Adonai

Who do you call lord?  Your husband?  Your boss?  Your parents?  

And what does that mean?  Steady obedience?  Honor and respect?  Doormatting?  

When Abraham first called God Lord in Genesis 15:2, he meant complete possession by his Owner, and complete submission to Him.  As a slave owner, Abraham knew better than we do today all that lordship involved:  "The slave had the right of the master's protection and help and direction.  Nor was the relationship devoid of affection.  In the absence of a son, a slave, Eliezer, is the heir to Abram's entire household." (The Names of God, Nathan Stone, p. 64)   

Think of Joseph as Potiphar's slave - much admired, much trusted.  Remember, also, Daniel, that slave of the king of Babylon, taken captive from his own country.  These are men who understood that slavery meant complete obedience to a master, along with complete care and protection from said master.  



Adon is the Hebrew word for master and lord.  Add the ai to it and you have a plural possessive master: the Trinitarian God possesses you.  He is a three-in-one God (hence the plural) and you belong to Him (hence the possessive).  Is that not a beautiful thought?  I belong to the Trinity.  By virtue of Christ's purchase of me at the cross, the great Three-in-One owns me.  

I have the right of the master's protection and help and direction.  I am an heir.  

Psalm 123 expresses it so well:  

To you I lift up my eyes,

O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

Behold, as the eyes of servants

look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a maidservant

to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the Lord our God,

till he has mercy upon us.

He wants us so badly, He purchased us with His own blood.  Amazing love.  

Tomorrow we'll explore what that means for us.