Adonai

Setting the Scene

The first time that Adonai is used in the Bible is in Genesis 15:2 where Abram (later Abraham) acknowledged God as his Lord and Master (Adonai). This was after Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek where he learned that God was known as the Most High God, or El Elyon.

What is a covenant?

We usually call the parts of the Bible the “Old Testament’ and the New Testament.’ The word testament is from the Latin word testamentum. A more proper name for these two parts would be Covenant. A covenant is a binding agreement between two parties.

The root words in Hebrew, Berith, and Greek, Diatheke, actually mean to cut covenant. It is a way of making a binding agreement between two parties and is a very ancient custom. As a matter of fact, in many parts of the world, it is a very well understood part of life, even today.

The covenant ceremony was so well-known that we cannot find an explanation for it in the Bible. It has nine distinct steps, and when you see any one of these steps, you need to understand that an entire covenant ceremony had taken place.

This kind of agreement was understood by the Hebrews, both in the time of Abram and in the time of Jesus. Literally, an agreement to Cut Covenant meant that a special procedure, or ritual, was performed where an animal was killed in a specific way and the participants walked between pieces of flesh.

Beginning the covenant: Adonai

Adonai started off this encounter with Abram by beginning a covenant ceremony. In Genesis 15:1, He said,

… I am thy shield.

By saying this, Adonai was giving Abram His protection.

Next He said,

… and thy exceeding great reward.

Adonai covered Abram with Himself, His Adonai mantle or His own identity, so to speak.

These were the first two steps in a covenant ceremony.

Continuing the Covenant: Abram

Abram did not see any point to this. He was grieving that he did not have a natural-born son who would inherit everything he had. 

And Abram said, Lord God [Jehovah Adonai], what wilt thou give me seeing I go childless …

He was saying, ‘how could anything be of any value to me, even from you, because I don’t have anyone to pass it on to and you know, Lord, I’m not getting any younger.

This was the first time that Abram called God Adonai.

The Covenant Terms

Adonai means Lord or Master. This name was not specific to just Elohim, but was also used by other cultures to refer to their own masters. But by calling Elohim, Adonai, Abram was saying to God, ‘You are my master. Everything I have I submit to you. I have no life but what you give me.’

In other words, Abram recognized the covenant language that Adonai was using, and began to speak covenant language, himself.

One of the steps of the covenant is to state the covenant terms to each other. The first partner might say something like, ‘all my sheep are yours, and you may wear my extra robe any time.’ Then the other might say back, ‘I have many tents. They are all yours now, as well as mine. You may share anything that I own.’

They also state their liabilities. Something like, ‘I owe Ben Hamid 30 sheep’ or ‘I promised to make five tents for my next door neighbor because he gave me carpets for my tents.’ These debts would be the liabilities that were brought into the covenant, that each promised to pay if the other could not.

Abram’s true assets

So, Abram was stating his liabilities, or his poverty, to Adonai, not a favorable place to be in a covenant. But God was seeing the relationship from a different perspective.

God took him outside to show him what his assets really were: He told Abram to look at the stars. He said, ‘this is what you are bringing to the table, Abram. Your offspring, which are currently residing in your loins, will be as numerous as the stars in the sky.’ God promised that they would be His people, and would inherit the lands that were prepared for them.

Abram believed God

Because Abram believed Adonai, it was accounted to him as righteousness. This may seem like a strange thing to note, right in the middle of this passage about a covenant, but it is important because anyone who understands covenant, knows that only equal partners can undergo the covenant ceremony. This was highlighting the fact that Abram couldn’t attain an equal standing of righteousness with Adonai because Jesus had not yet come. His righteousness was stored for him for when the fullness of time came.

Adonai: Lord, Master

Each name that we learn for God reveals a unique facet of His character and attributes. Among these, Adonai stands out as a profound declaration of God’s lordship and ownership. It is used over 400 times in the Old Testament. Adonai signifies that God is not just the Creator, but also the Master of our lives.

Adonai is a Hebrew word that means Lord or Master. It is often used as a substitute title for God rather than the holier name Yahweh. When it is referring to God, it is translated as Lord and is always capitalized, signifying His unique status.

The word adon or adonai can also be used to refer to human rulers or other figures in authority, such as when someone would address a king as ‘my lord’ or when a wife would refer to her husband as ‘my lord.’

Examples of Adonai when referring to a person

1. David had the opportunity to take the life of King Saul. King Saul was trying to kill him, so David hid in a cave. Saul entered the cave in order to relieve himself, not knowing that David was inside. After King Saul left the cave, David called out to Saul to let him know that he had been spared.* 

David acknowledged the leadership of Saul over him when he called him lord or adon. Even though he had the opportunity to take Saul’s life, he didn’t take it because he recognized that God had placed Saul as a ruler in his life for a reason. 

2. Abraham’s wife, Sarah stood inside the tent and listened to the conversation between Abraham and the angel. The angel said that she would have a son, and then she laughed to herself.*

When Sarah called Abraham her lord (adon), she recognized that her husband had a headship or leadership role in their relationship. By acknowledging him as adon, she acknowledged her submission to his headship in their relationship.

3. When two angels went to Sodom to destroy it, Lot met them at the gate and addressed them as my lords (adon).*

Adonai in relationships

The name Adonai signifies a unique relationship between the Lord and His people. It signifies a relationship similar to what a husband and wife experience, or the relationship between Christ and believers.

Adonai is not just the God of Israel, but our personal God, loving us, choosing us, and seeing us. Adonai reminds us that God is both the Creator and the Master of our lives.

When we acknowledge Adonai’s lordship, we find strength to overcome doubt and to face challenges with confidence because we understand that God is not just Lord, but He is our Master, the one who cherishes us, protects us, and encourages us.

Because He is the Master, we must realize that  we do not own ourselves or our possessions. We are, rather, stewards who have been entrusted with what God has given us.

Jesus as Adonai

Because the New Testament was originally written in Greek, the original Hebrew names of God do not appear. In a sense, the exquisite nuances of meaning of the sovereignty of God was diminished.

The Greek equivalent of Lord is Kurios, meaning ‘one supreme in authority.’ It can be used to mean God, Lord, Master, and even Sir.

Nonetheless, during His ministry on earth, Jesus walked as the physical manifestation of Adonai in several ways.

Sovereignty and authority

Jesus demonstrated the sovereignty and ownership of Adonai through his authority. He claimed to be I AM (as Yahweh did originally to Moses), and He claimed to be the Son of God.

He also accepted worship. Think about the time that Thomas said to him, “My Lord and My God.” Unlike angels, who would always refuse that kind of adulation, Jesus received it.

In addition, Jesus demonstrated power over nature, sickness, and even death, showing His complete authority over the Creation.

Love and Compassion

The miraculous healings of Jesus demonstrated the love of Adonai for His people, and His desire to care and provide for them.

In addition, Jesus’ teachings on the Father revealed God’s love and devotion to them.  He taught them how to pray, how to call on God as their Father, how to come to the Father (I am the way, the truth and the life ….) and He always sought to glorify the Father.

Provision and covenant

Jesus promised to direct, provide for, and protect His servants.

He fulfilled the role of the God who keeps His covenant, much like Jehovah/Yahweh, providing spiritual life, guidance, and strength.

Sacrifice and Redemption

From the beginning of Creation, Adonai had planned to save his creation from themselves. The ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross revealed God’s willingness to give everything for his people, demonstrating his sweeping ownership, and the depths of His love for us.

Relationship

Jesus was no soft-spoken personality when it came to telling how it should be. He called people to submit and obey, showing them that knowing Adonai means living in a relationship of service and trust. One way that He demonstrated this was by washing his disciples’ feet, showing that true lordship involves humble service.

Adonai in us

So, let’s ask, how do we find Adonai in us? I think the two key take-aways for recognizing Adonai in us are His Master-Owner-ship, and His Relation-ship characteristics. All of the other characteristics mentioned above seem to flow as results of those two.

Allow me to illustrate what I mean.

When you own something precious, you are in charge of it, you want to care for it, keep it safe, show it off, delight in it. This is Adonai’s owner-ship characteristic.  He wants to protect us, care for us, nurture us, and instruct us on how to fulfill our potentials because we are precious to Him.

Then, as master of your possession, you decide who sees it and touches it because you know how to keep it clean and safe. This is the master-ship characteristic. Adonai wants us to recognize his master-ship and respect it because there are many pitfalls in this world and He is the one who knows where they lie and how to avoid them.

The master-owner-ship characteristic is strong when we are children, and if it is not tamed or controlled, it follows us into adulthood. Think of toddlers and children where one wants to be in charge by taking away the toy or the food or some other pleasure. It is built into every child to want to dominate.

Adonai changed His mind

This is where the relation-ship characteristic is most important. We all desire close relationships. We want to be loved, appreciated and cared for. It is by strong relationships that the dominant owner-master characteristic is tempered.

This was illustrated so beautifully with Abraham and Moses and their relationships with God.

1. Adonai maintained a very close relationship with Abraham. God was set on destroying Sodom and Gomorrah because they were so wicked, but He let Abraham talk him into changing his parameters for destruction. In Genesis 18, Abraham talked God down from total annihilation into sparing them if there were found fifty righteous to forty-five righteous to forty righteous to thirty righteous to twenty righteous to ten righteous. 

…And He said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.  Genesis 18:32

2. Adonai also had a very close relationship with Moses. When the Israelites committed the abomination of the golden calf at Mount Sinai after God had given the Ten Commandments, God was livid and ready to destroy the entire nation and start over with Moses. Moses was able to reason with Him, reminding Him of His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Israel, reminding Him of His reputation with the Egyptians.

And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. Exodus 32:14

3. In Numbers, God said,

… how long will this people provoke me?… I will smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them … Numbers 14:11-12

Again Moses interceded, and again God said,

… I have pardoned according thy word… Numbers 14:20

God had a strong relationship with Abraham and a strong relationship with Moses. These two incidents, alone, emphasize the importance of having strong, healthy relationships in our lives. It is because God made us this way. This is Adonai within us.