Name Above All Names

Name Above All Names

by David Scott

If you are like me, you have often wondered why God revealed Himself in the Bible by using so many different names. When I was a young believer, this was especially perplexing. However, as time passed and my understanding of His ways progressed, the more I realized that God is too big for only one name to describe Him. This is because every name God used to identify Himself had a meaning, which described various aspects of His divine nature.

The Hebrew word for God is Elohim. Many Christians learn quite early in their walk with Him that Elohim has a plural ending. This fact provides strong support for the theology that God is a Trinity. A closer examination of Hebrew spelling reveals that the plural ending for Elohim very specifically denotes God to exist as a plural of three. Elohim would have a different plural ending if God was only a plural of two. Elohim would have yet another ending if He is a plural of more than three.

Another example, El-Shaddai means “God Almighty.” In other words, God is not just mighty; He is almighty. This is one reason why the angel, Gabriel, proclaimed that nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37). It is also a reason why God once asked, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Gen. 18:14)

The Hebrew word, translated as “LORD,” is sometimes called the Tetragrammaton. It is written in the Hebrew language with four consonants, but has no vowels. When the original King James version was written, those four consonants were transliterated as JHVH. However, the letters, J and V, were not pronounced the same as they are today. Thus, modern versions of the Bible transliterate this name as YHWH. Some people have presumed to add vowels to these transliterations, thereby making JHVH into Jehovah and YHWH into Yahweh. However, neither of these names is truly scriptural. They are names of Masonic deities in their cleverly disguised polytheistic religion. The correct pronunciation of JHVH was lost when the Jews refrained to speak this name for several decades out of fear they might use it irreverently. The Jews resorted to using a substitute name whenever they wished to refer to this particular name. Their substitute name in the Hebrew language is Adonai. In Greek, it is Logos. One of the primary purposes of using this name is to refer to God’s covenant-keeping nature.

To be consistent in translating the Tetragrammaton and its substitute, translators use “LORD” for JHVH and “Lord” for Adonai. So whenever you see the word, “LORD,” you should realize it is translated from JHVH. Whenever you read the word, “Lord,” it is translated from Adonai. The most outstanding example of this can be found in Psa. 110:1 -- “The LORD said to my Lord...” This can be interpreted as the Father speaking to the Son according to Acts 2:34.

This requires some further clarification, however. Sometimes the Jews used Adonai in its plural form, but other times they used its singular form -- Adoni. The Holy Spirit inspired this different usage depending upon whether this name referred to God as a Trinity or if it was prophetic of Jesus. English translators made no such distinction in the way they used “Lord,” so you will need a Lexicon to recognize the difference. You might also spot this difference if you read the context carefully.

In the Old Testament, God used compound forms of the Tetragrammaton to reveal how He includes healing, provision, protection, etc. to those who live in covenant with Him. He revealed Himself as JHVH-jireh in Gen. 22:14 because He is our Provider. God revealed Himself as JHVH-rapha -- the LORD who heals in Exo. 15:26. After enabling the Israelites to defeat a fierce enemy, God revealed how their victory resulted from Him being JHVH-nissi -- the LORD our banner (Exo. 17:15). After seven years of war with Midian, God enabled Gideon to defeat them and bring peace to Israel. Gideon then built an altar to the LORD, which he called JHVH-shalom (Jdg. 6:24) to reveal how God establishes peace. Jeremiah prophesied that a descendant of King David would be JHVH-tsidkenu -- the LORD our righteousness (Jer. 23:6). According to 1 Cor. 1:30, this prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus.

The prophet Isaiah also foretold of the coming Messiah when he said His name would be called Emmanuel (Isa. 7:14). The meaning of this name is provided in Matt. 1:23 -- “God with us.” Paul referred to this when he wrote, “For in Him (Jesus Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” (Col. 2:9) He elaborated upon this even further when he wrote, “...God was manifested in the flesh...” (1 Tim. 3:16)

When God first appeared to Moses, Moses wanted to know His name. God replied to his request by revealing something quite new about Himself when He identified Himself as I AM (Exo. 3:14). We humans tend to think of time in the past, present, or future. Yet God’s name of I AM reveals He lives in a realm of an eternal present. This is because He never changes (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8). It is also because He is immortal (1 Tim. 1:17).

Jesus identified Himself as being I AM in the flesh in several places. Most translations add some italicized words to these passages, which obscures their clarity. It was not the intention of the translators to obscure the true meaning of these verses, however. They sincerely intended their addition of italicized words to enhance the meaning instead of detracting from it. It is best, therefore, to ignore italicized words in certain passages in order to understand their most literal meaning.

An outstanding example of this is recorded in John 18:4-8. When some troops and officers were dispatched to arrest Jesus, they were not certain how they would recognize Him in the dark. To insure they did not arrest anyone but Himself, Jesus confronted them and asked, “Whom are you seeking?” When they replied, “Jesus of Nazareth,” He in turn replied, “I am.” The word, “he,” after “I am” is italicized, which means it is not in the original text. Thus, Jesus literally said, “I AM,” not, “I am He.” It is no wonder they all fell down backwards (vs. 6) when He identified Himself as I AM.

The translators did their best job in John 8:58 when they did not add any italicized words to Jesus’ declaration, “Before Abraham was I AM.” The gospel of John contains several other statements when Jesus identified Himself as I AM. Each one expressed a unique truth about Himself. One of my favorites is when Jesus said, “I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to the Father apart from Me.” This is why Peter could proclaim in his sermon on the day of Pentecost that there is no other name under heaven whereby we can be saved.

There is such a great depth to everything about God that the apostle Paul exclaimed, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Rom. 11:33) Yet with all the wonderful things about God, which are expressed through His various names, the Bible says that His most important name is Jesus. This is because the name of Jesus is higher than all other names. This is not only true regarding the names of angels, principalities, and humans, but also regarding the other names He used to identify Himself throughout the Old Testament. We can no longer minister healing to the sick in the name of JHVH-rapha, but we can command healing in the name of Jesus. We cannot cast out demons in the name of El-Shaddai, but we can command them to go in the name of Jesus.

We can learn a lot about God by studying His various names throughout the scriptures, but we should not allow those wonderful truths to obscure the fact that His highest name is Jesus. Because Jesus was willing to humble Himself and die as our substitute on the cross, “God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:9-11) Amen.