Because of His Name

October will be a busy month for me. I will be teaching an adult study class called "Cults, the Canon, and Koine Greek." I will also be teaching two Thursday night classes for teacher credit about ideas for the classroom.

Julianne is now speaking more than a few words. She will be turning 2 on October 121th. Her favorite show? Dora the Explorer.

Jill is decorating the house for the fall season. We love it when the leaves start to change. If you're from Tennessee you know what I mean.
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Why would God want to forgive us? We Christians can mess things up pretty bad sometimes. Why does He show us such compassion?

Because His very name is based on compassion. Let’s look at a very special word that is a name of God. It is one of the most carefully mentioned word by the Hebrew worshiper today. It is the name “HaShem”, and it literally means “the Name.” Using this name is a respectful way of speaking about God, and it is considered so special that it was pronounced only once a year in the Temple by the High Priest on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

The Name, as we read in Numbers 6:27, was used in the Temple by the Priests as they blessed the people: “They shall place My Name upon the Children of Israel, and I shall bless them” (Numbers 6:27). The priests were to bless the Children of Israel with the specific Name, and it was only pronounced within the Temple.
This special four-letter Name as used in place of the Tetragrammaton evinces the Divine attribute of rachamim, which is compassion. The Hebrew teaching states that whenever the name HaShem is used, it characterizes the Divine dimension of compassion.

Two examples found in the Old Testament are found saying “HaShem, HaShem, Compassionate God” (Exodus 34:6 and Deuteronomy 3:24).

This is the striking point: God forgives because His very special name means compassion.

Yet, warns R.A. Torrey, don’t take this to mean that anyone who flippantly calls for assistance from God will receive it: “...it should be remembered that while God is absolutely sovereign in the exercise of His mercy, while no one can dictate upon whom He shall have mercy, in point of fact He wills to have mercy on all upon whom He can have mercy...God's mercy is manifested toward those who fear or love Him: His servants, who walk before Him with all their hearts..God isn't a voice-operated appliance that fulfills every request on demand. He requires true acceptance, not mere empty words...God isn't a voice-operated appliance that fulfills every request on demand. He requires true acceptance, not mere empty words.”