1. The Name of God

Identity In Christ

The Name of God

Exodus 33:18-23 “Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.””

Exodus 34:5-7 “Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.””

Philippians 2:5-11 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 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 acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

What’s the Deal with Names?

In the Scriptures the name and person of God are inseparably related. This is in keeping with the biblical conception of what a name signifies.

In the Hebrew language, the term for “name” most probably meant “sign” or “distinctive mark.” In the Greek language, “name” (onoma) is derived from a verb which means “to know”; a name then indicates that by which a person or object is to be known. But the idea of name is not to be taken in the sense of a label or an arbitrary means of identifying or specifying a person, place, or object. “Name” in biblical usage correctly describes the person, place, or object and indicates the essential character of that to which the name is given.

Example: Abram’s name was changed to Abraham (Genesis 17)

The Name and Essence are inseparable

John 17:6

When Jesus tells God the Father that he has revealed God’s name to the disciples (John 17:6), he isn’t talking about telling the disciples what God’s name was. They could read their Old Testament and see that in thousands of places (e.g., Exod 3:1–14). Revealing God’s name to them meant showing them who God was and what he was like. He did that by living among them as a man. Jesus was God among them. He was the incarnation of God’s essence (Heb 1:3).

The notion of making God known by revealing his name also takes us back to Yahweh’s Angel in the Old Testament. Recall that Yahweh’s Angel was Yahweh in human form—Yahweh’s “name” or presence resided in that Angel (Exod 23:20–23). John draws on that language in his presentation of Jesus as God. When Jesus says he has “kept them in your name,” he means he has kept those followers the Father gave to him by means of God’s own power and presence—the Name, now incarnated in Jesus.

Exodus 23:20-22 “ ‘Look, I am about to send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, because he will not forgive your transgression, for my name is in him. 22 But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes”

When God told Moses that his name was in this angel, he was saying that he was in this angel- His very presence or essence.

The Name is even personified in some passages:

Isaiah 30:27-28 “Look! The name of Yahweh comes from afar, burning with his anger and heaviness of cloud. His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is like a devouring fire. And his breath is like an overflowing river; it reaches up to the neck.

Psalm 20:1,7 “May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of Jacob’s God protect you… Some boast in chariots and others in horses, but we boast in the name of Yahweh, our God.”

The point is - trusting in the name is trusting in Yahweh Himself, he is the name.

Pt. 2

Categories of Names

Regarding God - no one name employs all that can be said about God, in fact, all the names taken together do not reveal all that God is. God is infinite; He cannot be fully known.

To help us grasp and understand the different names of God, According to the Baker Encyclopedia of the bible, Theologians have broken down the names into six categories:

Proper Names: El, Yahweh, Adonai, Theos, Kurios (God)

Personal Names: Father, Abba, Son, Jesus, Holy Spirit

Titles: Creator, Messiah/Christ, Paraclete/Comforter

Essential Names: Light, Love, Spirit

Descriptive Names: Rock, Ba’al, Master, Rabboni, Shepherd

Attributes: Names of virtues or characteristics of the triune God-head

Names of God

El: (Found over 200 times in the Hebrew Bible) Strong and powerful one and the first and preeminent one.

Elohim: (Used over 2500 times in the OT), Some suggest it is the plural of El, some suggest it indicates the triune nature of God, though the biblical doctrine of the trinity does not appear to be developed based on that. It is also a word used (thanks to Dr. Michael Heiser’s research) to denote a “spirit” being. When used in context with God, God makes himself known by this name as the Lord of intense and extensive glory and richness as he exercises his preeminence and power in the created cosmos. Other scholars have interpreted Elohim as an expression of God’s covenant relationship with his people.

Eloah: Mainly occurs in the poetical writings used to “stress the fact that God is the only true and living One, the One to be adored and worshiped; he is to be reverenced with a holy fear.

El Elyon: God Most High; One who is above all things as the maker, possessor, and ruler. He is incomparable in every way; he is subject to no one and no thing; he is the Exalted One.

El Shaddai: Used to express God has the all-powerful, all-sufficient, transcendent, absolute ruler, and the One who can and does make final disposition. Though He is presented as all-powerful, where it occurs in the Bible, does not present God as an object of fear or terror, but rather as a source of blessing and comfort.

El Olam: Refers to God as the everlasting or eternal one. This should not be thought of as duration prolonged indefinetely backward and forward. Rather, the word speaks to God’s transcending all temporal limits. The Scriptures speak of El Olam in contexts where the believers assurance of well-being, security, and hope are presented as prized possessions.

El Gibbor: Speaks of God’s power and might, used to describe the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6

El Roi: Used to describe God as the seeing One. Found in Genesis 16:13, Hagar describes God this way.

Yahweh (Appears 6823 times in the OT):

Pocket Dictionary of Biblical Studies Yahweh

The covenant name God reveals to Moses at Mount Sinai (Ex 3:7–15). It testifies to God’s special relationship with his people Israel and his commitment to act on their behalf through his saving deeds. The name is regarded as sacred by Jews, who spell it using only the consonants YHWH (the Tetragrammaton) and substitute the name Adonai, “Lord,” rather than utter the actual name. Modern scholars have tried to approximate the original pronunciation with the spelling Yahweh (formerly it was pronounced Jehovah).

The exact meaning of “Yahweh” is difficult to determine

Exodus 3:14-15 “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.’ ” 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 you shall call me from generation to generation.

Exodus 6:2-3 “God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, l but by my name the Lord n I did not make myself fully known to them.”

The name Yahweh reveals God’s nature in the highest and fullest sense possible. It includes, or presupposes, the meaning of the other names. Yahweh particularly stresses the absolute faithfulness of God.

Compound names:

Yahweh is used in a number of phrases which are considered names of or ascriptions of God, the most common is: Yahweh Sabaoth “The Lord of Hosts”

This compound name was used to remind the defeated armies of Israel that God had great hosts to fight and work for him on behalf of His people. So even when Israel’s armies failed, their covenant God was sufficient for every possible circumstance.

Yahweh-Nissi: My Banner - Isiah uses this when speaking of the coming Messiah who is to be the conqueror (Isaiah 11:10)

Yahweh-Rapha: Healer (Exodus 15:26)

Yahweh-Rohi: My Shepherd (Psalm 23:1, Ezekiel 34:15). Jesus demonstrated the full meaning when as a shepherd he gave his life for his sheep.

Yahweh-Jireh: To See Ahead or To Provide (Genesis 22:14) Abraham gave this name to the place where God provided a substitute for his son.

Yahweh-Shalom: Peace (Judges 6:24) This is the name Gideon gave to the altar he built when the angel of the Lord came to give him orders to fight the Midianites. In Ephesians, Jesus is the person of Peace

Yahweh-Zadaq: Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6) Jesus is called our righteousness in 1 Corinthians 1:30

Titles:

Messiah (Christ): is the title given to the one who is to come as the True Prophet, the Only High Priest, and the Eternal King.

It means to be anointed.

When a person was anointed to be a prophet, priest, or king, it meant that he was designated for the position, assigned the duties of the position, authorized to function, and qualified or enabled to fulfill the requirements of the respective office. The anointing oil symbolized the Holy Spirit particularly in respect to qualifying a person for the tasks assigned. The Holy Spirit is not referred to by any specific title in the OT.

Creator: It expresses the idea of God as originator, sole possessor, and absolute ruler of the cosmos.

Paraclete: is the title given to the Holy Spirit by John (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). The Greek word paraklētos means “intercessor, advocate, consoler, comforter.” When Jesus spoke to his disciples concerning his departure he emphasized that he would send his Spirit, through whom he would be present. In addition, the Spirit would minister to them in their specific needs, particularly in times of stress, persecution, and threats of death. The Spirit would render whatever service was deemed necessary for Christ’s disciples.

Paul speaks far more about us being in Christ compared to Christ being in us. It’s important to see our individual experience within the larger picture of our membership in God’s family in the Messiah.

John 17:6-19

God, Names of. Cumulative self-disclosure of God to his people. When the Scripture employs the phrase “name of God,” God in his fullness is meant. When men and women call on the name of God, God himself is worshiped (Gn 21:33); when they forget the name of God, they depart from God himself (Jer 23:27); when they take the name of God in vain, God himself is personally profaned and affronted (Ex 20:7).