Many names of God
Who is God to you? What attributes should God have? Can God be everything and
anything to us? We can find ourselves in any position in life and find that the attributes of our Lord
speak to us. Today, we receive a reminder of who God is by looking at His Hebrew names and their meanings.
You may be familiar with a few of His names and many of his attributes, but how about the twenty one Biblical names
of God (not counting those of Christ).
Here are the top ten in alphabetical order…
Adonai
- Isaiah contains God’s comforting message in chapter 40 as the “master” reveals that in the midst of difficulty
as impending exile to Babylon, he is in control. Adonai - “The Lord”, “My Great Lord” – God is the Master and majestic Lord. God
is our total authority. Psalm lifts praise to the Lord as they worshipped this Majestic
Adonai.
El - Moses and the Israelites are recorded in Exodus 15
singing a song to this “Strong One” on the freedom side of the red sea. The Egyptians pursued
but God delivered…they sang
“I will sing to the Lord , for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength
and my might, and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
This is El – “The Strong One”
He is more powerful than any false god. He will overcome all obstacles. We can depend
on Him.
El Elohe Yisrael - Make no mistake, just as God showed
the OT world that there was only one way to “salvation”, today there is only one way to salvation.
The “gods” of this world are no replacement for our God. Jacob uses this unique name
of God as he builds an altar to God upon safely reaching the city of Shechem as told in Genesis 33:20. El Elohe Yisrael – “God,
the God of Israel”, The God of Israel is distinct and separate from all false gods of the world. Our
God is separate and distinct from all God’s of this world.
El Elyon – The king of Sodom declared God to be the God most high twice in Genesis 14:17-22.
In Genesis 15 God goes on to explain to Abraham that he will have his own son be his heir. This
did later miraculously happen. El Elyon – “The God Most High”, He is the Sovereign God in whom we can put our trust. El
Elyon has supremacy over all false gods. Abraham knew this and so did some others as they saw Abraham’s
success. Let the world see our success and declare that we serve the “God Most High”.
Elohim – Genesis 1:1-3 introduces Elohim as the creator... “In
the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness
covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God
said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” Elohim – “The All Powerful One Creator”, God is the
all-powerful creator of the universe. God knows all, creates all, and is everywhere at all times.
Let us be in awe as we observe His handy-work.
El
Olam – Just after Abraham declared God to be
the eternal and everlasting God as recorded in Genesis 21:33, He had to think of the limited life of man as he was told to
sacrifice his precious son, Isaac. Also, In Psalm 90 the everlasting quality of God is contrasted with
the frailty of man. “1Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the
mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn us back to dust, and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”” El
Olam – “The eternal God, The Everlasting God”. He
is the Beginning and the End, the One who works His purposes throughout the ages. He gives strength to the weary.
Let us be filled with awe as we serve an everlasting God who offers us his salvation.
El Roi – When Abraham and Sarah were becoming aged and more doubtful of God’s promise through Sarah his wife, Sarah
turned to one of her slaves Hagar for the solution. Upon conception of the child there was great conflict
between Sarai and Abraham and Hagar, as you can imagine. In the midst of this difficulty, Hagar was amazed
that God was still with her…”13 So she named the Lord
who spoke to her, “You are El-roi”; for she said, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing
him?”” Genesis 16:13 El
Roi – “The God Who Sees Me”. There are no circumstance
in our lives that escape His fatherly awareness and care. God knows us and our troubles. Let
us recognize today that He sees us just as we are.
El Shaddai – Genesis 17:1-3
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and
said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. 2 And I will make my covenant
between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face…”
El Shaddai –
“The All Sufficient One, The God of the Mountains, God Almighty” God is the all-sufficient
source of all of our blessings. After Abraham fell on his face, “God said to him, 4
“As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.”” He
was 99 years old, but God is all powerful. Let us remember that our problems are not too big for God to
handle.
Immanuel – Isaiah prophesied of the coming of the Messiah in chapter
7… “14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman
is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” Immanuel – “God With Us, I AM”. Jesus
is God in our midst. In Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form. Jesus,
thank you for being with us. Let the work that you have done for us resonate in our souls.
Jehovah – After having fled from Egypt by himself, Moses was now in the field keeping watch over the flocks of Jethro when
he saw a strange burning bush on Mr. Horeb that was no being consumed by the fire. You know that upon approaching
this bush he had a divine encounter with the Great I AM. Jehovah
– “I AM”, “The One Who is The Self-Existent One”.
God never changes. His promises never fail. When we are faithless, He is faithful.
We need to obey Him as Moses obeyed him. We must do the difficult that he calls us to.
