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INTRODUCTORY.

Jehovah.)

I. IMPORT AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE JEHOVAH.

As implied in the name "I Am." (1) With regard to the nature of the Divine action attendant on self-existence in alliance with everlasting immutability.

[10792] From the idea of underived and independent existence which seems to be the root idea in this Divine name, follows at once that of independent and uncontrolled will and action. "I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, and My name is I Am." As God's being is underived, so His will is uncontrolled. All other being flows from Him, so all other wills must bend to His. It may not always seem so; it may rather seem as if the reverse of this were sometimes true. Doubtless in Moses' day the will of Pharaoh seemed to be the great power in Egypt. But God revealed Himself as Jehovah, the self-existent, the supreme, the sovereign Will, and Pharaoh-what proved he then? Man that is a worm, and a son of man that is a worm. With the idea of underived existence are also closely allied those of eternity and unchangeableness. He who has in Himself the cause of His being can never cease to be; and He cannot change. This has been thought by not a few to be the primary import of the name Jehovah, which has accordingly been rendered the Eternal.-Rev. Duncan H. Weir, D.D.

[10793] This is a name full of the deepest meaning. It asserts the self-existence, the eternity, and immutability of the Deity. Only God can say I Am. His creatures are not, except as He gives them life and keeps them living. We are what God has made us, what He enables us to be. He is that He is, the only self-existing, self-upholding Being, God over all and in all. I Am expresses also the eternity of the Godhead-that was, and is, and

is to come. Past and future are included in this name; or, rather, there can be no past nor future in respect of God. His years are not spent, as ours are, like a tale that is told. In His existence there is neither beginning nor end; nothing transitory or successive; nothing bygone or to come. His duration is a simple and eternal now. Before His sight all things, past, present, and to come, are constantly outspread. God" inhabiteth eternity:" as He fills all space and is everywhere present, so He fills all time, not passing through it, but dwelling in every part of it. Before all worlds He Is; now while we speak of Him He Is; and hereafter, in that eternity on which we all shall enter, He already Is. By this name the immutability of the Godhead likewise is declared, "I Am that I Am." What God is now He has always been, and always will be. With Him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Change is a consequence of imperfection. God can never be greater or less than He is. I Am includes all that God can be. It sums up all the attributes of perfectness; it is the standard from which there can be no departure and no change.-T. S. Millington.

[10794] God called Himself Jehovah-jireh, when He revealed unto Abraham the mystery of redeeming wisdom and love; and the father of the faithful beheld in a type, afar off, the Lord providing a ransom even in the person of His Son, His only begotten and well beloved. -Saphir.

II. ITS AWFUL SACREDNESS AND MAJESTY.

[10795] This was what the Jews called "the incommunicable name." They looked upon it with such awe and reverence that they would not allow themselves to pronounce it. It is never applied to any created being in the Scriptures. It cannot be so applied, for it denotes the necessary, independent, and eternal existence of the Most High. It includes the past, the present, and the future. It brings before us the Divine Being as the One who "was, and is, and is to come.' How thankful we should be

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that with this awful name, Jehovah, God has been pleased to associate other titles, such as Jireh, Ropheka, Nissi, Shalom, and so on; all expressive of His thoughts of love and purposes of mercy towards us as His erring creatures! for, if He had not done this, it is true, as an old writer has observed, that "this awful title of Jehovah could only have thundered ten thousand terrors, and have filled the soul of a fallen man with all the anguish of 'a consuming fire."" -R. Newton, D.D.

2 JEHOVAH-ELYON.

("The Lord Most High," Psa. vii. 17., xlvii. 2, xcvii. 9.)

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I. THE GREATNESS OF GOD EXPRESSED IN THIS TITLE.

As regards time and space.

[10796] He inhabiteth eternity. There are some subjects on which it would be good to dwell, if it were only for the sake of that enlargement of mind which is produced by their contemplation. And eternity is one of these, so that you cannot steadily fix the thoughts upon it without being sensible of a peculiar kind of elevation, at the same time that you are humbled by a personal feeling of utter insignificance. You have come in contact with something so immeasurable-beyond the narrow range of our common speculations-that you are exalted by the very conception of it. Now the only way we have of forming any idea of eternity is by going, step by step, up to the largest measures of time we know of, and so ascending, on and on, till we are lost in wonder. We cannot grasp eternity, but we can learn something of it by perceiving, that, rise to what portion of time we will, eternity is vaster than the vastest. It is difficult to say which conception carries with it the greatest exaltation-that of boundless space or that of unbounded time. When we pass from the tame and narrow scenery of our own country, and stand on those spots of earth in which nature puts on her wilder and more awful forms, we are conscious of something of the grandeur which belongs to the thought of space. Go where the strong foundations of the earth lie around you in their massive majesty, and mountain after mountain rears its snow to heaven in a giant chain, and then, when this bursts upon you for the first time in life, there is that peculiar feeling which we call, in common language, an enlargement of ideas. But when we are told that the sublimity of those dizzy heights is but a nameless speck in comparison with the globe of which they form the girdle; and when we pass on to think of that globe itself as a minute spot in that mighty system to which it belongs, so that our world might be annihilated, and its loss

JEHOVAH-JIREH.

would not be felt; and when we are told that eighty millions of such systems roll in the world of space, to which our own system again is as nothing; and when we are again pressed with the recollection that beyond those furthest limits creative power is exerted immeasurably further than eye can reach, or thought can penetrate; then, brethren, the awe which comes upon the heart is only, after all, a tribute to a portion of God's greatness.-Rev. F. W. Robertson.

2 As regards character.

[10797] His name is Holy. The chief idea which this would convey to us is separation from evil. There is perhaps a time drawing near when those of us who shall stand at His right hand, purified from all evil taint, shall be able to comprehend absolutely what is meant by the holiness of God. At present, with hearts cleaving down to earth, and tossed by a thousand gusts of unholy passion, we can only form a dim conception relatively of that which it implies. None but the pure can understand purity. The chief knowledge which we have of God's holiness comes from our acquaintance with unholiness. We know what impurity is -God is not that. We know what injustice isGod is not that. We know what restlessness, and guilt, and passion are, and deceitfulness, and pride, and waywardness-all these we know. God is none of these. And this is our chief acquaintance with His character. We know what God is not. We scarcely can be rightly said to know, that is to feel, what God is. And therefore, this is implied in the very name of holiness. Holiness in the Jewish sense means simple separateness. From all that is wrong, and mean, and base, our God is for ever separate. Human life is full of God's recoil from sin. In the writhings of a heart which has been made to possess its own iniquities-in the dark spot which guilt leaves upon the conscience, rising up at times in a man's gayest moments, as if it will not come out-in the restlessness and the feverishness which follow the efforts of the man who has indulged habits of sin too long-in all these there is a law repelling wickedness from the presence of the Most High-which proclaims that God is holy.-Ibid.

[10803] The image, natural amongst a nation of shepherds, is first employed by Jacob Gen. xlviii. 15, "The Lord which fed me," literally, "My Shepherd;" xlix. 24. There, as here (Psa. xxiii. 1), God is the Shepherd of the individual; cf. Psalm cix. 17; still more frequently of His people, lxxviii. 52, lxxx. 1, Micah vii. 14, Isaiah lxiii. 11, and especially Ezek. xxxiv ; most beautifully and touchingly in Isaiah xl. 11.-Dean Perowne,

II. THE TENDER CARE MANIFESTED BY GOD AS OUR SHEPHERD.

[10804] Try to feel, by imagination, what the lonely Syrian shepherd must feel towards the helpless things which are the companions of his daily life, for whose safety he stands in jeopardy every hour, and whose value is measurable to him, not by price, but by his own jeopardy, and then we have reached some notion of the love of God represented in his title of Jehovah-Robi.Ibid.

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FEHOVAH-ROPHECA.

("The Lord that healeth thee," Exod. xv. 26.)

1. CHARACTERISTIC ATTRIBUTES OF THE DIVINE HEALER, AS SEEN IN THIS TITLE OF JEHOVAH.

Efficiency and practicalness.

[10805] He puts His own omnipotence into the grace by which He heals; and what can resist that grace? He has fathomed the lowest depths of human depravity, and the chain of His grace has reached even unto that. He has measured the utmost distance to which sin has led men to wander away from Him, and His grace has brought them back. There is no heart so hard but He can soften and change it; no mind so benighted but He can enlighten it; and no will so stubborn but He can subdue and control it. And what He undertakes to do He always infallibly accomplishes. Such was the efficiency of His power that in all the cases mentioned of His healing or helping when on earth, He never had occasion to speak twice before the thing that He commanded was done. Even when the boisterous winds and the foaming waves were spoken to, it was not necessary for Him to repeat His command. He needed but to speak once, and “immediately there was a great calm."

JEHOVAH-SHALOM.

An old Jewish legend assures us concerning the cloud that conducted Israel through the wilderness, that it not only showed them the way, but also prepared it; it not only led them in the right path, but fitted the way for them to go in; it levelled the mountains and filled up the valleys, and smoothed the rocks, and cleared all the obstacles out of the way. This, of course, is more than the Bible tells us. But whether fact or fancy in reference to the Jews, it is true of God's providence towards His people. His providence does indeed, as Wordsworth says, "Embrace all accidents, o'erruling them to good."

It is as a practical Healer that we are to regard our covenant God when He makes Himself known as Jehovah - Ropheka.-Rev. Richard Newton, D.D.

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Universality and permanence.

[10806] In many of our hospitals there is a ward for incurables. There are cases which every physician will decline to undertake because he knows that nothing can be done with them. The medical faculty, with all their experience and skill, have nothing to suggest with any hope or prospect of success. But Jehovah-Ropheka knows no such cases. In the hospital of His grace there is no ward for incurables. There are no limits to the range and operation of His wisdom and power. He has not made a specialty of any particular cases. He has power to heal in all cases. There is no form of spiritual disease that can be incurable to Him. He is able to heal, as He is to save-unto the uttermost.

When Jesus was on earth He was illustrating all the time His power as a Healer. And they brought to Him sick persons that were taken with divers diseases and torments; the lame, the blind, the deaf, the palsied, the withered, were brought to Him. Those on whom the best physicians of the day had exhausted all their skill, experience, and power without the slightest relief, were brought to Him, "and He healed them all." No earthly physician will undertake both to restore his patient to health, and at the same time to give him the assurance that the disease from which he has suffered shall never return to him. This is a matter quite beyond the reach of ordinary medical ability. But it is not so with our heavenly Healer. He undertakes to make His healing work not only perfect but permanent.—Ibid.

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FEHOVAH-SHALOM.

("The Lord our Peace," Judges vi. 24.)

I. NATURE, SIGNIFICANCE, AND MANIFESTED INFLUENCE OF THE DIVINE PEACE IMPLIED IN THIS TITLE.

[10807] This does not mean merely that God's

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own nature is tranquil, that He dwells in everlasting calm, beyond all trouble, tremor, storm, and tempest; above the strife and agitation of this lower world; its births, and deaths, and graves. That is true; and it is refreshing to turn thought sometimes that way, as we dash through the billowy sea-to think of the everlasting calm in the heart and being of God. But the nearer meaning here is, the God who makes peace where it has been broken, and gives it where it is lost. The God who makes peace between heaven and earth, between law and conscience, between Himself and sinful

men.

How does He make it? Through "the blood of the everlasting covenant." If there is a way between heaven and earth, an open way for hopes and prayers, for departing souls and descending angels; if troubled consciences are pacified and cleansed; if thunders of broken law are hushed into silence, it is because this blood was shed, because Christ died, "the just for the unjust." If men cease to fret and worry themselves with the troubles of life, for that they believe that all is well; if they lay aside all animosity, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and all evil-speaking, and seek really to love their neighbour as themselves, all this is through the blood of the everlasting covenant. That is the fountain of all true peace.-A. Raleigh, D.D.

[10808] To have this peace is to have our wills moving in harmony with the Divine will: it is to have our affections subordinated and controlled by the holy law of God; it is to have our desires elevated, our fears of trouble and death subdued, and our hopes of immortality strong, and bright, and abiding. Yes, it is a comforting influence which this peace imparts. -Rev. Richard Newton, D.D.

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JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH.

("The Lord is there," Ezek. xlviii. 35.)

I. THE MEANING OF THIS TITLE SUGGESTIVE OF GOD'S PRESENCE CONSTITUTING THE CHIEF GLORY OF HEAVEN.

The nature of the presence.

(1) It will be both unveiled and transforming. [10809] Here, in this world, we know nothing of God but what He has been pleased to reveal of Himself in His Word. When we close this blessed volume, or look elsewhere for light or knowledge respecting Him, however far-reaching and long-continued our search may be, the only result is that we cannot "by searching find out God." Men were left for four thousand years to see what they could do in this respect, and the issue of the experiment was that "the world by wisdom knew not God." And in view of such an experience how well we may look up and say, in the words of the prophet, "Verily Thou

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art a God that hidest Thyself, O God of Israel!" And even with the open Bible before us, and availing ourselves of all its help, our knowledge of Him is very imperfect now. "Clouds and darkness are round about Him." The clearest

views we can get of His character in His life are dim and indistinct. But when we reach that heavenly city, whose name will be JehovahShammah-the Lord is there-this difficulty will be removed. Then, instead of seeing "through a glass darkly, we shall see face to face." "Then shall we know even as also we are known." And when the redeemed are introduced into that heavenly city, whose name is Jehovah-Shammah-the Lord is there-we are told, "They shall be like Him; for they shall see Him as He is" (1 John iii. 2). Here we see there is a connection instituted between the presence of God vouchsafed to His people there, and the likeness to Him by which they are characterized. Seeing Him as He is, is the reason assigned for their likeness to Him. This shows that there is a transforming power in His presence as there displayed.-Rev. Richard Newton, D.D. (condensed).

(2) It will be alike satisfying, progressive, and eternal.

[10810] We see many objects of beauty and grandeur in the world around us; and we find real pleasure in beholding them. But, however great this pleasure may be, it is still true, as Solomon says, that The eye is not satisfied with seeing." And there are two things which account for the striking difference that exists between seeing the beauty that appears in this lower world, and "seeing the King in His beauty," as He appears to the saints in glory. We look upon the beauties seen in the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the hills, the ocean; but we are not satisfied with seeing, because they are not ours. They do not belong to us. We cannot appropriate them to our own use. But it will be different when we stand and gaze on the glories of the Divine presence as displayed in heaven. For, no matter how great the beauty and the grandeur of that presence may be, it will be our privilege to know that it all belongs to us. As we gaze upon the glorious Being, before whom we shall be standing, it will be our privilege to point to Him and say, "This God is our God." Jehovah-Shammah, the glorious Lord, in whose presence we are to stand in heaven, is an infinite God. And all the elements of His character are infinite too. And it is this feature of His character which will afford material for ever-fresh development or progress in our knowledge and enjoyment of Him. The light of His presence will shine more and more unto the perfect day. And as we go on, exulting in the joy which that presence gives, we shall realize continually that there are still new beauties for us to see, and still increasing light. We shall be sailing over an ocean that is literally shoreless. And while perfectly satisfied with what we see of God's presence to-day, we shall have the blissful