Rabbi Schneider — Yahweh Macadesh
Welcome today to this very important edition of Discovering the Jewish Jesus. We're continuing in a series today that, that I'm calling The Covenant Names of God.
The reason this series is so special, beloved ones, is because in the Hebrew Bible, in what we call the Tanakh, or the Old Testament, the Lord revealed to Moses in Exodus, chapter 3, and in Exodus, chapter 6, his personal sacred name. He said to Moses, your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they knew me as El Shaddai.
But by my name, and then the Lord spoke a breathy Yahweh, they did not know me. So we find God's personal covenant name, Yahweh, connected to what he does for his people in their salvation. And so throughout the Old Testament we find Yahweh connecting his name to the functions of salvation that he performs in and for those of his elect.
So we are now looking in the Hebrew Bible at the places that Yahweh connected his name to something that he does in relationship to his saving grace in the lives of his people. I encourage you, get this entire series. I'm not gonna go back and review any further today. I want to simply pick up where we left off next, last week.
We're looking now at the next Hebrew name of God, his name revealed as, listen, Yahweh Macadesh. Let's look together in the Book of Leviticus, chapter number 20, verse number 8, where we find the Lord revealing himself by this covenant name, again, Yahweh Macadesh.
Hear the Word of God. I'm actually gonna begin to read here in verse number 7. The Lord says: You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. So we see Father God reaching out to his people, saying to them, you're my people. You're my people. And because you're my people, I want you to live worthy of that by consecrating yourself to me and being holy.
Now in the next verse the Lord says, for I am Yahweh Macadesh. I am the Lord that sanctifies you. Let's listen now as I read verse number 8: You shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am Yahweh Macadesh, or in English, I am Yahweh Who sanctifies you.
So let's step back for a second. I want to just review the concept of what I just stated, and then we're gonna take it apart and be encouraged by what Father God says he's gonna do for us in relationship to his people and the saving functions that he's performing in their lives.
Verse number 7: You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy. Now what I'm gonna be stressing, beloved one, in today's broadcast, is God's part and your part and my part. In other words, what I want you to see as I continue today is that Father God claims that he is gonna sanctify us. But listen to me now. He's not gonna do it independently of us, but he's gonna do it, listen beloved ones, as we cooperate with him.
I think so many of us don't understand the call that's on our lives to participate in what God is doing. If you and I are not aware of what he's calling us to do and if we are not participating in what he's asking us to do, we're gonna miss out on so much blessing and so much power being released in our life. With that stated then, listen as I read once again.
The Lord says, verse number 7: You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy. So here is our part. The Lord says, I am Yahweh Macadesh. But before he says that, before the Lord says, I am the Lord that sanctifies you, before that he states, listen, beloved one, what we must do. He said to us, consecrate yourselves and be holy.
So what does it mean to consecrate ourselves? What does it mean to be holy? We hear the word holy a lot, but some of us really if we're honest with ourselves, we never really just stopped to try to figure out, and consider, and meditate on what does it really mean to be holy. So the first thing the Lord says, therefore consecrate yourself.
I'm gonna read it again because I just want you to see it on the screen: You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. I am Yahweh, your God. To consecrate ourselves means to give ourselves over to him. In other words, we consecrate ourselves to him by abstaining from things in the world that would take away from our separation unto him.
You see, Paul speaks about this concept in the New Testament where he says that every soldier that's enlisted gives himself entirely to his assignment. In other words, a soldier that's enlisted in the Army often times, listen, they have to leave home, right.
They have to get in an airplane, fly over to wherever their assignment is. They're at the base. They're only allowed off the base at certain times. Their entire life is focused on their assignment because, listen, they're enlisted and they are carrying out their job assignment. And so the Lord is saying to us, I chose you to be a people for myself out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
Therefore, the Lord says, respond to my choice of you by consecrating yourself back to me. It's very important for you and I to understand that we did not choose God but he chose us. Jesus specifically stated this in the Gospel of John. He said, you did not choose me but I chose you and ordained you that you should bear fruit.
So the Lord is saying, consecrate yourself to me, give yourself over to me, get out of your heart the things of the world, stop pursuing the things of the world, stop having fellowship and deep intimacy with people that don't know me, and consecrate yourself to me, and he said, listen, and be holy. What does it mean to be holy? The word holy derives its meaning from a concept, listen now, of separateness.
In fact, above all else, consider this, above all else Yahweh, God, is holy. In fact, there's only two times in the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, only two times in the entire Word of God, where we find a threefold repetition of any of God's attributes. We often times see a twofold repetition of God's attributes, but only two times in the entire Scriptures do we find a threefold repetition of God's attributes. And only, it's only in connection with one of his attributes.
It's in connection, beloved, listen now, with holy. When Isaiah sees the Lord in Isaiah, chapter 6, Isaiah falls on his face and he sees beings in heaven around the throne of God. And Isaiah says, and I saw these beings and they didn't stop crying out day and night saying, listen, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Three times, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.
Only one other time in the Bible do we see this threefold repetition. It's in, it's in the Book of Revelation where John is called up to heaven to see the Lord on his throne. And what does John see when he sees the Lord on his throne in the Book of Revelation that he records for us in the Word of God? He sees the same thing, beloved one, that Isaiah saw.
He sees these beings around the throne of God that don't cease crying out day and night, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. The point that I'm making, beloved one, is that above all else God is holy. So what does it mean to be holy? To be holy means to be utterly unique, completely separate, completely, listen now, set apart. And so what does it mean when we say that God is completely unique?
Well listen, God alone is the one who's always been. Everything else has a cause. Everything else has been created. But God has no beginning. He has no end. He's not created but he's always been. He is the Creator. He is utterly unique and utterly separate. And so the Lord is telling us, because I'm separate and utterly unique, I want you as my people to be completely set apart, a unique people on the earth unto me.
And as you and I receive this call, beloved ones, as we in our lives make those choices to obey God, to deny the flesh, to be separate unto God, what happens is God is performing as we're choosing him a supernatural, sanctifying work within our hearts making us, listen now, holy and sanctifying us unto him.
But notice once again, there is a partnership in this. Jesus says, I'm standing at the door and knocking. If any man opens the door and lets me in, I'll come in and dine with him and he with me. God wants to do his part but you and I have to choose to open our hearts to say yes to him, to pick up our cross, deny ourselves and obey him in order for the grace of God to be completely and utterly effective in our lives.