Names of God

April 1, 2025

In the Old Testament the people had various names for God… From https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/misc/name_god.cfm :

• 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)

Wow! I knew a few of these before, at least tangentially, but from the website I learned that there were at least another dozen which I was ignorant of.

What I started out thinking for this essay was to make sure people understood that these names were not like your proper birth name or mine, but they are descriptive characteristics of God’s attributes and how they knew God’s actions in their day-to-day lives and experiences. They indicated why God deserves thankfulness and praise. The only name given by God Himself was when He told Moses to “Tell them I am sent you.” (Exodus 3:14)

Also, I wanted to talk about why God is called “holy” — the word “holy” meaning “set apart.” Basically, it is that God is far and away better, higher, broader, kinder, generous, etc, etc, than we can possibly imagine.

So, from all the attributes of God’s character, we can say how much God is set apart far and away and far above all of His Creation, including all Humanity — we ourselves, us, you and me…

As for Patty and me, we cannot ever thank Him enough for:

• being omnipotent,
• being omniscient,
• being our overseer,
• being eternal,
• being our commander-in-chief in spiritual warfare,
• being our shepherd,
• being our healer within our souls and our minds and our bodies,
• being present in our everyday life,
• being a covering of righteousness, not looking at our sinful selves,
• being around to free us from moral guilt and our blemished records,
• being around from everlasting to everlasting,
• being Himself, being who He is,
• being jealous for our well-being,
• being our provider for all our needs — both physical and spiritual,
• being our peace in the midsy of all the chaos around us, and
• being the Lord of all the multitude of His servants, the angels — special messengers, warriors, and guardians.

If we seek God with perseverance and resolve, show our sincerity and readiness to accept His existence, and if we believe rewards await everyone who seeks Him with honesty and earnestness, then He will come through our opened doors and invite us to come over to His house where He will generously provide His glorious hospitality for eternity. In the meantime, He will provide light to walk the righteous path and the nourishment we need as well.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone should hear My voice and open the door, then I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” — Berean Literal Bible (BLB).

Patty and I have individually found God to be faithful and true and all because of our decisions of accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. He has truly changed our lives inside and out. He has also set a path ahead where He brought us together and blessed us with our children and grandchildren, also providing the necessities to support our family…

Why do we call Him our Lord and our Savior?

“Lord,” because he knows and wants what is best for us and has repeatedly proven He can generously accomplish that. “Savior,” because Jesus gave us a fresh start, washing away all our wrongdoing and guilt, lifting the burden of our selfish nature by giving us a new nature — one bent on doing what is right and just, generous in mercy and sound thinking.

Yes. God provides His adopted children with a fabulous banquet reception and a full and meaningful life — in spite of our continuing slip ups — being patient with our learning curves.

Amy Grant — El Shaddai (Lyric Video)