If you have spent any time around Biblical Christianity you probably have heard the name of Yahweh. It is a very important name of God. In fact, God uses this name to refer to Himself 6,823 times in the Scriptures. This should scream to us, PAY ATTENTION! Yahweh is used often but what does the name communicate to us about God?
So who is Yahweh? Yahweh, the name of God comes from the Hebrew verb which means "to be." This is tied to the very idea of existence or life, to be is to have life, and to have life is to exist. So Yahweh is intrinsically involved in life. Not simply the life of any of His creation, but the lives of humans who were made in His image. Yahweh is and so we (His creation) are.
To discover this we must look to the first few contexts in which God reveals Himself to us as Yahweh.
The first context is what we will look at today, Genesis 2:4,
"This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heaven." (Emphesis Added)
When you read LORD in your English Bible it is Yahweh. In Genesis, God revealed to us that He was Elohim (God), the powerful God. Here He refers to Himself as Yahweh Elohim, the LORD God. Clearly, God desires that we do not forget that He is the powerful Creator God of the heavens and the earth, He is Elohim. But there's more that He wants us to see here, He is not a God far removed from His creation, He is Yahweh the Personal God.
Yahweh, the name of God comes from the Hebrew verb which means "to be." This is tied to the very idea of existence or life, to be is to have life, and to have life is to exist. So Yahweh is intrinsically involved in life. Not simply the life of any of His creation, but the lives of humans who were made in His image.
This is evidenced in the context of Genesis 2 and to the end of the Scriptures. God refers to Himself as Yahweh Elohim 19 times in Genesis 2 and 3. The Personal Powerful God. This is what He is communicating to us here. God is not only eternal, not only powerful, but He is personal. Read through Genesis 1-3 and you will see this.
God interacts with His creation on a personal level. He cares that man doesn't have a suitable mate, He walks with man, He promises a Savior for man, and He clothes sinful man. This pattern continues with Noah and the flood, for Noah walked with God and was considered righteous (Genesis 6:9). As Adam walked with God, as Enoch walked with God, Noah too walked with God.
This can only be so because God is a personal God. He is Yahweh. Is God Elohim, yes. He is all-powerful, but God is also Yahweh and as such, He is personal and cares about the lives of every human being. He desires that NONE should perish but that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Do you know God as Yahweh the Personal God? If not, seek Him today, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart. But remember that He is not your buddy, or your friend, He is Elohim the Powerful God and as such we must come to Him as He bids us come, In Christ alone!