I see this as the Lord’s doing, the same way He sent the Babylonians to carry away Israel into captivity (Jeremiah 29:1-14) or the way He used the Assyrians (Isaiah 10:5) to chastise Israel for her sins. This time the chastisement is to the Christian Church (spiritually Israel) and again to the chosen people, the Jews, wherever they may be. I believe the Lord Jesus will come again and restore His assembly of believers, whether they be Jews or Gentiles. And the Lord will Himself judge those who disobey His laws and murder innocent people.
The Tetragrammaton in Paleo-Hebrew (10th century BCE to 135 CE), old Aramaic (10th century BCE to 4th century CE) and square Hebrew (3rd century BCE to present) scripts, from wikipedia
The Creator of the Universe has a personal name. His name written in Hebrew goes back to ancient times. Here (on the top left) is it written in Paleo-Hebrew but in modern Hebrew it is written like this on the bottom left.
You can see the changes the script has had over time, but this is what happens with language.
God’s personal name is often Romanised as YHWH, YHVH, Yahweh or Jehovah. The 4 letters in Hebrew are called the Tetragrammaton.
God’s name was not allowed to be pronounced by the Jews – instead they pronounced the word as Adonai, meaning Lord. But the literal meaning of God’s name is “the existing One” or the self-existent one. This is what God said himself— “I AM”— means to just be.
“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.” Exodus 3:14
Many scholars believe that the most proper meaning of YHWH may be “He Brings Into Existence Whatever Exists” (Yahweh-Asher-Yahweh). In I Samuel, God is known by the name Yahweh Teva-‘ot, or “He Brings the Hosts Into Existence” – the hosts possibly referring to the heavenly court or to Israel (see 1 Samuel 17:45). This personal name of God was probably known long before the time of Moses.
God is Himself without cause. He created all things.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth [a merism meaning the whole Universe]. Genesis 1:1. (My comment inside the square brackets.)
In this first verse of the Bible the word “God” is translated from the Hebrew word Elohim (pronounced ‘el-o-heem’).
“I am the LORD: that is my name:” Isaiah 42:8
The King James translators substituted the word “LORD” to signify it was God’s personal name Yahweh in the original language. In modern Hebrew this part of Isaiah 42:8 reads,
YHWH is circled; read from right to left.
One God
Yahweh, the Tetragrammaton YHWH appears 6,823 times in Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). The word “God” is mentioned about 9000 times and always as one god. Christian’s do not believe in a plural god or polytheism like the Muslim’s claim.
“The LORD our Godis one LORD:” Deuteronomy 6:4
Here God’s Name (LORD = Yahweh) is pronounced ‘yeh-ho-vaw’ hence the modern form “Jehovah”. And the word “God” in this verse is translated from the Hebrew word Elohim. In other verses the word “God” is also translated from the Hebrew word El (pronounced ‘ale’), which is the root of the word Elohim. The word El is found in Psalm 22:1, for example. Deuteronomy 6:4 is quoted by the Lord Jesus Christ,
“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:” Mark 12:29
Hence there can be no doubt, both Jews and Christians believe in one god, the same God, the Creator of the Universe. God is not only omnipotent (all powerful) but also omnipresent (everywhere at the same time). In Genesis 19 we read,
“Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;” Genesis 19:24
The context of this is Yahweh here on Earth (first mentioned LORD in the verse) raining down fire and brimstone on the Sodom and Gomorrah from Yahweh in heaven (second mentioned LORD). God is not in time nor in space and can be everywhere at one moment and by extrapolation be anywhere in every moment of time. He knows everything, He sees the future from the beginning of time.1
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” Isaiah 46:10
He is our Saviour, who promised to come.
“Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.” Isaiah 35:4
“I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.” Isaiah 43:11,12
“Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” Isaiah 44:6
Yahweh is the first and the last; He is/was always there because He is I AM. Compare this verse with Revelations 1:8, where God is referred to as the alpha and the omega — the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.
“I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:5,6
“Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: forI am God, and there is none else.” Isaiah 45: 21,22
Footnote
1 Though God may not be limited by time and space, man is. The history in Genesis is written from man’s perspective, a created being who lives in time.
