What name(s) come to mind when you think of God and try to relate to Him in your own life?
Big question, right?
“Where do I even begin?”
Or maybe ”I have no idea who or what God even is or if I even believe in him.”
There are hundreds of religions around the world, and many worship many gods with many different names often with the same or similar characteristics (think Jupiter=Zeus=Baal=Odin, etc.)
But one of the things that makes God (the Jewish God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) unique is that He is one God with many names used to refer to Him. These names often represent a characteristic of who God is. To name just a few, you have El Shaddai, Elohim, Adonai, YHWH (Yahweh), Immanuel, and even “I Am” or “The Great I Am.”
“I AM”
The gall it would take for one of us to refer to ourselves as “I Am.” Just think about that. Moses asked God who to tell the Israelites sent him, and God answered with a statement for His name. Not “my name is…” (slim shady?!) or “I am fill in the blank” (Kaiser Soze?!) He simply says to tell the Israelites that “‘I Am’ sent me.” No one but the Creator of the universe could make this statement without being laughed out of the room. Of course, it didn’t hurt that God manifested Himself to Moses in the form of a burning bush that was not consumed by the fire. I mean, if a regular bush started talking to me, I’d either a) run away, b) wonder when I got into the wacky tobacc-y, or c) drop to my knees and beg it not to end me.
Well, like I said, God has many names that show us His character.
Let’s dive into a few that I believe are relevant today…and a couple I jus think are really cool.
First let’s look at Jehovah Shammah which translates to “The Lord is There.”
I bet you just read that and went “well duh!” But go with me on this.
You might say obviously He’s there. But for many in the world today—there are currently over one billion professing atheists—that statement is not a “duh.” In fact, many are probably more likely to say, “Ok looney tunes!” or even worse, because of often severe church hurt, they refuse to believe that God exists, or hate him because, “how could a loving father allow me to be so hurt by the church?” or “how could a good father allow that person in the church to molest or rape me?” Yeah, sometimes it is that severe. It NEVER should be, but in this broken world, it too often is.
Sit in that if you need to before reading further. Take it to God, and find that “The Lord IS There.”
Good at transitions, I am not.
So, I bring up this name (Jehovah Shammah) because God gave it in Ezekiel 48 to remind His people that He was, in fact, there. He was with them. He was for them. He was dwelling among them This last chapter from Ezekiel breaks down the division of the land of Israel between the 12 tribes, and the measurements and placement of gates in the chief and greatest city in the Jewish kingdom. That might not make sense with the meaning, but verse 35 ends the chapter and book with “…and the name of the city from that day shall be ‘The Lord is there.’” The significance here is far greater than it may seem. God, through Ezekiel, is clearly stating that He is with the Israelites. I mean, He told them to name the city with the promise that He is there (past, present, and future). Sign me up for living there for all eternity.
For the next two—Jehovah Nissi and Jehovah Sabaoth—I’m grouping them together because I think they fit together well. Kind of like peas and carrots. I also find these two to be pretty cool.
Jehovah Nissi, which means “The Lord my Banner” is referenced in Exodus 17:15, after Joshua, under instruction from Moses faced the attacking Amalekite army while Moses, with help from Aaron and Hur held his hands aloft, causing the Israelites to win.
“Ben Hur?”
“No. Hur.”
Hur, who.”
“…..”
Not even kidding, this is the conversation my inner voices have every time I see the name Hur.
I might need help…
Anyway,…
Yeah, that’s how God works. “You just hold your hands up for this battle, and I’ll give the Israelite army strength to open up a can on the Amalekites.”
Quick geek-out aside: The Amalekites were the descendants of Amalek; a Rephaimim descended from the Nephilim, hybrid offspring of human and angel-make. If you ever wonder why God called for their utter annihilation (men, women, child, livestock, etc.), they were an abomination against His creation, and wholly evil. When you couple fallen angels with humans, there can be no good in their offspring (what becomes demons).
Ok, back to your regularly scheduled program…
Admittedly God doesn’t talk like Stone Cold Steve Austin…
But that’s how it plays out in my head. Minus the swearing, haphazard use of the middle finger, and beer guzzling, that is.
But I digress. After the victory, Moses builds an altar in the place where he just kept his hands raised, with a little help from his friends, and says “Jehovah Nissi (the Lord is my Banner).” That altar serves as a banner to all of Israel of what the Lord did (and can and will do) for them and those who look to Him.
Quick question…Have you ever erected a banner; a monument to commemorate what the Lord has done in your life? There is quite a lot of precedence for doing so throughout the Bible. I suggest hiking out to an area where you feel at peace and stacking some rocks as a monument to what God has done in your life. I’ve done this myself at places like Hill of Life and River Place here in Austin. You can also build a banner in your mind and heart through prayer journaling.
Where was I? Oh yeah…
The other name that fits with Jehovah Nissi is Jehovah Sabaoth, which means “The Lord of host or armies”—think “the Lord of Heaven’s armies.” This one occurs in 1 Samuel 17, verse 45, and it is a BOLD statement. To set it up, Goliath and his Philistine brethren have been talking all kinds of trash to the Israelite army for 40 days (a timeframe that is extremely significant in Biblical writings). Saul and the others would love to shut him up, but the dude is 9 feet tall…NINE FEET TALL!!!
Aside part duex…but who’s counting?: King Saul was a pretty good sized specimen of a man himself, believed to be around 6 foot 5 inches. Considering the average height of the Israelites in those days was roughly 5’2”, Saul was a giant in his own right.
Oh, also Goliath was descended from the Nephilim (mentioned before).
Enter 13 year old (roughly) David…with a sling and some rocks…
“Come again? You’re telling me a 13 year old boy, probably not even 5 feet tall, took down a 9 foot giant with a sling and rocks? Wait, Goliath’s spear was 25 pounds with a spearhead roughly 20 inches long? And his armor was 125 pounds? I’m just guessing here, but David was probably under 100 pounds soaking wet. Liath…can I call him Liath?!…could have yeeted David across the valley of Elah like Brandon Aubrey kicking a 60+ yard field goal. David must have been able to conjure some kind of magic ‘Goliath-be-gone’ spray or something, right?!”
Nope. Just a sling and rocks. The kid didn’t even have armor. Well, he was offered Saul’s, but refused it. That’s like honey badger level confidence. No joke, this kid hears Goliath mocking the Lord, God and gets BIG MAD.
We see this start in verse 23: “As he (David) talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.”
I read this and think
Everyone else has been hearing this behemoth for going on 40 days, and they’re too scared to step up. Little David (mind you he has been anointed king at this point) hears the giant one time and oops. Goliath should have quit while he was ahead…
Check out David’s response in verses 26-51a witb arguably the most amazing bad mamma jama moment in the history of…well…everything. I’ve cut the verses that aren’t David speaking or Goliath responding. Suffice to say, there’s a lot of Saul and the Israelites cowering in those verses.
“And David said to the men who stood by him, ‘What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?’… And David said to Saul, ‘Let no man’s heart fail because of him (Goliath). Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.’…But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.’… And David said, ‘The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’… Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine… And when the Philistine (Goliath) looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, ‘Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, ‘Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.’ Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel (Jehovah Saboath), whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.’…When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his (Goliath’s) sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it.”
In summary: 13 year old runt hears giant dogging YHWH and says, “Nah dog, not on my watch.” Giant gets all boast-y and acting all big and bad, and “thonk;” big tree fall hard. Tiny human takes giant man’s sword and “snicky snicky snoink” separates giant’s head from giant’s body. Giant’s people and brothers run for lives. All God’s people layeth the smacketh down on some Philistine…ahem…backsides.
Yep. David defeats the giant with a sniper-like stone to the forehead and takes his head with his own sword, just like the kid said he would.
The stones on this kid…
So jumping to Isaiah and the Psalms:
When Isaiah writes in chapter 54, verse 17 – “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” and Psalm 46, a Psalm written by one of the Sons of Korah (that’s a whole other story that will drop your jaw to the floor), says – “Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. ‘Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!’ The Lord of hosts (Jehovah Saboath) is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” they are not only reminding us of God’s promises, but of his names; his very character.
And all that…just the tip of the iceberg.
There are so many names for the ONE TRUE GOD and CREATOR OF ALL THINGS. Why? because he is the King of kings and Lord of lords. That’s not a reference to earthly, human rulers, by the way. That’s a reference to the Bene-Elohim (the gods, the divine counsel, the rulers and principalities in unseen realms Paul speaks of, and the Angel refers to in Daniel when speaks of fighting the Prince of Persia and needing the assistance of an Archangel (Michael) to defeat).
There may be many names for our God, but they all point back to him; to the ANCIENT OF DAYS; the GREAT I AM.
I had honestly hoped to dive into most if not all of the other names, but that’s a bigger undertaking than one post can fit…unless I write a frickin novel. That said, stay tuned. Sometime in the near future, I will get to as many of the additional names as I can. In the meantime, here’s a list (not comprehensive) of these additional names of God, and some of their references.
- Jehovah Raah (The Lord My Shepherd) Psalm 23:1
- El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty) Genesis 17:1, 35:11
- El Elyon (The Most High God) Genesis 14:18-20
- Adonai (Lord, Master) Psalm 97:5
- YHWH (Yahweh) (Lord, Jehovah) Exodus 3:15
- Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals) Exodus 15:26
- Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There) Ezekiel 48:35
- Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness) Jeremiah 23:6
- Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies) Leviticus 20:7-8
- El Olam (The Everlasting God) Psalm 72:17,19)
- Elohim (God) Genesis 1:26, John 1:1, Psalm 2:7, 1 Corinthians 8:6
- El Qanna (Jealous God) Deuteronomy 4:24
- Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide) Genesis 22:14
- Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace) Judges 6:24
- I am (i.e.: God to Moses) John 6:35, 8:12, 10:9-11, 11:25-26
The Random Musings of a Nerdy Christ Follower 