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God’s Ledgers
Israel is precious to Yahweh. I am Yahweh your Elohim, Qedosh Yisrael, your Savior. Egypt is the ransom I exchanged for you. Sudan and Seba are the price I paid for you. Since you are precious to me, you are honored and I love you. I will exchange others for you. Nations will be the price I pay for your life. – Isaiah 43:3-4, Names of God Version Through Isaiah, Yahweh promises that Israel that even though he’ll send them into captivity because of their rebellion, he’ll ransom them and bring them home. I’m writing a whole series on this, so I won’t go into all the verses here. But what’s this about Egypt,…
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Another in the Fire
Yahweh created Jacob and formed Israel. Now, this is what Yahweh says: Do not be afraid, because I have reclaimed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through the sea, I am with you. When you go through rivers, they will not sweep you away. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flames will not harm you. I am Yahweh your Elohim, Qedosh Yisrael, your Savior. Egypt is the ransom I exchanged for you. Sudan and Seba are the price I paid for you. – Isaiah 43:1-3, Names of God Version This week, we’re looking at the Holy One of Israel. The passage above is undoubtedly…
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Set Apart or Called into Relationship?
Tell the whole congregation of Israel: Be holy because I, Yahweh your Elohim, am Qedosh.Leviticus19:2 What does it mean to be holy? One of Strong’s definitions of holiness is set-apartness. It’s separateness, sacredness, the state of being consecrated. In a nutshell, it’s Yahweh’s very essence. Ann Spangler says it so well. …holiness is grounded in God’s nature. It refers not to one of his attributes but to the totality of his perfection. In his holiness, God exists above and apart from the world he has made. And yet, with the name Qedosh Yisrael, Yahweh calls his people to join him in his set-apartness. As partakers of the New Covenant, we are…
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All Consuming Fire
Fire consumes. It destroys. As I’m writing this, the Smokehouse Creek fire in the Texas Panhandle has burned more than a million acres. Uncontrolled, fire is terrifying. Yahweh appeared as a consuming fire at Mt. Sinai during the Exodus. I can’t imagine how terrified the Israelites were. And to the eyes of the sons of Israel, the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top. -Exodus 24:17, NASB We can see the remnant of this event today in Saudi Arabia at Jabal al Lawz. Two great documentaries on it are The Search for the Real Mt. Sinai from Bob Cornuke and Journey…
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Is God a Green-Eyed Monster?
This week, we’re looking at two names which are closely associated. Esh Oklah, El Kanna. Consuming Fire, Jealous God. Today, we’ll look at our jealous God. Can jealousy ever be something good? The first use of קַנָּא , transliterated qanna or kanna, is in the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20. This word, translated jealous, is only used in reference to Yahweh. (Qana is the word for human jealousy.) In Exodus 34, Yahweh makes it clear he will not tolerate worship of any other god. For you shall not worship any other god, because the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. – Exodus 34:14, NASB Yahweh is…
