NAMES OF THE LORD in the Old Testament
The
LORD has revealed Himself through His Name.
Moses made the ultimate request of the LORD when
he stood before Him on Mount Sinai -- "And
he said, I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory." Exodus 33:18
Moses asked that he might be able to see
and know the LORD in all His glory. What a request! What a
desire that welled up from within his soul. Moses just wanted to know
the LORD. This is without doubt, the highest of all human pursuits –
to really know the LORD!
The LORD replied to Moses --
"And He said, I will make all my goodness pass
before thee, and I will proclaim the Name of the LORD before thee, and will
be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will
show mercy. And he said, Thou cants not see my face; for there shall
no man see me, and live." Exodus 33:19-20
Then the LORD did an amazing thing that not only
was a blessing to Moses, but can be a blessing to us, thousands of years
later – "And the LORD descended in the
cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the Name of the LORD.
and the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, the LORD, the LORD God,
merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth .
. . “
Do
you suppose this satisfied the hungry heart of Moses? He couldn’t look
on the face of the LORD and live, but God passed by before Him and declared
unto him His Name.
The Name of the LORD is a
DESCRIPTION of His character:
There
are dozens if not hundreds of Names associated with the LORD. Why
would the LORD have so many names? It’s quite simple really, if you
want to know the LORD in all of His fullness and glory, seek to know His
Name(s). Each of the Names is a description of another aspect of God’s
goodness. Our attempt in this study will be to reveal some of those
Names which have become so precious to those who know, love and worship the
One Who is above all others.
The Name of the LORD is also
a DECLARATION of His commitment:
The LORD commanded
His people to never take His Name if vain. Jewish people are so afraid
of offending the LORD of Heaven, that they will not even utter His Name.
From the surface, this may look like a great attempt to please the LORD and
never offend His holiness. But just the opposite is true. God
wants His people to know Him personally by His Name.
The
LORD first met with Moses at the burning bush on the backside of Mount Horeb
(Sinai). God commissioned Moses to go and deliver the people of Israel
from the severe bondage they endured in Egypt. You know the story.
You can read the full account in Exodus chapter 3.
But Moses made a valid point when he asked –
“Behold, when I come unto the children of
Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto
you; and they shall say to me, What is His Name? What shall I say unto
them?” Imagine that! Moses
didn’t even know who the LORD was! He knew that He was the
“God of our fathers”
but beyond that, he didn’t have a clue as to the
identity or even the character of God.
“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He
said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me
unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto
the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you;
this is My Name forever, and this is My memorial
unto all generations.” Exodus
3:13-15
The ultimate sin of taking the LORD’s Name in
vain is to know it and not call upon Him when we have a special need.
Example: The LORD has revealed Himself as
Jehovah Jireh, “The LORD Who Provides.”
If we have a need for His provision and refuse to
call upon His covenant Name, we have surely taken that Holy Name in vain.
The God of Heaven wants us to call upon Him in faith as the Scriptures
declare – “Whatever is not of faith is
sin.”
The LORD is everything that His Name declares.
The Name of the LORD is truly a declaration of His commitment to His people!
Later, when the people were confronted with the walls of Jericho, I believe
that they lifted their voices in unity and called upon
Jehovah Sabaoth, “The Lord of Hosts or Armies”.
The walls fell and there was a great
victory as the Lord fought for the ancient people of Israel. During
this study, we will discover many of the wonderful Names of the Lord and
what those Names should mean to us when we are challenged by the problems of
life. The Names of God are a declaration of His eternal covenant with
His children! The Shepherd King of Israel declared –
“And they who know Thy Name will put their trust
in Thee; for Thou, LORD, has not forsaken those who seek Thee.” Psalm
9:16 David also wrote –
“Our help is in the Name of the LORD, Who made
heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:8
Do
you know Him? Are you able to call upon His Name in faith? If
not, I sincerely hope you will know Him by the end of this fascinating
study.
The Name of the LORD is the
DELIGHT of His children:
To
those of us who know Him and love Him, the Names of God are the very
foundation of our faith and daily walk with Him.
It is
interesting, that the Name of the LORD is hated above all other names.
Satan, the enemy of God and man, despises that Name so much, that he
discredits it with every angry outburst of man.
And
yet, the Names of the Lord are precious to those of us who have come to know
Him by faith! I will begin our study with a brief list of some of the
Names of God, and then we will look at each one briefly.
“Elohim” – “The Mighty God
of Creation”
“El Shadai” – The Merciful
God of Compassion” Who meets our every need.
“El Roi” – “The God Who Sees
and Knows” everything that I endure.
“El Olam” – “The God Who
Never Changes”
“Jehovah” – “The Eternal,
Self-Existing God” who is everything that His Name implies.
“Jehovah, El Elyon” – “The
LORD, God Most High”
“El Elyon” – “God Most High,
Possessor of Heaven and Earth”
“Adonai” – “Master”
“Jehovah Tsidequeno” – “The
LORD is my Righteousness”
“Jehovah Kaddesh or Quadesh”
– “The LORD Who Sanctifies”
“Jehovah Shamah” – “The LORD
Who is Present”
“Jehovah Sabaoth” – “The
LORD of Hosts or Armies”
“Jehovah Nissi” – “The LORD
of Victory”
“Jehovah Shalom” – “The LORD
of Peace”
“Jehovah Rohi” – “The LORD
My Shepherd”
“Jehovah Jireh” – “The LORD
Who Provides”
“Jehovah Rapha” – “The LORD
Who Heals”
This
is just the beginning of the Old Testament Names that the LORD has revealed
unto His people. We will attempt to study each Name in a way that
brings glory and honor to the One Who is Above all names!
This
is just a partial list of the wonderful Names of the Lord. We will add
more to the list as time permits.
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©2016 Discovery News
The Name of the Lord is a DESCRIPTION of His eternal character. The Name of
the Lord is a DECLARATION of His commitment to His people. The
Old Testament Names of the Lord include the following plus many more:
Elohim, El Shadai, El Roi, El Olam, Jehovah, El Elyon, Jehovah El Elyon,
Andonai, Jehovah Tsidqueno, Jehovah Kaddesh, Jehovah Shammah, Jehovah
Sabaoth, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah Rohi, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah
Rapha.