THE NAMES OF GOD (Part 2)
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Introduction
Introduction
-There is a big difference between knowing about someone and truly knowing someone. For example, I might know things about Governor Kay Ivey, but I don’t KNOW Governor Kay Ivey. I’ve never met her. But I do KNOW my wife Trisha. The difference is that for one I just know facts, but for the other I have deep relationship. In order to build that type of relationship, you get to know a person and their character as they reveal themselves to you over time. You get to know another person by spending time with them and talking with them. You build relationship as you communicate with someone.
-The same holds true in having a relationship with God. You get to know God and His character by the way that He has revealed Himself through His Holy Word. And one way that God has made His character known in His Word is through the names that He used for Himself or others gave Him as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
-Now, when we talk about the names of God, we are speaking about a whole lot more than just a label. God does not have a name like we do or like we think of names. God’s names are also a revelation of His nature and character. Each name teaches us something new about our great God. This is important because God’s Word tells us of the importance that is placed on the names of God. For example:
10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
-This tells us that God’s character is like a strong tower—He can be trusted as our protector to give us ultimate safety and security
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
-This tells us that we can have confidence and trust in God’s name, which means that we can have confidence and trust in His nature, attributes, and person. When you know the names of God, you know God Himself.
-Last week I spoke about a few names (which you can see on YouTube or listen to podcast). Elohim=Mighty One, and is paired with many other words to show how mighty He is. Adonai=He is Lord and Master over all; Abba=He is a loving father to those who are His children. Let’s look at a few more.
4) Jehovah / Yahweh
4) Jehovah / Yahweh
-Of all the names, this one is used the most frequently—6823 times in the Old Testament. This is the covenant name of God—the name He used in the Old Testament with reference to making covenant with people. If is first revealed in Genesis 2:4, but it was given its full significance when God sent Moses to free Israel from Egyptian bondage, and Moses asked God what name to give the people when they asked who sent him. And this is God’s response:
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
-In this verse the I AM statements are the divine name. In most cases, it will be translated in English by the word LORD in all caps. Most scholars agree that this is some form of the Hebrew word “to be” or “to exist.” God did NOT say I WAS WHO I WAS or I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE. God called Himself I AM. This quite possibly points to the fact that He is self-existent. He has no beginning or end. Nothing caused God or created God. Nothing sustains Him or helps Him. God just permanently and eternally exists. God just always is, always has been, and always will be, and He will never change. God is life itself, and nothing can have life apart from Him. Jesus used this name for Himself, indicating that He is God, and He was almost stoned to death for it. Jesus proclaimed:
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
-Now, there is debate about the correct pronunciation—Jehovah, Yahweh, or something we don’t know about. The Y and J sound similar in Hebrew—it’s almost as if the J is a hard Y. But Hebrew originally did not have vowels, they were later added by scribes to make distinction between words easier. However, they did not know the vowels or the pointing for the divine name, and Jews actually will not pronounce the divine name, so it is said that they took the vowels from the name ADONAI and put them with the consonants of the divine name to indicate to those reading to substitute the divine name with the word ADONAI. I’m unsure if it is true or not, but we have taken to pronouncing the name either JEHOVAH or YAHWEH.
-Just like with the name EL, God would often compound this name with other words to reveal more of Himself to the people. We will survey a few here.
a) Jehovah Jireh
a) Jehovah Jireh
-This name means THE LORD WILL PROVIDE is is most known for its use in the Abraham sacrificing Isaac episode of Genesis 22. There it says:
8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
-The name stresses God’s provision for His people---He gives all that is adequate at the time it is needed. For Abraham, God provided the ram for the sacrifice that would be the substitute for Isaac. For Us, God provided the Lamb as the ultimate sacrifice to take our place for our sins—Jesus Christ. If God did not hold back His own Son for us, would He not provide for all of our needs?
-The word JIREH is related to words meaning “to see.” God knows everything from end to beginning, and He sees what people need before they even exist, and He provides for those needs. It makes us think of:
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
-Where else can we go and who else will provide for us?
19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
b) Jehovah Rapha
b) Jehovah Rapha
-This name means THE LORD THAT HEALS and is found in:
26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”
-The name implies spiritual, emotional, as well as physical healing. God is one Who alone can heal our body, soul, and spirit (all levels of mankind’s existence). This is a fallen world where pain and suffering in all sorts of ways occurs, and God is able to heal them all according to His will and timing. This does not mean that God will always heal the way we want Him to heal, for we know that ultimate healing will come at our death or Christ’s return. But God can do much healing on this earth: He sometimes will heal physical illness…those deep in sin…broken heart…sickness in body and soul…wickedness of people…our shortcomings. He healed the most dire need of humanity, He healed a people who were separated from Him because of sin and brought them back to Himself.
-If you need healing, turn to God. At the same time, search your own heart as well, because the Exodus verse does show that sometimes there is a connection between health, healing, and obedience. Not that you will be perfectly healthy if you obey, but sometimes sickness can be a result of sin, and God heals in our repentance.
c) Jehovah Nissi
c) Jehovah Nissi
-This name means THE LORD IS MY BANNER. Moses gave God this name when God helped the Israelites defeat the Amalekites.
15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner,
-NISSI as a banner speaks of a pole with an insignia attached. In battle, opposing nations would fly their own flog on a pole at each of their respective front lines. It indicated a line of march or a rallying point. This was to give their soldiers a feeling of hope and a focal point. This is what God is to us: a banner of encouragement to give us hope and a focal point.
-As we battle enemies in our life, God is to be our focal point, our rallying point, in the battle. We have many enemies to battle:
*the flesh
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
*Satan and his demonic powers
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
*persecutors
20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
-The battles that Christians go through cannot be fought and won in our own power. Only by abiding under the power, the standard, the banner, the ensign of Jehovah Nissi can we have victory over the enemies.
d) Jehovah Shalom
d) Jehovah Shalom
-This name means THE LORD IS PEACE. It was given to God during the time of the judges when the Israelites went through many ups and downs. At this particular time they were under the oppression of the Midianites. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon to call him to lead the people. Gideon didn’t fully understand who it was that was talking to him, but once he did he was afraid. And it says in the account:
22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.”
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”
24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.
-Because God extended peace to Gideon, Gideon could live in that peace. This is a peace that results from being a whole person in right relationship with God and with others. When you are right with God, He will bring peace in the midst of darkness, trouble, and desperate situations. We are told:
3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
-If you can’t seem to find peace, first make sure that you have a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Then see if there is anything in your life that is preventing you from having right fellowship with God (meaning, search your life for sin)
165 Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.
-Your peace comes from focusing on God.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
-This only begins to scratch the surface on how the names of God reveal His character and attributes to us. But merely knowing these names is not going to do you much good. If you know the names but they don’t draw you closer to God or cause you to seek God more deeply or they don’t cause a repentance within you, then all it amounts to is knowing ABOUT God. But when you allow these truths to draw you to God and you live your life based on what they reveal, then you will come to KNOW Him. And when you KNOW Him, your life is changed. It starts first with salvation in Christ, and then our pursuit of Him has only begun...