I Have Called You By Name (Part I)
The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. (Proverbs 18:10)
A name. There is nothing more common in use, yet so personal in meaning. Names are so impactful that they can call forth more than just a person, they can become titles, invoke a feeling and capture essence. Julius Caesar`s name invoked power, hence why so many emperors called themselves Caesar after him. Magic Johnson brings forth the memory of wonderment, just like when he threw a behind the back pass for a dunk.
And history is peppered with similar examples.
The name, Israel, which is given to Jacob by the God he served (Genesis 32:22 - 32), birthed a family, a nation and was the beginning of a realization of a promise.
Yet, for a promise or covenant to be realized, it must be done by parties that know each other at the very least. Jacob-Israel must have known the God he served, since his relationship with Him was passed on by his father, Isaac, who inherited it from his father, Abraham. We colloquially use the terms such as the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or simply just God, but that only enlists the relationship that the former had with Him and not our own, nor does address Him by His name.
But why is knowing His name important or even an issue for us believers?
Firstly, you cannot serve someone that you don't know. Every healthy and promising relationship begins with an encounter where both individuals introduce each other. Granted, He is the Lord of Hosts and knows how many hairs you have on your head, so He is fully aware of who you are yet he still makes it a point to make an introduction. Simply put, you can't have a calling, if you don't know who called you. Let`s use Jacob as an example, in the Name of God Version, he has a dream where the Lord introduces himself as
“I am Yahweh, the Elohim of your grandfather Abraham and the Elohim of Isaac. I will give the land on which you are lying to you and your descendants.”
- Genesis 28:13
This passage demonstrates Jacob’s introduction to the Lord with His name, Jacob’s connection to the Lord and the calling that Jacob-Israel would have upon this Earth, to begin the nation of Israel, which is expanded further upon in the cited chapter. In the New Testament, Saul-Paul is stricken off his horse and Yeshua is revealed to him;
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
- Acts 9:5 - 6
Similarly to Jacob-Israel, the Lord is revealed to Saul-Paul in a vision with His name, Yeshua - meaning to to deliver, save, or rescue" or “salvation” - with an immediate connection shown as master and servant and calling to go somewhere, Saul begins his ministry with Yeshua’s name in his mouth. It's not a coincidence that much of Saul-Paul’s teaching focused on salvation that was given to us through the act of the cross, a call back to his introduction to Yeshua.
Secondly, both contemporary names and those found in the Bible have meanings and can reveal the nature of a person, calling given to them or power behind it. As a preliminary example, let's take the names of Moses, and Peter. Moses’ name in Ancient Hebrew, means "to pull out/draw out of water”, initially calling back to how he was pulled out of the water by the Pharaoh's daughter (Exodus 2:10). Moses’ name (and the Holy Spirit) is the reason why he didn't cower before the Red Sea, even when the Children of Israel were afraid of falling back in the clutches of Pharaoh and Egypt, instead Moses took his staff and split the Red Sea with the help of the Holy Spirit, allowing for safe passage (Exodus 14). Much later, Simon would become Peter or Petros, meaning the rock on which our Lord and Savior pronounced he “will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”(Matthew 16:18) Hence it shouldn't be surprising how much of early Christianity is built upon the rock hard evangelical work of Peter; establishing churches, demonstrating leadership and extending brotherhood in the time after Yeshua’s death.
The Bible reveals this to us in two distinct examples where the name of the Almighty embodies both power and nature. In the New Testament, the Lord of Hosts explains:
“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, search for me, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear their prayer from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their country.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:14
This passage reveals that the Lord’s name is on his people, that there is an important association between the name of God and His people, furthermore emphasising the need for His people to know his name. Due to the fact that His people have His name, the Lord cannot let them die with their sins, because His name cannot be subject to death, to failure or to a fall, hence sending Yeshua, literally meaning salvation.He also asks for His people to change their ways but how can they do so if they do not know to whom they are turning themselves towards?In the New Testament, the power of the Lord’s name and nature is shown to be an authoritative stamp over the armies of evil, this is displayed in both Luke 10:17 and Mark 16:17, where the name of Yeshua is used to force demons out of people. As previously stated, Yeshua means salvation and in this case the name of Yeshua exercises the power of salvation over the one that is being saved by demons. Yeshua’s role as both Son of God and Lord gives his name authority over those same demons, hence establishing the importance of revelation accompanied with a name.
Now that we understand the importance of knowing the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it's just as important to know the difference between a name and epithet and the reason behind the silence behind the name of God. These points will be explained in further installments of the series.