(97) Making a Name

After the global flood, Noah left the Ark. The very first thing that God said to Noah in Genesis 9 was, 

• 1 "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth."

And just a few verses later God reiterated this command when he said,

• 7 "As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."

One of the commands from God that the human race was supposed to do was fill the earth. The only way to do that is if they started to migrate and move out to other areas. But as we read in Genesis 11 this is not what some certain pieces of the human race did. Some chose to settle in the plain of Shinar. That is part of the problem but what they did next is by far worse.

They were working together and they decided to build a structure that would reach to the heavens. They did this so that they would not be scattered over the earth. Their idea was in direct opposition of what God wanted. But there is even more to this story.

If we read deeper into this passage we know that this plain of Shinar is the Mesopotamia fertile crescent region. This is the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. The main city between these rivers is what is known today as Babylon. Hence the Bible calls it Babel, which means "confused".

If we notice how the scripture here is laid out, this story lies between one story about Shem, a son of Noah, and his decedents in chapter 10 and another story about Shem in chapter 12.  Why is it in between?

Shem can be translated as "Name". Jewish people sometimes call God, HaShem, or "the Name". So, why is this surrounding this story at Babel? If we go back to Genesis 10:8-10 we see a man with the name of Nimrod. It says Nimrod's kingdom was in Babel. Nimrod can be translated as "rebellious". It can be assumed that he is the one who was starting this tower to reach the heavens since it was his kingdom. What was his rebellion? Notice what they said when they were building the Tower, "Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves". In other words, the name of God is not what they were worshiping. They were going to worship their own name.  Nimrod is the first shadow of the anti-Christ, someone who tries to raise his name above God's.

They were one language and were doing this, so God in order so save humanity from itself divided them. Only the name of God should be worshiped.  When mankind thinks their name is higher or just as important as God we can see that all they have is confusion.

(80) YHWH, What's in a name?

The first name in the Bible that is used to describe God is Elohim, the arm of God, the Creator and that is in Genesis 1:1.  There are many other names/titles/roles, what have you, that we use to describe God or use to talk to Him.  But Moses perhaps is the first person that got to actually hear the name of God or maybe just something close to a personal name for the name of God was unpronounceable to mankind.  The passage below is from the CJB to show how complicated the sound of His name can be from Exodus 3:13-15.  Try other versions and it will all still mean the same.

• Moshe said to God, “Look, when I appear before the people of Isra’el and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you’; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?”
• God said to Moshe, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be],” and added, “Here is what to say to the people of Isra’el: ‘Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you.’”
• God said further to Moshe, “Say this to the people of Isra’el: ‘Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [Adonai], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation".

The name that God gave Moses to tell His people who sent him to save them all in the closest English translation was I AM.  This means in essence that God aways has been and always will be.  From Him all was made.  Then God goes on and adds more to His name and sounds it out so it seems for Moses; Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh.  These are letters in the Hebrew alphabet and each has a story with them.  Jewish people use the name Adonai when referring to the name of God, which is also translated as LORD.  But here we see what is also called a tetragrammaton at work.  Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh can be written also as YHVH or YHVH, hence Yahweh with the added vowel sounds.  In Latin and English it has been translated as to what we know as Jehovah.  Through Moses God would save His people from the hands of the Egyptians, a foreshadow of something greater of what was to come.  Below is how it would look in Hebrew writing.

Each letter though has its own purpose.  Hebrew writing is read from right to left.  What you see here is the tertagrammaton Y-H-V-H.  In Hebrew schools children are taught that each letter not only has a sound but also has a meaning and a symbol with it.  Such as in English we would say A is for Apple although in English there really is no such thing.   But A does not have any meaning to it.  In Hebrew each letter has three purposes for the language.  This is probably what Jesus was doing in the Temple when He was 12 and lost and found by His parents.  He was teaching the elders and scribes what the letters really meant.  This is also what makes Matthew 5:18 all the more important when Jesus said not the least stroke of the pen would disappear from the Law until all is fulfilled.  Below you can see a chart that gives examples of what each letter's symbol and meanings are.  If you look the tetragrammaton for Y-H-V-H actually is I-E-U-E on the chart because of the sound the letter makes and not the order of the letters.  When put together the letters make a different sound and that is how we get the name we know as Yahweh.  The letter Y or Yud's translation is symbolically an arm or open hand and means to work or worship.  The H or Heh's translation is symbolically man with arms raised and has a meaning of breath or to reveal.   And the V or Vav's symbolically is a tent peg and means to add, secure or hook.  You can see where this is going.  We worship a God whose hand was pierced with a tent peg and whose arms were raised and when this happens He will be revealed to the world who He is.  There is undoubtedly more to this translation.  But He who is revealed is Jesus.

When Jesus was crucified the Pharisees were upset with the sign that Pilate hung above His head.  He wrote a sign in three languages (Latin, Greek, and Aramaic/Hebrew) that said Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.  The Pharisees told Pilate to take down the sign because they did not want people to think they said what was written but that Jesus claimed the charge against Him.  But a closer look and we see that the Pharisees were not angry about the sign itself but about what they saw in the sign.  In Hebrew the sign read Yeshua HaNazarei V'Melech HaYehudim.  Did you see it?  Notice the first letter in each word that Pilate wrote.  Y-H-V-H.  Jesus was revealed as God when He was crucified and saved His people.  Just as God's people were saved from the hand of the Egyptians, a symbol of oppression or sin, Jesus came and saved God's people from all sin.

A sign of God's ultimate story of grace and connection with His people.

(71) Names of God, Revisited

One of the most read lesson on this site is  http://ideasoftimbible.blogspot.com/2010/01/31-names-of-god.html.  It explores the meanings of some of the names of God that we see from the Bible.  Some of those names mentioned were these:

• El Shaddai- God Almighty
• El Elyon- God Most High
• El Roi- God that sees
• El Olam- The Eternal God
• YHWH Jireh- God provides
• YHWH Rophi- God that heals
• YHWH Nissi- God is our banner
• YHWH Shalom- God of peace

But there is something that kept coming to mind that was missing about these names.  It wasn't in the differences between Latin and Hebrew versions.  It wasn't in the name actually at all but it is in the verb that stands with the name.  These verbs are present tense.  They are not past or future, but present.  That means that God is not the God of the past.  We can thank Him for what He has done of course but He is not the God of the past.  He is not the God of the future.  This is not to say that He has nothing to do with the future or that we don't have to care about our future eternal life.  He is the God of the present.  We live in the present.  He cares about us now.

 

The best name for God is the one He gave Moses.  I AM.  Notice it is not "I was" or "I will be", but I AM.  Sure, this also means He transcends all time and that time is meaningless to Him.  But, with God there are always two meanings, one spiritual and one physical.  This also means He is here with us now.  So, when we say His name as Jehovah Jireh, we are not saying God will provide.  We are saying God is providing!  God will not heal, God is healing!  God will not give us peace, God is peace!  When Isaiah said that by His stripes we are healed it is not saying that we will be healed. It says we are! God provides our daily bread. God sets us at peace every morning because His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).  If we believe then we receive.

 

Too many times we pray God if you will, when we should be saying thank you God for what you are doing.  This is why Jesus told us to pray as though you have already received it (Mark 11:24).  He is doing it now.  This may show why sometimes things happen at once and others take time.  We are in the process of receiving these promises that God will not forsake us.  We live day by day.  Our faith grows day by day.  Our faith struggles if we have to wait for the results.  The strongest of faith knows it is already done.  But sometimes our faith goes through hard times so we can see the glory of God when time reveals.  This is hard to do since we live in a physical world and our senses deceive us.  We rely to many times on what we see, but we are not suppose to walk by sight but by faith.  Faith comes from hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

 

Jesus' name is also Y'shua Ha Mashiach which means Jesus the Messiah, the Savior.  When does He save?  Now!  Forever.  With each day that comes, God provides, heals, sees, saves, and waves His banner of love over us (Exodus 17:15).  We are forever His.  The Great I AM is here, now, waiting for us to accept His promises and then watch your faith work.

(39) The Lord's Name

Exodus 20:7

• You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name

Most people think this is just about saying God and damn together, or to say Jesus Christ as a term of content for a situation.  These are true but it goes more than just these.

To misuse something means you are using it in all the wrong ways.  To mention the word God in and of itself is not wrong.  Many Jewish people talk about God by writing it like this:  G_d.  They do this because they feel this is misusing His name.  But leaving out a vowel to show this does not change anything.  All they did was replaced one symbol of a language (the "o") with another symbol ("_").  Sure it may make them feel better and it may show that they are trying to show honor to where honor is due, but it misses the point.

Using the name of God to invoke power or authority, or even authenticity is using His name in vain.  This is why scripture says let your yes be yes and your no be a no.  Do not swear by God's name.  This swear does not mean the same as "cursing".  It simply means do not have God as your witness just because you need Him to back you up.  If you are telling the truth then you do not need His backing.  Telling people, "I swear to God", should be a tell-tale sign that the person is lying or has a horrible reputation for lying.  Ministers (of all kinds) should not use God's name to bring glory to themselves.  Those that proclaim to be of God just to make income or fame are using His name in vain.  Saying you have healing, prophetic, or other miraculous power from God when you do not is using His name in vain.  This is not saying that some people do not have these powers.  There are some who abuse the naivete of others.

Using God's name in vain, as some would say, means you are invoking God into situations He should not be called for.  Blaming God for earthquakes is misusing His name.  He did not cause the earthquake.  Using God as an exclamation is misusing his name.  Using OMG on your text does not exclude your sin just because you omitted letters.

Calling Allah, Buddha, or anything else God is misusing His name.  As a matter of fact it is idolatry and even blasphemous, but that is a different lesson.

Calling upon God is not wrong.  Calling out the name of God is not wrong.  Using it for your own gain, pain, or wane is when it becomes a sin.

(31) Names of God

How many names of God can you think of? Why all of these names? The non-believer, especially the anti-theist, would say it's because Christianity/Judaism is like any other polytheistic religion who worship many gods. And instead of actually learning about why there these names, they will go on ridiculing the believer for this. But the real answer is not because there are many gods, but because the One True God is multi-faceted. His power is so immense that He needs names to describe Him. And this is proven by the very first sentence of His word; In the beginning, God created.

Bereshit bara Elohim ha shamayim ha erets. The first name in the Bible is God's. Elohim. The first thing this shows is ownership. It's His book talking about His creation. But Elohim is even deeper than that. Every time you see the term "el" it is dealing with the power of God. The term "im" in Hebrew stands for plurality as the "s" does in English. But that does not mean He is many. It means He is complete. It also is a foreshadow that Christ and the Holy Spirit are part of who He is. What about the "h" sound? It may be perhaps because that sounds represents life. When Abram had his name changed to Abraham, it was because he was going to be the father of many. Eve's Hebrew name is Havah, mother of all. Other names of God that include "el" (but not exhaustive):

• El Shaddai- God Almighty, used when we need to understand He is all powerful
• El Elyon- God Most High, used when we need to understand He stands above all
• El Roi- God that sees, used when we need to understand He sees all and knows all
• El Olam- The Eternal God, used when we need to understand He is the Alpha and Omega

Technically, we are only given though one personal name of God we have written to us in the Bible. It is Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh. It has been translated into the Hebraic Tetragrammaton, Y-H-W-H or Yahweh. Since Latin became the universal language due to the Roman Empire Yahweh has been changed to Jehovah and now is more commonly used by the world. This also corresponds with "I AM" or "I WILL BE". It is written in Exodus 3:14

• God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'

The first "I AM" in this verse is Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh which means 'I will be who I am', in other words God never changes and will always be. The second "I AM" is Y-H-W-H. This time if you take the H-W-H, you would get "at hand" and the Y would be God. So the translation would be "God who is always at hand". Every time you see the term Yahweh (Jehovah) it is dealing with the omni-presence of God. Check out Psalms 23. Each time you see a new verse you see a new name of God. Some other terms (but not exhaustive) that include Jehovah, or God's personal name:

• Jehovah Jireh- God provides, used when we need to understand that no matter situation, God is there and will take care of us
• Jehovah Rophi- God that heals, used when we need to understand that God is the maker of us and He knows our bodies, He can heal us
• Jehovah Nissi- God is our banner, used when we need to understand that we belong to God
• Jehovah Shalom- God of peace, used when we need to understand that He can give us peace of mind and heart in times of trouble

The scriptures are filled with other names of God, such as Adonai, Ancient of Days and tens of others that are more symbolic than names or titles. And just as the ones mentioned above have a purpose so do each and every one them. Even Jesus has some names that served His purpose. His earth given name was Y'shua. But His personal name is still Y-H-W-H since He is still God, part of Elohim.

• Lamb of God
• Emmanuel
• Prince of Peace
• Alpha and Omega
• Son of God, Son of Man, Son of David
• Christ, Ha Mashiach, the Messiah
• Bread of Life, The Way, The Truth, The Life
• Rock of My Salvation, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, etc.

And of course we can not forget the Holy Spirit. As part of the trinity of God, His personal name is also Y-H-W-H. But the Holy Spirit's names are less prevalent than God the Father or God the Son. For example, Counselor is probably the only one many would know. Spirit of the Living God, the Voice in the Wind may also be considered names of the Spirit.

Here is the main point of this whole lesson: no matter what you call Him, even if you call Him "unreal", His name is so powerful that one day all will have to bow before Him just at the sound of it. Mountains will bow down, the seas will roar, the earth shall tremble just due to the sound of it. His name puts fear into Satan and his demons have to flee and sicknesses have to cease. When you pray "in the name of Jesus" you are saying something so powerful that the world does not know what to do with it. If only we believed more in it.

Philippians 2:9-11 says it all.

• Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Wouldn't it be better to bow on our own will and not be forced to do so? For more on the names of God here is suggested reading: All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible, Herbert Lockyer.