TO KNOW HIM BY NAME

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“When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh.  At that time people first began to worship the LORD by name.”     Genesis 4:26 NLT

My imagination just runs as I read this scripture verse.  It is one verse tucked in between a record of two genealogies, both beginning with Adam.  The ancestral account in the middle verses of Genesis 4 follow Cain’s line, and the genealogy listed in Genesis 5 follows the ancestry of Seth.  It is just one verse, but it meant something to God.  I know this because He wouldn’t have had it recorded in His written word for all generations and forever and ever if this first act of public worship wasn’t significant to Him.

The word worship in verse 26 carries the connotation of invoking the Name Yahweh.  The verb invoke means to cite or appeal to someone or something as an authority for an action.  The family and people of Seth had come together in unity to call earnestly unto Yahweh.  You wouldn’t do this unless you knew for certain Yahweh was I AM.  I believe Seth had come to the personal knowledge of YAHWEH.  YAHWEH had intersected Seth’s life and had revealed HIS CHARACTER to Seth.  It was no longer just head knowledge he had probably learned at the knees of his parents.  This was heart knowledge of The Self-Exitant One that spurred this passionate outpouring from Seth.  It was a passion that had to be ignited among his family.

The word know in Hebrew is the word “yada.”  It expresses a broad variety of meaning about various types of knowledge which are gained through the senses.  I believe this worship time Seth and the people experienced came from this deep and intimate knowledge Seth had gained about YAHWEH.  God had revealed himself to Seth through Seth’s senses.  That type of knowledge races into your heart, your soul, you mind, and your strength; it then releases that passionate energy in a very tangible outcry.

The following comes from a short story I am writing about bible heroes that walked with God.  So humor me as you travel through my thoughts and imaginings of how this first act of corporate worship might have gone down.

 

SETH’S WALK

“Seth propelled his clan forward in worship. He compelled his family onward to call upon the name of Yahweh. It was primal worship but Seth knew it was what was calling to him from the depths of his being, and he could no longer ignore that quiet urging from the place where he was created. This praise from the depths of his soul would no longer be silent. He must acknowledge Yahweh. It was Seth’s appointment. It was his call on his life. It was his walk with the Lord. And he would no longer subdue this worship. “Lift up His name. Call unto your God. He is Yahweh. He is the first and the last. Before Him there are no others. He is I AM”. Seth shouted up to the mountaintops. He urged is family to do the same. The release of worship flooded his being. He felt like all of creation had gathered to listen as the name of the Lord was lifted up. He sensed a great cloud of witnesses in the heavenlies were listening on as his tribe called upon Yahweh.”

John Piper wrote a devotional, “10 things “Yahweh” means:

1.) HE NEVER HAD A BEGINNING

2.)  GOD WILL NEVER END.  IF HE DID NOT COME INTO BEING HE CANNOT GO OUT OF BEING, BECAUSE HE IS BEING.

3.) GOD IS ABSOLUTE REALITY.  THERE IS NO REALITY OUTSIDE OF HIM UNLESS HE WILLS IT AND MAKES IT.  ONLY GOD.

4.) GOD IS UTTERLY INDEPENDENT.  HE DEPENDS ON NOTHING TO BRING HIM INTO BEING OR SUPPORT HIM.

5.) EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT GOD DEPENDS TOTALLY ON GOD.

6.) ALL THE UNIVERSES BY COMPARISON TO GOD AS NOTHING.

7.) GOD IS CONSTANT.  THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW.

8.) GOD IS THE ABSOLUTE STANDARD OF TRUTH AND GOODNESS AND BEAUTY.  THERE IS NO LAW-BOOK TO WHICH HE LOOKS TO KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT.

9.)  GOD DOES WHATEVER HE PLEASES AND IT IS ALWAY RIGHT AND ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL AND ALWAYS IN ACCORD WITH TRUTH.

10.) GOD IS THE MOST IMPORTANT AND MOST VALUABLE REALITY AND PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE.

 

These are the character traits God had revealed Himself to Seth.  These are the character traits Seth and his family called out earnestly to.  These are what Seth knew to be true about Who he was crying out to.

YAHWEH – “I AM THAT I AM.”

Jesus once used this “I AM” statement about himself.

“Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them.  “who are you looking for?” he asked.  “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied.  “I AM he,” Jesus said.  (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.)  As Jesus said “I AM  he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground.”  John 18:5-6

That my friends is the power in the name YAHWEH.  This is the YAHWEH Seth knew.

Do you know Him by name?  Does God’s character traits flood into your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength?

Priscilla Shirer, the star in the movie “War Room,” knows God by name, by many names actually.  She knows the character trait that each of these names of God invoke.

click on the link below and watch Priscilla’s “Who’s your daddy?” youtube video

http://youtu.be/Hj3Oy8GAa1A

What name do you call Him?