The Names of God

Basic Christian Doctrines 12

 

1.   God Can Be Described but Not Defined.

God cannot be defined. To define is to limit, but God cannot be limited. Specifically, when we speak or think about God, we cannot fully grasp Him. Therefore, we cannot define God. Yet we can still speak and think of God in part. That means we can describe God. To be precise, God describes Himself to us. He reveals part of Himself to us (description), but not all of Himself (definition). He condescends to describe Himself to us in human analogies, such as metaphors like fire, a fortress, etc. He also uses anthropomorphism, or speaking after the manner of Man. God does not literally have arms, legs, a head, etc. He even compares Himself at times with animals (wings of a hen, an eagle, a lion, etc). But God is not an animal, nor a Man. God also uses anthropopathy, or describes Himself in terms of human emotions such as love, grief or anger. But the emotions of God are far greater than ours. So, Biblical descriptions are valid. Philosophic definitions always leave something to be desired (e.g., God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived, etc.).

 

2.   God Names Himself.

 

God told Adam to name all the animals, but did not allow him to name God. Names carry a kind of identifying definition in them. But Man is not to name God, for that would mean that Man is to conceive of God, rather than receive God's revelation of Himself. Moses asked God's name, and God replied, “I Am who I Am”, (Ex.3:15). Just as God swears by Himself because there is no one higher, so He describes Himself best by analogy with Himself. God is self-defined, He gives several names in Scripture. Some are used many times, others only rarely. Each is a short description of Himself. Often they are used together. And there is a name of God which only God Himself knows (Rev. 19:12).

 

3.   God is ELOHIM.

 

The most common name is ELOHIM, such as in Gen.1:1. It is the plural of a variety of short Hebrew words, such as EL (Ex. 34:14, Deut.4:24, etc), ELOAH (Job 4:17, 11:7, 19:26, 22:12, etc.), ELAH (the Aramaic for ELOAH, Dan. 2:27, etc.), and ELYON (usually translated Most High, Num. 24:16, Psa. 9:2, etc). ILLAI is a related Aramaic name (Dan. 4:24, etc.). All these indicate greatness, supremacy. ELOHIM is plural, but often used with a singular verb, indicating the Trinity. God is ELOHIM, the great God.

 

4.   God is EL SHADDAI.

 

Sometimes God uses the name EL with another one, SHADDAI. Sometimes He is simply SHADDAI. See Gen. 17:1, 28:3, 35:11, 43:14, 48:3. SHADDAI means powerful, often translated as "The Almighty". Ex. 6:3 says that God used this name of Himself when revealing Himself to the early Patriarchs. There is a corresponding term in the New Testament in Rev. 1:8, It is the Greek word PANTOKRATOR, or One Able to Do Anything. It is also usually translated "Almighty." He is EL SHADDAI, PANTOKRATOR, the all-powerful One, God Almighty.

 

5.   God is JEHOVAH.

 

This is the most personal name of all, more a personal name than a title. In Hebrew, it is four consonants, YHWH. In older translations it was rendered JEHOVAH. It is probably better pronounced as YAHWEH. It is often translated as "LORD" in capital letters. "The LORD is His name" (EX, 15:3. Cf. Isa. 42:8). Sometimes it is shortened to YAH (Ex. 15:2), as in "hallelujah" or praise the Lord. It speaks of God as the One who Is. It is His covenant name. The exact pronunciation isn't vital, nor is it used in the NT.

 

6.   God is ADONAI.

The fourth major name in the Old Testament is ADONAI, as in Ex. 34:9, Job 28:28, Psa. 2:4, etc. Sometimes is is shortened to ADON (Psa. 136:3, Isa. 10:33, etc.). It is generally translated as "Lord", with only the first letter capitalized. It means lord, master, ruler, owner. “Great is our Lord and mighty in power” (Psa. 147:5).

 

7.   God is THEOS.

 

Coming to the New Testament, we find several names as well. The most common is the Greek word THEOS. We get the word “theology” from it, the science of God. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, THEOS was the usual translation for ELOHIM. It corresponds to the Latin word DEUS. It was used in ancient Greek literature. But it is not the same as ZEUS, who was a specific Greek god. The true God may be THEOS, but is never ZEUS. Like ELOHIM, the word was used in a lesser way to speak of angels and civil rulers, much as the English speak of the House of Lords. But only the one true God is properly THEOS.

 

8.   God is KURIOS.

 

This is the word in the Greek O.T. that usually translated JEHOVAH. It means lord, master, owner. In Greek it could mean sir or master when speaking of a dignitary. This would be like in Spanish, where a man is called “senor” (mister) and God is called “El Senor” (the Lord). There is only one God and only one Lord (I Cor. 8:6, Eph. 4:5). God is Lord of all. God is Lord of Lords, thus also King of Kings (1 Tim. 6:15, Rev. 19:16). Two other similar words are used in the N.T. One is DESPOTES, or total ruler (Luke 2:29, Acts 4:29, 2 Pet. 2:1, Rev. 6:10). The other is DUNASTES, translated as “Potentate” in I Tim. 6:15. But the more common term is KURIOS, Lord.  Unlike JEHOVAH, it is not all in capitals.

 

9.   God is Truth.

 

God, then, reveals Himself in a variety of short names that describe Himself to us. All of these names are true, even as all of God's revelation is true. This is because God is true. He is the true God, in contrast to the many false gods. He is the real God. He is also Truth itself. He speaks truth. Indeed, God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). He always keeps His promises. His Word is inerrant and infallible. He does not deceive. He is trustworthy and, dependable, solid and sure. He likens Himself to a rock.

 

10. God is Not the False God of Pagans.

There is only one God, and He is Lord over all. But that does not mean that He is to be identified with the gods of non-Christian religions. Romans 1 says that they worship idols of all sorts. Some are physical images of stone or wood.  Others are mental conceptions formed by man's own imagination. All pagan gods are idols (Psa. 96:5). They are all false gods, not the true God. For example, Allah is not Jehovah. The word Allah means “great one”, and is an Arabic word similar to the Hebrew ELOAH and the Aramaic ELAH. But this does not make Allah the same as the true ELOHIM. Similarly, Zeus is not the true THEOS. Even the Canaanites worshipped a false god named EL. What then are these false gods? On the one hand, negatively, they are no-gods, non-divinities, nothings. On the other, they do have an identity. They are demons in disguise. See I Cor. 10:20, Lev. 17:7, Deut. 32:17, Rev. 9:20. Pagan religions are merely denominations of one world-wide Satanic religion. Vishnu is a demon, Krishna is a demon, Baal is a demon, Isis is a demon, etc. The Jews give lip service to the one true God, but in rejecting Christ they fall short of knowing the one true God. Through Christ alone we know God.