Jehovah-Bore

     I have many, many friends that like to make things. I would consider a number of my friends to be "crafty" in some way or the other, whether through woodworking or throwing parties or putting together an amazing outfit. You probably have a few friends that you'd consider the creative type too. Although I wouldn't necessarily say I am crafty, I do find myself loving and enjoying art, the creations of others, and making over someone with makeup, and I guess that's a way of creating too.

     But when you think about it, have any of us really ever created anything? We merely rearrange and reconstruct materials and ideas that have already existed. Even the atomic elements are discovered (meaning they were already there) or constructed from matter that has already existed, even babies are made through miraculous, biological matter and processes that have existed since humans have always existed. None of us have ever created something from nothing.

     So, let's look at this particular name of God: Jehovah-Bore (ye-ho-vaw BAW-RAW)

     I really hadn't heard of this name prior to seeing it listed in our Trinity Wives leadership meetings, so I was curious and a bit worried that I wouldn't find information on it. There's really only about one or two passages that I found that seem to explicitly reference this name of God, but it's absolutely essential to understanding the character of the God we worship and how He is so separate and different from us. Let's first look at its meaning.

     Jehovah means the self-existent or eternal, the Eternal Lord. Bore (or baw-raw) is a primitive root that basically means to make, create, do, or dispatch absolutely.

     So what we have is the self-existent Lord God that creates. But, we have to see that He is entirely different from the kind of creating that we're used to doing ourselves. Instead of being limited to the materials, elements, and ideas that are already in existence, Jehovah-Bore can do something no one else can do: He speaks things into existence that were not there before. He creates and originates things out of nothing (ex nihilo). We see this in the very, very first verse of the Bible, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).

     It's a bit mind-bending, isn't it? But here's the other implication of this that's even more mind-bending: God Himself was never created. He created everything, but as for Himself, He has always been in existence. Nothing created Him. He has no origin, and He depends on nothing and no one for His own existence and well-being. John 5:26 tells us that "He has life in Himself." So it is quite remarkable that He who has no origin is the origin of life for all.

     So, what does that mean about us? We are the created being of the self-existent, eternal Creator-God, who literally speaks life and matter into being. This means we are utterly and totally dependent on Him, helpless without Him. We cannot take credit for the things we make, the talents we have, the jobs we might excel at, the money in the bank, the children we bear and raise, the beauty we behold in the mirror. It is ultimately nothing more that Jehovah-Bore's grace extended to us as the Chief Maker of all things.

     Now, while for many, this news may cause you to lower your head in shame, I would actually argue that this is cause to celebrate. Because we are not the ultimate creators, we don't have to attempt to find our worth in what we do or anything of our own achievement. Our value comes from the One who made us, our origins. I'd like to share a portion of Jen Wilkin's new book,  No One Like Him, to explain the freedom this brings:
     "What freedom is found in recognizing that only God creates! No longer must we labor
     under the delusion of our own self-importance. We need not find our value in people or
     possessions- it rests in our origin. We need not look to the success or failure of our pet
     projects as validation of our worth. We bear the mark of our Maker. It is not our job
     to be original, but to worship the Origin of All things. We are free to explore the limits
     of human creativity to the glory of our Creator. We are free to love and cherish others
     at great expense without demanding their worship in return."

     As a final practice of medication, I'd like you to read a second passage in Scripture that refers to Jehovah-Bore as the self-existent Maker-God: Isaiah 40:12-31. It is good news that we are not self-sufficient, and it is good news that we are not self-sustaining. We do not have to be, for we are the children of the Eternal Creator-God that relies on nothing and no one. Only someone like that is worth drawing strength from.

12 "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand

And marked of the heavens with a span,

Enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure

And weighed the mountains in scales

And the hills in a balance?

13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,

Or what man shows Him his counsel?

14 Whom did He consult,

 And who made Him understand?

Who taught Him the path of justice,

And taught Him knowledge,

And showed him the way of understanding?

15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

And are accounted as the dust on the scales;

Behold, He takes up the coastlands like fine dust.

16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,

Nor are its beasts enough for a burn offering.

17 All the nations are as nothing before Him,

They are accounted by Him as less than nothing and emptiness.

18 To whom then will you liken God,

Or what likeness compare with Him?

19 An idol! A craftsman casts it,

And a goldsmith overlays it with gold

And cast for it silver chains.

20 He who is too impoverish for an offering

Chooses wood that will not rot;

He seeks out a skillful craftsman

To set up an idol that will not move.

21 Do you not know? Do you not hear?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,

And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

Who stretches out, the heavens like a curtain,

And spreads them like a tent to dwell in;

23 Who bring princes to nothing,

And makes the rules of the earth as emptiness.

24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

Scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

When He blows on them, and they wither,

And the tempest carries them off like stubble.

25 'To whom then will you compare Me,

That I should be like Him?' says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:

Who created these?

He who brings out their host by number,

Calling them all by name;

By the greatness of His might;

And because He is strong in power,

Not one is missing.

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,

And speak, O Israel,

'My way is hidden from the Lord,

And my right is disregarded by my God'?

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

The Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

His understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the faint,

And to him who has no might He increases strength.

30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,

And young men shall fall exhausted;

31 But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles;

They shall run and not be weary;

They shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:12-31

By McKenna Rishmawy

On Campus Small Group Leader

From The Archives - Empty Cupbords

    The beginning years of our marriage were financially slim to say the least. It was hard. In September of 1976 Stephen was a senior in Bible college in Watertown, Wisconsin. I had been out of Bible college for one year (having taken the 2-year program of study) when we got married, and the Lord blessed us immediately with family building "skills." We found out shortly after our honeymoon that we were expecting our first child. We had a little saved up before our wedding in June, but it was quickly depleted over the summer of settling in our first apartment. In the fall Stephen began working security at the school during the night shift for minimum wage (about $2/hour) and taking day classes as best he could on what sleep he got. My choices were few as no one was keen on hiring someone who would leave to become a mom in a few months. I worked in an ice cream shop part-time until they stopped putting my name on the schedule. I then sold Tupperware up until my ninth month. After paying the school bill, the rent and utilities, and gas for the car, there was barely grocery money.

    I still remember being hungry day after day. Doctor visits took up any "extra" money we had as we did not have insurance with either of our jobs. We were so broke. I felt so bad for Stephen, who was so hungry, and I remember hoping and praying that church people would invite us to dinner on Sunday so we could get one good meal in a week. The baby was almost due and our kitchen cabinets were practically empty. Except for some condiments in the door of the refrigerator, the refrigerator shelves were empty. The freezer had ice cubes. For a time, when Stephen came home for lunch, I boiled water and put a beef bouillon cube in the water to make broth. I think we had crackers at first to go with it, but when they ran out I used popcorn in place of crackers in the soup. We had peanut butter for awhile, and although Stephen didn't like it previously, he grew to like it when it was all we had to eat. I remember praying that the baby would be healthy and not sickly for my lack of nutritional intake.

    Feeling very maternal expecting our first little one, I had canned red tomatoes and green sweet pickles earlier that year. We didn't have anything to eat them with, but they at least looked colorful lined up alternately above the cabinets. The "nesting" syndrome swept over me as my due date neared, so I washed the inside of all the kitchen cupboards and rearranged all my Tupperware, creating a clean and ready feeling for whenever the baby arrived.

    The big day arrived 4 days early on February 24, 1977, and the Lord gave us a healthy baby boy. We named him Michael David Harvey after Michael the archangel and Stephen's brother, David. My parents and one of my younger sisters lived only about a 75-minute drive away and though they had never visited before, they came to see the baby.

    I was glad they came and proud to show off Michael, but I was nervous about entertaining them. There simply was nothing to serve them. As a matter of courtesy, shortly after they arrived, I asked them if they would like something to drink, secretly hoping they wouldn't want anything. I was relieved to hear them say they had just finished dinner before they came and didn't want anything. We stayed in the living room visiting and looking at all of Michael's tiny features. I noticed my dad left the room and went to the kitchen. This made me nervous. What was he doing there, getting a glass of water? He had already said he didn't want anything to drink. He poked his head into the living room and said he was in the mood for some "pop" (or soda, as some say). He asked us what kind we liked and asked for directions to the closest store and left. After 45 minutes or so we began to wonder where he was, as the store was fairly close to our apartment. Storm clouds were brewing and my mom was getting worried. It was really getting dark and they had over an hour's drive to get home. Finally after a full hour we saw the car pull into the driveway. He did not come back with just the soda. He came back with 10 bags of groceries! He began unloading bags from the car into the kitchen and I couldn't keep up with him. We had more groceries than could fit in the cabinets and freezer! He said very casually, "Oh, I noticed the cabinets were a little empty so I picked up a few things!" He also had an Easter basked for the baby, several varieties of pop for us, and had put enough meat in the freezer for several weeks! I think he went down every aisle and just put a little of everything in the shopping cart. He seemed so pleased with himself for having found the store, including the Easter goodies from the discount story he wandered into first, by mistake, right next to the grocery store.

    Before my family left, my dad sat at the kitchen table and asked about our hospital bill. Inwardly I cringed. It was embarrassing and humiliating to talk about our finances when we were so strapped for money. I tried to sound casual about it, but Michael's bill had some extra charges for some newborn care he needed. I think our bill was $1200. My dad was taking out his checkbook and when I said $1200 he winced a little and I thought, "Oh my, he's not going to write a check for the whole amount, is he??" He wrote out a check and left it on the table; I think it was for $600! We were a bit awestruck that someone could just write a check out of their account for that much money (and this after purchasing 10 bags of groceries). My parents were not Christians, but they were always very generous with us, and the Lord used them many more times to help us out without our asking.

    What an answer to prayer! What a provision! Jesus was showing Himself to us as our Jehovah-Jirah and continued to do so over and over again throughout the years, and He continues even now 26 years into our marriage with many wonderful provisions. Praise the Lord!

    Post Script: That infant whose nutrition and health I was worried about? As it turned out, he grew up and signed a contract with the U.S. Marines and became a "lean, mean, fighting machine." No health problems there!

by Cathy A Harvey

TWF Vice-President 2003-2004

Memorial Stones

     Joshua 4 records an interesting incident in the history of Israel. Well two actually, but I want to focus on the less remembered part of this incident. The chapter begins with the priest standing in the middle of the Jordan as the people are crossing over into the Promised Land. Joshua is just about to tell the priests to move when God stops him. God tells Joshua to pick one man from each tribe and have them pick up a stone from where the priests are standing. Then God directs Joshua to have the men leave the stones at the place where the nation of Israel camped that night. It was only after this was done that God commanded the priests to step out of the river, and the waters of the Jordan went crashing back over the river banks.

     We remember the part of this story where God parts the Jordan as the priest steps in, but it's easy to forget about the weird part with the stones. It seems a strange detail, but it is an important part of Israel's history. In fact that action memorialized God's miraculous intervention to bring Israel into the promised land of Canaan. This pile of stones was meant to cause children to ask their parents what the stones mean. The stones were an opportunity to share with future generations what the Lord had done for Israel.

     Do you take time to remember what God has done in the past? For me one way I reflect and remember what God has done in the past is to journal. Periodically, I'll read through old entries so that I can remember God's faithfulness and provision.

     There is a two-fold purpose in memorial stones. The first purpose is to encourage gratitude and thankfulness. Without reminders of the times that God has moved in unexpected ways, it is easy to take life for granted. It is easy to feel as though all you have is your just desserts. But when we look at the memorial stone, we remember how we felt when the flood waters of the Jordan blocked our way home. God's surprising actions quicken our hearts to gratitude. The second purpose of memorial stones is to build faith in God. Memorial stones are not just dead memories of days gone by. When I look back at how God provided for my family to bring us here to Trinity, it gives me the perspective to face my current disappointments and challenges. How we are going to be able to pay off student loans isn't as terrifying when I remember what it felt like to be without a job when we first arrived at Trinity. Memorial stones remind me that God provided employment in a miraculous way. When the time comes for another challenge, I can remember how God has been faithful, and that He will remain faithful.

     What are some ways that you can erect memorial stones to God's faithfulness? Maybe you could take a second and journal when God does something amazing. Maybe you could have a picture album dedicated to pictures that show God's faithfulness. These are just a few ideas, but there are many ways to remind ourselves of God's faithfulness and kindness to us.

By Sarah Price

Crowns Editor