THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GOD’S NAME

Parents today usually choose a Name for their child because they like the sound of that Name or perhaps because they wish to honor someone who bears that name.

Often they do not know the original meaning of the Name they have chosen.

THE BIBLICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF NAMES

In the Bible days, however, a Name was usually chosen for its meaning.

The Old Testament records many instances in which the Name given to a child related to the circumstances surrounding the child’s birth or to the aspirations held by the parents for their child.

“In biblical thought a name is not a mere label of identification; it is an expression of the essential nature of its bearer.

A man’s name reveals his character…The name in the OT is the essence of personality, the expression of innermost being”.

God Himself placed great significance upon names.

He changed the name of Abram (“exalted father”) to Abraham (“father of many”) to signify His promise to make him a father of many nations (Genesis 17:5)

“No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

After Jacob wrestled with God, his Name was changed from Jacob (“heel catcher, super plantar”) to Israel (“contender with God”).

In the new Testament, Simon (“heard”) became Peter (“a rock”).

GOD’S CHARACTER

In a similar manner, God used names and titles to reveal Himself. (Exodus 6:3, 6, 7)

To Moses God said, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My Name LORD [Jehovah] I was not known to them….

⁶ Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

 ⁷ I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Abraham used the Name Jehovah (Gen. 22:14);

¹⁴ And Abraham called the Name of the place, The-Lord-Will- Provide (Jehovah-Jireh); as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

However, God did not make known to him the full significance of this Name in its redemptive aspect.

Abraham saw God’s omnipotence as displayed in miracles, but he did not have occasion to see and understand the fullness of God’s delivering power.

In Exodus 6, God’ promised to reveal Himself to His people in a new way.

He associated His Name Jehovah with a new and greater understanding of His character.

To know God’s Name is to know His true identity, nature, and character. For example, those who know God’s Name will know that He is faithful and so will trust in Him.

Psalm 9:10

¹⁰ And those who know Your Name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

In Exodus 34:5-6, the Name represents God’s character and glory as revealed to Moses:

Exodus 34:5-6

^5 “Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the Name of the Lord. ⁶ And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.”

God also told Moses: Exodus 34:14

¹⁴ (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose Name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

His Name signifies that He will not countenance the worship of other gods.

Throughout the Old Testament, God progressively revealed more about His character to His people, and this progressive revelation was often expressed by new names, such as Jehovah-jireh (Jehovah our Provider)

Genesis 22:14

¹⁴ And Abraham called the Name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

And Jehovah-rapha (Jehovah our Healer)  Exodus 15:26

²⁶ and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” (Jehovah-Rapha)

People expressed a desire to know more about God by asking to know His name: Genesis 32:29

²⁹ Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”

And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My Name?” And He blessed him there.

Judges 13:17

¹⁷ Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “What is Your Name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?”

1Kings 8:43

⁴³ hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your Name and reverence You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your Name.

Pointing to the Incarnation, God promised that one day His people would know Him plainly, and He expressed this truth by saying,

Isaiah 52:6

⁶ Therefore My people shall know My Name; Therefore, they shall know in that day That I am He who speaks: ‘Behold, it is I.’”

The truth of one God will be apparent to all, and is represented by His Name: (The new earth)

Zechariah 14:9

⁹ And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be—
“The Lord is one,” And His Name one.

God’s Name is so closely identified with His character that sometimes the Bible uses his Name as a synonym for Him. A man was executed under the law for blaspheming “the name,” or in other words, “God”

Leviticus 24:11,15

¹¹ And the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name of the Lord and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s Name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)

¹⁴ “Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

15 “Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.

¹⁶ And whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.

Many passages in both testaments admonish us to honor, love, bless, praise, and thank God’s Name, meaning that we are to honor, love, bless, praise, and thank God Himself.

Deuteronomy 28:58

58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome Name, THE LORD YOUR GOD,

Psalm 5:11

11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your Name Be joyful in You.

Psalm 54:6

6 I will freely sacrifice to You;
I will praise Your Name, O Lord, for it is good.

 

Psalm 96:2 ²Sing to the Lord, bless His Name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

Hebrews 6:10

¹⁰ For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of^[a]love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

Hebrews 13:15

¹⁵ Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His Name.

Revelation 11:18

¹⁸ The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your Name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

GOD’S POWER

God’s Name reveals not only His character but also His power.

God told Pharaoh through Moses: Exodus 9:16

¹⁶ But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My Name may be declared in all the earth.

All nations saw the power of the God of Israel when He defeated the Egyptians, the mightiest kingdom of that day.

When people heard the Name Jehovah, they thought of Jehovah’s omnipotence. Rahab explained to the two Israelite spies,

Joshua 2:10-11

¹⁰ For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, ... ¹¹ And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

In particular, God’s Name represents His saving power. Thus David prayed: Psalm 54:1

¹Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your strength.

Salvation is in the Name of the LORD: Joel 2:32

³² And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the Name of the Lord Shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
As the Lord has said,
Among the remnant whom the Lord calls.

God will save those who love Him, call upon Him, and know His name:

Psalm 91:14

¹⁴ “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My Name.

GOD’S AUTHORITY

In addition to power (might, ability), God’s Name represents His authority (right, warrant).

When God promised to send an angel to lead the Israelites, He charged them,

Exodus 23:20-21

²⁰ “Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.²¹ Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My Name is in Him.

The angel (perhaps a manifestation of God) carried divine authority because God invested His Name in the angel.

God signifies that people come under His authority by placing His Name upon them:

Deuteronomy 28:10

¹⁰ Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the Name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.

Amos 9:12 (God’s love for the Gentiles)

¹² That they may possess the remnant of Edom,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My Name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing.

They are thereby identified with Him, become His possession, and enter into an intimate relationship with Him.

Thus God’s people can “call on the Name of the LORD” in petition:

1 Kings 18:24; 36-27

²⁴ Then you call on the Name of your gods, and I will call on the Name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.”

So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.”

³⁶ And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.

³⁷ Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

2 Kings 5:11

¹¹ But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the Name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’

As well as in worship:

Genesis 12:8

⁸ And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the Name of the Lord.

By the authority invested in His name, they can expect Him to work miraculously on their behalf.

GOD’S MANIFESTED PRESENCE

The divine Name also represents God’s immediate presence—His manifested glory, attention, concern and prayer-answering work.

Referring to locations where the Israelites would build an altar of sacrifice, God said: Exodus 20:24 “In all places where I record my Name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee”.

God manifested Himself temporarily in these locations. He also promised that He would manifest His presence permanently in the Temple by placing His Name there:

Deuteronomy 12:5-11

⁵ “But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His Name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.

¹¹ then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His Name abide.

When Solomon prayed at the dedication of the temple, he acknowledged that the omnipresent God could not be confined to any physical location:

1 Kings 8:27

²⁷ “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!”

Yet he asked for a unique manifestation of God’s presence by asking God to place His Name in the Temple, as He had promised.

Solomon prayed:

1 Kings 8:29

²⁹ that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.

God answered Solomon’s prayer by causing His visible glory to fill the Temple and by placing His Name in it:

2 Chronicles 7:1-2

7 When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 

² And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house.

1 Kings 9:3

³ And the Lord said to him: “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My Name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.

SUMMARY

The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible explains the significance of God’s Name in biblical usage:

The Name … of God is the key to understanding the biblical doctrine of God…. God’s self-revelation in history is accompanied by the giving of His personal name, by which his people may worship and address Him as “Thou”.

Thus God’s Name signifies the personal relation between God and people, which is the supreme characteristic of biblical faith.

To know the Name of God is to know God as He has revealed himself…

That which is called by Yahweh’s Name is His possession and therefore comes under both His authority and His protection….

When used of God, ‘name’ in the OT has a revelatory content.

The Name of God means primarily His revealed nature and character—the Savior God as He has manifested himself and desires to be known by man….

As expressing essential nature, it [God’s name] implies the most complete divine self-disclosure, while the identification of Name and person safeguards the unity of God…

The Name of God is frequently used as a synonym for God himself…. To know the Name of God is to know God himself as he is revealed.

When God acts for His name’s sake, He is acting in accordance with His revealed character and to uphold the honor of His revelation ….

To call upon the Name of God is to invoke Him on the basis of His revealed nature and character.

The N.T. uses the Name of Jesus Christ in the same way that the O.T. speaks of the Name of Jehovah, thereby revealing the identity of Jesus as the one God incarnated.

The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible explains how the doctrine of God’s Name in the New Testament proclaims the deity of Jesus.

With the Name of God there is now linked the Name of Jesus Christ, who declares it and so “fulfills” the OT revelation…. In Him there has been given to men the complete revelation of the divine nature He has manifested and declared the Name of God:

John 12:28

²⁸ Father, glorify Your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

John 17:6

⁶ “I have manifested Your Name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, you gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.

The distinctive feature of NT usage is the way in which the Name of Jesus is either substitute for, or placed alongside, the Name of God. Phrases which are used in the OT of the Name of God are applied in the NT to the Name of Jesus….

The full disclosure of His [God’s] nature and character is given in Jesus Christ, who has manifested His name.

God’s Name signifies His self-revelation, particularly His character, power, authority, and manifested presence.

Jesus is the incarnation of the one true God in all His fullness, and therefore the Name of Jesus is the supreme revelation of God today.

The fullness of God’s character, power, authority, and presence is invested in the Name of Jesus and is made available to us when we believe on Jesus and invoke His name.

Colossians 2:9-10

⁹ For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.