Adonai - Lord, Master

As we continue in this series on getting to know God through His revealed names, let's take a quick look back at the names of God we've studied so far; El Shaddai - Lord God Almighty, and El Elyon - The Most High God. We have come to know through God's revelation that He is almighty and high above all others. 

Today we meet Him as Adonai!
Adonai is the highest title used by God's own people throughout the Old Testament, where it is found over four hundred times! Adonai can be translated quite literally as, "My Lords' " (being both plural and possessive). This name refers to God's absolute sovereignty over creation. He has revealed Himself as Almighty and Most High, now He has revealed Himself further as sovereign Lord of all creation! 

Some Old Testament examples of Adonai are as follows:

"He will swallow up death forever; and the [Adonai] Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. - Isaiah 25:8 

O LORD, our Lord [Adonai], how majestic is your name in all the earth! - Psalm 8:9

You may notice that sometimes in the Bible, you'll see LORD (in all capital letters) and other times you will see Lord. When you see "LORD" or "GOD" in all capital letters, usually the word is being translated from Yahweh (which we'll get to in a future part of this series). When you see, "God" or "Lord" it is usually being translated from Adonai.

In the New Testament, the Greek kyrios is used in place of adonai, however it carries the same meaning - Lord and retains the same inference of God's complete sovereignty over all creation. 

A great example of this can be found in Philippians 2:9-11:
Therefore God has highly exalted him [Jesus] and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord [Kyrios - Adonai], to the glory of God the Father.

I'm constantly amazed at how God reveals Himself through his names revealed throughout scripture! In just 3 names, God has shown Himself to be the most high, mighty, and sovereign over all!

Let's Pray:
Adonai, you are sovereign over all creation and you are our Lord and God.
We know that all things are worked together for good for those who love you and are called according to your will. So help us to completely submit to your sovereignty and perfect will. Guide us mercifully, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen!

Photo by Rachel Davis on Unsplash