Advent Foretold Day 18: LORD and King

  

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Speaking through His prophets, God revealed the One He would send into the world is Lord and King. This was not just going to be some guy who would ride in on a white horse, slay the dragon, and then ride off into the sunset. He will one day return and take His rightful place on the throne of David! He is the King of kings! He is the Lord of ALL!!

He is LORD of all, but what does "LORD" mean? When the first letter of Lord is capitalized it tells us it is a name for God, and not just a title of respect for someone. The personal name of God in the Bible is Yahweh. It is a Tetragrammaton, which is composed of four letters, but it has no vowels, YHWH. The anglicized rendering of this is Jehovah. This is because the pronunciation of YHWH is unknown. Some Bible translations let you know the word they are translating is YHWH, the personal name of God, by putting the whole word in capitals as in… LORD.

Here are just a handful of the verses in the Old Testament that speak to the coming Messiah being called LORD…..

"Behold the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely, and do righteousness and justice in the land........And this is His name by which He will be called, the LORD our righteousness." Jeremiah 23:5-6

For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us. Isaiah 33:22

 

The LORD says to my Lord; Sit at my right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet. Psalm 110:1

In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him.........And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah 6:1-3

And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only, and His name the only one. Zechariah 14:9

Hear O' Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord. Deuteronomy 6:4

A voice calling in the wilderness, Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God." Isaiah 40:3

The fulfillment of these prophecies given in the Hebrew Scriptures begins while Jesus is still in the womb. He is called LORD:

"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. " Luke 1:41-4

After Jesus is born, and the angel is delivering the birth announcement  to the shepherds….

…for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

Here are just a few examples  during Jesus' ministry...

"I and My Father are One." John 10:30

He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me." John 12:45

For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says, "THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET." Acts 2:35

Then He said to them, “How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”’

"Therefore David calls Him, “Lord”, and how is He his son?” Luke 20:41-44

In other words…the one who is not born yet, is David’s LORD.

This next verse is after Jesus healed a blind man. Later the same day, Jesus heard the Pharisees had put the man out of the synagogue because the man would not give them the answers they wanted about Who Jesus was….

Jesus heard that they had put him out and finding him, He said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

He answered, "Who is He Lord, that I may believe in Him?"

Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking to you."

And he said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped Him. John 9:35-38

During His trial….

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world: If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."

Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?"

Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." John 18:36-37

After His Resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples when the apostle Thomas was not with them. When told about the appearance of the resurrected Lord, Thomas did not believe the others. Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples, and this time Thomas was with them:

Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." 
Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" John 20:27-28

Then Jesus took His departure from the disciples....

"So then after the LORD had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God." Mark 16:19

And if we take a peek at the future actions of our King….

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is LORD of lords and King of kings, and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful. Revelation 17:14

That at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:10-11

Praise the LORD!

Now, let’s go back to the personal name of God for a moment. Remember it is YHWH. In Hebrew the letters each have a meaning. Let’s take a look at the meaning of the letters in YHWH. 

The first letter is a "Yod". It is masculine in gender and is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It portrays the symbol of an entire hand, or closed hand from the wrist to the fingertips. Next we have a "Hey". It is feminine and means “to behold”, “show” or “reveal”. We then have a "Vav". It is masculine and stands for a nail, peg or hook, signifying being nailed or bound together.

Hebrew is read right to left. So when we read the name of God in Hebrew , God’s name is:

“Behold the Nail, Behold the Hand” or “Behold the nailed hand.”

In other words, the personal name of God gives us a picture of Jesus!!! He, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, loves us so much that He came on that night long ago so that He might be the eternal gift for you and me, if we are willing to receive Him. Praise you, LORD Jesus! You are worthy to receive honor and glory and power! I pray you feel His loving arms holding you tightly. I pray you hear Him speaking quietly and personally to each one of you. Merry Christmas, Dear Ones.

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