Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 9:23-24 ESV1
Some things about God are just unknowable for us as humans. We don’t have the vocabulary to explain them. We don’t even have the brainpower to understand them.
But some things about God are knowable for us. It is God’s desire for us to understand and know Him, so He has given us His Word, and He shows up in our circumstances. We can come to know God on a deeper level by studying the Names by which He identifies Himself in Scripture. God’s Name reveals His character and demonstrates His ways. “The Name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10). “Those who know [God’s] Name will put their trust in [God]” (Psalm 9:10). David praised God saying, “You have exalted above all things Your Name and Your Word” (Psalm 138:2). So, let’s take some time to search God’s Word for His Names.
Elohim—Our Creator
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
El means God, strong and mighty. Him is plural signifying that God exists as more than one in One. The three persons are later identified throughout Scripture as, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God created us and everything around us. We were created in His image (see Genesis 1:26-27). We are each one unique person consisting of three parts, body, soul, spirit. We were created for His will and pleasure (see Colossians 1:16). We are all “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).
El Elyon—God Most High
Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. Genesis 14:19-20
El Elyon, God Most High, indicates that God is sovereign; He rules over all. There is nothing in Heaven or on Earth that is out of His control. Nothing or no one, even evil, can touch us without God’s permission. And even then, He will let things go only so far. All of His purposes are loving, because “God is love” (1 John 4:16). “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for the good, for those are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
El Roi—The God Who Sees
She called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are the God of Seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen Him who looks after me.” Genesis 16:13
“He who keeps you will not slumber … nor sleep” (Psalm 121:3-4). God sees everything; He misses nothing. He sees everything that is done to you. “The LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants” (Deuteronomy 32:36). And He sees everything that you have done. There is no hiding from God. Like David, we must all confess, “O LORD, You have searched me and known me … and are acquainted with all my ways” (Psalm 139:1 &3). He sees the past, the present, and the future all at once. He is the Ancient of Days and He will sit in righteous judgment over all that has ever happened (see Daniel 7:9-10).
El Shaddai—The All-Sufficient One
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am ‘El-Shaddai-God Almighty.’ Serve Me faithfully and live a blameless life.” Genesis 17:1 NLT2
Shad means the breast. Just as a mother’s breast provides all an infant needs, God provides everything we need. “My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Shad also means power. When we are weak, we can rely on His strength. The Apostle Paul states, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). El-Shaddai, the All-Sufficient God, meets us with all we need physically, emotionally, and spiritually in any circumstance of life in which He permits us to be.
Adonai—Lord
The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, for I am Your Shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will You give me, for I continue childless … and a member of my household shall be my heir.” Genesis 15:1-3
This verse contains the Name LORD and the Name Lord. LORD is the holiest and sacred Name of God, YHWH, translated Jehovah in English. All the Names of God are encapsulated in this Name. The Name Adonai is translated Lord and means Master or Owner. Jesus said, “Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am” (John 13:13 KJV3). The idea of having a master makes most of us feel uncomfortable. But God as Master is quite different than our perception. Oswald Chambers puts it this way:
To have a master means that there is one who knows me better than I know myself, one who is closer than a friend, one who fathoms the remotest abyss of my heart and satisfies it, one who has brought me into the secure sense that he has met and solved every perplexity and problem in my mind.”4
Abram used this Name at a time in which God had made him a promise, but Abram couldn’t see how that promise could possibly come true. As Adonai, God knew exactly how to reassure Abram and keep His promise.
Jehovah—Self-Existent One
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14
When this Name appears in the Scriptures it is translated in all capital letters, LORD or GOD. The Jews considered this Name so holy they didn’t even want to say it. Deuteronomy 28:58-59 stresses the importance of this Name. “If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome Name, the LORD your God, then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting.” No wonder the Jews were careful to not blaspheme this Name of God. But the name, Jehovah, really doesn’t mean something fearful. It means the Self-Existent One indicating that He is Someone who will never change, One who is always there, One in Whom we will find all we need. What a comforting name.
Jehovah Jireh—The LORD Who Provides
And Abraham lifted up his eyes and look, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So, Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” Genesis 22:13-14
This Name comes out of one of the most suspenseful accounts in Scripture. Here God tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to sacrifice his son, Isaac—the son who was the fulfillment of God’s promise. Here, as he obeyed God, Abraham’s faith never wavered. “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and [as] he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son … he considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Hebrews 11:17 & 19). God provided a ram to offer instead of Isaac. Many years later, on that same mountain, God provided another Lamb. On that mountain, He sacrificed His Son for the sins of all mankind.
Jehovah-Rapha—The LORD My Healer
“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians for I am the LORD, your Healer.” Exodus 15:26
This Name of God was revealed to the people of Israel shortly after their escape from slavery in Egypt. They were “three days in the wilderness and found no water. [When they did find water] they could not drink [it] because it was bitter … so [Moses] cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet” (Exodus 15:22-23 & 25). This account is a picture of another healing God did when He took another log, the Cross, and used it to make a bitter situation sweet. All sin was healed at the Cross. “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes, we were healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Thank you, Jehovah-Rapha.
Jehovah-Nissi—The LORD our Banner
Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner. Exodus 17:15
A banner is an ensign, a standard, something lifted up as a sign or symbol of principles. This name is only used once in all of Scripture. It comes out of a time when Israel was traveling in the wilderness, weak and weary, and they were attacked by the Amalekites. “Joshua [and the young men of Israel] …fought with Amalek while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek prevailed … [so] Aaron and Hur held up his hands … And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek” (Exodus 17:10-13). The LORD was angry with Amalek for this dastardly deed. Moses prophesied, “The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Exodus 17:16). When Israel got established in The Promised Land, God instructed King Saul to completely annihilate the Amalekites (see 1 Samuel 15). Because Saul refused to do so, God rejected him as king. Amalek is a picture of sin. God is still warring with “Amalek.” This time in the hearts and lives of each of us. Don’t be like Saul, and in refusing the fight, end up being ostracized. Run under the Banner of Jehovah-Nissi, the Cross, and allow Him to defeat sin in your life.
Jehovah-Mekoddishkem—The LORD Who Sanctifies You
The LORD spoke to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep My Sabbaths, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.’” Exodus 31:12-13
God instructed the Israelites to take a day of rest every week and on it do no regular work, “for in six days the LORD made Heaven and Earth, the sea, and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11). The purpose of the Sabbath was not only for much needed physical rest, but it had spiritual implications, as well. It was supposed to be a sign that God would be the One to sanctify His people. Sanctify means make holy, set apart, to be separated unto God. Because the Israelites rested one day a week to focus on the LORD, they stood out among the other nations. “We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all … for by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:10 & 14). Our sanctification looks a little different from the Ancient Israelite’s, but the idea is still the same. The LORD sanctifies us, we don’t sanctify ourselves. It isn’t what we do or don’t do that makes us holy. But, because God has made us holy through the blood of Jesus, there are things we do or do not do through His power in us.
Jehovah-Shalom—The LORD is Your Peace
The LORD said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, “The LORD is Peace.” Judges 6:22-23
Gideon was a fearful man. When God came to him, he “was beating out wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites” (Judges 6:11) who were terrifying the Israelites and stealing all their food. The Israelites were in this situation because they had disobeyed God. But God didn’t give up on them. When they cried out to Him, He raised up someone to free them from their enemies. The one whom God raised up was Gideon, a man who was, because of his circumstances, without peace in his life. When Gideon realized that he had seen a messenger from God, he was sure he is going to die. But the LORD assured Gideon that he is not going to die. In fact, God was going to make fearful Gideon into a valiant warrior (see Judges 6:12). Gideon’s eyes were opened to the truth that peace is not in circumstances, but the LORD is Peace. When you are troubled, worried, afraid, or distressed, run to Jehovah-Shalom; He is Your Peace. Jesus said, “’Peace I leave you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid’” (John 14:27).
Jehovah-Shaboth—The LORD of Hosts
Now [Elkanah] used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh … [He had a wife named, Hannah.] The LORD had closed her womb … She … prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O, LORD of Hosts, if you indeed look upon the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but give your servant a son, then will give him to the LORD all the days of his life.” 1 Samuel 1:3, 5, & 10-11
Shaboth means a host, a mass of people, earthly armies, or armies of heavenly powers or angels. Jehovah-Shaboth is ruler over all of them. Hannah called upon this Name in a time of her affliction–bareness. Hannah went straight to the One in authority, Jehovah-Shaboth. He answered her prayer and gave her a son. She named him, Samuel, and she dedicated him to the LORD as she had promised (see 1 Samuel 1:27-28). Another person who came to Jehovah-Shaboth in a time when he was facing a giant of a problem was David. “David said to [Goliath], ‘You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the Name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, who you have defiled” (1 Samuel 17:45). The LORD mightily delivered Goliath into David’s hand and Israel won a great battle. (See 1 Samuel 17). “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, … the powers, … the world forces of this darkness, … [and] the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Through Jehovah-Shaboth, we can be victorious over a host of evil. We can “overcome them for He who is in [us] is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Jehovah-Raah—The Lord My Shepherd
The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1
The relationship from sheep to shepherd is one of total trust, care, provision, and guidance. The 23rd Psalm pictures freedom from need, rest from panic in both mind and emotion, purposefulness in life, help in difficult situations, protection from evil, comfort in correction, vindication in the face of enemies, hope for the future, and peace and love in His presence. Jesus said, “’I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:14). Do you long for a place of such peace, protection, and rest? Then come to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who, by His blood, already bought you back from your previous master, sin and death. He is diligently and lovingly searching for lost sheep (see Luke 15:5). Commit your life to Him, for Jesus also said, “‘I am the Door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture’” (John 10:9). Become one of His sheep so “that [you] may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
Jehovah-Tsidkenu—The LORD Our Righteousness
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as King and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the Name by which He will be called: ‘The LORD Is Our Righteousness.’ Jeremiah 23:5-6
Notice, this Name is not, The LORD is Righteous, but the LORD is Our Righteousness. Romans 3:10, speaking of all humans, informs us, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks God.” And 1 Corinthians 6:9 explains, “The unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” The only way we can inherit the Kingdom of God is to be declared righteous (see 1 Corinthians 6:11). Jesus has to become our righteousness through faith. “The righteousness of God has been manifest … through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe … so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:21-22 & 26). “The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes … for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith” (Romans 1:16-17). Faith in what? Faith that, in yourself, you are absolutely devoid of righteousness. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And it is not of your doing; it is a gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). And by faith only in Jesus can you be made righteous. “God made Him who had no sin be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV5). Stop trying to be righteous enough to get to God on your own, and come to Jehovah-Tsidkenu.
Jehovah-Shammah—The LORD Who is There
“The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD is There.” Ezekiel 48:35
These words were shared by God, as words of encouragement, to the prophet and priest, Ezekiel, at a very dark time in Israel’s history. Jerusalem had fallen and God’s people had been exiled to Babylon. The Name Jehovah-Shammah would have been particularly meaningful to Ezekiel. In Chapter 10 of his book, Ezekiel explained the vision he had of the glory of the LORD leaving the temple because of the people’s idol worship. Up until that time, the glory of the LORD had continually dwelt in the tabernacle (see Exodus 40:34) and then again in the temple (see 2 Chronicles 5:14 and 1 Kings 8:11). Ezekiel saw God reluctantly leave the temple, but He promised to be back. He came back as Immanuel, God with Us, in Luke 2 when Mary and Joseph brought the Infant Jesus into the temple. Jehovah-Shammah came to His people as Jesus, but they again rejected Him again (see Matthew 24:37-38), so He left the temple a second time. But He has come back again, this time as the Holy Spirit, in the temple of the hearts of individual people who want Him there. “‘And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth … He dwells with you and will be in you’” (John 14:16-17). This time He will not leave us or forsake us (see Hebrews 13:5).
I hope this study of the Names of God has increased your knowledge of and love for God. Knowing God is essential for this life and the next. Daniel explains that it is “the people who know their God [who] will stand firm and take action” (Daniel 11:32). And Jesus instructs us that “‘this is eternal life, that they may know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent’” (John 17:3). May you continue to grow to know God more deeply and more intimately.
1Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.
2Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible: New Living Translation, Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004.
3Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version.
4Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour Publishing, Inc, 1963), September 22.
5Scripture quotations marked with NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
For further study check out LORD, I Want to Know You by Kay Arthur (Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press, 1992, 2000.