The Name of God

The name of God—what a theme for contem­plation! The angels in heaven adore Him and praise His name. Continually they cry, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts" (Isa. 6:3); "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come" (Rev. 4:8). If these holy, sinless beings sing praises to the Most High, how much more should we, sinful and undone, creatures of the dust, come before the Lord in humility, and yet with joy and thanksgiving.

The name of the Lord means much more than a term by which He is known or something used to distinguish Him from others. The name of our God is expressive of His character. This was clearly revealed to Moses centuries ago. In Exodus we read:

"The LORD . . . proclaimed the name of the LORD. . . . The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (ch. 34:5, 6).

But may we know the actual name of our heavenly Father? This is an old question, of course. It was asked long, long ago. Do we not find it raised in the days of Solomon? In the book of Proverbs we read:

"What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?" (ch. 30:4; see Appendix A).

Does the Ruler of the universe have one name, or is He known by several names? The book of Proverbs mentions that He has a name. That being so, may we know what it is?

Again, I say that this is a theme we should approach with deep humility of heart and mind. We should remember that the name of our God is "Holy" (Isa. 57:15). it is "glorious" (Neh. 9:5), it is "excellent" (Ps. 148:13), it is "blessed" (Ps. 113:2). Ever bear in mind that "holy and reverend is his name" (Ps. 111:9).

There are persons today who rather urge that there is but one name, and one name only, by which the God of heaven should be mentioned, and that is YAHWEH, rendered "LORD," "GOD" or "JEHOVAH" in the King James Version. It is readily conceded that the name YAHWEH is undoubtedly the most important name of the Most High, but that it is the only name is hardly in harmony with the teachings of the Word of God. This will be seen in the outline that follows.

The name of the Lord was regarded by the Hebrews as a sacred name. To them it was the unpronounceable name, the uncommunicable name. They feared to take it upon their lips. We, too, will do well to approach the study of this wonderful name with a sense of sacred awe, remembering that like Moses of old before the burning bush, we stand on "holy ground" (Ex. 3:5). Let us notice:

A. Some of the Names and Titles of God in the King James Version

It will be seen that there are quite a number of names and titles ascribed to the Most High. 1. The divine names:

a. JEHOVAH—"By my name JEHOVAH" (Ex. 6:3; Ps. 83:18).

b. LORD, LoRn—"This is the name whereby he shall be called THE LORD" (Jer. 23:6). "The LORD is his name" (Jer. 33:2; see Isa. 42:8).

Lord—"Our Lord, how excellent is thy name" (Ps. 8:1; see Dan. 9:19).

LORD God—"Proclaimed the name of the LORD. . . . The LORD . . proclaimed, . . • The Lotto God" (Ex. 34:5, 6; see Gen. 2:7).

c. I AM THAT I AM—"What is his name? . . . I AM THAT I AM" (Ex. 3:13, 14). Goo—"O GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake" (Ps. 109:21; see Ps. 68:20).

Lord God—"I will sanctify my great name, . . . saith the Lord GOD" (Eze. 36:23).

God Almighty-"By the name of God Almighty" (Ex. 6:3; see Gen. 17:1).

e.  Holy One-"Sanctify my name, and sanc­tify the Holy One" (Isa. 29:23; see ch. 47:4).

f.  Nfost High-"Sing praises unto thy name, 0 most High" (Ps. 92:1; 9:2).

9. The divine, yet descriptive titles:

a.    "LORD of hosts is his name" (Isa. 47:4; 48:2).

b.   "The name of the LORD God of Israel" (Isa. 24:15).

c.    "Lou), whose name is the God of hosts" (Amos 5:27; see verse 14).

d.   "The high and lofty One . . . , whose name is Holy" (Isa. 57:15).

e.    "Name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Jer. 23:6).

f.    "The LORD, whose name is Jealous (Ex. 34:14).

It will be noted that in most of the above Scrip­ture references, the various words for Deity are mentioned as His name.

B. The Names for God in the Hebrew Language

LORD, Lour-Sometimes the word "Lord" ap­pears in large capital letters; most often with a large capital L, the rest of the letters being small capitals.

JEHOVAH, JAH, GOD-When these words are found in the King James Version, they are from the Hebrew word known as YAHWEH, for which, in later years, the word 'Adonai was often substituted by the Jews.

We read:

"It seems that, out of reverence for the divine name, there had grown up around 300 n.c. the custom among the Jews in reading to pronounce the word, '(see pdf for text) (my Lord, or LORD) in its stead or, when it follows (see pdf for text), to pronounce '(see pdf for text), God (Gen. 15:2). When the vowel points were added to the Heb. consonantal text, the vowels of '(see pdf for text), and '(see pdf for text) were accordingly given to the tetragram. This pointing gave rise to the Eng. pronunciation, Jehovah, current since the days of Petrus Galatinus, confessor of Leo X. A.D. 1518."-John Davis, Ph.D., D.D., LL.D., The West­minster Dictionary of the Bible (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1944), p. 287.

1.    Jehovah-In a few instances this name appears in the English translations as "Jehovah."

2.    I AM THAT I AM-This is from the Hebrew 'Ehyeh 'asher 'Ehyeh and seems to mean "self-existing One, the everliving God"; the One "which is, which was, and which is to come" (Rev. 1:8).

3.            God Almighty-In Hebrew this is 'El Shaddai.

4.  LORD God-This can be from: YAHWEH = LORD; 'Elohim = God (Dan. 9:13; Ps. 72:17, 18).

5.  Lord GOD-Usually this is from the Hebrew 'Adonai YAHWEH (Eze. 36:22, 23).

6. Lord-This form "Lord" is from such Hebrew words as: 'Adon (Ps. 114:7; Isa. 1:24). 'Adonai (Ps. 110:5; Isa. 10:16).

7. God-This form "God' is generally from the following:

'El (Ps. 42:8; 44:20).

'Elah (Ezra 6:14; Dan. 2:19).

'Eloah (Dent. 32:15; Ps. 18:32).

'Elohirn (Gen. 1:1; Ps. 44:4).

8. Most High-This is from the Hebrew word `Elyon (Gen. 14:18