In this lesson, we shall take up a discussion of the names of God.
In Bible lands, names have had, and continue to have, significance of
meaning in relation to the word of God. In the study of the names of
God, we can learn many things about God in His revelation about
Himself.
God is not the subject of scientific investigation. God is the
subject of revelation. If God does not reveal Himself, then no amount
of scientific endeavor will ever prove anything about Him. The Lord
does not subject Himself to the depraved stupidity of educated
sinners. After all, God is a spirit. We never have to worry about
the scientists, astronomers, physicists, psychiatrists, and
physiologists getting ahead of us in matters of knowledge about God.
Any man who has the word of God is always considerably ahead of these
kinds of people--always has been, and of course, naturally, always
will be.
In theology we are dealing with spiritual things which cannot be seen
or tested with a microscope or a telescope--we are dealing with God's
revelation of Himself to man. MAN is the object of GOD'S scrutiny--
not vice versa.
The names of God found in the Bible are found in three forms: 1.
Primary names, 2. Compounds with the Hebrew word, "el," and 3.
Compounds with the "tetragrammaton" in them, which is called
"Jehovah." In the Hebrew language, the Masoretic "vowel points" for
the word "Jehovah" are "Adonai," making the word unpronounceable from
the standpoint of the English language, since no one speaking the
English language has ever heard the name pronounced. The name was
considered too sacred to be pronounced, so we have transliterated it
properly in the Old Testament as "Jehovah." This is translated in the
King James Bible as "LORD." Many times it refers to God the Father,
and many times, of course, it refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the "Jehovah of Jehovahs," according to Revelation 19:16 ("LORD OF
LORDS," in the Authorized Version). The King of kings is called the
LORD of lords. In the primary title, we have one word only, such as
"el," "ela," or eloi (or Jehovah, "Adan," "Adonai," "God," or Lord."
Then we have compounds--two words used logether--such as "Almighty
God," which is "El Shaddai." We have "the Most High God." We have "the
Everlasting God." And, compounded with "Jehovah," we have "Jehovah
Rapha,", "Jeh-)vah Nissi," and so on.
We will now list fourteen names of God used in the Old Testament--
first, from the Hebrew Old Testament text, and then, from the English
translation.
1. Elohim. This name is found in Genesis 2:4, and is thc most common
name for God in the Old Testament. It is a compound word, and clearly
points out the Godhead as Father, Son, and Spirit--"Elohim"--a PLURAL
word. It can also be translated as "gods" when dealing with the gods
that oppose the true God (God the Father), and it is very significant
to know that the Lord said, "...The gods that have not made the
heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from
under these heavens" (Jeremiah 10:11). The Lord Himself said, "I am
the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me..." (Isa.
45:5). There is no other Saviour. The Christian who has doubts about
these things should spend time studying Isaiah chapters 41 through 48.
This first name for God, "Elohim," means, "One who is mighty," or "The
Lord who creates."
2. "El Elyon." This name for God is found in Genesis 14:22. and
means "The One who is supreme," or "The Lord who owns."
3. "Adonai." This name for God is found in Genesis 15:2. and means
"The Lord our Master," or "The One who is ruling."
4. El Olam." This name for God is found in Genesis 21:33, and means,
"The Lord who reveals Himself," or "The One who is mysterious."
5. "Jehovah Jireh." This name for God is found in Genesis 22:14, and
means, "The Lord who provides."
6. "Jehovah Rapha," from Exodus 15:26, means "The One who heals."
7. "Jehovah Nissi," from Exodus 17:15, means "The Lord our Banner."
8. "El Shaddai," from Genesis 17:1, means "The All-Sufficient One."
9. "Jehovah Shalom," from Judges 6:24, means "The Lord our Peace."
10. Jehovah Sabaoth," from I Samuel 1:3, means "The Lord of Hosts."
11. "Jehovah Tsidkenu," from Jeremiah 23:6, means "The Lord our
Righteousness."
12. "Jehovah Shammah," from Ezekiel 48:35, means "The One close by,"
or "The One present."
13. "Jehovah Elyon," from Psalm 7:17, means "The One who is
blessing," or "The Lord our Blesser."
14. "Jehovah Raah," from Psalm 23:1, means "The Lord our Shepherd."
These are the fourteen titles given to the God of the Old Testament.
They do not represent fourteen ditferent "gods" from outer space,
flying around in flying saucers, who don't have enough sense to blow
their nose on a windy day.
(As a closing remark to our short study of the names of God, we might
make a few comments on that last statement. In regards to "UFO
occupants" who are always seemingly worried about getting water and
electricity, let it be stated without any point of controversy or
contention, that there is not one single angel {or false "god"} in the
Bible who would have to waste five minutes getting an electrical
charge from anybody! The peculiar obsession that modern UFO writers
have to the extent of believing that the "unidentified flying object"
in Ezekiel 1 was a flying saucer occupant is really just too funny for
words {if not downright ridiculous} to anyone who knows the word of
God. Did you ever read what the occupant in Ezekiel 1 said that is
recorded in Ezekiel chapters one through three? Did you ever hear one
of the "gods from outer space" talking the same way as Ezekiel 1? I
never did! I read about Adamaski's alleged trip to Venus, and what
Adamaski said somebody said to him while he was on the trip, and they
didn't talk like that fellow did in Ezekiel one, two, and three. Did
you ever think how ridiculous this is--these poor deluded sinners
trying to make UFO "gods" and occupants out of the One who came down
to Mt. Sinai and talked to Moses?
When was the last time you ever heard of a UFO occupant setting up an
absolute moral standard? A couple of fellows in Pascagoula,
Mississippi, profess to have been taken aboard a UFO, and also profess
to have been spoken to by the occupants. I don't remember the
occupants telling those two tellows that Cod would restore the nation
of Israel, with Christ on the throne of David, like you read in
Ezekiel! Do you? Interesting, isn't it? These poor deluded people
go on year after year trying to pattern "gods" after their own
hallucinations, and finally assume that if anybody in the Bible came
down from heaven and spoke to anyone, it must have been some nut in a
flying saucer. Why, the "nuts" in the flying saucers don't talk like
anyone in the Bible. Not once did you ever hear of an occupant of a
UFO telling somebody, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," or "Thou shalt
have no other gods before me." If I understand the vast body of
literature on UFO's, the occupants of UFO's are deists and relativists
who believe that God is the force field of energy in the unilerse--
just like Albert Einstein, or just like any typical sinner with a
college education. May "The Force" be with you! I don't recall a UFO
occupant ever saying anything about the Lord Jesus Christ coming to
restore Israel and overthrow the nations united against Him in the
latter days. That does not sound like UFO talk. I have read the
speeches supposedly produced under hypnotic suggestion by the people
who have seen UFO's, boarded them, and were talked to by the
spacecraft operators in Nebraska and various places. I do not recall
any UFO occupant ever making any remarks about the Lord Jesus Christ
coming back to overthrow Rome and her apostate Pope. That is what you
find in Revelation 17. There seems to be a vast difference between
the God who reveals Himself in the Bible, and the "gods" that reveal
themselves in flying saucers.
There are fourteen names for God in the Old Testament. They all apply
to Jehovah God. and to the Trinity, which is manifest as Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.