His Name in My Forehead

The King James Version (KJV) is mostly used in these lessons. Click here to access the KJV online.

Within the heart of every person who has ever lived, be he noble king or sly thief, be she treasured wife, or hardened hooker, is the longing to be loved and accepted for who one really is - and despite all that one is really not.  Everyone yearns for understanding.

It has often been said that there is a "God-shaped hole" in the heart of everyone.  Deep in the heart of all is a yearning for a oneness with the Creator.  Because of sin, it is often not recognized for what it is.  Fear of Yahuwah, and doubt of His love, make the desire an unfulfilled agony of longing.

This wrenching heart-cry was so well stated in one song that it struck a responsive chord in many hearts.  Many people identified with the longing expressed in the song.  

If I had just one wish,
Only one demand,
I hope he's not like me.
I hope he understands . . . ¹

Sin destroyed the knowledge of Yahuwah in the heart of man.  It almost entirely defaced the divine image in the soul.  However, all who will call upon Yahuwah, seeking forgiveness and cleansing, will be restored.  The image of the divine will be restored and a people will reflect the glory, the character, of the Creator.

Scripture contains 360 unique composite names of Yahuwah.  Each name reflects a different facet of the multi-faceted divine character.  The longing of the Father to reveal His character to His straying, earth-bound children can be seen in the many different ways He represents Himself in these beautiful names. 

Some of the names are strongly masculine names: I AM your Strength; I AM your Shield; I AM your Kinsman; I AM a Man of War.  These names reassure His children of His strength and power; His ability to provide for every need.

Other names, to human ears, sound feminine: Rose of Sharon; Lily of the Valley; the Many-Breasted One.  These names are a comforting promise of gentle understanding, loving-kindness and nurturing care.

The whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the "glory" (character) of Yahuwah, when His people, repentant, forgiven, cleansed, and recreated, perfectly reflect His character.  This is having the Father's name written in the forehead.  Finite humanity, restored into the image of the divine, will have the high honor of reflecting different facets of the divine character. 

This does not destroy the individual personality.  Individuality is not absorbed and obliterated.  Rather, the true one-of-a-kind beauty of a person is unfolded.  Purified from all Satanic tendencies that warped, the true character now shines forth as it was intended to be: a revelation of a unique aspect of the divine character.

Scripture describes Moses as the meekest man in the world.  "Now the man Moses was  very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth."  (Numbers 12:3, KJV)  Many modern versions translate the word as "humble," which is unfortunate.  The word humble does not have the same meaning as meek.  Various definitions of humble include lowly, submissive, to be abased and to be brought down.  People often equate "meek" with "humble" in their minds. 

But a person who is meek is much more than merely humble.  Meekness is too often viewed with contempt as weak or spineless.  Most especially is this true in Western cultures where individuality is lauded as supreme and songs such as "I Did It My Way" become popular hits.  However, a person who is meek actually will always have greater strength of character than a person who is a slave to his emotions, exercising no control over his emotions or his tongue. 

The dictionary definition sheds light on this precious, often under-rated divine character attribute.

MEEK: Mild of temper; soft; gentle; not easily provoked or irritated; yielding; given to forbearance under injuries.²

A person who is meek is not weak-spirited.  Moses had quite the temper!  One of his displays of temper led to the murder of an Egyptian overseer.  (Exodus 2:11, 12)  Eighty years later, another display of temper (under extreme provocation) led to him being denied the privilege of leading the Israelites into the Promised Land.  (Numbers 20:12)  However, in the divine school, instructed by the Greatest Teacher the world has ever known, Moses learned to control his temper.

That which had been a great weakness in his character and had led to the act of murder, became sanctified under the divine influence.  Moses gained great self-control.  He became one who was meek; a man "given to forbearance under injuries."³  "Forbearance" is simply "self-control; patient restraint."⁴  Meekness does not deny that a wrong or an injustice has been committed.  But, in the face of admitted insult and injury, a meek person exercises "self-control" and is patient and forgiving.  Moses' character was not spineless and without feeling, once it was purified of self.  It was stronger than before in true strength of character.

More than anyone else on the face of the earth, Moses was privileged to reflect the beauty of a divine character trait rarely seen in the sons of men.  Yahuwah Himself is very meek.  He exercises great self-control and is patient under personal injury.  "For I AM . . . [Yahuwah], I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."  (Malachi 3:6, KJV)

Each person saved will have a well-balanced character.  But within that, each will have a distinct personality which has developed to a high degree some unique facet of the divine character.  A child who, in his own life, reveals the Father's character as one that is "disposed to do good to others, and to make them happy by granting their requests, supplying their wants or assisting them in distress"⁵ will have the name KIND written in his forehead.  Kindness is the divine attribute that has been especially developed in his own character.

A person who has, by faith in Yahushua, developed the divine ability to always do what needs to be done because it must be done, regardless of the cost, fear or danger, will have COURAGEOUS written in his forehead.  Courage is the particular facet of the divine character that is most clearly demonstrated in his life.

For another who, in her life, reveals Yahuwah's own "benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves,"⁶ receives the name MERCY in her forehead, for that is the aspect of Yahuwah's character which she most clearly displays in her own character.

A personal acquaintance once shared that, as a young person, she had read that the Saviour "ever lived to bless others."  At the time, she determined in her heart that she wanted the same to be true of her as well.  Now, years later, she is the most unselfish, generous person I know.  Her self-forgetful generosity is not limited to just money, although, when circumstances require it, she is generous with money as well.  She gives of herself in a multitude of ways.  Truly, she ever lives to bless others.

The Bible closes with a promise.  The veil is drawn aside on eternity future and one is permitted to gaze into that boundless realm of bliss.  After describing the water of life, "clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne" (Revelation 22:1), the promise is given for all time to come: "there shall be no more curse: but the throne of . . . [Yahuwah] and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads."  (Revelation 22:3,4) 

Yahushua took on the fallen nature of Adam after sin.  The Son revealed what the Father would be like if He were a human.  However, Yahushua never sinned!  He had no cultivated tendencies to wrong that had to be overcome.  The long running controversy between Good and Evil, Holiness and Wickedness is finished when Yahuwah has a group of people fully surrendered to Him, cleansed and restored into the divine image.  People who have sinned but who, through repentance and forgiveness now have the divine impress on their subconscious brain: His name in their foreheads.

The earth will be lightened with the glory of the Eternal One when His character is revealed in His waiting people. 

The world will know what Yahuwah would be like, what words He would say, how He would act, as a 55-year old man facing the loss of his job for refusing to break the Sabbath.  The world will see demonstrated Yahuwah's own reactions, what He would do, if He were a 34-year old mother of three, losing her marriage for following truth.  The divine character will be displayed in a young person who, when faced with bright career possibilities, will be willing to count all things as loss in order to stay true to principle. 

The world will see how Yahuwah would act under all circumstances, and in all situations because His character, His thoughts and feelings, will be the thoughts and feelings, the words and actions of His people.

All who inhabit Yahuwah's eternal earthly kingdom will have His name written in the forehead, written there because He is the center of their thoughts.  No one can get himself ready, but Yahuwah's very name is a promise that He will BE everything you need Him to be, in order to get ready. 

Call upon the name of Yahuwah.  Trust Him.  You, too, can reflect the glory of the divine character.

"He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to . . . [Yahuwah] through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them."  (Hebrews 7:25, NKJV)

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