On Knowing God in His Name: Part 1

We typically think of God as Lord, Father, and God. We know His name is to be honoured and not taken in vain (Exodus 20:7). We recognise that His name is to be revered in our prayers (Matthew 6:9), and we acknowledge that God’s name signifies so much more. We must faithfully ponder His majestic (Psalm 8:1), holy and awesome (Psalm 111:9) name because it declares who He is, reveals His character, and speaks His promises to us.

God invites us to study Scripture and recognise His character in the context and setting where His name is first used. This is one of our greatest privileges as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we reflect on the uniqueness of the Name, we experience Him in new ways, knowing how to rightfully address Him with appropriate wisdom and reverence whenever we pray. This short list of the more familiar names of God gives insight into who He is and how we may experience Him.

Jehovah-Rohi: The Lord is My Shepherd

In Psalm 23, King David recalls his earlier life spent in the fields, watching the sheep (1 Samuel 16:11). David returned home when summoned by his father, Jesse, and was anointed king of Israel in place of Saul. But this kingship took time. There were fifteen years from the time of anointing to his coronation. Through these years, David still spent his time with the sheep, protecting them from predators like lions and bears (1 Samuel 17:34-36). When he composed this psalm, David purposed to celebrate God. He recognised God as the One who shepherded him as much as he did for his sheep and even more. In this psalm, David acknowledges that even as he brushed shoulders with the predators, God cared for him, watched out for him and protected him from looming dangers. And he called Him, Jehovah-Rohi.

This intimate psalm is David’s testimony of his personal experiences with God. It speaks of David’s confidence and true belief in God. David shares his experiences of God in these ways – how he heard His voice, followed His lead, and felt His care. Solid convictions formed in the crucible of crisis are underneath the beauty of his words. David first talks about God (vs 1-3), commenting on blissful times lying in the green pastures, being led beside quiet waters, refreshed in his soul, and guided along the right paths for the sake of God’s name (i.e., He experienced God’s Leading). He then talks to God (vs 4-8) as he recalls the valley’s darkness closing in on him, fearing no evil because the Shepherd was with him (i.e., He stayed in God’s Presence). He finds comfort in the Shepherd’s rod and staff (i.e., He saw God’s Power), the table prepared for him in the presence of his enemies (i.e., He enjoyed God’s Protection), his head anointed in oil (i.e., He felt God’s Healing Touch), with his cup overflowing (i.e., He received God’s Providence). David was sure of God’s goodness and love all the days of his life and committed to dwelling in the house of the Lord forever.

Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord Shall Provide

Genesis 22 begins by stating that God tested Abraham (NIV) with a rather strange instruction to offer his son of promise as a burnt offering. God knew how much Abraham loved Isaac (vs 2) and how much Isaac meant (the son of the promise), but He still commanded Abraham to sacrifice him. What is perplexing is Abraham’s willingness to do as God commanded. It shows how much he trusted in God and his deep relationship with God that he did not hesitate even for a moment. He made preparations for the trip to Moriah with such relaxedness (vs 3), even calmly instructing the two young men to stay behind with the donkey as he and Isaac journeyed on (vs 4-6); yet, none questioned what he was doing. It was only when they neared the site that Isaac finally spoke up about the (missing) lamb of the burnt offering (vs 7). Abraham’s response demonstrates his confidence in God to provide (vs 8).

The letter to the Hebrews argues that Abraham reasoned that God was able to raise people from the dead and had such confidence that he did receive Isaac back from death (Hebrews 11:19). It is as though all heaven was holding its breath when the angel stopped him just in time (vs 12). Abraham was so focused on the sacrifice that he overlooked God’s provision of the ram caught in the thicket with its horns (vs 13). Because of this, Abraham named the place Jehovah-Jireh because of God’s gracious provision of a substitute for Isaac. We also join in claiming that it will be provided on the mountain of the Lord (vs 14b). As the Lord provided on that day, He likewise displays His heart towards us in the same way by giving His only begotten Son (John 3:16). St. Paul incredulously asks, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” This dramatic account presents the Lord’s eternal grace, continual provision, and all-encompassing wisdom. If we are like Abraham, we will approach the Throne of Grace and display our hearts to God without holding back or denying Him access to our lives, and we will raise our eyes and look to find Jehovah-Jireh, God’s Providence, for our multitude of needs.

Yahweh: God Is

The overall theme of the book of Exodus is redemption. It narrates how God delivered the Israelites and made them His special people, how He rescued them from slavery and provided instructions on how the people could be consecrated or made holy (The Law). In His encounter with Moses in the burning bush, He revealed His name as Yahweh, translated for Moses as I am who I am. (Exodus 3:15). It comes from the Hebrew verb ‘to be’, which means “God Is”. He is self-existent and eternal. He does not need us because He is utterly whole within Himself. He has always existed, and He always will. He is the beginning and the end – the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 21:6). He is the only one who can be described this way because God stands alone in needing nothing and in being wholly self-sufficient.

God also declared this name to be forever used by all generations to call upon Him (Exodus 3:15) because He is a relational God. In another of David’s expressions, God is described as the mighty one whose presence is felt as well as seen and from whom nothing can escape (Psalm 19:6). Thus, wherever the sun is visible, it offers a testimonial to God’s creative wisdom and power; no one can deny this evidence of God’s existence. Anyone who knows God and is in covenant with Him understands God’s priority is to make sure we know He is the intensely personal God seeking to have a relationship with His people. Even though He does not need us, God wants us. There is no denying that God is so love-motivated to know us and to be in a relationship with us that He came to earth in human form to take the punishment we deserved. This is why God is with us always (Matthew 28:20), interacting with our world and among us. He does this out of His everlasting love. With no obligation, He chooses to remain close to us, working in our lives and writing a love story between Himself and the world, building His Kingdom (Luke 17:20-21).

Since God Is, He is unchanging (Numbers 23:19 & Malachi 3:6). He remains the same despite this subjective world (Psalm 102:27 & Hebrews 1:12). God does not conform to change. He has always been who He is from the beginning of time. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is always the standard for absolute perfection and holiness. We are obliged to choose Him and conform to Him (or not) because there is no option to be a slightly different version of Him. God is mysterious and yet closer than our very breath. We are not meant to understand everything about Him. Even if we tried, we simply can’t! That is why we must know Him as God, who is who He is – a paradox we will never reach the end of in our understanding of Him. There is too much of Him to know fully in one lifetime, but we can always seek more and move closer to knowing the God who is. He is worth the quest because of the richness and fullness of perfect love that awaits anyone seeking to know the one who would do anything to have us.

Jehovah-Rapha: God Who Heals

After Pharaoh failed to pursue the Israelites at the Red Sea Crossing, Moses and the sons of Israel broke out in the song presented in Exodus 15. It had dawned on them that their salvation was real, that God’s power and presence were with them. They put a new song in their mouths, a song of praise to God (Psalm 40:3), because of their supernatural deliverance. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm to praise God lasted a mere three days, curtailed by their inability to find drinkable water in the vast desert (vs 22-23). How quickly it is to forget God’s great victory and power when faced with difficulties and scarcities. The people resorted to grumbling at Moses, who cried out to the Lord. Following God’s direction, Moses made the waters drinkable, and Israel found water in the wilderness, but God also tested Israel by giving them a command to obey (vs 25). Their obedience would determine if they passed the test because it was not clear whether the children of Israel were worshipping people who occasionally murmured or were murmuring people who occasionally worshipped.

Their true nature would soon be revealed in times of testing. Nonetheless, God promised that an obedient Israel would enjoy goodness in health because He is God who heals – Jehovah-Rapha (vs 26). His laws were directed at Israel’s hygiene and health (practices such as circumcision, quarantine, washing in running water and eating kosher were meant to keep Israel free from disease). Being at peace with God meant freedom from a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety in life (good mental health). In time, Israel endured the place of bitterness and testing (Marah) and received provision from God. But Marah also proved to be a place of gain – for they learned prayer, self-distrust, daily dependence, obedience and even a new name for God, Jehovah-Rapha, God who Heals. God knew exactly what they needed – a time to test them and a time to rest them. Elim was nonetheless a wonderful place of provision for the people of Israel, with twelve springs of water and seventy date palms (vs 27). But they had no miracles there – no miraculous change of the bitter into the sweet, no statute, no ordinance, and no promise. There was no new revelation, and no new name for God was given there. When life tests us with physical, mental, and emotional sicknesses wasting us away, we must remember God’s promise (Isaiah 53:5), fix our eyes on what is unseen, and trust in the God who heals us (Exodus 15:26).

*NB: All Bible quotations are from the NASB Version unless specifically stated.