Jehovah Nakah: The God Who Strikes

Over coffee this morning a brother shared a wonderful truth out of the Bible.  God has revealed His righteous character through various names, like "Jehovah Jireh" ("the LORD will provide" in Genesis 22:14), "Jehovah Shalom" ("the LORD is peace" in Judges 6:24), "Jehovah Nissi" ("the LORD my banner" in Exodus 17:15), and "Jehovah Rapha" (the LORD who heals" in Exodus 15:26 ).  People named altars and even a city after attributes of God which provide glimpses into details of His awesome and magnificent ways.  My friend turned to Ezekiel 7:9 which reads, "My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will repay you according to your ways,and your abominations will be in your midst. Then you shall know that I am the LORD who strikes."  "Jehovah Nakah" - the LORD who strikes or kills - is probably not the first name of God people frame on the wall or include in lists on their bookmarks.

The point my mate made was the same word used for "strike" is used concerning the Messiah mentioned in Isaiah 53:4:  "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted."  God is the God who smites, yet He is also the God who was smitten and killed for the sins of the world.  God is not willing that any should perish, but God still sent Jesus Christ - His only Son - to die so those who repent and trust Him can be partakers of His everlasting life.  God said in Deuteronomy 32:39, "Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand."  Do you see the divine order?  God wounds our pride to heal with grace; He was willing to kill His own Son so we might share in His life.  It is through dying to self we are raised to newness of life with Christ.  Jesus Christ took the punishment sinners deserved upon Himself, so we might be made righteous through faith.

What comfort there is in knowing Jehovah Nakah!  He kills but makes alive.  He strikes with heavy blows, but provides restoration, wholeness, and eternal life for all who trust in Him.

Deceitful and Desperately Wicked

"Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD."

Jeremiah 17:5

It is remarkable how deceitful our hearts of flesh can be.  We will cheat at solitaire!  If we will cheat whilst playing cards or a board game which is insignificant in eternity's light, what will we do or say under pressure?  Christians have been spiritual regenerated by faith in Christ and given a new heart, but deceit continues to lurk in our flesh.  Regeneration does not mean perfection.  This morning during an early round of golf, I wrote a 4 on my scorecard instead of a 5.  I was convicted by my sin and changed the score.  C'mon, really?  And I was playing all by myself!  God, deliver me from the folly and deceit of my own wicked heart!

Faithfulness in the little things matters.  How important it is to recognise our sin and repent immediately!  It is in yielding in little things which demonstrates a departure from trust in God.  As stupid as it is to cheat while playing golf by yourself, it is infinitely more foolish to depart from trusting God and placing our confidence in men.  Our hearts depart from the LORD before there is any tangible evidence.  That is why it is important we abide in Christ, being filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit.  He brings conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment.  He guides us into all truth and provides the comfort and help we desperately need.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 reads, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? ¹⁰ I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings."  Only God knows the depths of the wickedness in our hearts.  Only He is able to cleanse and wash us of the filth of deceit.  On the golf course today God supplied me a test I failed and then passed through repentance, all by the grace of God.  God's tests are more humiliating than a four-putt, and far more beneficial.  Let us cry out in humility to God, asking Him to see if there be any wicked way in us.  Praise the LORD, for He restores our souls.

The Secular Argument

The truth of the scripture has always been unpopular.  One of the results of this is the temptation for Christians to turn to or rely on secular reasoning to promote scriptural principles in the public arena.  While on the surface this may seem wise, it is folly.  Those who trust God and the scriptures know faith in God's Word is most reasonable, but to substitute human reason for the words of life is most unreasonable.  People believe what they want.  It is not difficult in our subjective age to find plenty of support for doubt and unbelief.  Minds blinded by the god of this world are unable to see the truth, no matter how logical and persuasive our best arguments can be.  Withholding the scriptures means we are not sowing seed, and therefore there can be no spiritual fruitfulness in such wranglings.

God is able to redeem even secular arguments for His purposes, but only God is able to change hearts or the way people think.  Jesus appealed to reason when He spoke, but He did not withhold the divine truths only received by faith.  He spoke with authority of Adam, the first man created by God from the dust of the ground.  He spoke of heaven and hell, conscious there were many who did not and would not agree with Him.  He spoke with objective certainty of right and wrong in a world where every man naturally does what is right in His own eyes.  Jesus did not address men's heads only, but He went straight to the heart.  God's Word has the power to accomplish what secular arguments cannot:  exposing sinful motives, affections, and poverty of the human soul apart from God (Hebrews 4:12).

Jesus did not debate or squabble with unbelievers, but rather He engaged the world with divine spiritual truth.  He did not merely hold forth principles derived from the Word, but in the face of temptation and attack said again and again:  "It is written..."  Even when beliefs of people have strayed from scripture, why not use the scripture rightly divided as the basis of your belief?  Appeals to human reason muzzle the true Word of God to breathe clarity through the subjective fog of current social issues.  Just because issues have been hijacked as "political" or "scientific" or "ethical" should not be justification to see the biblical view as irrelevant.  Are you more interested in having people believe or agree with you, or is your primary desire to turn people from darkness to God's marvelous light?  Should we cite statistics to prop up our arguments when God's Word is a sure foundation?  What does it profit a man to engage the world with reason and purposely avoid the means to provide salvation for souls?

Examine your motives in choosing to primarily hold forth secular arguments to challenge minds of others.  Be purposeful in hearing God's Word and obeying it first yourself, and without shame or embarrassment hold fast to the everlasting Word God has placed above His own name (Ps. 138:2).  If we desire to see spiritual fruit from our efforts, do not neglect sowing the seed of God's Word.  It is the scripture applied lovingly through the Holy Spirit - not our emotional appeals or rational arguments - which leads people to everlasting life.  A transformed nature through trust in Christ will change hearts, and this produces a new mind receptive to the things of God.  Should we lay down the sword in the midst of the battle in exchange for the feather duster of secular arguments?  If we choose to parry or defend ourselves from attack with the Word of God, who cares if the enemy shouts, "That's not fair?"  Let scoffers scoff, mockers mock, and unbelievers cling to deceit.  Tighten your grip on your sword, child of God!  To lay down the sword is to admit defeat, even if you manage to sway a few minds for a season.

Spiritual Aikido

Satan is a created being by God who continually seeks to mimic his Creator, masquerading as an angel of light.  Jesus Christ is the Way, but the devil tries to thwart the advance of His kingdom by many counterfeit "ways."  Jesus is the Truth, and much of the world is deceived to believe truth is subjective and bows to the judgment of each individual.  Jesus is the Life, and no one goes the the Father or heaven except through Him (John 14:6).

One of the ways the world has substituted for a life of repentance and faith in Christ through the Gospel is attempted self-improvement.  One such "way" is through martial arts.  From the moment I was exposed to Aikido in particular, I have always had an appreciation and interest in the skills of the practitioners.  The irony of this martial art is the non-violent philosophy which governs it.  That is why Aikido does not have competitions, but demonstrations.  Whilst some believe martial arts and techniques can be practiced apart from the spiritual aspects connected to the development of them, the two in Aikido in the purest form are inseparable.  The philosophy and purpose behind Aikido offers a substitute for what can only be obtained through faith in Jesus Christ.

Quoting from an Australian Aikido website, "Aikido is a modern, non-violent Japanese martial art that was developed early in the 20th century by the late master Professor Morihei Ueshiba, commonly called O Sensei...Aikido is effective as a martial art but its essence goes beyond the resolution of physical conflict. Based on a background of rigorous training in traditional Japanese jujitsu, Professor Ueshiba spent the latter half of his life developing the art as a means of refining and uplifting human spirit. He succeeded in creating what he then named 'Aikido', 'the Way of Harmony with the Forces and Principles of Nature'. Aikido is a true 'budo', path in which the keen edge of martial training is utilised as a 'Way' to spiritual growth."  As a spiritual exercise Aikido is a "way," but Jesus is the "Way."  Only the righteous God who created man is able to lift up fallen men, and make a way through spiritual regeneration for eternal life.

One aspect of Aikido which interests me is how force applied by an attacker is turned against him.  The harder a person tries to punch or kick an Aikido master, the more their exerted power is redirected in disarming or throwing himself to the ground.  This mimics the way God causes the evil of the wicked to return upon their own heads.  As it is written in Proverbs 26:27, "Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him."  In the matter of judging others, this is also true:  with the judgment we judge we will be judged, according to the measure we use it will be measured to us (Matthew 7:1-2).  What we sow, we will also reap just like God designed from the beginning.  I was reminded of this when reading Jeremiah 14:15:  "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, and who say, 'Sword and famine shall not be in this land'--'By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed!"  False prophets in Jeremiah's day claimed sword or famine would not be in the land, and God ensured they fell by their own deceptions.  The things they claimed safety from would be the very thing which consumed them.  People who are enemies of God stir up God as an enemy against themselves.

When men fall prey to the lie they can spiritually improve themselves through self-discipline or worldly means, they labour for their own destruction.  Seeking enlightenment in any but the Light of the World Jesus ultimately ends in darkness.  Matthew 16:24-26 reads, "Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  The man who tries to better himself will only grow worse, and all who try to save their lives themselves will only succeed in losing them.  Praise God He has given us the true Way!