Names of God - Part I

Who Do You Say That I Am?

How much do you know about me? Do you know that my heritage is Scottish? Do you know that I was a music major and that I attended three different colleges, but I got through my bachelor’s degree in 4 years anyway? Do you know that I met my husband on the internet and that we were married within 4 months of meeting online? Do you know that I grew up in various small towns around Iowa? Do you know that I was planning to go to seminary but didn’t because my mom asked if I would start a business with her? Do you know that I love science fiction and would love to be able to write in that genre?

Well, now you know all of those things about me – but you would never guess those things if I were to simply introduce myself to you and tell you that my name is “Diane”.

We make a lot of judgments when meeting people based on what they look like, how they speak and how they interact with us. But, we don’t know too much about them until we get to know them a little more deeply.

What do we know about God? We actually approach learning about God quite differently than the early Hebrews did. Our names are not insights into our personality or our background. Some of your names might be family names, but they aren’t going to tell me much about who you really are.

In scripture, the names of God are like mini portraits of His personality and character. When people were given names in Scripture, that name meant something. Abraham and Sarah’s son, Isaac. His name meant “he laughs”. Sarah explained in Genesis 21:6, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”

Ishmael means “God hears”, because God took care of Hagar in the desert. He heard her when she cried out to Him.

I could spend hours teaching you details about the names of God and all of the intricacies of how His name is used in the Old Testament.  It’s actually really cool and would be a terrific study to do.  But, tonight I just want to lift up some of the most important things that God taught His people about Himself.

Many of us know that the Israelites were not allowed to say the name “God”.  It was a sin. When it was written down, only 4 letters signified that name:  Y-H-W-H.  We actually have no idea what the pronunciation of that name is, but vowels were added at some point so that as the scriptures passed from Jewish hands into other cultures and into Christianity, we could actually say the name and write it fully.

YAHWEH – actually those 4 letters comes from the Hebrew verb “to be”.

In Exodus 3:13-14, Moses asks God a pretty deep question. Listen as they are speaking to each other:

“Moses said to God, ‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you”, and they ask me “What is his name?” Then what shall I tell them?’

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.”

And God goes on: Verse 15

“God also said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.’”

When we use the word, “YAHWEH”, we are declaring God’s absolute being – the source of everything – without beginning or end.

It’s very exciting to me to see God naming Himself to Moses. But, I also get excited when I see this happen in the New Testament.

John 8:56-59. Jesus is discussing himself with Jewish leaders. They are questioning him and asking if he considers himself to be greater than Abraham. In verse 57, they say, “You are not yet fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham!”

Jesus’ response: “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!”

Jesus didn’t say that before Abraham was born, he was. He purposefully chose to name himself in the same manner that God identified Himself to Moses. “I AM!”

I’m going to turn over to Romans 10:9. Paul says, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Notice those words: “Jesus is Lord”. Paul didn’t say, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is a prophet, or even the Messiah, or a rabbi, or anything else.” Paul identified Jesus with God … the Lord.

In your Bible, if you see “LORD” (all capitals), you are actually reading the name YAHWEH, or another anglicized version is Jehovah.  If you see small letters “Lord”, you are actually seeing a different name – “Adonai”, which literally is a title of respect, “my lord”.  Almost as if you are saying "Sir" when addressing him.

God’s name appears as the fourth word of the Bible. “In the beginning “God”. Now this word is translated from the word “Elohim”. The word “El” – “E – L” means God. “Elohim is the plural form of the word “God”.

We miss so many intricacies of our scripture because it has been translated away from the original languages. If you or I had been reading the original Hebrew from a very early age, it would have come as no surprise that God is seen as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as far back as the creation stories. Just by reading that one word, Elohim, we would have immediately associated this with the words from John’s gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

We would have been able to recognize the plurality of God.

When you read the name “God” in the Old Testament, you are reading the Hebrew word “Elohim.” When you read the name “LORD” (all Capitals) you are reading “Yahweh” and when you read the name “Lord” (upper and lower case) you are reading the name “Adonai”.

We will find YAHWEH ELOHIM in scripture as well. “LORD God”. In the creation story, Genesis 2:4, we read:

“When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens …”

Psalm 59:5 “O Lord God of Hosts, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to wicked traitors.”

Why have we been given so many different names for God throughout Scripture? Each name that I’m about to share with you reveals something more about the nature of God. Each name that we learn in Scripture does not change who God is, but tells us something more about Him.

(tomorrow we will begin with specific names - El Shaddai!)