We would have to travel through history to get to that ONE NAME that God has sanctified for Himself.
When we examine Jewish history and the Old Testament, we observe that God, as an invisible Spirit, had only exposed Himself on rare occasions in a variety of ephemeral forms, or Theophanies, throughout the millennia (i.e., men, angels, apparitions, smoke, fire, clouds, whirlwinds, and in dreams and visions).
The term “Theophany” refers to the manifestation of deity in sensible form (from Greek theophaneia, “appearance of God” “bring to light, cause to appear, show” “to shine”) …. The appearance of God, which is not an enduring presence in a specific place or object, is the distinguishing feature of biblical theophanies. The tangible manifestation of God to the human senses. In the most limited sense, it is a visible appearance of God in the Old Testament period, frequently, but not always, in human form. Some would add to this term Christophanies (pre-incarnate appearances of Christ) – refers to visions of Christ after his ascension, such as the bright light of Paul the Apostle’s conversion.
Simply put, “Theophany” means a personal encounter with a deity, defined as an event in which the manifestation of a deity is visible. It specifically “refer[s] to God’s temporal and spatial manifestation in some tangible form.” It refers to an event in which the Abrahamic God displays his presence to a person. According to traditional interpretations of Biblical scriptures, theophany is an unmistakable manifestation of God to man.
The Hebrew Bible states that God revealed himself to mankind.
Did God ever had a name by which He was known back then?
Moses did not even suggest a proper name for the Creator when he first wrote about the creation of heaven and earth, did he? Thus he wrote, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” he said (Genesis 1:1).
On that account, it is imperative that we must hunt for whatever name significance we may find in the word “God” because Moses presented us to the Creator without referring to Him by name.
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, what is his name? what shall I say unto them? (Exodus 3:13) And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (Exodus 3:14)
The Bible tells us that God’s name is Yahweh, but it does not tell us what it means. The word “Yahweh” comes from the Hebrew Verb “to be.” It can also mean “I am who I am.”
Why do we think God was hesitant to reveal His true name to His creatures? Is it possible that He had a hidden agenda? That is something we will investigate.
Instead of the English word God, the ancient Hebrew language used the phrase Elohiym. As a common noun, Elohiym could be translated as ‘gods.’ But when alluding to the one true God, Hebrew language translators capitalized “God.” God was the Creator, not god. The upper-case “G” helps us distinguish between the many gods and the one real God in a subtle way.
However, in the Genesis story, elohiym is used as a proper noun to refer to the Supreme God. “Elohiym” does not refer to a plurality of gods or god personages, but to a plurality of virtues or attributes of the one true Spirit of God, which manifests the attributes of a multitude of lesser gods at the same time.
He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Elohiym had alluded to God’s diverse character.
So, in the Old Testament, God’s names were attributions of His distinct traits, in my opinion. Or, in the Old Testament, God’s titles were attributions of distinct characteristics.
He became known by a variety of monikers!
“Then began men to call upon the NAME of the LORD” in the days of Adam’s son, Seth (Genesis 4:26). The English word “lord” is derived from the Hebrew word “Yehovah,” which means “self-existent One.” When you combine Yehovah Elohiym, you get the phrase “the Lord God” or the “Self-existent One God.”
God subsequently told Moses in Exodus that He had appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the name of God Almighty, but He had not appeared to them in the name of Jehovah (my name Jehovah was I not known to them)(Exodus 6:3)
In the book of Genesis, God (Elohiym) and Almighty (Shaddai) are both mentioned (Genesis 17:1/28:3/35:11/43:14/48:3). El Shaddai was known as the All-Powerful God. Is that a name? Absolutely not! “Omnipotence” is one of the characteristics of God.
“Abram called upon the name of the LORD,” according to the Bible (Genesis 12:8,21:33). To put it another way, Abraham recognized God by the name El Shaddai but not by the name Jehovah.
I prayed before the God of heaven (Nehemiah 1:4).
All three names were eventually united—The Self-existent One God Almighty, or Yehovah Elohiym Shadday.
It is inconceivable that the God of all might and glory could be correctly named by capitalizing the common term god. Even when human civilization grew and spread over the globe, and mankind gained a better understanding of God, they still didn’t know how to properly address Him. At first, his name was not revealed. It seems that, it was a closely guarded secret, wasn’t it?
Even though all these men of God had experienced Christ in many ways—the name of the Lord was not yet revealed to them and until the fulness of the time was come—the name of God was kept hidden and a mystery – Gal 4:4. But now it has been revealed unto us – the mysterious wisdom of God, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory (1 Cor 2:7) – Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit (Ephesians 3:5) – which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God (Eph 3:9).
Of which SALVATION (JESUS’ name meant SALVATION) the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (1 Peter 1:10) Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify (1 Peter 1:11). The prophets knew something that the Lord had kept hidden about Himself throughout the ages, and that it would be revealed to a later generation soon—having seen them afar off, were persuaded of them, and embraced them – Hebrews 11:13
David knew by the Spirit of Christ, and he said, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity, and in whose spirit, there is no guile. Psalm 32:1-2. Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, Saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin – Romans 4:6-8. All throughout we could see David uses the term “God”, “the Lord” etc.…They all were ignorant of the ONE name God hath hallowed for Himself.
David, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him (the word of the oath, which was since the law, makes the Son – Hebrews 7:28), that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. Acts 2:30-31
“I will declare thy name unto my brethren” (Hebrews 2:12)
When Jacob wrestled with the Lord’s Angel, he asked, “Tell me, I pray thee, thy NAME” (Genesis 32:27). The Angel refused to tell him, but instead said, “Why dost thou inquire after my name?”
Later, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Samson’s father, Manoah. Manoah wanted to know His name too, but was told: “Why askest thou thus after my NAME, seeing it is SECRET?” (Judges 13:18).
Despite the fact that God has been given countless names, the ultimate, all-encompassing name has remained mysteriously veiled for eons. Because of something in God’s plan and purpose, ONE SPECIAL NAME has been kept hidden throughout the ages. However, because each name of God has always been limited to a specific quality of God, it became clear that the previous names were insufficient.
Adjective-like names such as Jehovah-jireh, Jehovah-nissi, and Jehovah-shalom have been appended to Yehovah.
- Jireh, which means “provider,” was introduced when God provided the ram in Isaac’s place on Mt. Moriah – Genesis 22:14
- When Moses declared the Lord to be his Banner of War against the Amelekites, Nissi was introduced at an altar in the desert – Exodus 17:15
- Shalom referred to Gideon’s experience of peace in the presence of the Lord – Judges 6:24
- In Exodus 15:26, Yehovah Rapha referred to the Lord Who Heals
The names by which God was known:
- El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty)
- El Elyon (The Most High God)
- Adonai (Lord, Master)
- Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah)
- Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner)
- Jehovah Raah (The Lord My Shepherd)
- Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals)
- Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There)
- Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)
- Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies You)
- El Olam (The Everlasting God)
- Elohim (God)
- Qanna (Jealous)
- Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)
- Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace)
- Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts)
There are sixteen Jehovah names on the list in total. None of them used the word “SALVATION” to describe His name—which then mean In the Old Testament God’s SAVING name was not revealed! However, it was mentioned in an Old Testament prophecy by Isaiah. “His NAME shall be Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,” he declared (Isaiah 9:6).
Was God’s most lofty and saving name set aside for a very special occasion?
The Scriptures clearly show that God chose not to reveal His highest name until the magnificent event of the Incarnation.
That is why, for millennia, God had remained an invisible Spirit, showing Himself only on rare occasions in a variety of ephemeral/transitory forms, or Theophanies (i.e., men, angels, apparitions, smoke, fire, clouds, whirlwinds, and in dreams and visions).
“And the Lord shall be king over all the earth,” Zechariah said, “and there shall be ONE LORD, and His NAME ONE in that day” (Zechariah 14:9).
“And when He was discovered to be in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient (learned obedience – Heb 5:8,9) unto death, even death on the cross. “Therefore God hath highly exalted him,” “and given him a name that is above every name, that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, of things in heaven, things on earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that JESUS Christ is LORD,””to the glory of God the Father”(Phil 2:8-11).
The Greek word “Jesus” (Salvation is of the Lord) derives from the Hebrew Jehoshua, which is a combination of Jehovah (Self-existent One) and Yasha (Savior), resulting in the highest name of Jehovah ever known: Jehovah-Yasha (The Lord thy Savior)!
The Father hath sent the Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14) – the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 2:20) – this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world (John 4:42) – This is the true God, and eternal life (1 John 5:20) – the great God and our Savior (Jehovah-Yasha) Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). Jesus Christ = “Jehovah-Yasha, the Anointed Messiah”.
These evidences are adequate to prove that JESUS CHRIST is that all-encompassing name of God.
Didn’t Jesus tell the Jews, “I am come in the name of my Father, and ye receive me not: if another come in his own name, him ye will receive”? (John 5:43) If so, know that, when we say Jesus’ name, we are addressing the “fullness of God bodily” (Col 2:9).
Needless to say, the Eternal Spirit (the Word of God – Revelation 19:13/John 1:1) is Jehovah Savior, and Jehovah Savior is embodied in the Son of Man (now the Lord is that Spirit – 2 Cor 3:17 – the last Adam was made a quickening spirit – 1 Cor 15:45 – the second man is the Lord from heaven –1 Cor15:47 – This is that Moses, This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness who brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years – Acts 7: 33-38 – before Abraham, He is – John 8:58).
As a result, these irrefutable facts suffice to conclude that Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19 to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the NAME of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” can only be fulfilled when the name Jesus is actually pronounced, because no other name given under Heaven simultaneously addresses the Spirit of God and the Son of Man as SAVIOR, the name by which we MUST BE SAVED!
What is that precious name of the ONE LORD?
JESUS CHRIST (The Word of God) – in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead.