Jehovah: The God of Judgment

Pastor Laurie DeWitt

	Children's Story                                         

	Out west.  Town built near edge of cliff.  Young man Runaway
horses.  running towards cliff.  Distinguished man jumped out
and grabbed the horses by the bits and stopped them before ran
over cliff.   Young man very greatful.

	A few months this young man got drunk and in a bar brawl killed
a man.  Took to jail.  

	Time for trial came.  Walked into the courthouse and saw judge
and recognized him as the one who had stopped the horses. 
Relived.  

	The trial was short and the verdict was read by the jury.  They
found the young man guilty.  The young man turned to the judge
and asked, Judge, please give me mercy.  Don't you remember me?
You saved my life once when the horses were running away. 
Please save it again.  

	Judge said "Son I can't do that.  When I stopped the horses, I
was your savior.  Now I am your judge."
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	Sermon:


	As we discuss the character of God, I think that you will
notice that people relate to God in different ways.  Some see
God as the loving father.  Some as the severe judge.  Others as
an indifferent creator.  Yet others may see God as some kind of
benevolent dictator.  

	Yet, as we mentioned last time, God, through the inspiration of
His Holy Spirit has done his best to describe to us mortal human
beings in human language as much about Himself as we can absorb.
 And I believe that our human minds can never reach the wisdom
that is given us in the Bible, much less be able to understand
God in His fullness.

	In a quick review, last time we looked at the first name by
which God is known, Elohim.  We found that Elohim was a plural
word, and the usage indicates that God is plural, yet one. 
Remember "Hear O Israel, the Lord our Gods is one Lord?"  So in
the name Elohim we find the seed of the doctrine of the trinity.

	The second thing that we noted about Elohim was that He was the
God of the covenant, and we will touch on that just a little
more today.

	But the name that I want to focus on today is the name
Jehovah. translated Lord (small caps). By the way, Jehovah  is
where Yahweh comes from.  We are introduced to this name in
Genesis 2:4, "This is the history of the heavens and the earth
when they were created, in the day that the LORD God (Yahweh
Elohim) made the earth and the heavens...."

	Jehovah God is the God who is love, but is also the righteous
judge of evil, where ever it exists, at whatever cost, whether
to the creature or creator.  The name Jehovah comes from the
Hebrew words, "to be", and means "One who is what He is."  Here
we find the substance of the well known words to Moses, I AM
THAT I AM.  So we find that Jehovah is the expression of God's
being.

	He tells His people, "Be holy, for I am holy.", and the angels
surrounding the throne constantly cry out "Holy, holy, holy." 
We are told that He loves righteousness and hates iniquity

	Now your first reaction may be that this doesn't sound too much
like the God of the Covenant, showing mercy and so forth, but to
know God in only one of His characteristics gives us a false
impression of what He really is.  

	Let me take just a moment and attempt to reconcile these two
names of God, show how the God of perfect love can appear as
love or truth; as Elohim or as Jehovah.  The Bible tells us that
God is love.  But what we fail to understand at times is that
His love is a righteous love revealing the truth.  While we say
that God is love, we cannot say that about truth, but rather we
must say that truth is one expression of His character.  

	Now I want for you to follow me carefully  through a tricky
explanation.  Love can appear different in its being  and in its
expression.  A mother and father love their children.  This is
love in its being.  But the expression of this love is often
hard to understand.  Sometimes the expression of love must be
what some have coined as tough love.  

	If a child rebels, if a friend deceives, if a spouse becomes
unfaithful, there is a breach of love and the proper expression
of love may bring on some type of correction or judgment.  It
may be necessary for the being of love to be expressed in ways
that some may not see as loving, but which are designed to bring
about the overall good of the parties involved.

	But I believe that in God's love and all love that hopes to be
true, there must be righteousness.  And when it involves us as
morally weak human beings the result is plain.  There will often
be gaps arising between Gods righteousness and our ability to be
righteous.

	Now if God is love, and totally wholly righteous, how can He
love us as human failures?  It would seem logical that he would
hate us for our evil.  On the other hand, if his love is a love
wholly consisting of relationship, what becomes of His
righteousness which must hate and judge evil?  Do you see the
problem?

	Yet this is a balance that as human beings we must work with if
we are to understand God.  We must first need to see Him as
Elohim, the God of the covenant to see He is indeed interested
in us.  But we must also see Him as  a righteous God, and
understand how our sin, which is the opposite of righteousness
and love, wounds not only the creator, but Jehovah, the God of
Judgment.

	I am glad that the first view of God is presented as the God of
the covenant rather than the giver of the law.

	To better grasp these concepts, lets go Genesis 2 and 3.  In
these chapters, we see man and God in a very different light
than they appeared in Genesis 1.  In Genesis 1 man was formed in
the image of God.  In Genesis 2, he is formed of the dust of the
ground, and then the breath of lives was breathed into his
nostrils and man became a living soul--in much of his essence no
different than the animals.  These facts are not seen until
Jehovah is revealed.  Then man having become a living soul, is
immediately put under law.  Gen. 2:16,17  And the LORD God
commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may
freely eat;  "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall
surely die."

	Another very interesting thing is that in Genesis 1 God saw
that man was very good, yet in Genesis 2 we are told that the
situation of man was not good--until woman was created.  

	Put another way, Genesis 1 shows the completeness of God as
Elohim, while Genesis 2 shows the incompleteness of mankind
without God (Jehovah).  

	As look a little closer at Genesis 2 we find that what is shown
about Jehovah is perhaps even more significant.  Every word
shows Him to be One who marks quality and looks for
righteousness.  Even in a perfect world He places the tree of
life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and clearly
explains the difference between them. 

	After teaching the difference between the two, He puts man
under the law and says "Thou shalt not.." with a warning and the
promise that disobedience will bring punishment.  But after
punishment, there is yet hope in the promise "the woman shall
crush the serpent's head.

	It is significant that the narration of the fall demonstrates
this in a subtle way.  (Turn to Gen 3)  The name for God used in
this chapter is Jehovah Elohim, except in the words of the
serpent and Eve, where Elohim is used.  Eve and the serpent referred 
to God by his name Elohim, but did not use his name Jehovah.  

	Moses was careful to record this, for it was a one-sided view
of God's character which paved the way for Eve's sin.  They
referred to God the covenant maker, the lover, the
compassionate, all the while going against the laws of the giver
of laws.  They had forgotten that God is also Jehovah.  We need to keep 
that in mind. 

	Gen 4:1  Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore
Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD."  2  Then
she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a
keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground......  16 
Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in
the land of Nod on the east of Eden. 17  And Cain knew his wife,
and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and
called the name of the city after the name of his son; Enoch. 18
 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael
begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech. 19   Then Lamech
took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the
name of the second was Zillah. 20)  And Adah bore Jabal. He was
the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21  
His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who
play the harp and flute.

	Here we find a great variety in quality in the seed of the
women in this genealogy given to us along with the name Jehovah.
The God who loves virtue, who chooses between righteous and
sinner.  (Jacob I loved, Easu I hated)

	This contrasts with Elohim, where no reference is made to
quality, but only to relationship.  Gen 5:4 After he begot Seth,
the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and
daughters.  7.  After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred
and seven years, and had sons and daughters. 10.  After he begot
Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had
sons and daughters.

	As we move on to Genesis 6 and the flood story we again find
the differences between Jehovah and Elohim .

Gen 6:3  And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man
forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one
hundred and twenty years."  5.  Then the LORD saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And
the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was
grieved in His heart. 7. So the LORD said, "I will destroy man
whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and
beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that
I have made them."

	Jehovah must judge evil, and it grieved Him.  Sin brings not
only destruction to the sinner but sorrow to God.

	We cannot look at all the differences, but we find in Genesis
6:8 that "Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah," and in the
next verse we read that "Noah walked with Elohim," the personal
God of the covenant.

	In Genesis 6:5 we read that Jehovah saw the wickedness of man,
and said "I will destroy the earth," while in verses 12-18 we
read that Elohim saw that the earth was corrupted and determined
to destroy the earth but first wanted to make a covenant with
Noah.

	We read in Gen 6:22 that Noah did all that Elohim commanded
him, and in Genesis 7:5 Noah did all that Jehovah commanded him.

	And now we find something that had puzzled me for years.  How
many animals did Noah take into the ark?  In Elohim's command
they were to be taken 2 by 2 so that relationships could be maintained. 
In the record of Jehovah's command it was added that the clean animals 
were to come by 7s. Here before the flood Jehovah,  the God of judgment, 
is preparing the way for the sacrifices that are to be given Him after 
the flood as Noah worships Jehovah.

	Moving down through time, we find a text that at first glance
appears to be a self contradiction. Exo 6:2  And God spoke to
Moses and said to him: "I am the LORD 3 "I appeared to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I
was not known to them.

	Now a quick scan through your Bible will indicate that over and
over again God is referred to as Jehovah when he speaks with
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  I believe that as we look at the
predominate differences of understanding between the names of
God, we find that what we are being told here is that Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob knew God in his law giving aspect and in His
covenant aspect.

	Eve knew Judgment.  Noah had seen judgment.  But the life of
faith, sonship, and service can sometimes go a long way, as
represented by the 3 patriarchs, before we fully know Jehovah.

	We find that throughout Biblical history after the revelation
of Jehovah which came most fully at Sinai, that the call to
righteousness grows more prominent in scripture.  The prophets
time and again called for holiness. Isa 58:1   "Cry aloud, spare
not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their
transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.

	Ezek 33:4   'then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and
does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away,
his blood shall be on his own head.

	Exo 20:5  you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I,
the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations
of those who hate Me,

	The Psalms are full of the same concept.  David time and again
calls for judgment on the sinners and those who oppress the
righteous, and states in Psa 11:7 For the LORD is righteous, He
loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.

	In all this we find, however that the infliction of judgment
upon His created beings brings pain upon Jehovah himself.  He is
not willing that any should perish.  

	Isa 63:9 tells us that "In all their affliction He was
afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love
and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried
them All the days of old."

	The revelation of both Jehovah and Elohim meet their fullest
manifestation on the cross of Jesus Christ:  Jesus -- Jehovah
saves. and Christ, the anointed one. (The one with whom God
makes a covenant?)  

	In the revelation of Elohim, Jesus made a covenant by death for
our salvation.  In His revelation of Jehovah, Jesus, as the
brightness of God's glory and the express image of his person,
the image of the invisible God, suffered with and for His
creation, taking upon Himself not just the physical suffering,
but also the grief of rejection, suffering as only righteous
love can suffer.

	More than this dramatic revelation of the character of God, we
find that it goes further to a goal that is not seen by many of
His people.  Not only is Jehovah the God who requires
righteousness; not only is He Himself affected by the
destruction which sin has brought upon man and nature; but more
than this, His righteousness cannot be fully declared until He
makes His creatures righteous with His own righteousness.  

	What we first see in the manifestation of Jehovah is law, and
that because He is righteous, he must condemn evil.  But this is
not the end.  The covenant of grace, is also part of Jehovah.  

	Jer 31:31 "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I
will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the
house of Judah;

32  "not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out
of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was
a husband to them, says the LORD.

33  "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in
their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their
God, and they shall be My people.

34  "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man
his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know
Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the
LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will
remember no more."

	This he does for His name's sake.

	Brothers and sisters, we need to remember that righteousness is
not complete if it only judges and condemns.  The Devil can
condemn.

	The purpose of Jehovah, the God of righteousness is to make the
sinner righteous  Psa 89:14   Righteousness and justice are the
foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.
15  Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk,
O LORD, in the light of Your countenance. 16  In Your name they
rejoice all day long, And in Your righteousness they are exalted.

	God never ceases being Elohim, the God of the covenant. 
Neither does he cease being Jehovah, the God of righteousness
and the law.  

	For sinful man, Jehovah is not safe.  His righteousness
condemns us.  Only a fool would stand presumptuously before Him
on his own.  But He is good.  Elohim has made provisions to save
us.  

	One and the same God.  Two important manifestations.  Bow down
before Him.  Speak His name with reverence, for He is the Holy
God.  Jehovah, Elohim.