Lord and Master – Adonai

Adonai is often used as a substitute for Yahweh because Jewish tradition did not want to use God’s sacred name. It is an important name for God that indicates a key factor in our relationship with Him––Adonai is the name for God that means Lord and Master.

If we are to truly know God by all of His other names, we must first surrender to Him as our Lord and choose a relationship with Him where we willingly submit to Him as our Master. Abraham addressed God as his Lord and Master when he said, “[Adonai], if I have found favor with you, please do not go on past your servant” (Genesis 18:3). We see that Abraham trusted God and submitted himself to God. He considered God his Master, and himself God’s servant/slave. This may seem foreign to us, but we can learn from the way Abraham viewed being a servant to God and from what the Law later said about a slave-master relationship. It said that masters could own slaves as spoils from war or from poor men choosing servitude for survival, since kidnapping was forbidden (Exodus 21:16), but the masters were to take great care of them, they were to be “devoted to the welfare of their slaves” (1 Timothy 6:2, NIV), and were not to treat them harshly (Leviticus 25:39–55). Of course, humans were often poor masters who did not obey the Law, and slaves were often mistreated. 

We were slaves to sin, an awful master who paid us with spiritual death. But Jesus saw us in our servitude. He purchased our freedom.

You were a slave too—we all were. We were slaves to sin, an awful master who paid us with spiritual death. But Jesus saw us in our servitude. He purchased our freedom, treated us far better than we deserve, and now, as thankful men and women, we get to choose God as our Master—as our Adonai (Romans 6:17–23). For us, it is a willing submission as we devote ourselves to God, who has saved us from the worst master. God is our savior, and we commit our lives to serving Him. This is not being forced into physical servitude; it is knowing that God loves us and bought our freedom, and crying out to Him, “Adonai, if I have found favor with you, please don’t go past me. Let me be your servant.” And it is knowing that when we choose God as our master, He protects us and provides for all of our needs (Philippians 4:19). We can say with the psalmist, “My eyes look to you, Lord, my [Adonai/Master]. I seek refuge in you; do not let me die. Protect me…” (Psalm 141:8–10). He becomes the Master we can look to for protection and provision. 

But we must do our part. We must willingly bow before Him as our Lord and Master, surrender our will to His, commit to him, devote our lives to Him, and choose to obey Him. He deserves and expects our obedience (Luke 6:46; Malachi 1:6). If we call ourselves Christians and followers of Jesus, a “person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ…” (1 Corinthians 4:1a). And if we are truly His servants, we will obey Him and surrender to Him as our Lord and Master—as our Adonai––knowing that He is the best Master!