14/11/13

Name, name - Names

Daniel 1:7 - Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.


In today's message we read the chief official of the King of Babylon gave names to Daniel, Hananiah and Misheal to honour them in the royal court of the king of Babylon. I list below the names with their meanings.

Daniel= "God is my judge"
Belteshazzar= "lord of the straitened's [poor] treasure"
Hananiah= "God has favoured"

Shadrach= "royal" or "the great scribe"

Mishael= "who is what God is"
Meshach= "guest of a king"

We see the names were given by the chief official were according to the character portrayed in his mind as to what he saw or felt, while their Hebrew names were promises which they claimed in their lives.

The Hebrew word for name is 'Shem' pronounced 'Shame', it refers to fame, reputation, glory, report... In the Bible names are given with understanding and most places do play importance in giving us a message. This is valid not only for names of people but also name of places. And 'names' was the reason I got into Bible word study (getting into the meaning of each word and its root).

Reading the Bible I found so many names for the Lord and wanted to know His real name. This process took me many years to digest the truth. The truth was like a bomb that shattered my thinking and the thinking which the world holds on the name of God. Being in Information Technology industry it helped me digest the revelation God gave.

In IT we tag inventory with tags which are unique to that object. This tag may be a barcode or QR codes or alpha-numerical code. The Bible says God knows us by name and if He knows us by name then that name should be unique through civilization. Thus I concluded the worldly name that we call ourselves is not the name God speaks of. Also God says in the Bible He has created each one of us uniquely and beautifully. It was then I realized the name God refers to is the nature, purpose, destiny each one of us has in the Lord, in other words means the inner-man in us. The name God refers to is not the name of the body of flesh but the name / design of the soul which is unique for each one of us throughout civilization.

When God created Adam He called him Adam. Since we speak English this word has become a name of the first human being God created but if we were to speak Hebrew than that would not be a name for it simply means man. So in simple English it means God created man and name him man. God did this because he was the only being and since there was no other human, there was no purpose to identify him uniquely. It was only when other humans came to existence that names were given to those being so as to know to whom we refer to.

Coming back to God's name:
All the names given in the Bible to God are descriptive to His Nature, to Who He Is. Even the name Jehovah / Yahweh is not a name as we understand. They are words coined from the 4 constants YHWH used in the Hebrew text to refer to the Lord. These words are ideograms (pictorial characters) which mean 'Behold the Hand Behold the Nail'. They refer to the Lord Jesus Christ before He came as man. Also the word Elohim means Divine Ones and refers to the Godhead (Trinity) that is the Father, Son and Spirit. As mentioned in my previous messages the Son came from within the Father and was part of the Father before the Father declared Him. His Spirit is the Spirit of the Father therefore they being separate individuals, yet are inseparable because they have same Spirit. It was the God The Son who humbled Himself and came as man Jesus. The God(s) referred to mostly in the Bible are The Son and The Spirit; The Father is rarely referred to. Jesus referred to the God the Father as Father (in Greek means Creator, Provider and Protector), and this term He said not to be given to any human earthly father. Jesus also referred to the Holy Spirit as Father for He was born as man through the Holy Spirit.

Not only the Spirit of God the Father and God the Son are same, even their Nature is same because the Son came from the Father, thus their (spiritual) Name is also same.

Coming to the worldly name of God:
When Moses asked the Lord His worldly name God said 'I AM'. Is that His name?

It is His spiritual name for He Is Who He Is. That is why in the Gospel of John Jesus said He protects His disciples in the Name of the Father which the Father has given Him. Jesus was not referring to the worldly name 'Jesus' but the His spiritual Name, which identifies Who He Is. Power is not in the worldly name 'Jesus' but in His spiritual Name that is Who Jesus Is, for it is also the Name of the Father / Godhead.

So does God have a worldly name? NO. There is no worldly name of God for He there is no God other than Him. Thus asking God for His name is like acknowledging the existence of other gods.

We Christians are growing only to know Who our God is, that is to know His Name. Jesus said He came to give us authority, that is to know Who our God is and to have power in Him. It is only through Jesus and the Holy Spirit will we know more and more Name of the Lord.

When Jesus comes again He with His Angels will not fight a battle like earthly battles. He with His Angels will possess all things and subdue all things by just shouting His Name, the Name of the Lord.

Let us not make the mistake of asking God His name but know Him by His spiritual Name and declare this Name to the world for there is POWER in HIS NAME for HE ALONE IS GOD.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, since ages man has being calling You by names for they acknowledge the existence of other gods. They were far from You and did not know You that is why they lacked declaring your power unto this world and giving glory unto You. We pray Lord, that You open the eyes of your people and that they know You alone are God and that there is no God other than You. That they do not dare to ask You your name but know You by your Name (Nature)...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference ]
Genesis 15:1 - After these things the word of Jehovah [Lord Jesus] came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

Genesis 17:1 - And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

Exodus 3:4-6
4 And when Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

Exodus 3:14 - And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

John 8:24 - I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for except ye believe that [who] I am, ye shall die in your sins.

John 8:28 - Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that [who] I am, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things.

John 8:58-59
58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am.
59 They took up stones therefore to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.

John 14:8-14
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father?
10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I say unto you I speak not from myself: but the Father abiding in me doeth his works.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask anything in my name, that will I do.

John 17:11-12
11 And I am no more in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
12 While I was with them, I kept them in thy name which thou hast given me: and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 - For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;



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