What's in a Name Part 1: God the Father

When we read the Bible, we can see that names hold a special place. In it, a name that a person is given is more than something that their parents liked the sound of, it is a part of their identity. A Biblical name is a statement about who that person is. It is a label stating who they are and what their purpose in God is. In today’s society we often like to weigh someone up by what they do for a living, and subconsciously we attach a worth to a person by what they do. In Biblical times, identity was much more attached to a person’s name.
We can read of how God changes peoples in the Bible names when He is about to do a work through them. Here’s three examples:

Genesis 17:5 (NLT) What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations.

Genesis 32:28 (NLT) “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”

Matthew 16:17-18 (NLT) Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

We can see in these examples how a new purpose in God required a new name, a new label. This is how God values names. So this then being the case about human names, how much more significant are the names that God uses about Himself. And I say names because just one name or title cannot possibly encapsulate all that He is. Today, we’re going to start a three week series looking the meaning behind God’s name and His titles. This week we are going to be looking at what God’s name is, looking specifically at God the Father, drawing from the Old Testament, and in the next two weeks we will look at how this relates to Jesus’ names.

YHWH

Did you know that God actually has a name? There is one name used for God that appears far more than any other name in the Bible, and it’s the name that God explicitly gives Himself, and it’s this: יהוה

yod (י), he (ה), vav (ו), and he (ה). (Remember that Hebrew is read right to left.)

We call these four letter the tetragrammaton, four Hebrew consonants. It reportedly appears around 7,000 times in the Bible. It is the only personal name that is used use to identify God. 

This name is not actually a noun like most names, it is a verb. The name is derived from the “verb to be", "to exist", "to cause to become", or "to come to pass”, essentially meaning I AM. When you learn a foreign language, the first verb “to be” the first verb being “I Am.” God’s name that He calls Himself is a verb that announces His divinity. It stresses His eternal character and His authority

Exodus 3:13-14 (NLT) But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.”

God often ascribes other characteristics to His statement of I AM, but here He explicitly tells Moses that He is simply I Am, or in the original Hebrew those 4 consonants that we call the Tetragrammaton. Bible translators have attempted to translate the tetragrammaton into a name that we can pronounce and understand. This has led to two popular translations of His name.

The first is Jehovah. How did these four Hebrew letters become the name Jehovah? In earlier English translations of the Bible, The first Hebrew consonant was translated as a J, the second an H, the third a V and the forth an H making God’s name JHVH. One of the difficulties in the translation is that the Jewish people refused to say the name of God out loud, so how to pronounce His name has been lost to history, I suspect on purpose. As no-one has any idea how the name sounds, we just put in vowels that sound like they might be right, hence JHVH became Jehovah. Older translations such as the King James Bible use this translation of God’s name.

However, more modern translations translate these four consonants  as YHWH, Again they put in vowels to make it speakable and so it becomes Yahweh. Yahweh a very much anglicised version of the original tetragrammaton, but it is the closest we can get in the English language with the knowledge that we have. So where one Bible translation may use Jehovah, another may use Yahweh.

The first appearance of the Tetragrammaton is in the Book of Genesis: Genesis 2:4 (NLT) This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

Notice how in this text it doesn’t use the tetragrammaton, even though the Hebrew does. it instead uses the word “Lord.” In Judaism, the God’s name is considered too holy to be pronounced aloud, except in very specific ritual contexts. Instead of saying using it Jewish people substitute terms like "Adonai" (meaning "Lord") or "HaShem" (meaning "The Name") when reading or referring to the name of God.

The original Hebrew text actually uses God’s name, but translators replace it with one of God’s titles to avoid saying His name directly. God’s name appears again and again in the scriptures. But sometimes it doesn’t appear on its own. Very often God uses his name or Yahweh along with another part of His character.

Or I am He who…

Just like Jesus, He has so many different titles because there is so much to His character, and so these titles help us to understand who He is, and we’re going to look at just a handful of them this morning.

Elohim

Elohim is a Hebrew title for God and it is found in the very first sentence of the Bible, and indeed throughout these early chapters of Genesis.

Genesis 1:1 (NLT) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Elohim (actually pronounced ello-ach) is more of a title than a name, and is occasionally applied to humans and angels in the Bible too. Elohim means the supreme one or mighty one. It emphasises the power and the authority of God. This is why it’s used in the creation narrative, to demonstrate the power of God in creation. Interestingly, Elohim is actually plural, God is referred to in the plural from the very beginning of the Bible. In John 1 in the New Testament John talks about Jesus being with God in the beginning of creation. And here that is backed up by using a plural word for God.

El Shaddai

El Shaddai is another Hebrew title for God. It means The All-Sufficient One, God Almighty. It’s associated with God’s power and His ability to meet our needs - He is the one who is sufficient for us in every circumstance. It was this name that God revealed to Abram when He established an everlasting covenant with him and his descendants.

Genesis 17:1-2 (NLT) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”

Adonai

Adonai means lord and master. It is first seen in scripture when Abram, longing for an heir, cries out to God. This is the title that is most commonly used as a substitute for Yahweh.  Instead of using the tetragrammaton, the word Adonai is usually used. So these names we have looked at emphasise God’s authority and His power and His Lordship. 

The next names of God we are going to look at are a part of the I AM of God. They are from where God says I AM he who… then gives more detail of who He is.

Yahweh Rapha 

Yahweh Rapha is the Hebrew name for God meaning the Lord who heals. The word conveys more than just physical healing but complete restoration in every area. This includes emotional wounds, spiritual brokenness, and the restoration of relationships God firsts introduces Himself as the God who heals to the Israelites in Exodus 15:

Exodus 15:26 (NLT) He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.”

Healing and restoration is His character. Neither impurity of body nor impurity of soul can withstand the purifying, healing power of Yahweh Rapha

Of course the New Testament backs this up. There are so many times in the gospels when we see Jesus healing people and restoring them. Peter also wrote this, quoting from Isaiah:

1 Peter 2:24 (NLT) He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.

Yahweh Nissi 

Yahweh Nissi is the Hebrew name for God meaning, the Lord is my banner. Yahweh-Nissi highlights God as the source of victory and strength for His people, a banner under which they fight and find protection. The name Yahweh Nissi only appears once in the Bible in Exodus 17:15. 

Exodus 17:14-15 (NLT) After the victory, the LORD instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will
erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the LORD is my banner”).

In this passage the Israelites had been fighting the Amalekites as they wandered through the desert. And they learned for as long as Moses lifted up his arms, they would win the battle, and when he lowered them they would start to lose. You see, by lifting up his hands, Moses was proclaiming God as the banner of the Israelite people. And again these old testament occurrences are there to teach us today. When we lift up Jesus as our banner, we will see His victory.

Yahweh Shalom 

Yahweh Shalom is the Hebrew name for God meaning the Lord is peace. The first time we see this name used for God is in Judges 6. Gideon was afraid he would die after seeing the angel of the Lord face to face. 

Judges 6:22-24 (NLT) When Gideon realised that it was the angel of the LORD, he cried out, “Oh, Sovereign LORD, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!” “It is all right,” the LORD replied. “Do not be afraid. You will not die.” And Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means “the LORD is peace”). The altar remains in Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer to this day.

Gideon's experience with the angel and the subsequent naming of the altar highlight God's provision of peace and security even in the midst of fear and uncertainty. While shalom includes the absence of conflict, it signifies a much broader sense of well-being and flourishing, encompassing physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions

Yahweh Tsuri

Yahweh Tsuri is the Hebrew name for God, meaning the Lord is my rock. The word "rock" represents God's permanence, His protection, and His enduring faithfulness. It also represents His steadfastness and unchanging nature.

2 Samuel 22:2-3 (NLT) “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my saviour; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.

Of course we see this echoed in Matthew 16 when Jesus gives the same title to Simon by calling him Peter.

Yahweh Roi

Yahweh Roi literally means the one who sees me, or the one who is watching over me. It means this in this sense of being a shepherd. This wonderful name and assurance of God from Psalm 23:1 appear only once in the Old Testament. 

Psalms 23:1 (NLT) The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need.

Jesus again confirms this title in John 10 when He calls Himself the good shepherd.

Yahweh Yireh 

Yahweh-Yireh (often translated as Jireh) is the Hebrew name for God meaning the Lord will provide. Genesis 22:13-14 (NLT) Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the LORD will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
This verse is a foreshadowing of God’s provision of Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins.

Yahweh Tsikenu:
The Lord My Righteousness

Jeremiah 23:6 (NLT) And this will be his name: ‘The LORD Is Our Righteousness.’ In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.

Therefore, Jehovah Tsidkenu means that God is the one who makes believers righteous, not their own efforts. It emphasises that salvation and standing before God are based on God's righteousness, not human performance

Yahweh Mekadesh: 

The Lord Who Sanctifies This comes from the Hebrew word "kadesh," meaning "to sanctify," "to make holy," or "to set apart as holy

Exodus 31:13 (NLT) “Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
As God's people, believers are called to live holy lives, and Jehovah Mekadesh signifies God's ongoing work in their lives to make them more like Him. 

​Conclusion
This is not an exhaustive list of the names and titles of God by any means, I have nearly picked out some of the most significant. All of them point to an aspect of who God is and what He does. One thing I’m often asked about is why is the God of the Old Testament and New Testament so different. I would argue that they are not different at all. In these names of God, we see so many of the characteristics of Jesus and who He is. We see God’s authority, but also that He is peace, healing, provision, safety, someone who refines and purifies us, and so much more.