A kingdom obituary -April 30, 1925 ~ July 28, 2025

This morning, we will put my grandmother, Audrey in the ground to lie next to her husband Horace who passed on 4 Feb 2000 at the age of 79. She lived to be 100 years old, a full century. Have you ever considered what that means? Audrey’s life was a full century testimony to faith in Jesus Christ, her quiet strength, and endearing heartfelt service to her LORD. Audrey’s life very much embodied that kind of kingdom dedication.

At the end of her high school career during World War II, she stepped up to support her country as a factory worker, aiding the war effort. Even as a young woman, Audrey showed the kind of courage, patriotism, and virtue that would define her entire life. On May 1, 1946, Audrey was united in marriage to my grandfather, Ellington Horace Lansdowne of Madison, WI — a man who had served as a Former Flight Instructor (FFI) in the US Army Air Corps and later, a private flight instructor and firefighter for the City of Madison. 

People don’t really come in this kind of form anymore. It has been described as a lost generation.¹ She lived out the great depression eating ketchup sandwiches. Her father passed early in life, so she supported her family working in high school and graduating before her older sisters and likely built bombs in the war effort at the age of 17 because she believed in a country that gave her the freedom of faith to worship her God. Horace showed up in an airplane and said go buy a dress we are getting married tomorrow… and they did and then flew away to start a family… probably on the plane ride home in auto pilot (which would have been a rope tied to the Taylorcraft yoke!)

She and Horace went on to be part of the founding members of Westwood Christian Church where Horace was an elder for many years and Audrey wore many hats. It was at this children’s church that I met my good lifelong friend Keith N. Schoville who started teaching me Hebrew incantations at an early age. He earned a Ph.D from UW Madison and later became the chairman of the of Hebrew and Semitic studies department. Keith helped me get into Bible college at Moody Bible Institute and later was instrumental in getting me into the Ph.D program at UW Madison in the Semitic studies department. I have a lot of great memories of attending church every time we visited grandma and grandpa. Going to church while visiting them was never an option, people don’t really do that anymore and it is unfortunate in many ways. I am thankful for what that sort of endearment ended up crafting in my life.

My grandfather was an adventurer. He literally swept Audrey off her feet and created a great life. She raised babies according to the ways of the LORD, and he did what he could to provide moving them into a sizeable home, working as a Madison firefighter which would later provide a pension that would take care of Audrey (and in some sense my mother) for many years after he was no longer around. Horace (better known as EHL) was a great enthusiast of many things to include aviation, Ford Mustangs, VW Beetles, giant Cadillacs, a 63 corvette (if I remember right), and a pretty good firearms collection that was hidden in every nook and cranny of that old house. I was quite impacted by my younger years with Horace and Audrey. I believe if that old house is ever torn down the walls and floorboards will share some stories. I will always remember driving around the countryside with my father and grandfather from one gun store to another shopping for the rare addition to the collections. I remember the infatuation I had with an old luger that grandpa had and yesterday we (my boys and Rob ad his boys) went shooting with some old WWII classics and I was taken back to remember some of those days with EHL.

My Grandfather is also responsible for my shopping and trading addiction. At a young age he sat me down in next to him at his “aviation” desk, handed me a red marker and a trade-a-plane and said find the best one! For many years that became a great pastime, and I am pretty sure he actually went out and bought one of those planes I circled at one point! As a flight instructor, by the time I was 12 he had me in ground school on a Texas Instrument TI-99 4a (pretty sure the numbers are right but going from total memory) computer flight simulator. This later gave way to me being a near computer wiz before anyone else I knew had even seen a computer. A mere 10 years later (still in the DOS days and even before blackberries) I figured out how to get email into a very early version of what we now call smart phones. I remember EHL not being able to wrap his mind around the concept of the internet and email. EHL would go on to have a stroke that he should have died from but was never really the same after that and passed in 2000, the year before Krista and I married. Audrey spent many years caring for him in that state. Her strength once again showed tenacity.

Audrey was resilient. She moved in with my parents and my father built a new home in the woods of Wausau with a mother-in-law quarter in the basement that was all hers. She loved that place and so did my mother. After my father passed in 2006 at 58 years old that house had special meaning to both of them. But my mother and grandmother were strong and within a few years moved to Walworth in a near new home where they could be close to our family and specifically my boys. This was a missional move.

My children grew up playing songs for Mamaw and great grammy a couple times a week. They attended regular soccer games and were always there to root on the boys in whatever capacity that meant. Grandma always had a special smile for them that no one else ever seemed to get from her! It became one of our greatest joys in life watching the sweet interactions between them. By the time our Oldest, Ty got his license, I would regularly ask where he was to find out he was at Mamaw and Great Grammys just hanging out! I will always remember and cherish the hearts of my boys towards these widows.

One of the things I liked most about Audrey was that she wasn’t overly salvific, and to be clear I don’t say this as being a bad thing; but her entire life she was more committed to deeper discipleship than evangelism and I truly believe that was the heart of Jesus in the great commission. She desired more than just a saving knowledge of Christ, she desired for people to really experience who Jesus was; to know what it meant to leave everything on the beach and give Jesus your complete life. She lived out that message perhaps better than EHL did. It has been said that behind every great man is a greater woman of faith.

That life resiliency that I had come to love and respect so much never left Audrey. Even into her nineties her mind was sharp, and it showed in her love and fervor for things of the LORD. She was a picture of what has become ancient devotion. She watched gospel TV nearly all day long and quite literally had the Bible memorized even in her old age. Even in the last couple of years of her life when her mind and memory showed signs of age she insisted on watching her favorite church services and impressing on my boys the need and desire of her heart for them to walk with the LORD.

Although I may not have agreed with all of her John MacArthur like theology, her fervency of faith was impressive, and I welcomed it into our family. I have a near photographic memory of scripture. I remember verses that people have used that they have long forgotten. It is a gift that is deeply woven into my DNA likely from inception.

One of the last scriptures she recited to me that I remember clearly was Psalm 102:12 –But You, Lord, remain forever, and Your name remains to all generations. (Ok you invited a theologian to address the internment!)

In Hebrew, this is יְהֹוָה לְעוֹלָם, you might recognize it even if you don’t know much Hebrew. David uses the personal name of God, יְהֹוָה , not the word “Lord.” I think at some point Audrey discovered this. It was a very personal verse, not a title but the very NAME of God, YHWH. But the psalmist goes on to say your “name” remains forever. You have probably heard that traditional Jews that don’t pronounce God’s name and often use the term Ha-Shem as a spoken substitute for YHVH which means “the name” in English… but here that isn’t the word that is used for “name.” Instead, the Hebrew word  zēker is used which I find strangely interesting. In Hebrew singular words often tell a plethora of things… this is a sort of remez, or retelling of many things in a simple word or statement, it was idiomatic. The word means, “think (about), meditate (upon), pay attention (to); remember, recollect; mention, declare, recite, proclaim, invoke, commemorate, accuse, confess.”²

I imagine if I could go back to that moment with Audrey many years ago when she shared this verse with my young boys that she knew what this verse embodied because she lived it. This verse is God’s declaration. It is the vocational calling and identity that we have in Him and Audrey lived that out and made it known impressing on me at an early age to live this way and later doing the same for my boys.

It’s not the letters YHVH that remain forever.  It’s the remembrance of who He is.  Heschel used to say, “to believe is to remember.”³

One more thing, did you ever notice that “remains to all generations” is in italics? What do you think that means?  In Hebrew it reads:  תֵּשֵב וְזִכְרְךָ לְדֹר וָדֹר׃  (Te-Shev Ve-Zikh-Re-Kha Le-Dor Va-Dor). You will notice the literary rhythmic pattern, the connecting genre of the wisdom and poetic texts.

Te-Shev is the verb “abide” – “You, YHVH, abide [remain].”  But the verb yāšab is more controversial and therefore stumbles in translation, it sometimes is read as “dwell” but here I will challenge (and Robert Alter⁴ would agree) means “to be enthroned.”  “You, YHVH, are forever enthroned.” 

The NASB then translates “To all generations,” (the word “all” isn’t technically in the text.) 

So here is the thing, the “name” of God, that is, His remembrance, depends on the generations of men or should I even say women. Today this has largely become lost. Do you see the implication?

The verse implies that we need someone to do the praising, remembering, and worshipping—someone alive!  “If I die,” implies the psalmist, “Your glory will be diminished because I won’t be there to praise You.” The Psalmist sees their part in the covenant partnership and so did Audrey. She knew that she needed to live it out and insist on such a way of devotional living. You didn’t play cards in Grandmas house, and you better remember to pray before you eat. Are you following me? God’s faithfulness spans the generations for those that are devout.  for Audrey it was YHWH, “You are worthy of all praise.  Let me partner with that notion.” And that is what she prayed for her grandsons and for us. Today we honor her by doing just that.

I know that her children and grandchildren have taken on a wide range of faith and there is a great deal of diversity here. I ask today that we celebrate that. That we come together in honor of Audrey for what we are united in and find common. I believe that although Audrey would want to encourage you into her John MacArthur like religion and perhaps you already know that greater than I do, but she would also smile on any step that leaned towards Jesus. I invite you to come back to that place.

Would you join me one last time?

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see

1. https://www.bu.edu/historic/_hs_pdfs/Bess_Forum_Mar_Ap_08.pdf ↩︎
2. Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., Jr., & Waltke, B. K. (Eds.). (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 241). Chicago: Moody Press. ↩︎
3. https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/5560/in-and-out-of-time/ ↩︎
4. https://www.amazon.com/Book-Psalms-Translation-Commentary/dp/0393337049 ↩︎

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:  Ecclesiastes 3:1  NIV

Whenever I read Ecclesiastes 3 I start humming “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)”, a song written by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s, which the Byrds scored a HUGE 1965 hit with.¹ The lyrics, except for the title which is repeated throughout the song and the final two lines, are adapted word-for-word from the English King James Version of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.² In the U.S., the song holds distinction as the number one hit with the oldest lyrics.³ I sometimes Joke that Seeger got more people to memorize scripture than any pastor in history. However, you remember it, I am sure at some point you have contemplated the questions it raises.

Ecclesiastes 3 contains philosophical speeches by a character called ‘Qoheleth’ (“the Teacher”; Koheleth or Kohelet), composed probably between the fifth and second centuries BC. Peshitta, Targum, and Talmud attribute the authorship of the book to King Solomon.⁴

Although I am sure you have hummed the tune, too many people go through life without ever stopping to “really” ponder a very simple question, “what connection do you have to Jesus and His kingdom and what should that mean to you in this life?” That is the question the wise Kohelet brings to their audience and is as relevant 2500 years later, today – as it was the day it was penned.

Mircea Eliade was a Romanian philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago who became one of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and interpreter of religious experience, he established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day.⁵ He helped us recognize the “myth of eternal return” in the ancient world. The idea that every culture has had some kind of circle of life (as Disney later adopted it). From the Aztecs 27,000 year cycle,⁶ to the Hebraic 50 years of Jubilee year, including every seven years a sabbatical year, most cultures have recognized some cycle of life.⁷ In our culture New Years is a day of rethinking the past and taking on a resolution to do better in the coming year. In some way shape or form, I think everyone has considered the notion.

As I reflect on different life cycles I am reminded that even though the Hebraic calendar includes yearly festivals, they are different than the other cycles of the world because they are not merely repetitions of the primordial event. In Hebrew thought, the world is actually going somewhere, and we are all a distinct part of that story. We are all part of a return to Eden. But the past is finished and luckily for many of us, a recreated heaven and earth will bring the perfect union of Jesus in partnership with our true identity in Him that we have only imagined in fairy tale like songs. But to many who have stopped and considered the mastery of the entire narrative to us we have arrived and become firmly fixed on the notion that the sentiment is worth our lives.

Jon Gibson has uncovered something beautifully for us. As we reflect, remember, resolve and contemplate things more significant in this life, I am betting that we have seen seasons and have hopefully travelled to a better place of life through these journeys. But perhaps the best is yet to come for you.

The word the Qohelet uses in Hebrew for time is zĕmān. In Hebrew the word doesn’t denote an indeterminate sequence but rather an appointed moment. ⁸ An appointed moment of birth—and death.  An appointed moment to laugh—and cry.  To kill—and heal.  To sow—and reap.  All appointed.⁹ Perhaps there is something more going on in this life. Maybe there is a sense of orchestration in the ordinary that has led us to beautiful places even in the messiness or busyness of our modern life cycles. Most of us wouldn’t choose the courses of our past but we also wouldn’t choose to remove them from our lives. That seems to be an ontological fact of existence that we have in common. We are on a sentient journey.

I pray that in the pages of this masterful piece that you will find peace, comfort, and a sense of direction in the fact that somehow God is working out His plan within the pages of your life journey.  Behind it all is His invisible hand. That’s comforting. Perhaps in the tears and fears, joy and grief, success and failure, helping and hurting; we will understand the immense love that Jon has so beautifully given us through his connections to Jesus. I pray that on this journey you may be captivated by these seasons and find a sense of peace but also action.

 “The more beauty of God you capture today in your heart today, the greater the beauty you will find in your next season.”  Don’t cast your seasons to the wind until you have grabbed hold of its beauty and set it in your heart for eternity.¹⁰

This article is intended to be a catalyst to Jon Gibson’s book “HERE AND NOW” to be released in 2026.

1. “Turn! Turn! Turn! – Byrds Version”. Allmusic. ↩︎
2. “King Solomon’s Writings”. United Church of God: An International Association ↩︎
3. Hasson, Nir (2009-11-08). “Pete Seeger’s role in ending Israeli house demolitions”. Haaretz. ↩︎
4. Jastrow, Morris; Margoliouth, David Samuel (1901–1906). “Ecclesiastes, Book of”. In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. ↩︎
5. Rennie, Bryan (January 2001). Changing Religious Worlds: The Meaning and End of Mircea Eliade. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-4729-1. ↩︎
6. Hill Boone, Elizabeth (2016). Ciclos de tiempo y significado en los libros mexicanos del destino [Cycles of time and meaning in the Mexican books of destiny]. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica. ISBN 9786071635020. ↩︎
7. B. Zuckermann, A Treatise on the Sabbatical Cycle and the Jubilee, trans. A. Löwy. New York: Hermon Press, 1974. ↩︎
8. Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 94a ↩︎
9. https://brianzahnd.com/2018/01/twenty-two-days/ ↩︎
10.  “Robert Wiedeman Barrett (Pen) Browning (1849–1912)”. Armstrong Browning Library and Museum, Baylor University. ↩︎

I have this large print rendering on the wall of our home. Many ask about it and I am usually pretty quiet and generic in my response to people. There is something about the name of God that seems unutterable. I kind of feel like saying, “If you have to ask me, then you are not going to understand.”

The best name for referring to God is יהוה (YHWH). This is called “THE” Tetragrammaton and comes from the Greek tetra, meaning “four,” and gramma, which means “letters.” It refers to the four consonants Yod, He, Vav and He (written from right to left in the Hebrew), used to designate God’s name in the Old Testament’s original manuscripts. They represent the English letters (from left to right) of YHWH (or YHVH). The Tetragrammaton is commonly translated as Lord, God or Jehovah in modern Bibles. Most translations, such as the KJV, NIV, NASB, HBFV and others, capitalize these words (e.g. LORD) when the underlying Hebrew referencing God is (usually) the Tetragrammaton. YHWH (or YHVH) is the most common proper name of the one true God found in Scripture. The Tetragrammaton occurs 5,410 times in the Old Testament manuscripts according to the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia. The encyclopedia also states it is found the most in the Psalms (645) followed by the book of Jeremiah (555).¹

The Bible actually only calls God by 7 different names, the rest of the “names” often attributed are actually descriptions of God, which I will admit, could also be construed as a “name” since God is in essence the definition of these attributes. Most of our research will land in the Old Testament, but I will finish with the New. Here is a better understanding to the names of God.

Tetragrammaton

YHWH is called the Tetragrammaton which is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym יהוה‎ (transliterated as YHWH or YHVH). This is the best and most used name for God in the scripture, some would argue that is really the only “real” name. Contrary to what some believe, Jehovah is not the Divine Name revealed to Israel. The name Jehovah is a product of mixing different words and different alphabets of different languages. Due to a fear of accidentally taking God’s name in vain (Leviticus 24:16), the Jews basically quit saying it out loud altogether. Instead, when reading Scripture aloud, the Jews substituted the tetragrammaton YHWH with the word Adonai (“Lord”). Even in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), the translators substituted Kurios (“Lord”) for the Divine Name. Eventually, the vowels from Adonai (“Lord”) or Elohim (“God”) found their way in between the consonants of YHWH, thus forming YaHWeH. But this interpolation of vowels does not mean that was how God’s name was originally pronounced. In fact, we aren’t entirely sure if YHWH should have two syllables or three.²

The four Hebrew letters, written and read from right to left, are yod, he, vav, and he. The name is derived from a verb that means ‘to be’, ‘to exist’, ‘to cause to become’, or ‘to come to pass’.³ This is based off of many scriptures such as when Moses asks for God’s name at the burning bush, God answers ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ He then tells Moses that when the Israelites ask the name of the God of their ancestors, Moses should tell them ‘I AM’ has sent you (Exodus 3:14). In Hebrew the word is Ehyeh, the Hebrew word Yahweh is a derivative of Ehyeh and means “he will be.” The name Yahweh is used over six thousand times in the Old Testament and is so closely identified with the essence of God’s nature that, out of reverence, many orthodox Jewish people refuse to say the name out loud. Instead, they say HaShem—which means “the name,” or Adonai, which means “Lord.” Modern translations of the Bible print LORD, in all capital letters, to denote the use of the Hebrew word YHWH throughout scripture.⁴ Owing to the expansion of chumra, the idea of ‘building a fence around the Torah’, the word Adonai itself has come to be too holy to say for Orthodox Jews outside of prayer, leading to its replacement by HaShem (‘The Name’). In modernity, Christianity is the only Abrahamic religion in which the Tetragrammaton is freely and openly pronounced. As other traditions might view this openness as irreverent, Christians believe that God has offered a personal relationship to which bearing His image and claiming His name has been offered to them. The books of the Torah and the rest of the Hebrew Bible except Esther, Ecclesiastes, and (with a possible instance of יה‎ (Jah) in verse 8:6) the Song of Songs contain this Hebrew name.⁵

7 NAMES OF GOD

The Jewish sages would say that there are 7 names of God that, once written, cannot be erased because of their holiness⁶ are the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), Adonai, El, Elohim, Shaddai, Tzevaot; some also include I Am that I Am, from which “YHWH” is believed to be derived.⁷ As mentioned previously, all other names, such as “Merciful”, “Gracious” and “Faithful”, merely represent attributes that are also common to human beings.⁸

•  יהוה (YHWH) – The Tetragrammaton appears in Genesis and occurs 6,828 times in total in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia edition of the Masoretic Text. It is thought to be an archaic third-person singular of the imperfective aspect of the verb “to be” (i.e., “[He] is/was/will be”). This agrees with the passage in Exodus where God names himself as “I Will Be What I Will Be” using the first-person singular imperfective aspect, open to interpretation as present tense (“I am what I am”), future (“I shall be what I shall be”), or imperfect (“I used to be what I used to be”).⁹
  
• אֲדֹנָי (Adonai transl. my Lord[s]) -As with Elohim, Adonai’s grammatical form is usually explained as a form akin to the “royal we”. In the Hebrew Bible, the word is nearly always used to refer to God (approximately 450 occurrences). The Deuteronomy 32 Worldview is largely based around a plural understanding of El and Adonai.
  
• אֵל (El transl. God) – El appears in Ugaritic, Phoenician and other late Bronze and Iron Age Levant texts both as generic “god” and as the head of the divine pantheon.¹⁰ In the Hebrew Bible, El (אל, ʾel) appears very occasionally alone (e.g. Genesis 33:20, el elohei yisrael, ‘Mighty God of Israel’, and Genesis 46:3, ha’el elohei abika, ‘El the God of thy father’), but usually with some epithet or attribute attached (e.g. El Elyon, ‘Most High El’, El Shaddai, El Shaddai, El ʿOlām ‘Everlasting El’, El Hai, ‘Living El’, El Ro’i ‘El my Shepherd’, and El Gibbor ‘El of Strength’). In can also be seen in theophoric names such as Gabriel (“Strength of God”), Michael (“Who is like God?”), Raphael (“God healed”), Ariel (“My lion is God”), Daniel (“My judgment is God”), Ezekiel (“God shall strengthen”), Israel (“one who has struggled with God”), Immanuel (“God is with us”), and Ishmael (“God hears/ will hear / listens/ will listen”).
  
• אֱלֹהִים (Elohim transl. Gods/Godhead) – A common name of God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim (אלהים, ʾĕlōhīm), the plural of אֱלוֹהַּ (Eloha). When Elohim refers to God in the Hebrew Bible, singular verbs are used. The word is identical to elohim meaning gods and is cognate to the ‘lhm found in Ugaritic, where it is used for the pantheon of Canaanite gods, the children of El and conventionally vocalized as “Elohim” although the original Ugaritic vowels are unknown. When the Hebrew Bible uses elohim not in reference to God, it is plural (for example, Exodus 20:2). There are a few other such uses in Hebrew, for example Behemoth. In Modern Hebrew, the singular word ba’alim (‘owner’) looks plural, but likewise takes a singular verb. Therefore scholars would consider “elohim” as the most generic term for God and can mean other gods. There is a view to which Elohim is translated as the plural construct ‘powers’; Hebrew grammar allows for this form to mean “He is the Power (singular) over powers (plural)”, such as LORD MOST HIGH.
  
• שַׁדַּי (Shaddai transl. Almighty) –  El Shaddai is conventionally translated as “God Almighty”. While the translation of El as ‘god’ in Ugaritic/Canaanite languages is straightforward, the literal meaning of Shaddai is the subject of debate.
  
• צְבָאוֹת (Tzevaoth transl. [Lord of] Hosts) – Tzevaot, Tzevaoth, Tsebaoth or Sabaoth (צבאות, ṣəḇāʾōṯ, lit. “Armies”), usually translated “Hosts”, appears in reference to armies or armed hosts of men but is not used as a divine epithet in the Torah, Joshua, or Judges. Starting in the Books of Samuel, the term “Lord of Hosts” appears hundreds of times throughout the Prophetic books, in Psalms, and in Chronicles. Tertullian and other Fathers of the Church used it with the meaning of “Army of angels of God”.¹¹
  
• I Am that I Am – already explained above

OTHER NAMES FOR GOD

Early authorities considered other Hebrew names mere epithets or descriptions of God, many Orthodox Jews have adopted the chumras of writing “G-d” instead of “God”.

You also might be surprised to learn that Baal meant ‘owner’ and, by extension, ‘lord’, ‘master’, and ‘husband’ in Hebrew and the other Northwest Semitic languages.¹² In some early contexts and theophoric names, it and Baali (“My Lord”) were treated as synonyms of Adon and Adonai.¹³

There are other “names” used for God, but all of them are a bit more arguable. Elim and Elah are often Hebrew/Aramaic words for God. Elah is used to describe both pagan gods and the Abrahamic God and therefore is often considered the Aramic version of the Hebrew Elohim. El Roi is a “name” found in Genesis, when Hagar uses this name for the God who spoke to her through His Angel. In Hebrew, her phrase El Roi, is literally, ‘God of Seeing Me’. But as I have made the point previously, it really isn’t another proper name for God but a description of God that might perhaps be entitled as a name. In the ancient world an original name was given (sometimes later than the original name) according to what you were known for. That is also true when considering the name changes given by God to others in the Bible. Therefore, there is an argument for the many other “names” of God being defined as original attributes… such as God isn’t just described as being Holy, He actually is Holy; He has defined the attribute.

In a Deuteronomy 32 worldview (Divine Council) there is another name worth mentioning. The name Elyon (עליון) occurs in combination with El, YHWH, Elohim and alone. It appears chiefly in poetic and later Biblical passages. The modern Hebrew adjective ‘Elyon means ‘supreme’ (as in “Supreme Court”: Hebrew: בית המשפט העליון) or ‘Most High’. El Elyon has been traditionally translated into English as ‘God Most High’. ¹⁴ But again, the name is really just “El” attached to an adjective, but does the original adjective then become Him?

Shekhinah (שכינה) is the presence or manifestation of God which has descended to “dwell” among humanity. The term never appears in the Hebrew Bible; later rabbis used the word when speaking of God dwelling either in the Tabernacle or amongst the people of Israel. The root of the word means “dwelling”. Of the principal names of God, it is the only one that is of the feminine gender in Hebrew grammar. The term, however, may not be a name, as it may merely describe the presence of God, and not God Himself.¹⁵ I mention this because some wonder about the femininity of God. You might consider reading this post if you are interested in those that hold views this way. However, to get back to the name shekinah, in the New Testament after Jesus ascends to the throne and sends His spirit to indwell every believe we are now the manifestation physically of that Spirit. God in us. The phrase “God with us” is often associated with the Hebrew name “Immanuel” (sometimes spelled “Emmanuel”), which directly translates to “God with us.” This phrase appears prophetically in the Old Testament and is quoted in the New Testament to reveal a profound truth about the identity of Jesus. It proclaims that the Messiah is not merely a human representative but the very presence of God dwelling among humanity.¹⁶ In similar ontological idea, at Pentecost God now dwells in His people.

NEW TESTAMANT NAMES OF GOD

While the Old Testament has a wide variety of names and epithets that refer to God in Hebrew, the Greek text of the New Testament uses far fewer variants.¹⁷ In the New Testament God’s names are written as Theos (θεός the Greek term for God), Kyrios (i.e. Lord in Greek) and Patēr (πατήρ i.e. Father in Greek). The Aramaic word “Abba” (אבא), meaning “Father” is used by Jesus in Mark 14:36 and also appears in Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6. Paul refers to “the Father of mercies” in his Second Letter to the Corinthians,^[and James refers to “the Father of lights” in his epistle.

The names of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are inherently related in the New Testament, e.g. with Jesus’ instruction to His disciples at the end of the Gospel of Matthew (28:19): “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.

The Greek word pneuma, generally translated spirit, is found around 385 times in the New Testament.  The “Spirit of Truth” is used in John 14:17, 15:26 and 16:13. The First Epistle of John then contrasts this with the “spirit of error” in 1 John 4:6. Although most of the evangelical word believes in the Trinity to be “God Himself”, much of the orthodox world does not view “GOD” this way. They would view God and Jesus and the ability for either of them to “send” their spirit, but not necessarily as a separate entity or person. There is a consistent argument for both the New and Old Testaments to interpret the spirit in this sense. Some would then call it a matter of semantics, but to be clear this does divide those that call themselves trinitarians and those that don’t. Here is a Biblically conservative post that dives into this conversation.

CONCLUSIVE THOUGHTS

Although in some modern culture’s names are simply labels and designators that distinguish one item from another, in Christian theology the names of God have always had much deeper meaning and significance.¹⁸ In the religious sense, the names of God are not human inventions, but have divine origin and are based on divine revelation. Berkhof states that the issue surrounding the use and interpretation of the names of God provide a theological puzzle in that given that God is “infinite and incomprehensible”, His names transcend human thought, yet they allow Him to be revealed to humans as he descends to what is finite and comprehensible. ¹⁹ The name(s) of God have always been revered in the Christian tradition and has been associated with His presence. We often say, there is power in the name and we truly believe that. All the power and all the authority that Jesus had is invested in His Name and given through His Spirit to manifest in them. Jesus said we could use His Name in prayer. He said we could use His Name in dealing with demons. He said we could use His Name in ministering healing. 

Kenyon wrote: The measure of His ability [the measure of the ability of the Lord Jesus Christ] is the measure of the value of that Name, and all that is invested in that Name belongs to us, for Jesus gave us the unqualified use of His Name.²⁰

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A SMALL GROUP STUDY GUIDE

1. https://www.biblestudy.org/beginner/definition-of-christian-terms/tetragrammaton.html ↩︎
2. https://www.gotquestions.org/YHWH-tetragrammaton.html ↩︎
3. Kitz, Anne Marie (2019). “The Verb *yahway”. Journal of Biblical Literature. 138 (1): 39–62. ↩︎
4. https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/what-meaning-gods-name-i-am.html ↩︎
5. Geoffrey William Bromiley; Erwin Fahlbusch; Jan Milic Lochman; John Mbiti; Jaroslav Pelikan; Lukas Vischer, eds. (2008). “Yahweh”. The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Vol. 5. Translated by Geoffrey William Bromiley. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing ; Brill. pp. 823–824. ISBN 978-90-04-14596-2.  ↩︎
6. “If an error is made in writing it, it may not be erased, but a line must be drawn round it to show that it is canceled…” Archived 2011-11-14 at the Wayback Machine, “Names of God”, 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia ↩︎
7. Online Etymology Dictionary. . ↩︎
8. “Names Of God”. JewishEncyclopedia.com. ↩︎
9.  “Biblical Hebrew Grammar for Beginners” Archived 2015-03-19 at the Wayback Machine, University of Texas at Austin ↩︎
10. Toorn, Karel van der; Becking, Bob (1999), K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst, Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible, pp. 274-277, Wm. B. Eerdmans, ISBN 978-0-8028-2491-2 ↩︎
11. Georges, O. Badellini, F. Calonghi, Dizionario latino–italiano [Latin-to-Italian Dictionary], Rosenberg & Sellier, Turin, 17th edition, 1989, page 2431 of 2959 ↩︎
12. Pope, Marvin H. (2006), “Baal Worship”, Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed., vol. III, New York: Thomas Gale, ISBN 978-0-02-865928-2 ↩︎
13. Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions, New York: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006, ISBN 978-1-59339-491-2 ↩︎
14. https://drmsh.com/TheNakedBible/HeiserReplyToStarkMostHeiser.pdf ↩︎
15. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-divine-feminine-in-kabbalah-an-example-of-jewish-renewal/ ↩︎
16. https://biblehub.com/q/what_does_’god_with_us’_mean_for_jesus.htm ↩︎
17. All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible by Herbert Lockyer (Sep 29, 1988) ISBN 0310280419 page 93 ↩︎
18. Mercer dictionary of the Bible by Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard 1998 ISBN 0-86554-373-9 page 336 ↩︎
19. Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof (Sep 24, 1996) ISBN 0802838200 pages47-51 (yes, I am actually referencing a systematic theology book OUCH! ↩︎
20. https://www.hopefaithprayer.com/salvationnew/what-we-are-in-christ-kenyon/ ↩︎

He wondered have you ever wondered what Matthew 7 is really about?

gates – ways – foundations – false prophets of the world – entanglement – alignment

As you dive in deeper there are some concerning words that are sure to raise an eyebrow. But what Jesus is saying is that “false prophets” are those who propagate the ways and the systems of the world and bring them into the church and entangle God’s people. Those who Jesus never knew are those who are entangled and aren’t walking the better way, but walking the entangled way. Jesus makes a point of showing that there are those who know Jesus but then those that claim to know him but don’t follow him.

Matt 7:13 Narrow Gate – The place where the blind have no idea what lies ahead.  The narrow path (gate) is the Hebrew word mish’ol, the word is found in the Torah only once, in the story of Balaam’s donkey in Numbers 22.  The Angel of the Lord (a title used in the Old Testament often considered as the pre-incarnation theophany of the Messiah) once stood in the narrow space.  The Narrow Gate is synonymous with those that can’t see the way of Jesus. The result was violence. Balaam almost beating his donkey to death to get what he wants (materialism using the name of the LORD). The way of Jesus is peaceful and subversive, not violent and angry.

Matt 7:14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Today we don’t really like the idea of “narrow gates”; the implication is that some of us are blind to the “truth.” In this regard, Christianity as a religion (not at the level of each individual) has often become “supernatural commercialism” (Heschel’s brilliant phrase¹) tied to what sells. It is a picture of the worldly entanglement of the church. It is self-interest par excellence because it promotes as religion exactly those objectives that make us feel good. Often is the name of Jesus we end up doing things that are opposite of His Ways. We create paradigms of “Christianity” that are far more aligned with the ways of the world than the ways of Jesus, but we want to rubber stamp a Jesus label on it. Jesus calls this spiritual blindness. When we choose to be in debt to a slave like work week, extravagant homes, and are financed to the hilt with credit cards, cars, boats, and materialism we show the motives of our heart. Jesus doesn’t call us to live this way. Jesus lived simply and calls us to walk in His image. He didn’t appear to own a home, a donkey (car), or be overly concerned with any other material things. He didn’t even seem to want any money. Judas carried the money, that should actually speak volumes. When it came time to pay a tax his father provided from a fish.

Matt 7:15-20 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 

Fruits – The Bible is clear that we shouldn’t be judgmental but rather test by fruitfulness. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering; all that good stuff we recognize as the hallmarks of a follower. The commission is to be set a part from the ways of the world.

Matt 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’”.

Our works–

I believe bates was strongly influenced by Heschel. “It is clear here that the salvific pistis [faith] action is closely aligned with obedience so that it cannot be separated from it. . . . the gospel is purposed toward bringing about the practical obedience characteristic of allegiance to a king. . .”²

Bates shows that the rhetoric of Paul’s letters and the gospels must be understood within the socio-political environment of the first century, and in that environment allegiance to a king was in some ways deemed contrary to the Way of Jesus. Jesus has expectations of allegiance and obedience. The King expects results being aligned to His kingdom not the kingdoms of the world.

Watchman Nee once said that human beings have the propensity to create sustainable good works without the anointing and on-going involvement of the Spirit.³  Good things do not necessarily please God.  TOV (good) was just the start, God was looking for a partnership in covenant obedience. Be obedient to the little things and the master will entrust you with the greater things of the kingdom. Bathe your life in Spirit-saturated works. Your time, treasure, talent, and testimony point to the “ways” of your heart. Then God’s joyful celebration in His completed desire will be yours too. -The Heart of Psalm 37:4.

Many will say to me in that day, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we . . “  Matthew 7:22 Jesus is not talking about intentions.  He’s talking about real actions.  These people stand before Him and points to precisely the things that we would count as worthy of the kingdom and entangle you to the world.

never knew you – “The truth of being human is gratitude, the secret of existence is appreciation, its significance is revealed in reciprocity.”⁴ Anomia in Greek is lawlessness.  In Hebraic thought this is whatever is contrary to Torah.  Torah is nomos.  Whatever is not Torah is anomos. The Torah pointed people to the coming JESUS. Know Torah, know Jesus. Does anyone know what the Torah was about? Devotion.

7:24-27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

Heschel reminds us: “Only those who live spiritually on edge will be able to go beyond the shore without longing for the certainties established on the artificial rock of our speculation.”⁵ “Longing for the certainties.”  That is the hardest part of following Jesus is a modern world. The materialisms are too great. We want assurances, comfort, we don’t like reliance or faith, we want to know that we all can make our own way. We don’t need faith, an Acts 2 community or quite frankly Jesus. We have become our own gods.

It is my opinion faith is the opposite of certainty and that makes faith hard. All of your relationships are built on trust.  None are certain.  Jesus is certain, but asks us to have faith and be part of this community.

Walking the way is hard in our modern world, but it is what Jesus asks. It reminds me of John 6 when the disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Seems pretty narrow minded, doesn’t it?

This article was written by Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt Mouzakis

1. Abraham Heschel, A Passion for Truth, p. 159. ↩︎
2. Matthew Bates, Salvation by Allegiance Alone, p. 96. ↩︎
3. https://www.watchmannee.org/scriptural-teachings.html ↩︎
4. Abraham Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom, p. 257. ↩︎
5. Abraham Heschel, Man Is Not Alone, p. 58. ↩︎

We are planning a Wisconsin River trip from Saturday to Monday. This is a “plan your own way” trip. Comments will be open here for discussion. We will be traveling from Spring Green to the Muscoda which is approximately 25 miles on the river. Although this sounds significant, it isn’t a lot of paddling, about 8 hours total. We will camp at a sandbar not far from the put out at Muscoda in case some people want to take out Saturday night (with Malachi).

Meet at the Range open Saturday Morning June 28 at 8am to carpool up together.

10:30 am arrive ad put in at Peck’s landing in Spring Green: 13451 State Road 23, Spring Green, WI 53588, United States. From here you can have brunch on the beach, or paddle up the river to tower hill while you wait for vehicles to drop off cars at the takeout. Essentially, the way this works is you unload all your gear and then all the cars drive 30 minutes to the takeout and shuttle back together in one vehicle. That way when we are done with the trip we only have to pickup the shuttle vehicle. But there will be some downtime so paddling up to Tower Hill is a fun little quick excursion.

Once the drop off vehicles are back, we will start our Journey. On Saturday we will paddle 10-15 Miles. Wooded bluffs with beautiful limestone and sandstone outcroppings lie along the south side of this downstream excursion; some even rise right out of the river. The plan is to get to Muscoda by Sunaday Night/Monday Morning. The following maps came from this site.

Muscoda Boat Landing: E Water St, Muscoda, WI 53573-9153

Victoria Riverside Park Landing at Muscoda
River: The landing is on a tiny, rocky peninsula that extends out from the left bank as you approach the Highway 80 Bridge. You will see a covered pavilion
near the access. Riverside Park and the town of Muscoda are behind the landing.

The park is owned and maintained by the town of Muscoda and offers shaded picnic areas and camping. Trailer ramp, trailer turnaround, parking area, restrooms, water.

Muscoda is pronounced ‘muh – skoh – day’, not ‘muh – skoh – dah’.

MONDAY:

Was thinking we could hit Devils Lake State park for some cliff jumping and rock climbing on Monday on the way home! Meet at the north shore then hike the West Bluff Trail south to the Dead Tree Wall Rock Climbing area. 43°25’17.4″N 89°44’18.3″W Here is a pin.

Nice Steep 50 to 60 Ft. wall with good routes to be found just to the north of Reclining Tower area as one walks north along the West Bluff Trail. The top of Dead Tree Wall is very close to to the trail. There is a prominent central crack line called….you guessed it… “Dead Tree Crack”.Easy 3rd class gully just south of the wall. Don’t go directly down the section of the gully that lies closets to the West Bluff Trail but ease down a tad bit further from the trail. You will find it easier. Just follow the slope down along the ever growing wall to the base after negotiating the gully.

If we aren’t there, we are at ROCK 8 for swimming 2/3 of the way from the trailhead south on Tumbled Rocks Trail. Just under a half-mile south of the north shore beach on Devil’s Lake State Park’s Tumbled Rocks trail, you’ll come upon the park’s popular diving rock, “Rock 8”. Rock 8, which looks a bit like the front end of a whale from the water, can provide a diving platform ranging from 4-12 feet above the water depending on the lake level.

Why is it called Rock 8?

At one time a surveyor camp from the University of Wisconsin was located on the south-west corner of Devil’s Lake. At that time a variety of locations around the lake were numbered for training purposes. Rock 8, as you have probably guessed, had a big “8” painted on it.