I love it when you come to understand something that you never did before. For me, this morning was one of those times:
I never really understood why, in the Old Testament, the Israelites often found it fitting to give a place, or even God, a new name. It always seemed to come out of nowhere, and thus the new name didn’t appear to have any connection with what was going on. It really came off as arbitrary to me.
So this morning, I was reading through Experiencing God, the devotional by Henry Blackaby, and it was talking about this issue. But Henry gave some great context to the whole name game. He narrowed it down to this: it’s all about a relationship. And that may seem extremely obvious, or overplayed, for some of us, but it’s true. God created us for a relationship with Himself.
So, what does a relationship consist of?
Interaction, talking, hanging out, etc. Those are pretty much the basics, right?
Well, what does this have to do with names? Everything.
See, when someone was experiencing God, or was in a relationship with Him, there would be times when God would reveal Himself and/or purpose to someone, and at times, these revelations were very monumental for this person, life changing even. If it was, the person might think it was a good idea to set up an altar and rename the location as a reminder. Or, they may even goes as far as calling God a new name.
Blackaby uses Exodus 17:8-15 to show us what he means:
8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”
10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.
Blackaby points out that there are many names given to God throughout the Bible. Here are some of the many he lists:
God who sees me (Genesis 16:13-14)
God Almighty (Genesis 17:1)
A consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24)
My salvation (Exodus 15:2)
The good shepherd (John 10:11)
Our help (Psalm 33:20)
Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6)
Comforter in sorrow (Jeremiah 8:18)
The bread of life (John 6:35)
I like these questions from Blackaby:
Describe a time when you experienced God working in your life. What name could you use to describe God for that situation?
(Taken largely from Experiencing God, Youth Edition by Henry Blackaby, pages 55-57)