Scripture Supplement

In today’s fast paced society as a parent and teacher I found that gathering information for either myself or for those children with inquiring minds a daunting task.  The following notes are included to facilitate your own study or offer fun facts and or answers to those questions from children we all have either in our homes or classrooms.

  • Definition of the word name according to Webster:  The letters or characters written or engrave, expressing the sounds by which a person or thing is known and distinguished.
  • In Scripture, the name of God signifies his titles, his attributes, his will or purpose, his honor and glory, his word, his grace, his wisdom, power and goodness, his worship or service, or God himself.
  •  According to Scofield the word name is in the singular, the “name” not names.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the final name of the one true God.  It affirms:  First that God is one. Second that He subsists in a personality which is threefold, indicated by relationship as Father and Son; by mode of being as Spirit; and by the different part taken by the Godhead in manifestation and in the work of redemption, for example (John 3:5-6); Spirit, (John 3:16-17); (Father and Son). In (Matthew 3:16-17); (Mark 3:17); (Mark 1:10-11); (Luke 3:21-22); the three persons are in manifestation together.
  • Names are important to God.  He is precise in making sure that we know people’s names in the Bible.  He also makes sure that we know which family people belong as noted in this verse:  Genesis 11:29 Then Abram and Nahor took wives:  the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Isach.  Other examples include:  Numbers 2:1-34 and Matthew 1:1-17 (the lineage of Jesus Christ)

When you read LORD in the Bible it is the translation for the Hebrew word Jehovah which means being.   The word Lord, with one upper case and the rest of the letters lower case, represents the Hebrew word Adonai (a-do-NAI) which means Lord a name that implies a relationship as we are a servant to our Lord God.

  • Facts about the names of God found in the story, “What’s in a Name?” The Hebrew name Elohim is the plural form of El one of the oldest words used for divinity.  This plural form of the word implies the trinity as in Genesis 1:26 “Let us make man in our image.” This name is found 32 times in the first chapter of Genesis and more than 2,500 times in the Hebrew Bible.  Adonai, the Hebrew word for Lord, implies that God is our Lord and we are his servants.   It is first used in Genesis 15:2 in association with Abraham.   Abraham understood the use of this word more than we would today because he understood the relationship between servants and the owner.  Lordship meant total submission and complete possession. Some examples of those who knew God as Adonai and thus called themselves servants were:  Isaac, Jacob and Moses.  The New Testament carries over this name Adonai by using Lord.  As in 2 Timothy 4:18 “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me.”  The Lord is always with His servants.  The name El Roi is the Hebrew name used in Genesis 16:13 when the Egyptian, servant girl Hagar, cries out to God. “Then she called on the name of the LORD, who spoke to her, You-Are-The-God-Who-Sees” which in Hebrew translates, El Roi.  The name Yaweh Nissi means that the LORD is my banner.  In Exodus 17:15 Moses built an altar and named it Yaweh Nissi to say that God is powerful and will go before me.  Moses was facing battle at this time against the Amalekites.  Yaweh Roi is Hebrew for the LORD is my Shepherd.   The Isralites understood about shepherding as great care was needed for all their sheep, goats and cattle.   The Old Testament refers to God as a Shepherd to His people.   The New Testament references Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  Jesus takes care of all our needs both day and night.

Verses about the word name that parents and teachers could use in teaching the relationships of God’s truth in life.

  •  Proverbs 22:1   A good name is to be chosen rather than riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.
  •  Psalm 139:20 For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
  •  Isaiah 66:22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the LORD, “So shall you descendents and your name remain.”  (In the last days God even speaks of how our descendents and our names will remain when other things have past, names and the things associated with our names are of most importance to God.)
  •  Hosea 2:17 For I will take from her mouth the names of Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more.  (God will not remember the names of those who do evil in His sight and do not repent.)
  •  Malachi 3:16  Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them;  So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name.
  •  Matthew 6:9 In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, Hallowed by Your name.
  •  Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
  •  3 John 1:14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face.  Peace to you.  Our friends greet you.  Greet the friends by name.

There are many more names of God than shared in the children’s story “What’s in a Name?”    Some of those other names include:  El Shaddai (EL shad-DAI) which means God Almighty.  It first appears in Genesis 17:1-2 when God appears to Abram.  The patriarchs considered this name as one of the most revered names of God.   Jehovah Tsidkenu (tsid-KAY-nu) means Jehovah our righteousness.  The prophet, Jeremiah, predicts the coming of a King who would be called, “The LORD Our Righteousness” in Jeremiah 23:5-6.    In the New Testament Paul proclaims in Romans 3:21-22 “But now the righteousness of God apart  for the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ to all on all who believe..”

  • In the New King James Version of the Bible the word name is found 863 times.  In the Old Testament the word name is found 692 times and in the New Testament in is found 171.  Out of those 171 times in the New Testament the word is in direct reference to the name of Jesus 151 times.
  • In the Bible, names were given in regards to whom or what you were.   Some examples:   Genesis 3:20 And Adam called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living, Genesis 5:29 And he called his name Noah, saying “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.”
  • God, also changes people’s names to indicate a change in the person’s character.  Examples:  Genesis 17:5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.   Genesis 32:28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
  • The Psalms are replete of calling upon the name of God.  Some examples include:

A)   Psalm 8:9 O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
B)   Psalm 9:10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
C)   Psalm 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
D)   Psalm 69:36 Also, the descendents of His servants shall inherit it, And those who love His name dwell in it.
E)   Psalm 72:17 His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun.  And men shall be blessed in Him; All nations shall call Him blessed.
F)   Psalm 102:12 But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
G)  Psalm 124:8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.

  • It is interesting to note that God Himself gave two people in the Bible their names via angels.  The two people are:   Jesus (Matthew 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.)   John the Baptist (Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is hear; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name, John.) These two names chosen by God were never changed by God in the Bible.  Jesus was never changing (Revelation 1:8 “I am Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the End says the Lord, “who is and was and who is to come, the Almighty.”) And John’s love and obedience never changed towards God from his conception. (Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.   And as Jesus speaks of him in John 5:35 He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.)
  • Jesus is God, Jesus says in John 10:30 “I and My Father are one.”
  • Revelation 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To him who overcomes I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name which no one knows except him who receives it.”
  • Revelation 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more.  I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God.  And I will write on him My new name.
  • Revelation 19:12  His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns.  He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.
  • Revelation 22:4 They shall see His face and His name shall be on their foreheads.
  •  John 20:31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
  • Acts 2:21 AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.’
  • Romans 9:17… “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I HAVE RAISED YOU UP, THAT I MAY SHOW MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MAY BE DECLARED IN ALL THE EARTH.”

Now that you know more about your loving God by learning His names from the Old Testament, go and share the precious name given to us in the New Testament by God through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ.

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