Names are important.
Names mean something. Names are inseparably,
and even mysteriously, tied to one’s identity.
In Alex Haley’s Roots, one of
the most memorable scenes of the miniseries is when the slave “Kunta Kentei”
was beaten/whipped repeatedly told “Your name is Toby.” He would then be asked “What is your
name?” He would respond each time with
exasperation, “I am Kunta Kentei.” Kunta
Kentei knew that to surrender His name meant to surrender his identity.
Names of
people, names of places, and names of things help us communicate with one
another. Names distinguish one thing
from another. Names signify honor and
dishonor. Names can be common or
rare. Names can be funny or sad. People can go by their initials, a middle
name, or a nickname. Some names are
fitting and some names are not. The
Bible teaches that having a good name is better than great riches” Any way you look
at it names are important. God’s name
is also important. The various names of God, given in Scripture reveal much
about Him. When Jesus taught His
disciples to pray they were to remember, and honor, the “name” of God.
The next
phrase in the Lord’s Prayer is “Hallowed be Your name.” The word “hallowed is a word that does not
have a lot of meaning in the language of today.
“Hallowed” sounds simply like archaic King James language, however many
modern Bible translators have not changed the word “hallowed” because there is
not really a modern equivalent. The word
“holy” captures the meaning in part, but not completely; as do words like
reverend, magnificent, majestic, etc.
In Isaiah 6
we read the account of Isaiah’s call.
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six
wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two
he flew. And one cried to another and
said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His
glory!’ And the posts of the door were
shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with
smoke. So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am
undone! Because I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have
seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’ (Is. 6:1-5)
In English we might say something is “big,” “bigger,” or “biggest.” We might say something is “bad,” really bad
or “the worst.” But in the Hebrew
language it is not conveyed that way.
Things are repeated for emphasis.
When something was repeated 3 times it meant it was “as much as it could
be.” So, in Isaiah 6, what is being
conveyed is that God is the holiest He can possibly be. Furthermore, the number 3 carries a lot of
significance in the Bible. “Three” is
one of the numbers that signify completeness.
We know that God is 3 persons.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – 3 yet 1.
In The Lord’s Prayer Jesus is teaching
God is to be recognized as being as holy as He can possibly be; to be revered,
and seen in all His splendor and magnificence.
God is totally “set apart” from all that is wrong, deficient, and bad in
the world. When someone accuses God of
being unfair, unjust, or even evil, they are proclaiming their own ignorance of
the God of the Bible and His complete holiness.
When tragedies like a mass shooting at a Florida school, a Las Vegas
concert, or a Texas church happen, people make many assumptions and statements
about why God allows them to occur. The
vague knowledge many people have of God makes it impossible for them to cope
with the problem of evil in the world.
They do not know God personally nor are they aware of His attributes. They simply find fault with a God they do not
even know. The underlying presupposition
is that God should always want what we want and when things happen contrary to
what we want then God must either not be real or must not be good like we
assume ourselves to be. We are told
unequivocally in Scripture that God is light and in Him is no darkness at
all. Further, we are told that even His
name (signifying all that He is) should be “hallowed.” He is to be reverenced in every circumstance
even when our finite minds cannot comprehend what is happening.
There are a
lot of names of God mentioned in Scripture (hundreds in fact) and we learn
something about God from each and every one.
In Greek Mythology, Roman culture, and in Egyptian lore, there were
multiple “gods” who oversaw different things.
In Christianity there is only one God, but He has all the attributes and
characteristics! When we “hallow” His
name, we are therefore honoring God in relation to some aspect of His character. Every name we encounter in Scripture gives us
insight into who God is and what He is like.
For instance, the name “Elohim” acknowledges God as Creator. In the first verse of the Bible (Gen. 1:1) we
learn that “In the beginning, [Elohim] created the Heavens and the Earth.” Of all the ignorant, sinful things that
mankind is guilty of, one might think they could at least acknowledge Him as their
Creator, but that has proven too much to ask.
Man is so sinful, that he cannot even get through the first verse of
Scripture without saying “Now wait a minute!”
Another name
is “El Elyon.” This name means “God most
High” and refers to Him in relation to His rule over the Heavens and the
earth. “El Elyon” first appears in the
account of Abraham’s meeting with Melchizedek.
It is God’s Sovereign rule over creation.
Another
important name of God mentioned in Scripture is “Jehovah.” It is through this name “Jehovah” that God
reveals Himself as “redeemer.” In
Genesis we learn of God’s plan to destroy the Earth with a flood because of
mankind’s wickedness, but with equal determination He planned to save Noah and his family. God the Creator, told Noah to take into the
ark two of every variety of animal. Then
Jehovah the Redeemer, also told him to take in seven of every clean animal. Who is it that saves? Jehovah saves! It is Jehovah who promised redemption to the
fallen Adam and Eve in the garden. It is
Jehovah who spoke to Noah. Jehovah
appeared to Abraham promising a redeemer through his seed. Jehovah even taught Abraham the new name
“Jehovah Jireh,” which means, “The Lord will provide!”
“Adonai” is
another important name of God we encounter and it means “Lord.” We say “Jesus is Adonai (Lord)! You cannot “hallow” God’s name unless He is
your Lord and master! The greatest name
of all for God is “Jesus Christ.” In Him
all other names are combined. In Him the
characteristics of God are made manifest and perfected. The Bible tells us in Phil. 2:10 “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.” Before you can “hallow” His
name, you must know Him as your Lord and Savior. Jesus taught in this model prayer that the
ideal for prayer included acknowledging the sacred name of God which
encompasses all His characteristics and attributes.
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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