These same attributes carry through into our relationship with God as our Father, we appropriate them.
Nature of God 101: Old Testament Revelation of God.
The Trinity are the Pre-Existing Ones.
Our heavenly Father’s original plan was to have sons and daughters.
God lives inside of His creation (but can choose to live outside of creation).
He lives inside of time (but can choose to live outside of time).
Yahweh/Elohim is relational with man, in the same way father is relational with man.
God is covenant-keeping, and therefore relational.
He can change His mind except if it breaks covenant.
Old Testament Names of Yahweh.
His Old Testament primary name is Yahweh (we will see that this is no longer His primary name later on).
All descriptors (Rapha) are related to us, not God.
He is our provider (Yahweh Jireh).
God is our healer (Yahweh Rapha).
Further Attributes of Yahweh: Nissi (God Our Banner): Like Yahweh Jireh and Yahweh Rapha, Yahweh Nissi is not about God but about us receiving the victory in battle.
GOD IS OUR BATTLE BANNER
Yahweh: Nissi (God Our Banner)
EXODUS 17:11 AND SO IT WAS, WHEN MOSES HELD UP HIS HAND, THAT ISRAEL PREVAILED; AND WHEN HE LET DOWN HIS HAND, AMALEK PREVAILED. BUT MOSES’ HANDS BECAME HEAVY; SO THEY TOOK A STONE AND PUT IT UNDER HIM, AND HE SAT ON IT. AND AARON AND HUR SUPPORTED HIS HANDS, ONE ON ONE SIDE, AND THE OTHER ON THE OTHER SIDE; AND HIS HANDS WERE STEADY UNTIL THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN. SO JOSHUA DEFEATED AMALEK AND HIS PEOPLE WITH THE EDGE OF THE SWORD. THEN THE LORD SAID TO MOSES, “WRITE THIS FOR A MEMORIAL IN THE BOOK AND RECOUNT IT IN THE HEARING OF JOSHUA, THAT I WILL UTTERLY BLOT OUT THE REMEMBRANCE OF AMALEK FROM UNDER HEAVEN.” AND MOSES BUILT AN ALTAR AND CALLED ITS NAME, THE-LORD-IS-MY-BANNER; FOR HE SAID, “BECAUSE THE LORD HAS SWORN: THE LORD WILL HAVE WAR WITH AMALEK FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.”
AMALEK IS THE DESCENDANT OF ESAU, SO IT IS A TYPE OF THE FLESH.
YHVH, Our father will have war with our flesh (that union of soul and body that acts independent of Him) from generation to generation.
He Will Fight Our Battles for Us.
If we walk in the Spirit, it is impossible to fulfill the lust of the flesh. To walk in the Spirit, we must be full of the Spirit and the overflow defeats the flesh. He will fight the inner battle with the flesh for us. So don’t focus on the flesh, but on the Spirit. We are commanded in the NEW COVENANT to be filled with the Spirit. Be filled with God, then the enemy will meet the Christ in us and will not be able to touch us. Any area of defeat is a lack of the fullness of the Spirit.
It is not saying that God is great in battle, it is saying that He will fight for us in our battles because He cares for us.
God is fighting for us- this is the meaning of salvation, that He will rescue us. The victory is ours:
ROMANS 8:35-37 WHO SHALL SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST? SHALL TRIBULATION, OR DISTRESS, OR PERSECUTION, OR FAMINE, OR NAKEDNESS, OR PERIL, OR SWORD? AS IT IS WRITTEN: “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG; WE ARE ACCOUNTED AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER.” YET IN ALL THESE THINGS WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US
Victory is Through Praise and Worship.
Victory is when we have our hands held up in praise and worship- focusing on Him-not on the victory we are trying to achieve.
Victory is Found in Corporate Praise.
Victory is also found in corporate praise, Moses had two people holding up his hands.
MATTHEW 18:20 FOR WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN MY NAME, I AM THERE IN THE MIDST OF THEM.”
In the Battle is Intimacy with Jesus.
During the battle, we can find great fellowship with Jesus.
There is an intimacy with Jesus because the banner He has over us is love, the kind of love found between husband and wife.
EPHESIANS 5:31-32 FOR THIS REASON, A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.” THIS IS A GREAT MYSTERY, BUT I SPEAK CONCERNING CHRIST AND THE CHURCH.
SONG OF SOLOMON 2:4-6 HE BROUGHT ME TO THE BANQUETING HOUSE, AND HIS BANNER OVER ME WAS LOVE. SUSTAIN ME WITH CAKES OF RAISINS, REFRESH ME WITH APPLES, FOR I AM LOVESICK. HIS LEFT HAND IS UNDER MY HEAD, AND HIS RIGHT-HAND EMBRACES ME.
YAHWEH SHALOM (GOD OUR PEACE)
In The Midst of Our Battle -There is Peace:
Amidst (in the middle of) the battle, Gideon found that God was his battle banner and that we could find fellowship with Jesus during the combat.
God told Gideon previously that he would win the war against the Midianites. While meeting with God, Gideon found there is peace:
The word Midian or Midianite means strife. In the middle of strife, YAHWEH SHALOM is our peace.
JUDGES 6:22-24 NOW GIDEON PERCEIVED THAT HE WAS THE ANGEL OF THE LORD. SO, GIDEON SAID, “ALAS, O LORD GOD! FOR I HAVE SEEN THE ANGEL OF THE LORD FACE TO FACE. THEN THE LORD SAID TO HIM, “PEACE BE WITH YOU; DO NOT FEAR, YOU SHALL NOT DIE.” SO, GIDEON BUILT AN ALTAR THERE TO THE LORD, AND CALLED IT THE LORD-IS-(MY) PEACE
We Can Know Perfect Peace.
Prophetically speaking, God is saying that we can know perfect peace when we meet with His glory.
Some people think that we need to be ‘reverent’ when we come to God. As we find out more about the Father, we will see that sometimes our reverent idea is sometimes religious, more so than truth.
Jesus is Called the Prince of Peace
ISAIAH 9:6 FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN, UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN; AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE UPON HIS SHOULDER. AND HIS NAME WILL BE CALLED WONDERFUL, COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE.
God of Peace.
Again, we see that it is to do with the battles of life.
ROMANS 16:20 AND THE GOD OF PEACE WILL CRUSH SATAN UNDER YOUR FEET SHORTLY. THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST BE WITH YOU. AMEN.
YAHWEH TSIDKENU (GOD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS)
Jesus Our Righteousness.
Yahweh Tsidkenu is prophetically talking about the coming of Jesus who will be our righteousness:
JEREMIAH 33:15 ‘IN THOSE DAYS AND AT THAT TIME I WILL CAUSE TO GROW UP TO DAVID A BRANCH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS; HE SHALL EXECUTE JUDGMENT AND RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE EARTH. IN THOSE DAYS JUDAH WILL BE SAVED, AND JERUSALEM WILL DWELL SAFELY. AND THIS IS THE NAME BY WHICH HE WILL BE CALLED: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’
Yahweh Our Righteousness. Righteous is part of the New Covenant. We read about the New Covenant in Jeremiah and other books of the Old Testament.
JEREMIAH 31:33-34 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. 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.”
Righteousness is implicit in the New Covenant. In Hebrews, we see this explained.
HEBREWS 8:7,10-13 FOR IF THAT FIRST COVENANT HAD BEEN FAULTLESS, THEN NO PLACE WOULD HAVE BEEN SOUGHT FOR A SECOND. FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. NONE OF THEM SHALL TEACH HIS NEIGHBOR, AND NONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST OF THEM TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.” IN THAT HE SAYS, “A NEW COVENANT,” HE HAS MADE THE FIRST OBSOLETE. NOW WHAT IS BECOMING OBSOLETE AND GROWING OLD IS READY TO VANISH AWAY.
We are the Righteousness of God. Through the New Covenant we BECOME the righteousness of God:
2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 FOR HE MADE HIM WHO KNEW NO SIN TO BE SIN FOR US, THAT WE MIGHT BECOME (CONTINUOUS ACTION SUBJECT TO A CONDITION) THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.
The condition is receiving Jesus as Lord, being born from above, and then abiding in Him. Whoever is born of God overcomes the world.
“God is righteous” is an attribute of Yahweh, given to us through the New Covenant.
We give Him our sins, and He gives us His righteousness. The Lord says-Whatever sin you may be struggling with, give it back to me, it is not yours, I borne it for you.
YAHWEH ROHI (GOD OUR SHEPERD)
God the Old Testament Shepherd: The Old Testament refers to God shepherding us, so we do not lack, and we find food, rest, water and leading:
PSALMS 23:1 THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD; I SHALL NOT WANT. HE MAKES ME TO LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES; HE LEADS ME BESIDE THE STILL WATERS. HE RESTORES MY SOUL; HE LEADS ME IN THE PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE.
YAHWEH M’KADESH (GOD OUR HOLINESS)
Our Father is the Source of Our Holiness.
Some think that it describes a Holy God and that His holiness produces a gap between man and God. But that is not what He is saying.
Yahweh M’kadesh is not describing His Holiness. Instead, He is saying that He is the source of OUR Holiness.
Remember that the descriptor is not about describing the attributes of God but describes the people’s position He brings into His covenant. It is to do with the holiness of those who are part of the New Covenant:
EXODUS 31:13 “SPEAK ALSO TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, SAYING: ‘SURELY MY SABBATHS YOU SHALL KEEP, FOR IT IS A SIGN BETWEEN ME AND YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS, THAT YOU MAY KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD WHO SANCTIFIES YOU.
He Makes You Holy. This scripture says that He is the one who sanctifies us (makes us holy). It is not about God’s holiness, but about God being the source of our holiness.
EPHESIANS 4:6 ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL, WHO IS ABOVE ALL, AND THROUGH ALL, AND IN YOU ALL
NAMES OF GOD
The Trinity are the Pre-Existing Ones.
Our heavenly Father’s original plan was to have sons and daughters, that is why our spirit entered a human body.
God lives inside of His creation (but can choose to live outside of creation).
He lives inside of time (but can choose to live outside of time).
Yahweh/Elohim is relational with man, in the same way father is relational with man.
In the new covenant we call God our Father not YHVH or Yahweh.
God is covenant-keeping, and therefore relational.
He can change His mind except if it breaks covenant.
His Old Testament primary name is Yahweh (but this is no longer His primary name. His primary name is Father, because we are related to him now by His DNA being conceived in our spirit).
All descriptions of God are related to us, not God.
He is our provider (Yahweh Jireh).
He is our healer (Yahweh Rapha).
He is our Battle Banner (Yahweh Nissi).
He is our Peace (Yahweh Shalom).
He is our Righteousness (Yahweh Tsidkenu).
He is our Shepherd (Yahweh Rohi).
He is our sanctification (Yahweh M’kadesh).