Daily Devotionals

Voice of the Lord

Devotional: 10th of Teves

For ADONAI your God has chosen him ...to stand and serve in the name of ADONAI (Deuteronomy 18:5).

The first use of the phrase "in the name of ADONAI" is found in Deuteronomy 18. The context is the distribution of duties of the tribe of Levi within the camp of Israel. This specific phrase refers to the authority of the Lord. In the Scriptures, a person's name is his identity, and identity in the case of deity is always related to authority. In verses 19-20, we see this very clearly in describing a prophet who speaks "in the name of ADONAI" and correctly uses or misuses authority. It is clear, then, that speaking or praying "in the name of ADONAI" is always an issue of authority.

Yeshua commanded his disciples to approach the Father with the authority that God had given him. He said, "Whatever you ask for in my name, I will do" (John 14:13).We have no authority of our own. Rather, we are messengers empowered by the Messiah with delegated authority to do his will. It is with this authority that we can approach our Father in heaven. At the end of the verse it says, "If you ask for something in my name, I will do it." Elsewhere, Yeshua says that if we ask something of the Father in Yeshua's name, he will do it (see John 15:6). The Father will send Yeshua to perform whatever we have asked in the authority of his name.

Let us remember that we, like Aaron and his household, have also been chosen to minister "in the name of ADONAI."

...lift up prayers to the Lord in the authority of the Messiah's name.

JS