My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
Our next set of names (#4 through #22) are considered His compound names, which typically uses His primary name and attaches a specific descriptor to it. These are the names that originally got me chasing this topic, and now it has developed into a much bigger study than the original intent, but I digress, for I have already mentioned this!
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly was a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
| 15 |
| JEHOVAH NAHEH (THE LORD THAT STRIKES) |
| Deuteronomy 28:22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. |
| This one is heavy! Moses is speaking to the nation of Israel, recounting their failures as they journey to the promised land, and speaking his last formal message to the people of God. This name of God is found in the middle of a discourse that defines the curses that will be laid on the people of God due to their disobedience. Starting in verse 15 of the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses starts with the results of not obeying the voice of God, speaking of how these curses will overtake them, as if they could run from judgement. It is a sobering passage that does not make for light reading! Nevertheless, the character of the Lord is further defined in this passage, and it is in relation to His covenant people. To strike, or as some Bibles translate it, to smite, in relation to God and His people, is usually referring to physical ailments, plagues and such. Wasting disease refers to consumption, or in our terminology, a lung disease. It has the image of emaciation associated with it, and brings to my mind the picture of a starving man on the side of the road. The next three descriptors of the “striking” the Lord lays on His people, and are all associated with a fever, each becoming a greater threat to life. A fiery heat may imply a violent heat. Violent, as the fever makes the body react in a violent manner! The term translated as drought may also be translated as sword. Here we start to see that it is not merely a striking of the body, but also of the land, in not producing crops for the sustenance of the people. If sword is the correct translation, the effect is the same, for when war comes, so comes severe lack of resources, primarily food. Blight is a disease that is readily associated with grain, and speaks of a sudden wilting and dying of part of all of the plant. Mildew is associated with plants, usually due to drought. Both of these terms speak of the loss of sustaining food for the population. No matter how you look at some of these descriptors, the “striking” is serious. So serious, that in our verse above, Moses tells the people of God that there will be no escape. Once the condition of rebellion is established, once the choice is made to not obey the voice of the Lord, the curses will pursue you. The curses will not simply pursue you at arms length, giving you the opportunity to escape, but for these people hearing the voice of God through the prophet Moses, they are told they will not be able to escape. No escape! The curses will pursue them until they perish. Perish! This is a heavy, serious and dangerous name to consider in our thinking. He is the All-Powerful, and He deserves our obedience, yet in the midst of it all, in seeing our desperate condition, He provided an opportunity. A man hanging on a tree, accepting the curses in our place. The curses are real, and the curses will consume us, unless we flee to the One who tasted death for us, the One who became a curse for us. Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us–for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” He did not simply accept the curses we deserve, but He became a curse for us. He is the One who only and always is a blessing to the Father, a blessing to His creation and the bearer of all good gifts to the one who follows. Praise His name, for He is good. He provides to the rebel and the sinner, the hater and the liar, an opportunity to know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom He sent. |
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
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One response to “Names of God – JEHOVAH NAHEH (THE LORD THAT STRIKES) – 15”
I had did a study of the Names in NIV, trying to do the same in the KJV but in the NIV I came up with over 14,000 names for God. But I think my favorite is after the LORD has become my salvation, is YHWH NISSI or the LORD is my Banner or the LORD who fights for me!
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