The 100th Name

Rhemagood

It was time to get a realtor. Paul and Rhema had been “on the field” as tentmakers for 6 weeks already and hadn’t found a rental they could afford to live in, or afford to fix-up. Someone suggested a realtor from a newspaper ad, and so they called him. Rashad was an experienced, hard-working realtor, but even he didn’t have much to work with in the price range Paul and Rhema were looking at. Some of the buildings they’d seen had contained such amenities as broken windows, decomposing animal carcasses, and rats. However, Rashad was optimistic, friendly, and willing to spend whatever time necessary to close a deal. He spent hours in the car with Paul, taking him to various properties and discussing options and possibilities. On a particularly hopeful venture, Rhema was brought along. She had some knowledge of Arabic and, from the back seat, was holding a conversation with Rashad about the meanings of various Arabic names. “I also heard that there are 100 names of God, and that 99 of them are in the Koran. They say that only the camel knows the 100th name, and that’s why they’re so arrogant,” Rhema interjected, as if she were just throwing something she’d heard. “No,” laughed Rashad, “That’s not an Arabic saying, they just tell that to tourists.” “To tell you the truth, we Christians actually do know the 100th name of God. It’s written in our Bible. Actually it’s His number-one Name, since the 99 are really titles.” Rhema was fishing, trying to turn the conversation to spiritual things. She knew that Muslims are generally unaware of Exodus 3:14, where Moses asked God for His Name and God responded, “I AM THAT I AM. Tell them ‘I AM’ sent you.” Rhema was hoping that the realtor would be curious. Rashad didn’t seem to mind and pursued the obvious question, “Well, what is it?” “The Name of God is ahyah allathi ahyah.” “What?!” Rashad blurted. He was suddenly very taken back. Rhema repeated it, making sure her Arabic pronunciation was clear and correct. “What?!” the realtor was turning around in the front seat of the car to look in Rhema’s face. Five times he had her repeat it, and repeated it himself. By now he was completely turned around, facing Rhema. Paul was still driving. Rashad raised his hand and pointed at her earnestly, ”You know, I believe this could be the Truth!” Now it was Paul and Rhema’s turn to feel suddenly taken back. “You do?!” they thought. They were both shocked—after all, they hadn’t even shared the Gospel with him yet, this was just the Name! “Yes!” Rashad continued, visibly affected by the Name of God. “Sometimes I can tell something is true with my heart even before I understand why it is true with my head. And that Name...when you say that Name to me... I feel something coming... on my body like... like a force!” The touch of God’s Holy Spirit on that day paved the way for Paul to share the Gospel with Rashad. They have since had many spiritual conversations together, have done a brief Bible survey and are currently meeting to study the differences between the Koran & the Bible. -by Rhema Good, revised 9/15/05 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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