“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:” (Php. 2:9)
After God revealed to Moses that His eternal Name and memorial was Jehovah, everything Moses did thereafter was done in the Name of the Lord, except for one time.
The one time he did not, he disobeyed God by striking the rock a second time to obtain water instead of speaking to the rock as God had commanded, and it kept him from being able to enter the Promised Land.
God tells Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy,
“Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.” (Deu. 32:51)
“Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.” (Deu. 32:52)
The people of Israel soon realized the sanctity of God’s Holy Name.
Although Israel knew that the Name Jehovah meant The Self-existent One and God had told Moses that He was the “I AM that I AM”, this still did not reveal to them “Who” God is.
The Name “Jehovah” revealed to them the ability and sovereignty of God.
The Self-existent One and “I AM that I AM” means that God exists because He causes Himself to exist.
There is no one that created Him or that He has to depend upon. There is no one that is above Him, or beside Him, or before Him. He is before all things and by Him all things consist.
There is nothing that God depends upon in order “to be.” No water, no air, no food, nothing.
The only thing that the Lord God Jehovah depends upon to exist is Himself. “I AM that I AM”. He is all power. He is all life. He is all wisdom. He is all authority.
But this does not tell us anything about Him. It does not tell us “Who” He is.
As God would meet with people in their lives and manifest Himself to them, they began to know God in certain aspects. They would add this aspect to His Name in order to express this new found quality of the Lord.
In the 22nd Chapter of Genesis, we read of the time that God tested the obedience of Abraham by telling Abraham to offer up his only son Isaac as a sacrifice.
Abraham knew that this was a test from God because God would never require a human sacrifice. Abraham told his servants,
“And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and (we will) come again to you.” (Gen. 22:5)
Abraham took his son, the wood, the knife, and the fire but no lamb for an offering. When Isaac asked his father of it, Abraham said,
“And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.” (Gen. 22:8)
When Abraham bound his son upon the wood and raised the knife to make the sacrifice, the angel of the Lord stopped him.
“And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.” (Gen. 22:13)
“And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.” (Gen. 22:14)
“Jehovah-Jireh” means “the Lord will provide” or “the Lord will see to it”. Abraham discovered Jehovah as the Lord who will see to it, or the Lord who will provide whatever is needed.
In the 15th Chapter of Exodus, the Israelites came to a place in the wilderness where the water was bitter and undrinkable. Moses sought the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree to cut down and throw into the waters.
When the tree touched the waters, they were healed and the people were able to drink. There God told the people through Moses,
“And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.” (Exo. 15:26)
Just as God healed the waters, the Lord said that if the people obeyed Him then He would be their Healer, “for I am the Lord that healeth thee (Jehovah-Rapha)”. They came to know God as their Healer.
In the 17th Chapter of Exodus, Amalek came down to fight against the Israelites in the wilderness.
Moses went up to the top of a hill as the Israelites fought and held up the rod of God above his head like a banner. As long as Moses held the rod above his head, the Israelites would win but when his arms grew tired and the rod began to fall, the Israelites would lose.
Aaron and Hur set Moses down on a rock while they stood on either side of Moses to hold up his arms and the Israelites defeated the Amalekites.
The Bible says,
“And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:” (Exo. 17:15)
There the Israelites came to know God as “Jehovah-Nissi” which means “the Lord our Banner.” They realized that if they would lift up the Lord’s Name in Praise and Worship the Lord would fight for them and they would be victorious.
In the 6th Chapter of Judges, Gideon realized that he had met an angel of the Lord but his life was spared,
“And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.” (Judges 6:23-24)
“Jehovah-Shalom” means “the Lord is Peace” and the people began to realize that the Lord was for them and not against them.
In the Book of Jeremiah Chapter 23 verses five and six, the Lord reveals His Name as “Jehovah-Tsidkenu” which means “the Lord our Righteousness”.
“In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jer. 23:6)
In all of these instances, the Lord revealed a portion of His character or nature, but none of these Names could adequately describe the total character or nature of God.
However, the Bible says that there would come a time when God’s Name would be one and the people would know it. In that day, the people of God would know through His Name the character and nature of God.
“Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.” (Isa. 52:6)
“And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.” (Zec. 14:9)
They would come to know “Who” God is and what they could expect from Him by knowing His “One” Name.
That day came when the angel Gabriel made an announcement to a carpenter by the name of Joseph concerning his virgin wife-to-be by the name of Mary.
“But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” (Mat. 1:20)
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Mat. 1:21)
Jesus in Hebrew means “The Lord (Jehovah) is Salvation”.
Jesus is the perfected (or complete) Name of God.
John the Baptist sent some of his disciples to ask of Jesus “Are you the One that should come or look we for another?”
“And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:” (Mat. 11:3-4)
“The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” (Mat. 11:5-6)
In other words, Jesus responded to their question by saying, “There is no other One. I AM the fulfillment of the prophecies. I AM the One that God has sent.”
There is no other Messiah, there is no other One coming, there is no other Name.
Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is the One, Jesus is the Name, and the Bible says we are “complete” in Him.
“For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:” (Col. 2:9-10)
There are those today that believe they can attain some deeper degree of spirituality by calling upon God using one or all of the ancient names for God instead of Jesus.
Whether Jehovah, or Yahweh, or El Shadday, it shouldn’t matter how it makes us “feel”. If we are coming to God the Father in prayer, worship, or praise by any name other than Jesus Christ then we are not approaching Him through faith and according to His Word.
“This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12)
The Name of Jesus is the Name given by God. It means “salvation” and we are complete in Him.
“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:” (Php. 2:9)
“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Php. 2:10-11)
Tomorrow- The Comforter
“How to Walk in the Born Again Experience” by Raymond Candy is available for $2.99 at bn.com for the Nook, amazon.com for the Kindle, the iBookstore for the iPad, and Lulu.com for the iPad, the PC, and all other tablets and e-reading devices
As Seen Through the Eyes of Faith 