God’s mission throughout history is to proclaim his name to the nations. In the Old Testament, God’s strategy was to reveal his name (nature/glory) to a chosen group of people (Hebrew/Israel) so that by knowing him uniquely, they could share that knowledge with the nations.
“Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples” (Psalm 96:3).
God’s blessing on Israel was directly related to how well they accomplished that objective. When they unrepentantly profaned his name, he sent them into exile to teach them to treat his name as holy. But even in their exile, the mission was still the same: The glory of his name.
“For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name shall be great among the nations” (Malachi 1:11).
God’s “name” is used as a singular, plural word. He reveals his name in his names. Those names declare both his transcendence and his immanence. (See TADB:119). In the scriptural narrative, God declares who he is by giving himself various names. But God’s nature is also declared by people who encounter him in the various landscapes of their lives. As people experience God’s work, they memorialize the event by giving God a name related to how God showed up.
Abraham
One of the more familiar and early examples is Abraham when he was sent to offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah.
“Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son….Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. And Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide (Jehovah-Jireh, as it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided” (Genesis 22:7-14 emphasis mine).
Abraham told Isaac that God would somehow provide. So, I don’t think Abraham was surprised when the ram appeared as a substitute for Isaac. He expected God to show up; he just didn’t know how. As a result of his encounter with God on Mt. Moriah, Abraham gave God a name that captured one of God’s many attributes. Abraham went from God as a provider to God as my Jehovah-Jireh.
Paul echoes God as a Provider in his letter to the Romans. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32)?
Abraham left a memorial name of God that is an invitation for believers down through history to discover for themselves. Since God showed up and provided for Abraham, Paul, and Hudson Taylor, we can trust him to show up as Jehovah-Jireh on our Mt. Moria.
Hagar (Genesis 16:1-16)
Given the prominence of Abraham in the Bible and his life as the foundation for our faith, it is not surprising that he would be qualified to identify a name for God. But what about Hagar? She was the maidservant of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. She was a nobody, living out her life in servitude and obscurity were it not for the impatience of Abraham.
She was just doing her job when she got caught up in biblical history. Due to no fault of her own, Hagar became the object of Sarah’s abuse and Abraham’s neglect. Pregnant with Abraham’s child, she is first welcomed but then rejected by her mistress, Sarah. With the continual abuse and no support from Abraham, she flees to a desert oasis.
While confused and alone, an angel of Jehovah appears to her, giving her instructions to return home but with a promise for her future. Her life would not get more uncomplicated or more comfortable. She would still suffer Sarah’s abuse for 14 more years. But at the moment of her need at the oasis, God showed up, and she gave him a name: El-Roi, the God who sees.
David/Gideon
Drawing from his background as a shepherd, King David declared, “The Lord is my Shepherd (Yahweh-Rohi).” David saw God showing up in his life as a superlative shepherd. Psalm 23 is probably the most recognized passage in the Bible by believers and non-believers alike. David’s description of El-Rohi has brought perspective and comfort to millions of people through the centuries. This Psalm illustrates the power of a song well sung.
Living in and dealing with an agrarian culture, Jesus claims the same name for himself when he says, “I am the Good Shepherd.” In John 10, he expands the name (Yahweh-Rohi) by describing what a good shepherd does, assuring us that there is more to God as our Shepherd than even David understood.
Well before the famous king David, there was another nobody, like Hagar, who described God’s works by a name. Gideon came from an insignificant clan in a small tribe (Manasseh), the youngest son in a blue-collar family (Judges 6:15). He had little to recommend him as one who would defeat the mighty Midianites.
But when the “mighty warrior” Gideon, struggling to make sense of his mission, encountered God with a promise of peace, he spontaneously gave God a name: Yahweh-Shalom (The Lord is peace). God would show up for Gideon in other ways, but it all started with the God of peace.
The biblical narrative records others who gave God a name after experiencing his work in their lives. After Joshua defeated the Amalekites, Moses called God, “The LORD (Jehovah) is my Banner (Jehovah-Nissi)” (Exod. 17:15-16). Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah called God Yahweh-Sabaoth (The Lord of hosts or The Lord Almighty).
Me!
A few years ago, while my wife and I were experiencing several concurrent life storms, I received a call that an EMT had taken our severely handicapped son to the hospital with pneumonia. In his handicapped condition, any respiratory infection could be life-threatening. As I drove to the hospital, I felt overwhelmed. One of our storms had just gotten bigger. I wanted God to show up as the Shepherd with green pastures, but he didn’t.
I had recently read the story of John Johnson, nicknamed the “Galveston Giant,” who was the first black world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915). I recalled reading that in 1909 Johnson took the World Colored Heavyweight Championship from Sam McVey in Paris in an unbelievable 49-round fight.
That morning, I felt I was in round 20 of a boxing match that could go 49. That’s when God showed up as my “Cornerman” (Jehovah- קורנרמן)! A good cornerman in boxing does three things between rounds: addresses physical needs, offers tactical advice, and gives encouragement for the round ahead.
The drive to the hospital was the break between rounds where God became my Good Cornerman. God breathed life into my spiritual lungs as I sat on my stool in the corner of the ring. Then, with his coaching voice, he said I was taking blows because I was dropping my gloves. He said I needed to keep up my left glove of faith and my right glove of hope. I needed to lead more with faith and follow it up with hope.
Then the bell rang. Standing up, he grabbed my shoulder. Pulling the stool away, he whispered, “And remember, my grace is sufficient for you; my power is made sufficient in weakness.” And with that, I entered the hospital lobby; the next round was on.
I am not the first person where God showed up as a Cornerman. God was King David’s Cornerman in Nathan, the prophet. For Queen Esther, it was her cousin and guardian, Mordecai. When God shows up as our Cornerman, it is not to take us out of the fight but to help us victoriously persevere in it.
Thanks to the scriptural record, we have a list of God’s names that reveal his glory. But the list is not comprehensive. He is waiting for us to discover his nature experientially and describe his work with a name. God is my _____ (and we fill in the blank). These names and the work of God they represent are the stuff of our life song. They are the verses and chorus of our spiritual legacy.
For Reflection
- What name of God has been most relevant along your journey? Why?
- Has God shown up at a defining moment where you have yet to give him a name? What could it be?