What's In A Name? (The Third Commandment) Series

Now the name Yahweh comes from the Hebrew verb "I am" (Kaiser 324). So whenever a person called God by his name Yahweh, he was identifying God as the eternal one, the one who was, who is and who is to come.

God says that this is his name forever, that it’s not going to change.

Now that causes lots of people to wonder if God’s name did change when Jesus came into the world. After all, the New Testament never uses the personal name Yahweh, not once. And the New Testament seems to put the emphasis on the name Jesus, not the name Yahweh. Christians are told to pray in the name of Jesus, to baptize in the name of Jesus, and so forth. The name of Jesus is identified in the New Testament as the name above all other names, and that a time is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess the Lordship of Jesus. So some have wondered if it’s really true that Yahweh is God’s name forever, since the New Testament puts such an emphasis on the name of Jesus.

Look at Matthew 1:21-- "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

God is the one who gave Jesus his name. The name "Jesus" or its Aramaic form "Joshua" is a combination of two words: Yahweh and salvation. So the etymological meaning of the name Jesus is "Yahweh saves." That’s why the angel told Joseph to name the child Jesus, because he would bring salvation. So whenever you say Jesus, you also say Yahweh.

The Bible starts by revealing God by the title "God."

Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

This isn’t a name, but it’s a title. But somewhere along the line in the Old Testament--perhaps with Abraham--God revealed himself by name as Yahweh. This moves us beyond referring to God by a title, so we can refer to him by his name. The New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis says,"Giving the name entails a certain kind of relationship; it opens the possibility of...a certain intimacy in relationship. A relationship without a name inevitably means some distance; naming the name is necessary for closeness. Naming makes true communication and encounter possible...By giving the name God becomes accessible" (4:1297).

While the other nations knew God by his titles--the creator, God almighty, and so forth--to the people of Israel he revealed himself by name. Then when Jesus is born God takes another step in closeness. Not only does he reveal himself by name, but through Jesus Christ he enters into our world, he becomes one of us, so he can bring his salvation to us. This is why the name "Jesus"--Yahweh saves--takes center stage in the New Testament, because it builds on the foundation of Yahweh and God.

Why does God go to all the trouble to reveal his name? GOD REVEALS HIS NAME SO WE CAN KNOW HIM PERSONALLY.

This is the difference between knowing a policeman as "officer" and knowing him as Joe. This is the difference between knowing a judge as "your honor" and knowing her as Julie. It’s the difference between knowing a king as "your Majesty" and knowing him as Bill.All the other designations for God in the Bible are titles. Titles like "God," "Lord," "the Eternal one," "Father," "Almighty," and so forth fill the pages of the Bible. And if these titles were all we had, we’d relate to God from a distance, like a person living in England relates to the royal family. Titles alone imply a relationship of distance. But a name implies a closeness, an intimacy, a bond of trust and love. God doesn’t want us to relate to him as some unknown God, as merely the judge of the universe, or as a far off monarch, but he wants us to know him personally. So God took off his "God uniform," he laid aside his judge’s robe, he took off his crown, and he took on human flesh in Jesus Christ, and said, "Here I am, here’s my name."