Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Adonai!
The Questions
1) The title “Lord” is all throughout this passage, what is the difference between Yahweh, Adonai, and Elohim?
2) According to this passage, what sets apart Adonai from all other adonai?
3) What is our response to this Adonai of adonai?
Deuteronomy 10:12-22
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you except to fear the LORD your God by walking in all his ways, to love Him, and to worship the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul? 13 Keep the LORD’s commands and statutes I am giving you today, for your own good. 14 The heavens, indeed the highest heavens, belong to the LORD your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the LORD had His heart set on your ancestors and loved them. He chose their descendants after them—He chose you out of all the peoples, as it is today. 16 Therefore, circumcise your hearts and don’t be stiff-necked any longer. 17 For the LORD your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the resident alien, giving him food and clothing. 19 You are also to love the resident alien, since you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt. 20 You are to fear the LORD your God and worship him. Remain faithful to him and take oaths in his name. 21 He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awe-inspiring works your eyes have seen. 22 Your ancestors went down to Egypt, seventy people in all, and now the LORD your God has made you numerous, like the stars of the sky.
Original Intent
1) The title “Lord” is all throughout this passage, what is the difference between Yahweh, Adonai, and Elohim?
Because the Bible was originally written in Hebrew (the Old Testament) and Greek (the New Testament), it’s extremely important for us to always study Scripture through the lens of its first languages and culture. For some practical examples of why, check out our Reasons for Digging Deeper. Adonai is a commonplace Hebrew title for “lord”. In the Old Testament, we see plenty of examples where adonai is used as a title of respect as in the passage where some men addressed the prophet Elisha, “My lord (adonai) can see that even though the city’s location is good, its water is bad.” (2 Kings 2:19) However, in a much fuller sense, we also read Scripture passages comparing the Lord God to all other “lords” by using the phrase, “Adonai of adonai”, literally translated as Lord of lords. This is intended to signify that only the God of the Bible has true authority and rights to rule as sovereign Lord of all things. Joshua says of the Lord God, “(He) is the Lord (Adonai) of all the earth.” (Joshua 3:11) The psalmist centers his entire praise song around God’s total rule and authority as God and sovereign Lord, “Give thanks to the LORD (Yahweh) for He is good (…), Give thanks to the God (Elohim) of gods (elohim) (…), Give thanks to the Lord (Adonai) of lords (adonai) (…).” (Psalm 136:1-3) Granted, it is quite difficult to simply pick up our English Bibles and know precisely when each different name of God is being used because our English words don’t take on various forms as the Hebrew words do, Bible translators do provide some help when it comes to distinguishing between Yahweh and Adonai. For most translations of the Bible, when the Hebrew name, Yahweh, is used, you will notice all 4 letters of the word LORD are capitalized. Comparatively, when you read the title Lord with only one capital, it signifies the title Adonai.
2) According to this passage, what sets apart Adonai from all other adonai?
This passage is full of beauty and depth of God’s character as Adonai of adonai (Lord of lords)! He is ruler of all creation, nothing is beyond His authoritative reach, rule, and reign. (verse 14) As Jesus says thousands of years later, not even a sparrow falls to the ground, or a strand of your hair, without the Father knowing. (Matthew 10:29-30) Also unlike other adonai who demanded sacrifices for their own selfish gain, Adonai of adonai, gives no such ultimatums because this Adonai loves. He has called apart a people, sin-wrecked though they were, and He willingly set His love upon them. (verse 15) This Adonai is just, never coy or able to be “bought” as was often the case with ancient “so-called-deities”. Whoever held the most power, could also be bought at the right price, but this was clearly not the case with Adonai of adonai. He is utterly just and righteous in His judgements, while also acting with compassionate benevolence to the foreigner, the outcast, and the weak. (verses 17-18) There is none who holds both love and justice along with incredible humility like the Lord of lords who, though holding all authority, uses His power for tender loving compassion. Who is like Adonai of adonai?!
3) What is our response to this Adonai of adonai?
I love this passage in Deuteronomy because not only does it lay out who our God is, why He is worthy of the title Adonai of adonai, but it also succinctly clarifies our response. “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you except to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, and to worship the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul?” (Deuteronomy 10:12) The core of God’s desire is to be in relationship with each of us individually and corporately as a whole so we can experience His love and delight in Him as He delights in us. (verse 15) Though He holds all power and authority, He will not use this sovereignty to force us into obedience because His goal is love. He invites us to experience fullness by submitting to His rule; when we do, we respond by walking in His ways, loving Him, and worshipping Him with every aspect of our entire lives. (verse 12) We love this Adonai, moving far past title of Lordship to the intimacy of experiencing Him as Yahweh, Savior, and even, Abba Father. The deeper we enjoy this love relationship with Him, the more we will love others just as He has loved us. When we love God and love others, we are reflecting the beauty of submitting to the Lord of lords. (verses 18-19)
Everyday Application
1) The title “Lord” is all throughout this passage, what is the difference between Yahweh, Adonai, and Elohim?
Each name, or title, of God reveals more of His character, helping us to more fully understand who He is. When we read of the Lord of lords (Adonai of adonai), we are reminded that nothing is beyond the rule and reign of the Lord our God. There is nothing beyond His power, no mystery that will confound Him, and no aspect of our humanity that is beyond His ability to save and rescue us from. What a refreshing, powerful gift to apply this truth to the believer’s life! There is no sin He does not have the ability to forgive. There is no place we can flee from His presence. There is no circumstance where He does not have absolute control. As a God who infinitely loves and treasures us, this reassurance goes far beyond any comfort a human being could provide, no matter how wealthy or powerful they are! Yet, for the unbeliever, the one who hasn’t chosen to surrender everything to this Adonai of adonai, the idea of such limitless power, authority, and lordship should bring a sense of dread fear. Without the sacrificial blood of Jesus to forgive our sins, the fullness of God’s just wrath is upon us because we have rightly earned it for every instance when we chose sin over holy living. Adonai is indeed Lord of all, “the great, the mighty, the awesome God who is not partial and takes no bribe.” (Deuteronomy 10:17) On the day when this earth passes away, each of us will stand before the throne of God whose fierce Name is “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16). Either we will be declared righteous because we have trusted in Christ for salvation, or we will receive the just punishment we deserve for our sins, which is eternal living death in Hell. Turn to Him, love Him, worship Him, and follow His ways for your own good! (Deuteronomy 10:12-13)
2) According to this passage, what sets apart Adonai from all other adonai?
In today’s culture, and in your everyday life and mine, there are a million and one things that vie for our attention and devotion. Our children’s education, the dream home (or even a clean one with folded laundry!), a spouse who fills our expectation, a friends’ approval, or maybe it’s a position and title that holds our lust for more. We are much too quick to “bow down” to these lords, these adonai, and willingly surrender our sanity, and our peace, for the allure they dangle before our eyes. None of us are immune to insatiable pride. Hope for this condition of our hearts is found only in total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. When we align our lives, our everyday mundane moments, under the Lordship of the Adonai, the doorway is open for Him to pour out abundance and fullness through our humble surrender. This surrender is not a squeezing to fit into a snug box of “dos and donts”, rather this is a pathway of freedom to live as we were originally designed to live. Only under the Lordship of Adonai do our lives truly begin to flourish! It is nothing short of miraculous when we begin this process of surrendering every detail we give over to Adonai, is redeemed and repurposed in His time and His way, precisely because He Is Lord! Then, these details are returned to us to use in fullness and beauty. This is the work our Lord Jesus Christ, Adonai of adonai!
3) What is our response to this Adonai of adonai?
The reality of God being Lord of all is true regardless of whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. We do have a choice in how we respond to that unchanging reality. We can either live in arrogant rebellion of the One who answers to no one, or we can choose to submit our will to His. (verse 16) This act of surrender follows naturally as we glimpse the all-surpassing power and authority of the Lord God while also considering how small and insignificant we are in comparison. (verse 21) As we understand and experience His love wash over us, our hearts respond with adoring worship. As His Holy Spirit shapes us to become like Christ, we begin to experience what it is to love like this magnanimous God Himself who generously loved us first. We begin emulating the Adonai of adonai in beautiful reflection of love and grace on display in our everyday moments. (verse 12) Like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle fitting flawlessly together, when we follow God’s intended pattern for living, we experience the best of life and relationships. (verse 13) Our parenting, our marriages, our relationships with co-workers, the way we view ourselves, and our priorities all fall into place with God as our Adonai ruling over every other false, self-seeking adonai. Who will be adonai of your life?
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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