From Karen Meikle Defining Moments Sojourner

It would seem that names are important to God! Today we generally name our children a name we simply like, or perhaps after a particularly beloved family member. However, in the Bible people are often named because of something distinct about their character, identity, or mission.

Not only that, but God seems to find it important in certain instances to change the person's name to reflect an event that has happened and how that event will shape their future. Abram (exalted father) becomes Abraham because this new name reflects God's covenant with him, as it means “father of many nations.”

Even people who would seem insignificant in the Biblical story have their names changed by God. In Jeremiah 20 we met Pashur, a priest who did not like the message of disaster that Jeremiah (meaning, “Yahweh will raise”) was bringing to the people. His response was to beat up Jeremiah and place him in the stocks. Upon his release, Jeremiah said to him: “The LORD's name for you is not Pashur, but Terror on Every Side” (Jeremiah 20:3). Not a name that rolls off the tongue, but perhaps appropriate for a couple of kids that I know!

If names are important to God, then how does God refer to himself?

There are two main ways that our translations refer to God: God and LORD. God is a translation of the word Elohim. And LORD is the way that the English translators chose to translate the word, Yahweh, originally YHWH in the Hebrew.

Elohim is simply the Hebrew noun to refer to a god or deity, but most usually it refers to the God of Israel. We first meet the word in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning Elohim created…” In contrast, Yahweh is only given to the Jewish God. No other deity in history is given the name Yahweh. Because the Jewish people felt this word too sacred to pronounce, out of reverence, they would say Adonai, a tradition that the Christian scholars continued with the use of “LORD” in all capital letters.

When I was growing up, my grandparents had friends and acquaintances that, though they had known for many years they still referred to as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” Why? This was a sign of honor and reverence. In our casual society, we have forgotten that it once was something special—a privilege— when people said: “Please call me by my first name.”

When God reveals His name to Moses in Exodus 3:15 it is almost as if God said to His people, “Please call me by my name”:

“The LORD [Yahweh], the God [Elohim] of your Fathers—the God [Elohim] of Abraham, Isaac, and the God [Elohim] of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.”

God is what He is; Yahweh is who He is.

God tells Moses the meaning of His name on Mt. Sinai, “And he passed in front of him proclaiming, ‘The LORD [Yahweh], the LORD [Yahweh], the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, showing mercy to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin’” (Exodus 34:6-7).

Just before we started Cover to Cover, I had been reading about the name Yahweh and what we lose when we translate the word as LORD.

In our modern-day world “Lord” is a title, a sign of position; someone like Lord Grantham of Downton Abbey comes to mind. It is formal and not something that generally indicates familiarity and relationship. But Yahweh is a proper name, like Moses…or Karen—and God has revealed that name for a purpose. He wants to know and be known.

As I am reading through the Old Testament, I have tried to read “LORD” as “Yahweh.” In times of dismal reading, it has helped me to remember that this Lord of whom I am reading is Yahweh, whose very name means that He is slow to anger, showing mercy to thousands. When reading the Psalms, I hear the cry of the psalmist, and the intimate reply, not just of the transcendent God, but of Yahweh, who abounds in compassion, love and forgiveness.

And still, I look forward to the New Testament where we will read of Jesus, the one whose God-given human name means “Yahweh saves”!

Karen Meikle Defining Moments Sojourner

To view previous Messages of Encouragement, please click here.

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