What's in a name?

THE NAMES OF GOD


Isa 43:1 But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Isreal, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!"

Names are important to God. Throughout the Bible, God plays an interactive and personal role in the selection of different peoples names, in a few instances even changing the names of people who experienced an epiphany with God. Names were often used to portray a dominant character trait of a person. The Bible provides many different names for God to help us understand some of the many different dimensions of His Character. The same God that smote cities and obliterated entire races of people, is the same God that says He personally attends to the flowers and birds of the earth. Researching the different names of God is the same as researching His different character traits and facets of His personality. Psalm 9:10 says "And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You." For me, the experience was very interesting, and at times, a form of worship. I do not understand Hebrew, and as a result, this study was fabricated by collaborating different scholars and researchers with the little I previously knew about the names of God.

Before we delve into the names of God, I figured it would be interesting to briefly visit what God says about His name.

Psalm 8:1 O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!

Psalm 148:13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven.

Psalm 7:17 I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

Psalm 9:2 I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

Psalm 100:4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

Meditate on His name while reading through this, and praise His name without ceasing. Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe.
Run to His name throughout the day. He has provided (Jehovah Jireh) a stronghold for us to escape temptation and fear, it would behoove us to learn to use it.
Enjoy.

"JEHOVAH: LORD in our English Bibles (all capitals). Yahweh is the covenant name of God. Occurs 6823 times in the OT First use Gen. 2:4 (Jehovah Elohim). From the verb "to be", havah, similar to chavah (to live), "The Self-Existent One," "I AM WHO I AM" or 'I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE" as revealed to Moses at the burning bush, Ex.3. The name of God, too sacred to be uttered, abbreviated ( . . . . ) or written "YHWH" without vowel points. The tetragrammaton. Josh., Judges, Sam., and Kings use Jehovah almost exclusively. The love of God is conditioned upon His moral and spiritual attributes. (Dan. 9:14; Ps. 11:7; Lev. 19:2; Hab. 1:12). Note Deut. 6:4, 5 known to Jews as the Sh'ma uses both Jehovah and Elohim to indicate one God with a plurality of persons." - Lambert Dolphin

• Ex 3:13-15, 1Chron 16:23-29
  
  
  

God is:

Jehovah Shammah- The Lord is There

• This name promises His presence; "where two or three come together in My name, there I am with them." Matt 18:20
• Deut 31:6, Ezek 48:35, I Cor 3:16, Isa 12:6, Matt 28:20, Rev 21:1-3

Jehovah Jireh- The Lord Will Provide

• From the root word "to see," or "foresee," like a prophet. This name tells us God is willing and able to meet every need of His people. He sees our needs before we even do.
• Gen 22:8, 13-14, Acts 14:17, Rom 8:32, II Cor 9:8, Phil 4:19, I Tim 6:17

El- The God of Power and Might, Prominant One (used 250 times in OT)

• Linguistically, it is similiar to the muslim god "allah" although the characteristics attributed to the name vary. In the Bible, El is used to describe pagan gods as well
• Exo 15:1-3,11, Deut 3:24, II Chron 20:6, Psalm 18:2-3, Psalm 89:5-8, Isa 43:10-13, Gen. 7:1, 28:3, 35:11; Nu. 23:22; Josh. 3:10; 2 Sam. 22:31, 32; Neh. 1:5, 9:32; Isa. 9:6; Ezek. 10:5

Jehovah Rapha- The Lord Heals

• He heals our bodies, but the emphasis here is that He is the healer and restorer of our spirit, our heart, and our soul.
• Exo 15:22-26, Deut 32:39, Psalm 103:1-4, Psalm 147:3, Isa 53:4-5, Matt 8:16-17

Jehovah Tsidkenu- The Lord is our Righteousness

• "There is no one righteous, not even one," (Rom 3:10) but we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense; Jesus Christ, The Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1John 2:1-2) the unblemished bridge between God and man.
• Jer 23:5-6, Rom 3:21-22, Rom 5:17-19, II Cor 5:21, Ezek 36:25-26, 1John 1:7,9

Jehovah Shalom- The Lord is Peace

• Rom 5:1, John 14:27, Judges 6:22-24, Eph 2:14-18, Isa 9:6, Col 1:19-20, Isa 26:3-4

Elohim- Creator, Preserver, Transcendent, Mighty and Strong (used 2,570 times in OT)

• Elohim is a plural noun (more then two; ie. reffering to The Trinity) When Daniel and Jonah write, they use Elohim almost exclusively
• Gen. 17:7, 6:18, 9:15, 50:24; I Kings 8:23; Jer. 31:33; Isa. 40:1

El Shaddai- God is all Sufficient, God is Almighty, God is Self Sufficient

• El Shaddai is used 31 times in the book of Job. I find this the most interesting of God's names, because He reffers to Himself as "El Shaddai," God self-sufficient, but refers to idols, and pagan gods as "sheddim." Sheddim simply means "not god," and later became a root for the hebrew word for demons. El Shaddai has no craftsman, no goldsmith, relies on absolutely nobody and nothing for His existance, and calls any other form of "god" Shaddim; not self-sufficient.
• Gen. 17:1, 2, Gen. 31:29, 49:24, 25; Prov. 3:27; Micah 2:1; Isa. 60:15, 16, 66:10-13; Ruth 1:20, 21, Rev. 16:7

Adonai- Master, Lord

• Adonai is plural, the singular would be "adon." It is always in plural form when reffering to God, and shows up as "Lord" in our Bibles. Not to be confused with "LORD" which is used to refer to "Yahweh" or "Jehovah." When is appears in its singular form, "adon," it is used to refer to a human lord or king. (adon is used 215 times in the OT to refer to men.)
• Gen. 15:2, Ex. 4:10; Judges 6:15; 2 Sam. 7:18-20; Ps. 8, 114:7, 135:5, 141:8, 109:21-28
• Exekiel and Daniel use the word "Adonai" alot

Jehovha Nissi- The Lord our Banner

• God on the battlefield, from word which means "to glisten," "to lift up,"
• Ex 17:15, Psalm 4:6

Jehovah M'kaddesh- The Lord Who Sanctifies

• "To make whole, set apart for holiness." The Lord says: "Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy." (Leviticus 20:7-8)

Jehovah Rahi- The Lord our Shepherd

• Psa. 23, 79:13, 95:7, 80:1, 100:3; Gen. 49:24; Isa. 40:11

Jehovah Sabaoth- The Lord of Hosts

• The commander of the angels and the armies of God
• Isa. 1:24; Psa. 46:7, 11; 2 Kings 3:9-12; Jer. 11:20, Rom. 9:29; James 5:4, Rev. 19: 11-16

El Elyon- The Most High

• Deut. 26:19, 32:8; Psa. 18:13; Gen. 14:18; Nu. 24:16; Psa. 78:35, 7:17, 18:13, 97:9, 56:2, 78:56, 18:13; Dan. 7:25, 27; Isa. 14:14.