JESUS CHRIST; "YEHO-SHUA"

02/12/2024

"I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them." (Exodus 6:3)

When God wants to reveal Himself to His Beloved, He reveals Himself by a name. When He revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He revealed Himself in their generations by the name of El-Shaddai. El-Shaddai in the original Hebrew means "the Many-Breasted One." I know the New King James translators used "God Almighty" to explain El-Shaddai, but the idea of El-Shaddai encapsulates more. It means a God with whom you could want nothing. The result of the revelation of El-Shaddai to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was that they enjoyed meteoric increases in their wealth. They and their spouses overcame various forms of barrenness, material and biological. And the revelation of El-Shaddai brought them an understanding of circumcision and tithing, which was their act of consecration to God. El-Shaddai could also go to battle for His own, but He could only shut down the capacity to be fruitful as He did in Genesis 20:18 in the household of Abimelech. 

However, in the process of time, when the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob entered into captivity in Egypt, the revelation of God as El-Shaddai would no longer suffice. The revelation of El-Shaddai could not deal with getting Abraham's descendants out of bondage. It could not mobilize a national migration out of slavery and deal with the psychological trauma of a 400-year enslavement. And so, God had to reveal Himself as "Jehovah" or "Yehovah" or "Yahweh," which in the original Hebrew meant "the Self-Existent One in whom everything consists." God's revelation of Himself as the Self-Existent One meant He could materialize or dematerialize any existence. It was His spiritual justification for materializing the kinds of plagues that Egypt suffered. It was also the reason He was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night as the nation of Israel was led out of bondage into promise. Exodus 13:21 says, "And the LORD [Jehovah] went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night, "The revelation of Jehovah showed the children of Israel that their God could be ruthlessly protective of them. 

Again, in the process of time, a certain virgin became pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and her betrothed found out and decided to quietly dissolve their engagement. Matthew 1:20-21 says, "But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."

What was not apparent was that God was again beginning a new revelation of Himself. Every time God reveals Himself, there is a purpose attached to it. This time, He revealed Himself as JESUS. In Hebrew, it might have sounded as "YEHO-SHUA" or "JOSHUA." YEHO-SHUA means "the Self-Existent One that saves." Saves from what? He saves from Hell, death, poverty, sickness, and all evil. The fact that He revealed Himself as "the Self-Existent One that saves" meant that there was something from which His people needed saving. 

This is the God that the Bible says, "And He [Yeho-Shua] is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:17-18). You cannot know Him like this and have someone blaspheme or rubbish His name around you without feeling a tug at your heart. He is "the Self-Existent One that saves."

There is a miracle package for you today inherent in this fresh revelation of the Name of JESUS [our Yeho-Shua]. He will save you from hell, any symptoms, bad habits, sin, or negative disposition right now. If you have never met Him, call on Him now, and He will reveal Himself to you. And if you have met Him, ask Him to deepen this revelation of Him as the Self-Existent One that saves. 

While I congratulate you ahead of what you have received, let me also ask that you report testimonies of salvation, healing, and deliverance from today's devotional to us at ireport@gracehousechurch.org

God bless you!

Faith-Filled Confession

By the Name of JESUS, the Self-Existent One who saves, I come to know God more intimately. So that every time I use His name, salvation shows up for me. Just as it says in Romans 10:13, "Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." Each time I call on the name of JESUS, my YEHO-SHUA, I am saved in the context for which salvation is required. Hallelujah!

One-Year Bible Reading Plan: Leviticus 14; Matthew 26:55-75