December 18
Exodus 3:1-15 / Philippians 2:5-11

O Adonai and ruler of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai: Come with an outstretched arm and redeem us.

Adonai is Hebrew for Lord. Lord is the substitute term for Yahweh, the sacred, saving, Gospel name of God. “Say this to the people of Israel, ʻYahweh the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.ʼ” This is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” To say Adonai is to say Yahweh, the Name that saves.

“Whom shall I say sent me? What is His Name?” To have the Name of God is to have God Himself. “Tell them Ehyeh asher ehyeh sent you.” I am who I am. Ehyeh. I AM. YHWH. He is the One who is. The God whose saving Name is a verb. His Name is action.

Every day, in the morning and in the evening, the Name of the Lord was proclaimed:

Shema Yisra’el YHWH Eloheinu YHWH EḥadHear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD alone.

Where Godʼs Name is, there He holy ground. The Lord is present. Where His Name is, there is Gospel fire, fire that burns but does not consume. His burning love and passion to save. Where His Name is, there He is mighty to save. “I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment, and I will take you for my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am Yahweh, your God.”

“Hail, O favored one, Yahweh is with you,” the angel said to Mary. “You will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, Yʼshua. Yahweh is salvation. Jesus incarnates the Name of God. He is YHWH in the flesh. “Before Abraham was, I AM,” Jesus said. To reject this Jesus is to reject the I AM of the burning bush, YHWH of Sinai and the Red Sea, the Lord of Israel, the Lord of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There is no other Name, no other Lord who saves you.

To have a Lord is to have a redeemer. Jesus is your Adonai, your Redeemer. You didnʼt make Him so. He became your Lord by dying and rising for you, and by baptizing you into His death and resurrection. He will come to raise the dead. And then you will confess with resurrection lips what you now confess by faith: Adonai Yʼshua Hamashiach. Lord Jesus Christ.

Reflection by Pastor William Cwirla.