Christological Titles – Lord
Thesis
Eat your cornflakes! And Praise The Lord for this is truly the breakfast of champions! – the late eighteenth-century advertisement read.
William Miller (1782-1849) was a fundamentalist Baptist preacher from Low Hampton, New York. A biblical literalist, his study of the scriptures in 1818 concluded that the “2,300-day prophecy” of Daniel (8:14) ought to be interpreted as “years.” Using a finely tuned self-conceived mathematical formula he calculated Christ would return on October 22, 1843. Miller, along with his followers, expecting the immediate advent of the Lord, became known as “Adventists,” and derogatorily referred to by others as “Millerites.” Jesus, failing to appear on the appointed hour, constituted what became known as the “Great Disappointment.” Undeterred, Miller revised his numbers proclaiming the date to be March 1844, and when that month came and went he set forth October 1844, equally to no avail. Understandably, his disheartened flock drifted away and Miller withdrew from the Baptist fellowship.
The movement would have ended except there was another willing to pick up the mantle where Miller had disappointedly dropped it. The Adventist and psychic Ellen Gould White (1827-1915) continued the prophetic movement. The lady from Maine was converted to Miller’s views at a revival in 1842. Engulfed by the Holy Spirit she had thousands of visions and ecstatic transports, all of which she recoded. At the time of her death her stream of mystical revelations filled eighty volumes.
White was content that Miller’s calculations were accurate, but Jesus chose not to abide because Christians failed to keep the Ten Commandments, especially the fourth, “Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” (Ex 20: 8) Further, she admonished Adventists for not properly preparing themselves for the return of the Lord, which included the avoidance of drugs for medical treatment, abstaining from alcohol and tobacco, and for not adhering to a vegetarian lifestyle.
Relocating to Battle Creek, Michigan she became a friend and admirer of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, who in turn became a disciple. Under his direction came forth the manifesto that his cornflakes were the most nutritious vegetarian health food Adventists could consume. Kellogg’s Cornflakes became the staple in all Adventists diets.
In obedience to the Law of Moses to sanctimoniously observe the fourth commandment, and by the ruling of White, Adventists worshiped on the biblical day of rest, Saturday, the seventh and last day of the week as the authentic day for worship. This gave a name to their sect, the “Seventh-Day Adventists.”
If White would have spent more time in the library and less time navel gazing, she could have supported her Sabbath declaration with historical precedence rather than divination; though, such is never the case with egomaniacs. For the day of worship, Saturday, the last, or Sunday, the first, was one of the few issues that was never contentious among first century Christians.
Jewish Christians, holding fast to the rituals of Judaism and with the conviction that the Messiah had ascended, continued the practice of worshiping on the Jewish Sabbath, the last day of the week. Others, both Jewish and Gentile Christians, chose to worship on the day of the Resurrection, which would be Sunday, the first day of the week. At the meeting of the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:20, 28-29), which convened in 49 C.E., when the rules were established for the accommodation of Gentile Christians, the day of worship was not prescribed, indicating that it was not an issue that needed to be resolved. In the coming decades as the church expanded beyond Jerusalem causing Jewish Christians to become a minority representation of the religion, Sunday became the dominant day of worship.
Sunday came from the Roman calendar as the “day of the sun.” A pagan designation for the day the Sun god was worshiped. The common Christian identification for this day evolved as the Lord’s Day, for it was the day of the Son of Righteousness. The only reference to Sunday as the Lord’s Day in the New Testament is recorded in the Book of Revelation, “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day….” (1:10)
It is also recognized that the Apostle Paul, the missionary to the Gentiles, promoted worship on Sunday. In his letter to the church at Corinth he instructed that “on the first day of every week” (I Cor 16:2) they are to take up a collection. It is conjectured that this collection was taken during a gathering for worship.
The foundational teaching for this was Jesus self-proclamation that he was the Lord of the Sabbath. This assertion was in refutation to the accusatory statements directed against him by the Pharisees for feeding the hungry on the Sabbath. In response Jesus admonished, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” (Mk 2:27-28) From the testimony of John we know that “Lord” is one of the few titles that Jesus accepted for himself. In a post-resurrection appearance, calling Peter ashore from fishing Jesus introduced himself with the affirmation, “It is the Lord.” (Jn 21:7)
In Hebrew the word Lord is very fluid. The term baal is a title of respect for a husband, father, bureaucrat, esteemed land owner, teacher, and any other individual holding a comparable position in the community. It was also the salutation for the despised Canaanite deity. Because of this association it was specifically rejected as a title for the God of Israel, as enjoined by Hosea, “On that day, says Yahweh, you will call me, ‘My husband,’ and no longer, ‘My Baal.’” (2:16) God will be the “husband” of Israel, no longer her baal, meaning “owner” or “master.”
The Hebrews were prohibited from speaking the name of God, which was YHWH. Ascriptions substituting for this were usually preceded with El, the generic name for “God” or “deity.” This accumulated a host of names that could be uttered: El Shaddai meaning “God Almighty”; El Olam meaning “God the Everlasting”; El Bethel meaning “God Revealed”; El Roi meaning “God Who Sees Me”; El Berith meaning “God of the Covenant”; El Eloche-Israel meaning “the God of Israel.”
Those who are familiar with Amy Grant’s song “El Shaddai” have already been introduced to this. The opening lyrics read:
El shaddai, el shaddai,
El-elyon na adonia,
Age to age you’re still the same,
By the power of the name.
El shaddai, el shaddai,
Erkamka na adonai,
We will praise and lift you high,
El shaddai.
The penning of the word Adonai in Grant’s song transitions us to the next important phase in the meaning of Lord, its transliteration into Greek. After returning to Israel from captivity in Babylonia the Jewish people spoke God’s name as Adonai which can mean “lord” or “master.” In 200 B.C.E. the Jewish Bible was translated from Hebrew into Greek. This Bible became known as the Septuagint, named for the seventy-two Jewish scholars who compiled the book. Adonai was translated in the Greek as kurios, meaning Lord. When the Septuagint was translated into English the word lord, when addressing God, was often placed in all capitals, LORD.
Jesus, recognized as God, was ascribed the title of Lord. This is testified to on the church’s first sermon with Peter proclaiming, “God has made him both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36)
During the first great persecution of the church the title Lord was given added credence. In opposition to the Christian movement, originally called “The Way,” Emperor Domitian demanded that he be addressed as “our Lord.” A decree issued by the emperor opened with this salutation, “Our Lord and God commands that this be done.” John the Seer counters with a bold proclamation regarding the reigning authority of Jesus, especially over the emperor, as “King of kings and Lord of lords.” (Rev 19:16)
The Bible concludes with a very important testimony of faith. It is the plea for justice echoed again by John the Seer. It is the Maranatha prayer. “Amen. Come Lord Jesus!” (Rev 20:20) And with this prayer, in our own special way, we are all doctrinal, though not sectarian, Adventists awaiting the final coming of our Lord.