What’s in a Name? (Part 1 of 2)

When we have children we choose their names often those names have personal meaning or significance. The King James Version had it, you shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who taketh his name in vain. I think this translation helps to clarify just what's involved in that—the idea of the misuse of the name of God. Names are important. They're important to every mom or dad. If that were not the case, then moms and dads would not spend such an amazing amount of time trying to determine what they were going to call their children. And every parent worth their salt has, at least on the first go around, being made aware of those books, either purchasing them or having them passed on to them, that have these huge lists of names, usually alphabetically listed.

And if you can recall those days or you're in the middle of those days, you go through the lists, and one reads it out, and the other one says, Nah, and the other one says, Well… And it goes on like that, until eventually you've gone through the whole book, and you don't like any of the names at all. You say, Oh no, your aunt was called that. I never liked her.

She was grumpy. We're not calling her that. Oh no, that was the guy that lived next door to us in that apartment.

You remember him? Oh no, we couldn't call our son that. And so it goes on, and eventually you're in the labor room, and it's still, did you bring the book?

No. And what are we going to do? And I think two out of three names in my family, I told my wife, I said, Hey, you know, choose the name. I mean, I can't believe you just did this. So whatever name you want, you can choose it, because this is amazing. And so we have one child who got the name Crooked Nose, which is what Cameron means, and it goes on from there.

Although don't tell him that I told you. Some of you have dated girls called Pamela, which isn't bad, because the books tell me it means all honey. If you're looking for the strong, rugged type, then choose a George, because a George is a farmer, a tiller of the soil, I'm told. If you're thinking of waltzing with someone, avoid Matilda. Matilda, I'm told, means mighty battle maid.

Kind of takes an edge off the song, doesn't it? But names are important, especially in the African context, the Asian context, and in earlier days in our own. Within the Scottish context, many names are Gallic in their origin. For example, my own name is Gallic.

Alastair is Gallic for Alexander. Beg is an anglicized corruption of a Gallic word which means small or little. And so those of you who've been calling me the little beggar, it's not very nice, and it's not very true. My favorite story about names I've told before, and hopefully you don't remember it, but it's the story of the lawyer whose name was Odd. And all through his life, people used to phone him up and say, Hey, is that Oddball?

And is that you, Oddguy? And he was just plagued by the name. Consequently, when he left his last will and testament, he put specific instructions in the will which said that he did not want his name on his tombstone. He'd had enough trouble with it through his life.

He didn't want it to follow him into his debt. So instead, he had the inscription placed on his tombstone, Here lies an honest lawyer. And people used to walk through the graveyard and look at it and say, That's odd. So we understand that names say something, names mean something, names are significant. Now, if that is true on a horizontal plane, it is definitely true when we move into the transcendent level of the name of God.

And what I'd like for you to do this morning is, in a sense, to put on your thinking caps and try and think this through with me. Because I have a sneaking suspicion that if we were to say, Which is the least significant? Although we know there is no least significant, but if we were to determine what is the least significant of the Ten Commandments, which is the one that you can kind of slide by on, of all of the ten, I wonder whether we wouldn't choose three. Whether we wouldn't say, Well, I don't think that's really as important as idolatry or graven images.

I just don't think so. Now, if to any degree that is true, it bears testimony to the fact that we don't fully understand what is being said in relationship to this third commandment. If to use the name of God wrongly, if to misuse his name incurs guilt, as verse 7 tells us, then it clearly must be important, and we need to understand why. So let us take a moment or two to try and understand—not comprehensively, because we don't have time for that—but to some degree, the importance of the name of God. The name of God in Scripture is given to us as something which is expressly precious. The name of God, the unique name of God, the proper name of God, which we translate Lord in our English version of the Bible—and that is Lord, four capitals, L-O-R-D, not capital L and then small o-r-d or lowercase o-r-d. You'll find both in the Bible. But when it is translated all capitalized, it is expressive of the Hebraistic name, which in Hebrew had the letters Y-H-W-H. Now, for those of you who are young, you try for a moment to pronounce Y-H-W-H. How do you do it? With great difficulty. And in some cases, not at all.

Correct! Because God did not want his name pronounced. It was too precious. Indeed, when we read the early chapters, when we read in the Pentateuch, in the beginning of the Bible in the Old Testament, we discover that it was only one occasion when one individual used the name of God in the whole year of the Jewish calendar—Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. And on that day, the high priest went into the Holy of Holies—you can read about it in the book of Leviticus 23—and there on that day, he took the name Yahweh upon his lips, the two vowels having been provided in order to create pronounceability. But the fact of the matter was and remains that the name of God was supremely precious. God's encounters with Moses have as much to teach us about the precious nature of his name as any others do.

Let me turn you to two. First of all, in Exodus 33, and then we'll go back to Exodus chapter 3. Exodus 33. God meets with Moses. Moses makes this request of God.

If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways, so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. That's verse 13. In verse 18, Moses says, Now show me your glory. And the LORD said, I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, Yahweh, in your presence.

I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But he said, You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live. And then we have this interesting little bit where he says, There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. And Moses is to stand in there so that when the glory passes by, he is not confronted by the glory, because he couldn't see the glory of God and live.

This is a very interesting thing. This ties in with the fact that we are not to make graven images of God. Nobody could see God and live, but he said, I will make myself known in my name, and my name will be pronounced before you. Chapter 34 and verse 5, Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, Yahweh. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, Yahweh, Yahweh, the compassionate and gracious God. In other words, he says his name twice, and then he explains what he's saying in saying his name. The compassionate and gracious God, what is God like?

Slow to anger. He's abounding in love and faithfulness. He maintains love to thousands. He forgives wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he is a just God and therefore does not leave the guilty unpunished, and the implications of that punishment run through generations. But in the expressing of his name, he is declaring not only the precious nature of it, but he is revealing his character. So we need to understand that the name of God is precious, and by his name, God portrays his greatness.

God reveals all that he is and all that he does. Turn back thirty chapters to Exodus chapter 3. There we have the encounter with God, Moses and the burning bush, the story whereby God reveals himself in the burning bush. Moses finds out that he's going on a significant mission. He's going to go to Pharaoh to say, Let my people go. And verse 13, chapter 3, Moses said to God, Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name? Then what shall I tell them?

Now, doesn't that strike you as a little bit funny? He says, If I go to them and say, The God, Elohim, of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say, Tell me his name. So in other words, there is a dimension to God that is revealed in the name which he is now about to give to Moses, that is so immense in its grandeur and in its power, that even the name Elohim with which Genesis 1 begins, In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth, that that word, nor even all of those words amassed, can begin to express the immensity of who God is. Well, says God, if they ask you that question, just use the verb to be.

Say to them, I am who I am. That's what God says to Moses. And you're to say to them, I am has sent me to you. Now hands up all who understand that. Okay, good.

Not too many, because it's a bewildering sort of statement, isn't it? What do you mean? Say, I am has sent me to you. Well, this is what it means. By using the verb to be, this essential element, by using this, God expresses the essence of his character. By using this as his name, he reveals the fact that he is self-existent, that he is self-sufficient, that he is sovereign, that he depends on no one, and he depends on nothing. Now who else in all of creation can take that as their name? Who else do you know who is self-existent, self-fulfilled, in need of no one, in need of nothing, and altogether sovereign?

The answer is, you don't know anyone, and neither do I. For there is no one else. So I am who I am, says God.

Tell them, I am sent you. And that, you see, jumping a couple of light years on, or four thousand years on, two thousand years on, whatever, jumping from the time of Moses to the time of Christ, that's why Jesus got himself in so much trouble with the Jews, because he kept saying, before Abraham was, I am. And they said, That's God's name. And he said, That's right. I, he said, am self-existent. I am self-sufficient. I am sovereign.

I need no one, and I need nothing. And they understood. Which is a reminder to us in passing that the God whom we worship, the God of Scripture, is not a God of some cosmic discovery, nor is he a God of our own creation, but he is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is both plural and perfect and powerful and praiseworthy.

And all of that is revealed in his name. When Jeremiah grasped this, he said, There's none like thee, O LORD. Thou art great, and thy name is great and might.

The Psalmist, verse 20, chapter 20, verse 7, says, Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. What was Jesus' great triumphant prayer in John 17, verse 6? I, he says, Father, have manifested thy name. I have made known to them thy name. Now, clearly, folks, this means something more than simply nomenclature. This means something more than simply saying, God is God.

I mean, that is tautology. So he's expressing something of his character and of his power and of his control and of his influence in all of the world. And you see, it is until we grasp this that we can't understand why the third commandment would be so significant. You see, because if God is just down here somewhere, or if God is a cosmic creation, or if God is a figment of my imagination, or if God is whatever I want him to be in twentieth-century parlance, then why in the world shouldn't I misuse his name? But if God is I am, then I got a problem.

And so do you. And our culture—and it was not always like this—our culture violates thousands and millions of times every day the name of Almighty God. We would never have found it to be so had we lived a hundred years from now, even fifty years from now. It is indicative of where our culture rests.

Now, let me try and take this on from here for a moment or two. Let me show to you just why it is important that we understand the name of God in this way. Isaiah chapter 43—Isaiah, speaking of the very same thing—in verse 10 says, You are my witnesses, declares Yahweh, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no God was formed, nor will there be one after me.

I, even I, am Yahweh, and apart from me there is no Savior. That's what I want to say to my Jewish friends. I want to say to them, Here it is in your book, in our book, in Isaiah 43. I want to show you the end of the story.

I want to show you the final piece of the jigsaw. I want to say to you, Yahweh is Yahweh is Yahweh. There are not two.

There is one. And he is the only God, and he is the only Savior. And some of you have come this morning, perhaps from a Jewish background, and you know the fact that there on the Day of Atonement there was forgiveness for sin, and there is the high priest made that sacrifice so the people may be cleansed and renewed. And you know that it pointed out and on, but you have not come to discover the one who was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Who is the one who purifies from all sin? And when we meet him, do we discover him to be a different God? No! He is Yahweh.

One in three, and three in one. Immense mystery. Profound truth. Now, let me give you one or two names of God. You may like to write these down. I think you'll find this helpful. And certainly, if you get a hold of this, you'll understand why God is so concerned about his name.

Let me give them to you. And this is not exhaustive or comprehensive. It is selective. So, here we go. Elohim.

E-l-o-h-i-m. It simply means creator. I've referred to it, Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth. Can I ask you this morning, do you honor God as your creator? Do you believe that God created ex nihilo? That he took nothing and made something? Do you believe that God is self-existent, he spoke, and the world came into being? That he set the stars in space? That he put the planets where he wants them? That he, in Christ, holds everything together? Do you have a core, deep conviction in your heart concerning Elohim? If not, when you take his name upon your lips, you misuse his name, because his name is creator. El Elyon.

Two words, e-l. Second word, e-l-y-o-n. Simply means God the Most High. You find it in Genesis 14. In the priesthood of Melchizedek, he was priest of, quotes, El Elyon, God Most High. The name emphasizes the sovereignty and the rule and the power of God. Ask yourself, as I must ask myself, do I believe in the sovereign, powerful rule of God? Do I worship and understand El Elyon? And if I do, then why do I complain so much about my circumstances, and why do I doubt his ability to intervene on my behalf?

It is because I misuse his name. He is Yahweh, Jireh. Two words, Yahweh dash and then capital J-i-r-e-h. It simply means the God who provides. Do you know the God who provides?

Do you know where this comes? It comes in a wonderful story again in the book of Genesis chapter 22. Abraham has his boy Isaac.

He and Sarah have looked forward to this boy's coming for many a year. Finally, he's given as a gift to them. And the Word of God comes to Abraham. He says, Abraham, take your son, your only son Isaac, and sacrifice him on the place that I will show you. And Isaac and his dad and a few helpers begin to make the journey, and eventually the dad says to the helpers, You stay here. I and the boy will go yonder, and we will return and worship with you, even though God had said, Take your boy and sacrifice him. The dad said, The boy and I will be back.

Why? Because the dad knew what the boy was going to find out. The dad knew that God was Yahweh, Jireh. And when the boy said, Hey, we've got the wood, and we've got the fire going, but we ain't got nothing to put up here, Abraham says, Yahweh, he is Yahweh, Jireh. And turning they look and see a ram caught in the thicket.

And on that day Isaac discovered that God was Yahweh, the provider God. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. If you're benefiting from these foundational lessons from the Pathway to Freedom series, you might want to own all 12 messages.

We've placed them on a convenient USB drive. It's only $5. Shipping is free. You'll find it on the mobile app or online at truthforlife.org slash store. And while you're visiting the online store, you may also want to pick up the corresponding Pathway to Freedom study guide.

It's written to accompany this audio series. Working your way through it is a great way to study the Ten Commandments on your own or with your Bible study group. The study guide contains 12 sections that dive deep into the messages Alistair teaches in this series. You'll explore how each of these ancient commandments applies directly to your life. Once again, look for both the Pathway to Freedom study guide and the Pathway to Freedom USB on the mobile app and online at truthforlife.org slash store.

We live in a culture that fails to understand the seriousness of sin and that lacks the proper fear of God. And that's why in addition to the study guide and audio messages, we're highly recommending Alistair's book titled Pathway to Freedom, How God's Laws Guide Our Lives. Alistair helps us become aware of the offense of sin, of God's authority, and of our need for a Savior. He explains that the Ten Commandments were never given to restrict our lives. They were given to set us free. Unpack all that means when you read the book Pathway to Freedom. It's yours when you donate to support the teaching you hear on Truth for Life. Just visit truthforlife.org slash donate. I'm Bob Lapine. We hope you enjoy your weekend and will be worshiping with your local church this weekend. Join us Monday as we consider three ways we break the third commandment. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.