Five names for God which reveal a specific or unique aspect of His character are El Shaddai, Yahweh Jireh, Yahweh Rohi, El Qanno, and Yahweh Rapha.
In Job 3:23, the name, El Shaddai, is used for God to indicate the highness or majestic quality of His character. According to the Introduction to the Book of Job in the King James Open Bible, this name for God appears thirty-one times in that Book, plus a total of seventeen times in other portions of the Old Testament. The name, El Shaddai, is not only an important name for showing God as the Almighty, but it is also significant in the Book of Job for showing time and authorship to that particular Book of the Bible. El Shaddai is additionally used in Isaiah 13:6 to describe God as the Almighty and as the One Who will ultimately bring destruction and judgment on the nation, Babylon. With the name, El Shaddai, power is always the key. For the modern-day Christian, this name describes the One Who can overcome any obstacle to enter into and maintain a relationship with us. Nothing can stop or defeat Him!
The name, Yahweh Jireh, appears in Genesis 22:14 and shows God as our provider. Abraham had been instructed by the Lord to take his only son, Isaac, to Mount Moriah and to offer him there to the Lord as a human sacrifice. This was a very stressful and even extreme test for Abraham. Yet, he was doing his best to carry it out. According to Hebrews 11:17-19, Abraham had looked beyond the difficulty of that immediate challenge and instead was trusting God to be true to His earlier promise of a seed. In this event, God showed Himself to be the Great Provider, recorded in Genesis 22:13, by providing Abraham with a substitutionary ram for the sacrifice. Thus, Isaac was spared! For present-day Christians, this name for God, Yahweh Jireh, tells of a God Who can be trusted to meet all of our needs. We do not need to worry ourselves with the temporal needs of this life because we have our Yahweh Jireh to take care of us.
Psalms 23:1 gives us the name for God, Yahweh Rohi, the Lord my Shepherd. In that verse, God is pictured as the Great Shepherd Who watches over His sheep, or as in this case, over His people. The good Shepherd keeps all the sheep close together in a herd. He protects them from the harmful elements of life, and He places Himself between them and all forms of danger. In Isaiah 40:1-11, the Prophet wrote about the coming of such a Shepherd, One Who would and Who will watch over all those who follow Him. That Shepherd, of course, is the Lord Jesus. The Apostle John also wrote about Christ as our good Shepherd in John 10:14. Thus, for the Old Testament saint, as well as for the New Testament saint, Yahweh Rohi meant and means safety and protection.
El Qanno, which means the jealous God, is another name for God which reveals a specific aspect of His character. In Joshua 24:19, Joshua described God as holy and jealous, implying that a person should refrain from worshipping idols and other strange gods. God wants us for Himself, and He wants our love and devotion to be directed exclusively towards Him. Joshua continued in that chapter to tell the nation, Israel, of the calamities that would befall them if they failed to put God first. Their decision at that time, even though they did not honor it, was to always put Him first. Hence, as modern-day Christians, we need to make a similar decision, but then, we must strive to stick to it each and every day. Mr. J. I. Packer says that statements in the Bible about God's jealousy are anthropomorpic; that is, they use language which is relevant to everyday life to describe God. In that same discussion, Mr. Packer goes on to comment about the negative connotation of the word, jealousy. Most people do not view a jealous behavior as being positive. For God, however, His jealousy for us should lead us to be jealous for Him. We should be zealous in our individual pursuit and worship of Him. Thus, Mr. Packer's remarks about our response to God's jealousy is consistent with what Joshua had told the nation, Israel.
The final name for God to be discussed in this essay is Yahweh Rapha, which means the Lord Who heals. In Exodus 15:22-26, God had led His people to Marah, but they were not able to drink the water. His objective, by bittering those waters, was to prove the people's allegience to Him and their faith in Him. After He had conducted that test, God led Moses to a tree, which when cast into the waters, made them suitable for drinking. At that time, God revealed Himself to Israel as their Yahweh Rapha, the God Who would keep them from disease and pestilence if they would only diligently hearken unto Him. Hence, our God is a God Who watches over and cares for His people.
Tom of Spotswood "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
Lesson 11 - God's Revelation Of Himself - Through History And Natural Phenomena
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