What’s In A Name?, Pt 15: YHWH Rohi
Psalm 23-1-3 1The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Isaiah 53:6 6We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
John 10:14-18 14“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Revelation 7:17 17For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
Raah, pronounced RAH-ah has a variety of meanings the primary of which is Shepherd. Another word is Rohi, pronounced Ro-hee, also means shepherd. Both Raah and Rohi provide profound insight into the character of God, but before we can investigate that we need to understand the nature of sheep and their need for a shepherd.
Sheep are dumb, directionless, and defenseless. There is a story on the web from eastern Turkey that tells about 1500 sheep who walked off a cliff simply because the first one did. The first 400 died, but the other 1100 landed on a nice cushiony blanket and survived. Why did this happen? The shepherd had gone home for breakfast. Sheep are also directionless and if left to their instincts will wander away from the most pleasant of environments. And sheep are essentially defenseless. Most animals can be returned to the wild and have a fighting chance. Not sheep. Their solution to attack is to flock together. They have no defensive weapons like claws or talons so they gather in panicked groups and run in circles hoping the attacker will pick off someone else.
The shepherd lives night and day with his sheep. He establishes intimacy with them by giving each of them names. They know his voice and respond to no other. He protects them by sleeping in their midst and provides pasture and water even in the wilderness. It is he who fights off the lions and bears, protecting his flock from all attackers.
The extended meaning of Rohi includes friend or companion. It can operate as both a noun and a verb and as a verb it can mean “associate with”, “take pleasure in”, or “cherish”.
In combination, the meanings and metaphors of Rohi present an engaging and tender picture of our God’s character. Psalm 23 says God is my shepherd. He doesn’t want mentally or emotionally detached children who attend worship services with no involvement. Such people sometimes chant otherwise uplifting liturgy in a mechanical way with no spiritual involvement. No, he want his people to have intimate personal relationship with him, and he wants the same with them.
How are we weak, fragile people to achieve this? This is a profound question actually because the question really asks, “How can I connect with God?” The answer at the root is we can’t. We have to depend on God to help us come to Him. We are, after all, fallen people with a sin-prone nature which leads us astray. But there are a few things that facilitate intimacy with the LORD God. I’m assuming for this discussion that the reader has already accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior.
First, we must read the Bible. There are people who will say the Bible is irrelevant, that it is written by people, and is just another good story. This is absolutely false. I can’t spend time on why that’s false; there are many volumes investigating why the Bible is the inspired Word of God. There’s not enough space here to do that. There are two kinds of reading: The ordinary read, and the meditative read. I am proposing the second. If a person were to just read the Bible, say over the course of a year, like reading a novel, he wouldn’t get as much from it as he could. The meditative read is a different story though. Reading a verse or two and then pondering its meaning can lead into great insight. This is one of the ways God talks to his people. For instance, look at the first verse of Psalm 23 above. An ordinary read might pass over “my”. The meditate read would ask, “Is God my shepherd too?” “Does he want time with me too?” “Does he really care about my life?” And those thoughts could lead to many other implications.
Second, we must set apart time exclusively for God. This is hard for those of us in the West to do. We are over-scheduled and driven people. But that is exactly why God wants time with us. We need quiet time. We need down time. We need time with God. A person might ask, “How do I do that?” The best way is to find small space with room for no one but yourself. Even a closet. Turn off the phone, TV, and anything likely to intrude. Find a verse or section you have interest in, read it, then stop. Just sit there and pray to God. “What does this mean?” “I don’t understand this!” And then just sit there quietly. Try to keep outside thoughts away. God will answer, but it may not be an audible voice. It might be an impression, it might be a thought about a related verse. The main thing: Listen!
If we are to spend time with God, we have to schedule it. Left to our own desires the God time will be frittered away with worldly distractions. The whole point of YHWH-Rohi is to remind us that God wants time with us. He wants our praises, but He also wants to hear us cry, gripe, and complain. He wants us to tell him what we need. He wants to redirect us when we stray, encourage us when we stumble, and pick us up when we fall. He can’t do that if we don’t allow him to.
So my friends please remember you are not alone. The God of the universe wants to spend time with you, his son or his daughter. Whatever your problem is, God is bigger. He wants to help you. Let him!
Challies, T. (2013). Christian Living, Dumb, Directionless, and Defenseless.