Nun is the picture of: fish multiplying. It has to do with multiplication, or increasing, or an increase.
The Chet is the picture of a fence, or a hedge. It means to protect, or to separate, or like a boundary fence.
So the idea of ‘boundaries’ is in the first word; the idea of multiplication; and authority.
The Yud is the picture of: an upraised hand. It's the letter of the word ‘Judah’, which means ‘to praise’. The upraised hand is to ‘praise’, or ‘submit’; like if somebody points a gun at me - I submit; if God wants my attention - I submit. I praise - it's an upraised hand - so that was praise or submission.
Anochi - So you have the ox head, which conotates authority; you have fish multiplying, which conotates increase or multiplication; you have a fence or a hedge, which conotates protection or separateness; then you have a yud, which is an upraised hand, which conotates praise and submission.
Here is a group of slaves for 430 years. God is at the Katubah stage of His marriage proposal to them. He is going to make a marriage contract. They would have been waiting diligently to hear His marriage contract.
Now there is a law in Hebrew hermeneutics called the Law of First Mention. What it means is: whatever's mentioned first, sets the stage for every other mention of it. This is true of everything in the whole Bible; so the first word of something means the most - and this is the first word of the Ten Commandments.
The comic strip on it: “Your Authority, is going to Increase, inside the Hedge of Praise and Submission”.
Anochi Jehovah Elohim - I am the Lord your God.
Your authority is going to increase inside the hedge of praise and submission. I am the Lord your God. Have no other Gods before Me.
The Ten Commandments starts with grace - with God giving people something that they did not earn, nor did they deserve – Anochi.
Maybe our whole life would find greater success and fulfilment, if our whole life was a life's response to Anochi.
Let me just give you a summary statement of what I've just said. This is a Shane Willard message translation exo-Jesus of Exodus 20:2 okay. It says: “I'm the Lord your God” (that one okay). This is the way I wrote it:
“I am the Lord your God, who is choosing to bless you with freedom from slavery, not because of anything you've done, but because I love you, and want all the people of the world to know that I am a loving God. Welcome to being human again.” That is the first line of the Ten Commandments.
How will we respond to Anochi?
Anything that brings joy and fulfilment is contagious, and must be shared. Joy cannot be bottled - it has to be shared with others. We invite others in on our joy.
For example: Why is it, that ugly babies are still cute? At what age does a cute ugly baby just become an ugly person? Because we all know that it's there, let's be honest! There's a critical juncture where you hope that this ugly baby (that everybody thinks is cute), becomes really cute, before they pass the age of... no, that's just ugly. But ugly babies are still cute. Why? Because they're called: ‘a bundle of Joy’ - it has to be shared. Crying babies are still cute - within reason. Why is it, the first thing we say, when we see a newborn baby: isn't she cute?
Here's another example of joy having to be shared: women who get an engagement ring. They're not thinking about the instructions of the Apostle Paul: that you're signing up for a life of p-a-i-n! They just have an engagement ring, and what do they do? They walk in the room - and even their attempts to hide it, makes it obvious. Why? Because they have to share their joy.