The Name of God

= Riches =

Chapter 1

 

What Riches are embodied in Your name?

ANSWER: Sometimes more than you might expect.

I have found that more than 50% of the people I ask, don’t know the meaning of their name neither their first name, nor their last name. I find that somehow unusual and problematic. They don’t know the history, nor reason, nor purpose, nor cause behind their name. 

And there seems to be a link that parallels their lack of knowledge and interest in their own name that transitions into their lack of knowledge and interest into their own religion and faith, of lack thereof.

On the other hand, some people know the intimate and precious details behind the cause and reason for their name. Some people have researched not only their personal name, but also the their family names from both parents, and have a solid grasp of where they have come from, and what things others have done to get them to where they are today. And they are grateful and thankful for the sacrifices others have made on their behalf.

There seems to be a great gulf that stands between these two differing kinds of people.

 

We stand upon others shoulders

Whether we like it or not; acknowledge it or not; or appreciate it, or not–We all Stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us.

Some names are passed down to us for a specific reason. They call us to live up to the nobility of lives that were lived before us.

Names sometimes reveal intimate information about a person. Names often have a story behind them, and sometimes a heavenly calling in front of them. The reason you carry a certain name is often because of an honorary person who lived before you.

Do you know the history and meaning behind the name you have?

Do you know the original name of the person, and do you know what significant things he did and stood for, and what his name has come to mean, and what it has always meant in the Books of Heaven?

The name David comes to mind. Many have this name, but do they know the Biblical (eternal) Account of David’s Life?

Do they know? his Testimony, his Witness, what David stood for, the trials he had to overcome, the vicious attacks that kept him on the run for so many years? Do you remember the very promises that kept him motivated, and going in the right direction, even when many would try to pull him away from doing what he knew was right?  

Can you recall the many victories and strongholds he overcame, and also the failures that ultimately humbled him? Have you ever read and understood: Psalm 22, 23, 24, and 25? Just a few powerful Psalms written by David. (More on David later, also in the Blood Covenant.)

Sometimes names contain family information about a person’s: parents, culture, family trade, family history. Sometimes even a prophetic calling may be hidden in a person’s name.

Sometimes depending on your parents and grandparents, and their Social and Spiritual Reputations, a Family Name can come with some Big Shoes to Fill.

Today, Typically when you meet another person for the first time, you likely won’t know much about their family name, unless it is a well-known family name in your community. But the more you learn about a person, the more his or her family lineage will unfold before you.

Back in the day, when men, women, and families lived in close knit communities, their family name was exceptionally valuable to them. A good name was more valuable than gold or riches.

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches,
and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
                 ~Proverbs 22:1 (KJV) 

Your family name and reputation, your social and spiritual standing in your community, your high calling in God were often well known, and well understood by the Community all about you. And all this information was often directly tied to your own name.

In this way, people lived lives that were accountable to one another. Children were not only accountable to their own parents, but also the parents of everyone in the community. Children were also accountable to the elders, and leaders of their community. And all this accountability was tied and bound up with the report and reputation (“The Name”) one had in one’s community.

Your name affected your ability to be given the chance to handle important responsibilities, it gave your opportunities to grow, to get a good job, to be trusted, to be given positions of authority, to borrow money, to be given access to court and marry your beloved spouse, to be allowed to teach in your community, to be given positions of government, and judgment in the community you lived in. Or, on the other hand your name and reputation blocked you from having opportunities of trust and responsibility. A bad name, or negative reputation could severe limited your chances to grow and prosper in a well established upright community.

 

Divine inspiration

Sometimes a personal name was given by divine inspiration, or even given by God’s direct intervention: As in the Case of John the Baptist. The whole community wanted to name John after His father’s name, but his father, Zechariah, knew better. He had received a direct Word from God, given to him directly from the Angel Gabriel, to name his son’s name John, and that is what he did, even though he couldn’t speak. The rest is history.

What happens when you meet someone?

What do you learn first?

One of the first things you learn about someone is their name.

If you don’t know their name, it would be hard to say that you knew the person.

Now let’s apply this principle to meeting God:
Is it important and significant that you know his name?

• The name of God is powerful, real, insightful. It reveals much about who God is, and about his prophetic nature.
• The name of God, is the most holy, sacred, and challenging word in all of scripture.
• The name of God is repeated approximately 7000 times on average in approximately 1000 pages in the old testament scriptures.
• That would average about seven times per page, and yet it is my guess that the majority of people who claim to follow God, do not know his name, and do not know the prophetic nature, nor the prophetic picture that his name proclaims. 

[It is my estimation, that this deficiency–one that I have personally experienced– would produce a shallow generation of self-proclaimed followers of God.]

 

Do You Know God’s Name?

And No, God’s Name is not God.

Do you know the prophetic nature and the prophetic picture that is inherent in the name of God?

The chances are good that you do not. (I am not pointing the finger, I also did not know his name for 20+ years.)

And yet, God gave to his people this command:

Deuteronomy 6:13 (KJV) 13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. [In other words, we are to take our oaths in his name.]

And yet, it seems, that his people regularly do not know his name. Which may call into question the depth of their commitment and desire to truly Know HIM.

Exodus 3:13 (KJV) And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

Authors note: We will be laying some groundwork before we get directly to the covenant name of God. In the next few sections, we will be discussing things that have impacted individuals and nations as they have chosen to relate to the name of God in their own generations. This is vitally important information that will prepare the reader to come to a place in history and in personal insight why God waited so long to reveal his covenant mean even to his own people.

If you want to know His Name–I recommend you keep reading, keep studying, keep learning … because learning His Name is Quite a Powerful Journey, and it comes with a sacred honor and privilege.

That journey comes with many trials, testings, refining experiences, and transformations:

1) It will awaken your soul, change your heart, and make you a new person from the inside out,

    or

2) It will never really touch your inner man, so that you won’t know his name, or care about his person–and you won’t be touched by his power or grace, nor his mercy or humility, hardly at all–forever and ever.

And only you can make the decision to love and serve the God of Heaven, and thereby become an approved and permanent citizen and Eternal Family Member of His Heavenly Home. Enjoying all the privileges and rights gladly give to you by your Heavenly Father, which are all made available to you through the Blood Covenant of His Heavenly Son. You are freely invited to walk down the narrow way that leads to Life. Learning His Name will be an important part of that Journey and will bring insight and depth and meaning to the things you will experience along His Narrow Road (Matthew 7:14). Things that will encourage you to remain strong in mind and heart, to not be discouraged, to not be deceived, to not be persuaded to compromise “The Way” of the King of Heaven.

The only other choice we have (whether we see this or not) is to serve the ruler of this present darkness. His rulership, and the sin and rebellion that he promotes against the Father and the Son, in this world is temporary and will soon be passing away, along with all those who would choose his path. That Wide Path is full of personal and mutual and environmental destruction. It is full of false hope, and many man made idols to distract a person from seeing and believing and following the One True Saviour of Mankind. This path will keep you from learning and receiving the many blessings of walking in the name of God. And of course, this wide path is the Way of Destruction, and regretfully, many are they that choose to follow it.  (Matthew 7:13)

 

Finding The Narrow Road …

Sometimes comes by paying attention to small but important details.

 

Learning the Name of God along this narrow road, is a critical milestone on your heavenly journey. It will help your realize the true nature and primary goal of Heaven. It will speak to who you are every day, and every time your invoke his name in prayer, in intercession, in supplication, it will remind you of the price paid for your current, and future, redemption. It will comfort your pain-filled heart.

Although, this world is passing away, those in it who are filled with the light of heaven bring redemption into this world every day. They live and proclaim his Riches, Goodness, Kindness, and Eternal Sacrifice in everything they think, do and say.  There is no genuine permanent hope for the future in this world, nor for the ruler of this world.

There is only one way to transcend the confinements of this world, and that is to have your name written in the Book of Life. And there is only one person who can add your name to the book of Life. The One who carries the Name of God in his person.

Both LORD of Heaven, and the ruler of this world offer you their own sets of promises. Both offer dreams and visions. Both present you with pleasures and options that will make you feel good about yourself, but the way they do it, and the reasons they do it, and the way they communicate, and the motivations they use could not be further from one another.

Hopefully, this will become scintillatingly clear as we go forward.

Shalom,

Grace and Peace to You on your Journey into Eternity!

 

Brother Thomas