A View from the Top

(Proverbs 18:10 KJV)  The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

Verses 10 and 11 contrast the values of the “righteous” (6662) and the unrighteous.  One puts his confidence in the “name” (8034) of the Lord;  the other in what he can build himself or pay others to build.

Think about the names of the Lord.  Jesus is Lord.  The name Jesus is defined for us by the angel appearing to Joseph.

(Matthew 1:21 KJV)  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

The Old Testament equivalent of Jesus is Joshua and it means savior or one who saves.  One reason the world hates this word is that if there is a savior, we need saving.  Post modern philosophy and Emergent Church theology reject this idea.  That would imply that there is something wrong with us.  An awareness of my sin and my need for a savior is one of the reasons that this name is so special to me.  Jesus becomes my strong tower because He saves.

Then there is the key Old Testament name for God which most books today write as Yahweh but the older books translate as Jehovah.  This is the name that God revealed to Moses. 

(Exodus 3:13-14 KJV)  And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

In the Hebrew there were no vowels so His name would be transliterated YHWH.  That is the reason for the different names in English.  The name was considered so holy that it was not to be pronounced so no one knows what vowels were intended to be used.  The key to me is that the name means “I am.” 

We serve a God who is.  He is not a figment of my imagination.  He is not the creation of a group of bored philosophers.  He is to one who gave those philosophers the ability to think, as warped as they may be.  YHWH becomes my strong tower because He is.

So?  I don’t know about tomorrow.  I don’t even know about today.  I do know about now and eternity.  The in between times I will let my Tower worry about.  Join me and enjoy the view.