What God's Names Can Teach Us About His Character
What God's Names Can Teach Us About His Character
Names mean something. We know this in ordinary life — we name children carefully, we remember the names of people who changed us, we feel something when a name we love is called across a room.
In Hebrew Scripture, God's names carry even more weight. They are not labels. They are revelations. Each name is a specific disclosure of who God is — what he is like in a particular moment, what he is willing to do, where he shows up when his people need him most.
Starting Wednesday, May 6, Daily Dose of Hope begins a three-week series on the names of God.
Sixteen Names, Sixteen Days
The series covers sixteen Hebrew names across sixteen weekdays — each one anchored in Scripture and explored through Pastor Vicki's weekday reflection.
YHWH — The Self-Existent One. The name too holy for ancient Israel to speak aloud is the name God gave to Moses at the burning bush: I AM WHO I AM.
El Shaddai — Lord God Almighty. The name God used when he appeared to Abraham and promised him descendants as numerous as the stars. Strength enough for the impossible.
Jehovah Jireh — The Lord Will Provide. The name Abraham spoke on the mountain after God provided the ram. Not a formula, but a testimony.
Jehovah Shalom — The Lord Is Peace. Gideon built an altar and named it this after an encounter that terrified him. Peace that follows the presence of God — not the absence of trouble.
Qanna — Jealous. Not petty jealousy — the jealousy of a God who loves completely and refuses to let his people settle for less than him.
Those are five. Eleven more follow — each one earned in a different moment of Scripture, each one still true.
An Invitation to Pay Attention
Every one of these names was spoken into a real situation, by or about a God who was present in that moment. They are not theological abstractions. They are the testimony of people who needed God to be exactly what each name describes — and found that he was.
The Names of God series runs May 6–May 27. Each weekday, Pastor Vicki leads a short reflection anchored in the day's name and passage.
CTA
Listen to Daily Dose of Hope wherever you get your podcasts, or sign up to receive it by email. Download the hyperlinked reading plan at FindNewHope.com/soap. Join us May 6.