1 / 21

GOD AND HUMAN CONCEPTION

GOD AND HUMAN CONCEPTION. EXODUS 3:1-15. INTRODUCTION. It is a common trend to think of God in human and universal terms Moses ’ encounter with God at Horeb sparks a startling self revelation of God that stands in immeasurable superiority to all human conception put together.

jpage
Télécharger la présentation

GOD AND HUMAN CONCEPTION

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. GOD AND HUMAN CONCEPTION EXODUS 3:1-15

  2. INTRODUCTION It is a common trend to think of God in human and universal terms Moses’ encounter with God at Horeb sparks a startling self revelation of God that stands in immeasurable superiority to all human conception put together.

  3. PRELUDE TO THE GREAT REVALTION • The burning bush that did not burn up • God revealed himself as the Covenant God (The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). • Moses feared to look at God.

  4. GOD COMMISIONS MOSES • Exo 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; • Exo 3:8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. • Exo 3:9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. • Exo 3:10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

  5. MAGNITUDE OF THE COMMISION • Delivering Israel out of a world renown monarch Egypt without military force • Going back to Egypt where he fled from after killing an Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-15). • Moses was shepherd, a class of people despised by Egyptians (Genesis 46:34).

  6. MAGNITUDE OF THE COMMISION • Canaanite – Pedlar, merchant, trafficker • Hittite – Fear, terror. • Amorite – Mountaineer, carrying a sense of publicity, i.e. prominence • Perizzite – inhabitant of the open country, i.e to encompass, bind around. • Hivite – Villager i.e permanent settlement • Jebusite (Jebus – aboriginal name of Jerusalem) – trodden, i.e threshing place, figuratively, to produce wealth, fruit, increase.

  7. MOSES’ SELF- PERCEPTION AND GOD’S ANSWER (v11-12). • Moses: Who am I? (A wanted fugitive and a despised shepherd). • God: I will be with you.

  8. THE BIG QUESTION WHO IS GOD? (WHAT IS HIS NAME – V13)?

  9. SOME HUMAN CONCEPTS ABOUT GOD • Egyptian thought - Not one God, but many gods • Hebrew thought – One God known by many titles, e.g. Adhonai, El Shaddai, and Elohim are prominent. • Some contemporary thoughts: • Creator? • Moral principle? • All powerful? • Traditional deities.

  10. I Am Who I Am/JHWH (JEHOVAH/YAWHEH)(v13-15) • Jehovah – actually a misleading representation of the only name (as distinct from titles) of God in the Old Testament. • It is uncertain what vowels should be attached to the Hebrew consonants JHWH that make up the divine name. • At a late date it became a matter of binding fear to even pronounce the divine name, so that the actual pronunciation of the divine name is not known to this day. • There are only reasonable grounds for thinking that the name was Yawheh.

  11. JHWH/JEHOVAH • In reading the Scriptures, the Jews substituted the divine name with the noun adhoani (Greek – Kyrios ). • Significant of New Testament designation of Jesus as Kyrios i.e the Jehovah of the Old Testament. • The Formulation “Jehovah”arose by attempts to insert the vowels of adhonai into the consonants JHWH, thereby producing a name that never was!

  12. JHWH/JEHOVAH • Prior to Moses, the name JHWH had not been used as a meaningful understanding of the divine nature (Exodus 6:2-3) • Exo 6:2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: • Exo 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. • E.g. Genesis 17:1 – God revealed himself to Abram as El Shaddai (God Almighty). • Patriarchs used the name JHWH simply as a label, not as a revelation of the nature of God.

  13. SIGNIFICANCE OF A NAME • The Egyptian society, where the Israelites lived, worshipped many gods. So there was need to know which god. • In Hebrew context names both identified those to whom they were attached and also gave a clue to their character (1 Samuel 25:25). • So the name of God identifies him and gives us a clue to his character.

  14. I Am Who I Am(Exodus 3:14) • The theological significance of Yahweh is opened to Moses at Horeb. • The name of God is related to the Hebrew verb that consists of the four letters (JHWH) that form the root of the verbs “to be” and “to become”. Thus: • “To be actually present” or “a present reality” • “I am actively present” or “I make to be actively present”. • Thus “I am who I am” could mean either “I am actively present as and when I choose” or “I bring to pass whatever I choose”

  15. GOD LINKES HIS NAME TO ETERNITYExodus 3:15 • “this is my eternal name (or this is my eternal name forever), and this is my memorial unto all generations.” • Eternity is an attribute that befits only God. • If we could understand eternity fully, we could also understand God fully. • As it is, eternity is beyond human conception and so is God. • Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. • Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

  16. GOD’S ETERNITY, OUR ADVANTAGE • If God could be defined or explained fully, then he would be limited to such definitions or explanations. Consequently, he would not be God. • Anything that can be defined or explained is limited to that definition or explanation. • But God cannot be defined in human or universal language because he is beyond that. • Hence the believer’s life, faith, hope, and love go beyond human conception (John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 13:13).

  17. GOD’S ETERNITY, OUR ADVANTAGE • “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19). • Where our efforts end, there would our hope finish. • But now we have something, a Being, beyond all human capabilities to act, think, or even imagination (Ephesians 3:20). • God is beyond all human conception. • Where all fails, we can look up to God because he is different and above all

  18. THE PROBLEM WHO AM I?

  19. THE SOLUTION I will be with you (Exodus 3:12) I am with you always … (Matt 28:20) I AM WHO I AM

  20. APPLICATION • Take God the way he says he is and begin to live a life of breaking through all negative limitations. • Move from “who am I” to “who he is”. • Just take him as he is. • Focus on Him, not on yourself. • LET GOD BE THE GOD HE SAYS HE IS IN YOUR LIFE

  21. GOD BE WITH YOU!

More Related