O Adonai: O Lord of Might
The O Antiphons give seven Messianic titles to Jesus. The first title, Wisdom (Sapientia), evokes God’s creation as described in Genesis and Proverbs. The second title, Adonai, derives from the second book of the Bible, Exodus, in which God delivers his people.
Traditional Antiphon
O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
O come, O come, thou Lord of might,
who to thy tribes on Sinai’s height
in ancient times didst give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe.
Adonai Animated
One of the best animated movies of all time, in my opinion, is The Prince of Egypt. It tells the story of the Exodus—Moses’ early life, the oppression of the Israelites under Pharaoh, God’s revelation of his name to Moses, and God sending Moses to rescue his people. The movie comes to a climax when God strikes Egypt with the 10 plagues, Pharaoh lets the people go, and they are delivered through the Red Sea.
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The song that follows, “When You Believe,” is modeled after the Song of the Sea from Scripture. The song begins with Miriam and Zipporah somberly reflecting on 430 years of suffering, followed by the quiet sound of children singing in Hebrew, and then a crescendo of people singing joyfully to God:
Ashirra L-ADONAI ki gaoh gaah
Meaning, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously.”
Notice that the people are now singing to their God as Adonai—as their Lord. Where did this name come from?
Yahweh, Adonai, and Hashem
In Exodus chapter 3, Moses is tending his sheep when he sees and hears something unusual. There’s a tree on fire, but the tree isn’t burning!
And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
Exodus 3:2
A tree on fire is enough for a brief pause; however, a tree on fire with unchanging green leaves warrants an investigation. God uses the moment to introduce himself and commission Moses as his representative in the work of salvation. Here, at this seismic moment in history, God reveals his Name.
Yahweh
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.'”
The Hebrew word behind God’s Name is Yahweh, which means “I am who I am,” “I will be who I will be,” or “I will be what I was.”
Adonai and Hashem
Over time, ancient Jews developed the mindset that God’s Name was too holy to say out loud, so they would say “Adonai” or “Hashem” instead. Adonai is a title, the singular, plural form of the word Adon, which means “lord” or “master.” Hashem means “The Name.”
Before Moses knows how the story of his people’s redemption will unfold, God grounds the sufficiency of his ability to save them in his Name. Because he is who he is, he can accomplish his saving work. It isn’t a coincidence that God chose to reveal his Name from a burning bush that doesn’t burn.
The Immutable God, from Sinai to Sinai
I often enjoy sitting by a fire pit, making s’mores in silence while I meditate, pray, and contemplate. I’ve noticed that the wood is slowly changing, going from one state to another. Eventually, when enough wood has turned to ash, it needs to be replaced with fresh wood. The wood isn’t enough to maintain the life of the fire because it’s capable of change.
God chose to reveal himself in a tree that wouldn’t burn despite the fire, and the name Yawheh means that he doesn’t ever change. In theology, God’s unchanging nature is called his immutability.
God’s immutability, revealed in the burning bush at Mount Sinai, is also revealed in the law he would give to his people when they returned to Sinai. God told Moses to bring his people back to Sinai once he brought them out of Egypt:
He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
Exodus 3:12
And when they return to Sinai, we can see God’s immutability in the first commandment of God’s law: to have no other gods but Adonai, the Lord.
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”
Exodus 20:2-3
Much can be said of God’s immutability. If we served a God who could change, it would mean he could be more or less than he already is. If God could change, he could be more loving, more just, more merciful, more kind, more holy, more righteous than he is. He could also be less. He wouldn’t be perfect.
Imagine an almighty and all-powerful God that has a temper that’s as fleeting as a human’s temper. If we served a God that was mutable, like everything else in creation, he would also be a creation. God would be like burnable wood, unable to maintain the life of all existence and save our souls.
The Mutable Trees of Idols
If, in the Scriptures, God is the only immutable being capable of keeping a tree from burning, then any mutable trees we turn to for life are idols. This is why, after the first commandment to have no other gods, the second commandment is against idols:
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
Exodus 20:4-6
As Christians, we understand that this commandment prohibits both physical idols and also the idols of the heart. Anything, even good things, that we would elevate above God and his Word, can become an idol for us. Here I would like to point out two idols:
Loving “Things” Too Much
Materialism has become a staple of the Christmas season in the United States. Materialism in philosophy is the idea that nothing exists except for matter. That mindset leads to prioritizing physical things above everything else. We’ll call this the materialistic lifestyle. Although someone may reject philosophical materialism, they can certainly live a materialistic lifestyle.
For many people, Christmas has become a holiday marked by an obligation to buy things they really want. Notice the intentional choice of the word obligation. There is nothing inherently wrong with someone creating a list of things that they would like for Christmas. However, when we lose the spirit of generosity and cheer that is rooted in the story of the Gospel, Christmas becomes the materialist’s holiday. To use a colloquial phrase, we must always “remember the reason for the season.”
The Gnostic Grinch
The Grinch who stole Christmas really hated materialism; he also really hated Christmas. While it is right to point out the consumerist and materialistic aspects of Christmas in our culture, we can’t make the equal and opposite error of hating all its physical aspects either.
Gnosticism was an ancient heresy that held that matter was evil, that spiritual things were good, and that good spirits were trapped in evil matter. Some can approach Christmas this way. Ultimately, the idol of gnosticism is escapism. We want to escape the world rather than enter the world and redeem it. The gnostics themselves escaped into their minds; the Grinch escaped into his cave. Gifts, trees, decorations, movies, and other things can be good. We should avoid becoming gnostic Grinches.
The Immutable God Became Human
The same immutable God that appeared to Moses in the burning bush, that wouldn’t burn, clothed himself in mutable human flesh in the Christmas story. Christ later speaks of himself in John 8:58, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Likewise, the apostle Thomas, upon encountering the risen Christ, says, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
Paul roots God’s saving work in confession and belief that Christ is Lord.
Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9
The fact that Jesus is the same Lord who revealed himself to Moses on Sinai saturates the pages of the New Testament. Just as God laid his word on the tablets of stone given to Moses, the Word of God entered the world in a manger of stone:
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11
Christ is Lord. Jesus is our Adonai!
An understanding of Christ helps us avoid a materialistic, gnostic Christmas. So, what do the ancient people of Israel, the Grinch with the Whos down in Whoville, and Anglicans everywhere have in common?
With a proper understanding of Christmas, they can sing.
Image: original art by Anderson Carman.
The Lord’s Prayer: A Rookie Anglican Guide
The Lord’s Prayer is one of the most well-known features of Christian worship. Many Christian denominations, even ones that don’t use pre-written prayers in their worship services, still teach children this prayer in Sunday school. However, to many Christians, Anglicans included, it can easily lose its meaning through rote repetition. So why do we pray…
The Lord’s Prayer
By Winfield Bevins. A continuing series on prayer. Click here to view the rest of these reflections. “While we ordinarily first bring our own needs to God in prayer, and then think of what belongs to God and his interests, the Master reverses the order. First Thy name, Thy kingdom, Thy will; then give us, forgive us,…
