“There Is Something About That Name” Part 1 By Rayola Kelley

In last month’s issue of THE BOTTOM LINE I talked about the significance of names. I became interested in considering how God’s name was presented in Scripture when I started studying how God’s people approached Him, whether it was to seek His face, intercede on behalf of someone, to seek His intervention and so forth. Admittedly, what I discovered was surprising, refreshing and edifying.

I noticed the saints of the Old Testament approached Him from different angles for different reasons. If they wanted God to intervene for them that involved the nation, their survival as a people, or their responsibility to maintain their heritage, they approached Him as LORD (Jehovah) the covenant keeping God. In essence, they were reminding Him of His covenant He made not only with Himself concerning them as a people, but with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David. I realized at that point the significance of covenant is what gave them the authority or the assurance that God would hear them because He could do nothing more than to keep the word of His covenant (Psalm 105:8; 106:45; 111:5; Hebrews 6:13-17).

If it was a personal concern, the saints would approach Him as Lord (Adonai) their owner and the one who possesses all things. As their owner, they understood God was responsible for their welfare as in the case of Abraham in Genesis 18:1-3. God appeared to Abraham as LORD, but Abraham addressed Him as Lord. After all, those of faith were servants in His kingdom. They clearly had authority to approach Him. They recognized they were part of a great household of faith and as their Lord, He was responsible to hear their concerns, take note of matters, and remember they were the ones who had to occupy on earth, as well as intervene to maintain the function of the household or His kingdom until He came to take inventory. In more than one case, they were the intercessor or what Job would call the daysman (Job 9:33; Luke 19:11-27)

If they appealed to God (Elohim), they were recognizing Him as their Creator. Since He was their maker, He has a certain amount of responsibility to ensure the function of His creation. He was the maker of the sheep, the keeper of the pasture. Even though it is clearly written to Israel, one of my favorite passages of Scripture is found in Psalm 95:6-7, “O come, let us worship and bow down: Let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of His hand.” Note the presentation of LORD, which points to this approach to Him was based on Him being their maker and it was made possible due to covenant. The psalmist acknowledged that LORD is also God (Elohim) their Creator, and that they belong to Him for they are His people, His sheep.

There are those presentations of GOD (EL) who is the I AM THAT I AM. He is ever present, omni in knowledge, in presence, in power and never changes. He stands alone in all matters and when He speaks, it is so, when He moves, it will be so, and the reason He moves is because He has already declared it as so. What is done in heaven will be done on earth. He is EL and the other name that follows it at times is Shaddai or Almighty (Exodus 3:14; Psalm 71:5; 74:1; Ezekiel 2:4; Revelation 4:8).

I mentioned in the last issue of THE BOTTOM LINE that the presentation of GOD in the book of Job in one of my Study Bibles is “Eloah” which has to do with His will. It is important to point out when You deal with the matter of God’s will, you must do so in light of His Sovereignty. It is hard for believers to remember that anytime you deal with God’s Sovereignty it means that the matter is hidden in great darkness. It requires faith on your part that no matter how it turns out God allowed it for a reason, is directing your path with circumstances to put you on, and keep you on, the right path, and desires to bring about His perfect will in your life. In such a walk there is silence, but the message remains loud and clear, “TRUST ME” (Job 13:15).

When you consider the darkness of God’s sovereignty you must realize that it is not your business as to the” whys” of a matter. God is God. He is your Creator and Maker and does not need to explain to a mere clay vessel such as you and me as to His reasons behind a matter. What is going on might become a test to your faith, a time of refinement of it, or the enlargement of it, but you will not be able to discern the purpose for the events when you find yourself in the whirlwind of circumstances that make no sense, and in most cases never turn out the way you think. Often the whirlwind leaves you breathless, the results bitter, and the situation confused as you wrestle the nagging bombardments of the “whys” as they mock your faith and try to push you into the abyss of unbelief and depression (Psalm 66:11-12; 2 Corinthians 4:7; 1 Peter 1:5-9).

There is Elyon, the Most High God. Why is this important? Because there are many so-called “gods.” Man exalts each “god” in his mind, giving it preeminence in his service as he worships it in the darkness of ignorance. The title “Elyon” makes it clear that Jehovah is the God above all gods. He is the God of heaven over all creation. He alone deserves service and worship (2 Samuel 22:14; Psalm 7:17; 9:2; Luke 8:28).

What about ALMIGHTY (Shaddai) (Genesis 35:11; Job 23:16; Revelation 1:8; 4:8). We think of His great power to bring about a matter, but the other aspect of the presentation of this name, “Almighty” is the reason for why He brings about a matter. It is all because of His grace. We deserve nothing and yet because of His love and blessings we experience His intervention in our life in so many ways. In spite of the losses or the despair at different times that seem to be burying us, the Almighty is in control and deserves our worship even when tears are flowing, bitterness is in our mouth, and hopelessness is before us. We see this in the case of Noami in Ruth 1:20-21, “And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara for the Almighty hath deal very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?”

It is not unusual for the Lord to make us empty in order to fill us with a greater revelation of His grace and work. Naomi left Bethlehem full, came back empty to only discover how the Almighty wanted to fill her arms with the joy of a legacy, an inheritance that would affect all of Israel.

I am just touching the surface of God when it comes to His names. I am using these examples because a person’s attitude about God and their approach towards Him is based on their personal revelation of Him. As for me, when it comes to God as my Creator, I choose to believe whatever He is involved in is so and is complete. When it comes to the LORD I stand on what is so because He is true to His Word. When it comes to the Lord (Adonai) as my owner, I know I have nothing to worry about He is my Provider and Overseer. When it comes to GOD, EL, I know what has been declared is so because of who He is. As to His name Eloah, I can trust that His perfection will be so because His way is established and His will perfect. As Elyon, He will come out on top every time, and like Dagon, the Philistines god in 1 Samuel 5, all idols will end up falling before the altar of God in pieces. As the Almighty, I know all that He does is a matter of His grace, and in spite of unpleasant results, He deserves our gratitude, our complete devotion, and our worship. Such gratitude points to the true sacrifice of praise coming forth that is acceptable and worthy of our Lord (Hebrews 13:15-16).

This brings me to Jesus. What about His name? From various reports that I get, they are turning the name of God, especially Jesus into a mere pronoun in different translations of the Bible. If this is so, what a great travesty that would be! It is vital that the presentations of God and Jesus are kept pure. Jesus’ name, along with the different presentations of it are vital to His identity, work, teachings, and examples.

Whether the Bible uses the terms, “the Son of God,” “the Son of the Living God,” “the Son of man,” “the Holy One,” “Jesus Christ,” “the Lord Jesus Christ,” “Jesus the Lord,” “Jesus, the Christ,” “the Messiah,” “Jesus of Nazareth,” “the Prince of Peace,” “the Mighty God,” “I am,” and “the wise God,” to name a few should cause one to not only be overwhelmed by the significance behind each name or title but to realize the seriousness behind undermining or watering them down. (See Isaiah 9:6 and 1 Timothy 1:17.)

I have been highlighting how Jesus’ name was used in my Bible, especially in Paul’s letters. It is fascinating to me to see how Jesus referred to Himself as the “Son of Man”, but others referred to Him as the Son of God, the Christ, the Messiah. Keep in mind God does not waste space, time, or breath. Everything recorded in His Word has significance to identify, reveal, highlight, illuminate, teach, or cause one to pause and meditate on what is being said about all matters concerning His kingdom.

I understand why Jesus used the term “Son of man.” He gave up the glory of heaven to come down to identify with us in our state so He could become sin for us so we could be made in the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 2:6-8). However, men and women recognize Him as the One who came from heaven. He instructed them to not tell others, but one can’t keep from sharing “good news.” Due to the miracles and teachings, the recipients of the miraculous could not help but publish it. They believed the promises surrounding their Messiah’s walking in divine power and would testify of it to others. I once told someone who thought themselves to be an author that they could not claim it until others recognized it and declared it as being so. Those “others” are the ones who become a witness of a fact and establish the record.

I remember hearing a testimony of a woman who was in a desperate state. She had nowhere to turn. She had been told about Jesus but never gave Him any real consideration, but she was in such a state she looked up and cried out His name, Jesus. She said it more than once. Do you know what happened? Jesus met her and saved her. We are told in Acts 4:12 that there is no other name in which we can be saved.

I am sure we all agree there is something about that name, “Jesus.” Next month I will address His different names in greater detail. As I think about Jesus, I can’t help but think of Gaither’s famous song that inspired the title of this article. Whenever I sang this song, I always sensed His sweet presence. Occasionally, I even smelled a heavenly fragrance. For me I always want to bathe in the experience as my spirit ascended heavenward and my soul was filled with awe and gratitude. My conclusion has always been the same, “There is something about that name!”