Matthew 6:9 Hallowed be Your name
Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come
This is the first of seven commands given by Jesus…some say they are requests but the wording in the Greek indicates it’s more demanding than that…but at the same time…The Lord’s Prayer is not so much a command as an invitation to share in the prayer-life of Jesus himself.
Our English translations fail to convey the imperative tenses found in the words of this prayer…an imperative word in both Greek and English convey the same thing…it is a word spoken as an order or a command, such as, “You do this!” or “Do that now!” …the imperative words in the Lord’s Prayer are:
PRAY this way
HALLOWED be your name
COME kingdom.
will BE DONE
GIVE us this day
FORGIVE our debts
DELIVER us from evil.
Looking at the first three requests…they are addressed to God and draw us to Him for His own sake: Your name…Your kingdom…Your will…the last four concern us and our needs that the Father fulfills: give us, forgive us, lead us not, deliver us.
Need to look at two words: ‘hallowed’ and ‘name’ …we have a tendency to read these words “Hallowed be Your name” …the word ‘hallowed’ is an archaic word we seldom use any more…it means… I make holy…treat as holy…set apart as holy.
By saying: “Your name is holy.” …is not simply making an assertion that God’s name is holy…it’s a stern request…acknowledging an existing truth.
The first of seven specific requests that Jesus gave His disciples in the Lord’s Prayer was to pray that the name of God would be regarded as hallowed.
Jesus is not telling the disciples the name of God is holy…that’s understood…but rather to make His name holy, to set it aside as holy.
The reality is that God’s name is always holy…but it is not always hallowed…it is not always set aside for holy purposes…so a prettier English translation of ‘hallowed be your name’ could be: “Let your name be set aside for holy purposes.”
Need to understand the importance of why Jesus starts off by making
this demand concerning God’s name…names to the Hebrews weren’t simply a way to call a person…or a way to distinguish one person
from another…a person’s name was viewed as equivalent to the person himself…a
person’s name reflected a person’s character…worth… reputation…and authority.
In Jewish culture names were meant to show the essence of a person’s identity…to declare that person’s destiny…[Rev. 3:4] is an example…it refers to people as ‘names’ …there were a “a few names in Sardis which have not defiled their garments….” notice the people are not called by their given names…the reference is to the people in Sardis but they are identified by just the word “names.”
When Moses asked God who it was that sent him to rescue them from Egypt… God replied, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you” [Ex. 3:14] God in essence is saying…all you need to do is say my name… “I AM’ …YHWH is linked to the concept of His self-existence.
The reason the Jews…including Jesus expressed reference to God’s name is because of the way the name represents the person to whom it belongs…the phrase “hallowed be Your name” is meant to remind us that God is perfect…pure… holy and worthy of all praise and honor…hence the petition to treat God’s name holy.
Interesting to note that here we have God talking to God…Jesus is telling the Church that the name of God is to be regarded as sacred…He is teaching us that God’s name is to be regarded as sacred, that it should be treated with reverence, and that it should be seen as holy. We must see this if we are to pray according to the pattern Jesus set for us.
Here’s the importance of Jesus’s name…to believe in the name of Jesus is to believe in the person of Christ [John 1:12; 2:23] …it denotes belief in His authority and power.
To believe in Jesus the person is to believe that He exists…that He’s real… BUT you don’t need to be born again to do that…you don’t have to be saved to believe that a guy named Jesus existed…even the demons believe and know Jesus is the Son of God.
That’s why Jesus starts out by stating, “hallowed is Your name.” …I’ve already shared the importance in showing reference to God by calling Him by His name… He is the creator of the universe.
To believe in the name of Jesus is to believe in the person…totally and completely putting your trust in Him as your Savior.
“Now while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs He was performing and—watch this—believed in His name” [John 2:23] …to believe in the name of Jesus is to believe in who He is…the Son of God.
Both Matthew [1:21] and Luke [1:31] record that Mary and Joseph were to call Him Jesus…it wasn’t just any name…the meaningof the nameJesus is ‘God Is Salvation’…probably wouldn’t have done well to call Him Henry…see the appropriateness in calling Him Jesus…the origin of the nameJesus is Greek…the form of the name in Hebrew is Yeshu’a,
Jesus is expressing a command to the hearer…that is us…to do a certain action… to pray hallowed is God’s name…this is more than a suggestion or a request… Jesus is saying…do this.
Here’s the danger in misusing God’s name—the 3rd Commandment—or disrespecting God’s name…God’s kingdom does not come to people who have no respect for Him…we pray that the will of God will be done in this world…but God’s will is not done by people who do not regard Him with reverence.
It’s like prayer…God does not hear the prayer of an unbeliever…if you have never asked Jesus to be your Savior…then trying to pray to a God you don’t believe in or trust in… is ineffective…the only prayer God hears from an unbeliever is the prayer of salvation… in response to the genuine seeking of the faith by that person.
Then Jesus petitions the disciples to pray that ‘Your kingdom come’ …the Kingdom Jesus is referring to is His Father’s Kingdom in heaven…Jesus here is actually praying that God’s will…that the coming of His Kingdom to earth…will be done as it relates to the end times.
This opens up an idea that we probably never thought about…or even considered.
Jesus is saying ‘Your Kingdom come’ …God talking to God…a command to the Father that…let that day come…this petition is eschatological in nature…there is a day when God’s kingdom will come…Amen…we all agree on that.
There is another kingdom now on the earth…there is another ‘will’ being done.
This other kingdom must go if God’s kingdom is to come…these two kingdoms are rivals for the same allegiance and the same territory. They cannot exist together.
Your Kingdom come…is Jesus’ physical return to earth to establish His Kingdom from which He will rule the entire earth from the city of Jerusalem for 1000 years.
After His 1000-year millennial reign has ended then God will bring down both Himself and the new city of Jerusalem to earth from heaven where He and Jesus will rule the entire earth under what is called the New Heaven and New Earth.
The words, “Your kingdom come,” should always be a constant reminder to all of us that eventually all of the demons…all the bad people…all the unsaved people will eventually be taken out of this world.
So, when everything is all finally said and done God’s eternal kingdom will eventually be coming down to earth where we will all will live eternally with God…Jesus…the Holy Spirit…and all of God’s good angels exactly as it is described in the book of Revelation.
Here’s the big question concerning this specific request…does God’s will just happen…or at times is it dependent upon actions by others?
Do I really need to pray “Your Kingdom come” for it to actually happen…if we know how it all ends…it’s already all written down…I cheated–started at the back of the book first…so I know how the story ends…then why pray for God’s will to be done…if the will of God always happens, then why are we told to petition for it?
If God is all-knowing…if God knows who we are and what we’re capable of…if God knows the circumstances around us…if God knows what we want and what we need…and if God knows His plan for our lives and how to best accomplish that
Plan…then why pray because it’s just naturally going to happen…right?
If God’s going
to do what He’s going to do anyway why does He need my input?
Going Deep…the New Testament makes it crystal clear that everything that happens is NOT God’s will…the mis-understanding is that everything that happens is according to God’s will…NO IT IS NOT.
Here’s the difference between the Calvinist and the Armenians…if you’re a Calvinist you believe everything that happens is because God caused it…even the color of your eyes was decided by God before you were born…God caused that.
I’m not a Calvinist…I don’t believe that…I don’t believe that everything that happens is according to God’s will…airplanes crash…cars crash…bridges collapse…people get shot…things don’t happen for a reason. Things just happen.
It’s God’s will that people would not steal…commit murder…adultery…but they do…it’s God’s will that all people would be saved [1 Tim. 2:4] …not happening.
People steal…committing murder…sin…people die every day without knowing Christ…all this is against God will…but it’s happening…if everything that happens were God’s will, then there would be no sin or disobedience…an eye-opening revelation.
We pray that the will of God will be done in this world…BUT here’s the realization…God’s will is not done by people who do not regard Him with reverence…therefore God’s will is not being done and God is not going to make them do it.
Why isn’t this world a better place? …there is an answer to that WHY question… not the answer most people like to hear…the world is the way it is because it’s the world that we, in a sense, asked for…God is giving us what we want…a world where we treat Him as though He is absent and unnecessary…and then we complain about the way it is.
Let’s go a little deeper still…what I have just mentioned are people who we might consider unbelievers…they’re stealing…sinning…unsaved…I would hope there’re not Christians.
BUT…what about the prayers of Christians…if God is going to do what He’s going to do anyway why does He need my input? …what’s the purpose of praying ‘Your kingdom come’ if it’s already God’s will…that what is being done in heaven will be done on earth [Matt. 6:10] …that’s the next verse.
If everything that’s going to happen is God’s will…do our prayers really make a difference if He already knows how things are going to turn out? …why pray about His Kingdom coming…seems to me praying that ‘your Kingdom come’ is superfluous …if God has a plan, why should we pray? …will things be any different if I don’t pray?
God is absolutely sovereign and completely in charge of every detail of His creation…there can be no doubt about this… “I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.” [Isaiah 46:9].
Sounds pretty definite to me…BUT…at the same time the Bible affirms that “the effective and fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” [James 5:16] here we do see the power of prayer and in asking.
…Elijah prayed that it would not rain; and it did not rain for three years and six months…he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain [vs. 17, 18].
…God told Abraham I’m on my way to destroy Sodom…but was willing to relent to Abraham’s persistent intercessions not to destroy Sodom (Gen. 18:16-33).
…God did not let Hezekiah die because of prayer (II Kings 20:1-11)
…God did not destroy Nineveh because of prayer…made Jonah mad…he wanted them all dead… “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love” Jonah knew from the start that if the people of Nineveh repented, God would spare them…he was mad at their repentance because he would rather see them destroyed. Their prayer averted God destroying them.
…God did not destroy Israel after they made the golden calf [Ex. 32:11].
…God did not send the locust-swarm to destroy Israel’s crops because of prayer.
…God did not send fire to come to Israel’s land because of prayer [Amos 7].
…God was intending to destroy Israel but would have relented if there had been just one priest …prophet…or common person in the land to… “stand before me on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one” [Ezekiel 22:30].
Prayer does influence God…it does not influence His purpose.
Everything that God has purposed to do will happen exactly as He planned it…it will all surely happen…nothing can change that.
What about all those instances I shared where prayer ‘changed God’s mind’? First of all God doesn’t change His mind…prayer didn’t change God’s mind…it just delayed the inevitable…everything that was to happen…happened just as God said it would…all prayer did was delay it.
…Hezekiah eventually died. …God did destroy Nineveh.
…God did destroy Israel’s crops. …God did destroy Israel’s land.
…God did destroy thousands of Jews after they made the golden calf.
…God couldn’t find the one man to intercede on Israel’s behalf, 1000 of Jews died.
Everything happened exactly as God planned it…Prayer does influence God…it does not influence His purpose…God’s will…will be done.
Going Deeper…the idea is that God is rigid…it’s God’s will so that’s the way it is…NO it’s not…in Romans [9:20] Paul uses the analogy of a potter working with clay…on the surface it implies that the potter unilaterally decides everything … giving it a deterministic interpretation…It is what it is…BUT in actuality it has the exact opposite meaning
The sovereign potter…God…is flexible…Paul’s point is that God…the potter has the right to revise his plans in response to the clay…to refashion his plan…based on people’s response.
That is exactly what God did in each one of the situations…He didn’t change His mind because everything happened just as He determined beforehand…but prayer influenced God…God became flexible and refashioned His plan based on prayer and people’s response.
Praying ‘your kingdom come’ is praying according to the will of God…knowing Scripture is knowing God’s Will…God gives you His Word so that you might know His will…when you get the Word of God in you, the Holy Spirit begins to pray in and through you…then when you pray…you’re praying the will of God… your will blends with what He wills.
As Christians…God’s name should always be set aside for holy purposes…Your name is holy.
As Christians…God’s kingdom will come…knowing that should always be a constant reminder that God’s eternal kingdom will eventually be coming down to earth where we will all live eternally with God and Jesus.