THE GLORIOUS NAME OF YAHWEH
In Malachi 3:16, we read:
“Then they that feared Yahweh spoke often one to another: and Yahweh hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Yahweh and that thought on His Name”. The purpose of this article is to aid such a consideration of the Name of our Creator, by allowing Scripture to speak for itself.
Old Testament
We should:-
Call on the Name (Gen.
13:4; 1 Kings 18:24; Zeph. 3:9; 1Chron. 16:8, Joel 2:32, Lam. 3:55;
Psa. 80:18; 105:1)
Not take the Name in vain (Deut. 5:11, Prov. 30:9)
Fear the Name (Deut. 28:58; Psa. 102:15; Isa. 59:19)
Publish the Name (Deut. 32:3)
Declare the Name (Psa. 102:21)
Sing Praises to Name (2Sam. 22:50; Psa. 7:17; 68:4; 18:49)
Praise the Name (Psa. 44:8; 69:30; 92:1; 54:6; 74:21; 113:1; 135:1;
149:3; Joel 2:26)
Confess the Name (1 Kings 8:3; Isa. 26:13)
Glory in the Name (1Chron. 16:10; Psa. 105:3)
Give Thanks to Name (1Chron. 16:35; Psa. 106:47; 122:4; 140:13)
Bless the Name (Neh. 9:5; Job 1:21; Psa. 96:2; 100:4; Psa. 103:1;
145:1)
Love the Name (Psa. 5:11; 69:36; 119:132; 56:6)
Know the Name (Psa. 9:10)
Remember the Name (Psa. 20:7; 119:55; 44:20; 45:17)
Glorify the Name (Psa. 29:2; 86:9; 115:1)
Trust in the Name (Psa. 33:21; Isa. 50:10)
Exalt the Name (Psa. 34:3)
Wait upon the Name (Psa. 52:9)
Honour the Name (Psa. 66:2)
Sing to the Name (Psa. 66:4)
Extol our Creator by his Name (Psa. 68:4)
Seek the Name (Psa. 66:4)
Rejoice in the Name (Psa. 89:16)
It should be the desire of our soul (Isa. 26:8)
Sanctify the Name (Isa. 29:23)
Bless the Name (Dan. 2:20)
Walk in Name (Mic. 4:5)
Think upon the Name (Mal. 3:16)
Fear the Name (Mal. 4:2)
Not despise the Name (Mal. 1:6)
The Name is:
A Memorial (Ex. 3:15)
Glorious and Fearful (1Chron. 29:13; Isa. 63:14)
Great (Psa. 76:1; Jos 7:9; Mal. 1:11)
Magnified for ever (2 Sam. 7:26; 1 Chron. 17:8,21,24)
Excellent (Psa. 8:1,9; 148:5,13)
Shall Endure for Ever (Psa. 72:17; 135:13)
Will be blessed for ever (Psa. 72:19).
Great and Terrible (Psa. 99:3)
Holy and Reverend (Psa. 111:9)
A Strong Tower (Prov. 18:10)
Exalted (Isa. 12:4)
Holy (Isa. 57:15)
Everlasting (Isa. 63:12,16)
Great in Might (Jer. 10:6)
Majestic (Mic. 5:4)
The Name will be declared to Israel (Psa. 102:21; Isa. 52:6, 39:28, Zech. 13:9)
And also to the heathen (Isa. 64:2; Eze. 38:23; 39:7; Zeph. 3:8; Mal. 1:11; Psa. 102:15; 145:21)
It should be spoken (Ex. 3:15; Deut. 32:3; Psa. 102:21; Amos 6:10; 1 Kings 8:33; Psa. 22:22; Isa. 26:13)
Yahweh’s People are called by His Name (Jer. 14:9; Dan. 9:19)
The New Testament:-
We should Hallow (regard
as holy) the Name (Mat. 6:9; Luke 11:2)
Christ came in the Name (Mat. 21:9; 23:39; Luke 13:35, 19:38; Jno.
5:43; 10:25, 12, 13)
Believers are baptised into the Name (Greek: Mat. 28:19)
The Name is Great and Holy (Luke 1:29)
Was glorified by Christ (Jno. 12:28)
Was manifested by Christ (Jno. 17:6)
Was declared by Christ (Jno. 17:26; Heb. 2:26)
Believers kept in the Name (Jno. 17:2)
Name was declared to all the earth at the time of Moses (Rom. 9:17)
We must show love towards the name (Heb. 6:10)
We should give thanks to His Name (Heb. 13:15)
The Saints in the Kingdom will use the Name (Rev. 19:1,3,4,6)
The Saints are those who have the Name in their thinking (Rev. 14:1;
22:4)
Gentiles are called to be a people for his Name (Acts 15:14)
Conclusions
It is significant that the final references to our Father’s Name in both the Old and New Testaments speak of thinking upon the Name, and in both cases those who do this constitute the Faithful. We must therefore not ignore the Name - it is important for our salvation. It is characteristic of false teachers that they will tell us to forget the Name (see Jer. 23:27), and characteristic of the faithful that they will remember it, and encourage others to remember it (Psa. 20:7, 45:17).
The fact that the Name is spoken of in prophecies of the Kingdom proved that it was not disannulled by the passing of the Law of Moses. The fact that both Jew and Gentile will be educated the Name proves that both Jew and Gentile should seek to understand it.
“Yahweh” is the Name of our Father: we become his sons through Baptism. As in the natural, where it is customary for sons to bear their Father’s Name, so it is in the spiritual, when we are baptised into that Name (Mat. 28:19). It is therefore our family Name which speaks of our Father’s intention to perpetuate His Character through a whole multitude of Sons (see Phanerosis & Eureka Vol. 1). It is a New Testament principle that as Gentiles called out for the name (Acts. 15:14), we should Hallow the Name (Mat. 6:9) and show love to the Name (Heb. 6:10), as a token of our honour to the One who bears it.
Christopher Maddocks