father of many not just a father who is exalted or have altitude.

שָׂרָי

Strong’s #8297 – Sarai - Feminine of my Lord [ שָׂרָ Sar] i.e. my domineering one.

שרה

Strong’s #8283 – Noblewoman.

The LORD changed Sarai’s name by dropping the י yud withה hey (picture of God’s Grace) and she became Sarah and her youth and fruitfulness was renewed. Yud when not in God’s name is a picture of self-effort as it is a picture of the hand.

2 Chronicles 18:31

And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It [is] the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD [YHWH] helped him; and God [ELOHIM] moved them [to depart] from him.

2 Chronicles 26:5

And he [Uzziah] sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD [YHWH], God [ELOHIM] made him to prosper.

Without Goliath, David would not be known. God turns challenges into opportunities.

1 Samuel 17:46

This day will the LORD [YHWH] deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God [ELOHIM] in Israel.

1 Samuel 17:54

And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.

The smaller school of thought of Rabbis in Judaism is that the head of Goliath was buried in a mould in Jersualem called Gal Goliath which eventually grew into a hill called Gal Goltha or Calvary in Latin. Calvary was the hill on which Jesus Christ was crucified signifying His triumph on our behalf on a greater Goliath – Satan – himself.

Why did Jesus Christ only come in the ‘fullness of time’ and not say, immediately after Adam and Eve? GOD in his wisdom knew that mankind needed to go through the LAW for several millenia before they would finally understand their need of a Saviour.

Application: Allow our children to go through maturing / suffering process first before you go ‘rescue’ them.

Put blood on the lintel. ELOHIM sees the Blood and YHWH passes over.

Exodus: 12:13

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye [are]: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy [you], when I smite the land of Egypt.