A man stopped at the bar in the Los Angeles airport to “relax” for a few minutes before catching his plane. Then, realizing he had lost track of time, the man raced out of the bar and quickly asked directions for the departing gate to Oakland. After hurrying through a maze of terminals, he handed the flight attendant his ticket and scurried onto the plane just as it was about to depart. After storing his briefcase, the weary traveler slumped into his seat and drifted off to sleep. When he awoke two hours later and examined his watch, the man wondered why the one hour flight was taking so long. To his horror, he discovered that instead of boarding the plane for Oakland, Calif., he was on his way to Auckland, New Zealand! Because someone had confused Auckland with Oakland, that man had to endure a 22 hour round trip flight.

The Name and Names of God

Humorous things have happened because someone mispronounced a name. There was a person who was flying from Australia to the Dulles airport in Washington, D.C. However, he got confused and ended up in Dallas, Texas. Most of us try to avoid this type of confusion, but others actually promote it! Perhaps you have heard of the “Lear Jet”? Well, the Lear family named their daughter Chanda Lear. Another person I know had a friend named Jerry Mellow who named his son Marshall. Can you imagine growing up with the name Marshall Mellow?

A Holy Name

While people’s names can be very funny or even fascinating, the holy name of God should never be taken irreverently. “Hallowed be thy name,” Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 6:9.

The Bible also teaches that the name of Jesus is to be respected far above every earthly name. “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11.

Israel had a great reverence for God’s name, perhaps because the Mosaic Law taught that those who disrespected God’s name must pay the ultimate price (Leviticus 24:16). The name of God was so sacred to the ancient Jewish scribes that they used a special pen to write His name as they reproduced the Scriptures. Each time they came to the name of God, they would set down the regular pen and pick up a pen that was used only for writing God’s name. After saying a prayer, they would write God’s name with the designated pen and then resume their work.

On the contrary, most of the secular world and even many within the church have no concept of how offensive it is to heaven when we employ the name of God carelessly. One author put it this way: “Angels are displeased and disgusted with the irreverent manner in which the name of God, the great Jehovah, is sometimes used in prayer. They mention that name with the greatest awe, even veiling their faces when they speak the name of God; the name of Christ also is sacred, and is spoken with the greatest reverence. And those who in their prayers use His name in a common and flippant manner have no sense of the exalted character of God, of Christ, or of heavenly things.”

Controversial Subject

The subject of God’s name remains one of the most confusing and disputed issues in Christianity. This is partly because God has many names in Scripture. Each serves as an important key in disclosing His doctrine, character, power, holiness and desired relationship with His people.

When the name “El” is used as a compound name, it is generally associated or used to show some power or attribute of God in relation to His creation or creatures.

Following is a general list of Elohistic names of God (as they appear in the original text):

Jesus also has many names in the Scriptures. Here are just a few of them below:

Son of Man Son of God Son of Righteousness
The Branch The Vine The Root of David
The Door The Way The Living Water
The Life The Bread The Lamb of God
The Truth The Word The Faithful Witness
The “I AM” The Amen The First and Last
Alpha & Omega King of Kings Good Shepherd

In addition, Isaiah 9:6 says of the Messiah, “And his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

What Is the “Correct” Name of God?

The word so often translated “LORD” in the Scriptures is a Biblical enigma. Nobody seems exactly sure how to pronounce that word. It is a combination of four Hebrew consonants, YHWH or JHVH, which is known as the Tetragrammaton. YHWH, meaning “self-existent or eternal one,” is God’s most common Hebrew name and is found about 6,823 times in the Authorized Version. Reverence for the divine name led to the practice of avoiding its use lest one should break the third commandment (Exodus 20:7). In time it was thought that the divine name was too holy to pronounce at all. Thus the practice arose of using the word “Adonai,” which means “Lord.” Many translations of the Bible followed this practice. In most English translations, YHWH is substituted with the word “LORD” in capital letters.

Over the course of centuries, the correct pronunciation of YHWH was lost. Jewish scholars in the Middle Ages developed a system of symbols placed beneath and beside the consonants to indicate the missing vowels. YHWH appeared with the vowels from “Adonai” to remind them to say “Adonai” when reading the text aloud. A Latinized form was pronounced “Jehovah,” but it was actually not a real word at all. Most scholars today believe that YHWH was probably pronounced Yahweh.

The Redemptive or Jehovahistic Names of God

Jehovah is the “I AM THAT I AM.” It signifies “to be,” or “I will be all that I will be.” It tells us that God is the Eternal, the Unchanged and Unchanging One, and He will be all that He is ever needed to be. These compound names are always linked with some need of man, and it is here that Jehovah will be all that His people ever need Him to be.

The following is a list of the most common redemptive names of God:

Each and all of these compound redemptive names show how Jehovah meets every need of man in redemptive power. The ultimate revelation of the redemptive names is to be found in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jehovah-Jehoshua-Christos – The LORD JESUS CHRIST or Jehovah’s Saviour Anointed. (Matthew 1:21; Acts 2:34-36; Ephesians 1:20-21; Luke 2:11, 26, 27)

Native Tongue

One problem is that most of us speak English, not Hebrew. Furthermore, we’re not sure what language we will speak in heaven. Therefore, it is certainly not a sin to say these divine names in your own native tongue.

Does the Lord say: “Let me see if you can say My name correctly. No, I am not going to answer that prayer because you did not say it right. You have a thick American accent!”?

Of course not. Earthly parents don’t become angry when their toddler says “Dada” instead of “Father.” A good father is excited that his child is starting to recognize him. Likewise, our Heavenly Father is primarily concerned with whether or not we know Him, not with the pronunciation of His name!

Name Dropping

Some people in Hollywood have tried to build their careers around the practice of “name dropping.” They refer often to some famous producer or actor, using their names freely as though they know them intimately, in the hope that they will gain prestige by association. But in reality, they may not know the person at all.

Believe it or not, some professed Christians have used the name of God in the same manner. Acts 19:13-17 tells the story of the seven sons of Sceva, who decided to use the name of Christ to cast out demons. Apparently these itinerate Jewish exorcists saw Paul’s gifts and thought, “Hey, Paul’s really good at this! Maybe we should adjust our means of casting out devils. We will use the name Paul uses!” At their next opportunity, they commanded the demons, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.” Verse 13.

The Bible says that “the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” Verses 15-16.

Those young Jewish exorcists tried “name dropping” with the devil. They knew the name of Jesus, and they even knew how to pronounce it. They just did not know the Lord! And unfortunately for them, even the devils recognized this fact.

Do you know Him? God’s name is not a magic word, but a revelation of His character. Paul understood God’s character and could cast out demons by the name of Jesus. They obeyed because of the authority and the power of Christ’s name.

God may have intentionally allowed the exact pronunciation of His name to be lost because He does not want us to use it like some people use the magic word “abracadabra.” The Lord did not allow the children of Israel to see His form when He spoke the Ten Commandments lest they should seek to make an idol (Deuteronomy 4:15-16). He concealed the burial place of Moses to prevent people from making it a shrine (Deuteronomy 34:6). Likewise, God does not want us to worship Him because He has a glorious form or a mystical name, but rather because of whom He is.

When Peter healed the beggar at the beautiful gate, he said, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” Acts 3:6. The miracle happened by virtue of the power, authority, and person of Jesus, not by the correct utterance of His name.

Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain

Using God’s name without a real knowledge of Him is part of the sin pointed out in the third commandment. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7. We often think of this commandment condemning profanity, and it surely does, but that is the least of the meanings. To take the name of the Lord in vain means to take it unto yourself and say that you are a child of God, but then live like the world.

A newspaper ad read: “Lost one dog. Brown, scruffy hair with several bald spots. Right leg broken due to auto accident. Left hip hurt. Right eye missing. Left ear bitten off in a dog fight. Answers to the name ‘Lucky’.” Obviously, that unfortunate little dog was “Lucky” in name only. Some Christians are like that! When we become Christians, we take the name of Jesus. Sadly, some people merely become “nominal” Christians, meaning “in name only.” These people are essentially taking the name of the Lord in vain.

History tells us that Alexander the Great had a soldier in his army who developed a bad reputation. When the fighting became severe, the young man would start to retreat while everyone around him fought on. The general summoned this soldier, whose first name was also Alexander, and said: “I hear how you’re behaving in battle. Young man, you either need to change your behaviour or change your good name! I don’t want the name Alexander to be associated with cowardice.”

When you say you’re a Christian, you have a responsibility to uplift the name of God in word and in deed. Jesus began the Lord’s prayer by saying, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed [holy] be thy name.” Matthew 6:9. If we take the name of the Lord in vain, we are making our Father’s good name look bad.

A New Name

In the Bible, every name had meaning. Some names described a person’s character, as in the story of Nabal (1 Samuel chapter 25). Some names were memorials of events that happened at the time of the child’s birth; one example is Ichabod (1 Samuel 4:21). Others were prophetic, pointing to a future event in the person’s life as with Jesus (Matthew 1:21).

Sometimes God would change someone’s name because of a change in the person’s heart. For example, Jacob’s name meant “supplanter.” Sure enough, he tricked his twin brother Esau out of his birthright and his blessing. But after Jacob wrestled with an angel and confessed his sin, God changed his name to Israel, meaning “Prince of God.”

God wants to do the same for us. He wants to take the bad name we have made for ourselves and give us the good name provided by His Son. Jesus tells us that everyone who is saved will have a new name. “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” Revelation 2:17.

John saw that the 144,000 in particular would have God’s name in their foreheads. “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” Revelation 14:1.

At the end, everybody will be associated with a certain name. One group is going to have the mark of the name of the beast in their foreheads (verses 9, 11). The other group is going to have their heavenly Father’s name written in their foreheads (verse 1).

Does this mean that they will have something tattooed between their eyes? No. In the Bible, the forehead represents the mind. In Deuteronomy 6:6-8, God tells the Israelites, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: ... And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.” The “frontlets between the eyes” were to symbolize that the God’s commands were “in thine heart,” or in the mind. The book of Hebrews quotes a prophecy in Isaiah, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.” Hebrews 10:16.

To have God’s name means having His law not just the rules of the Ten Commandments, but also the principles of His greatest law of love written in our hearts. The apostle John tells us, “God is love.” 1 John 4:8. That’s one of His names! It is also the best definition of who He is. This is the name God wants to give us. Like Jacob, we sometimes get a bad reputation because of our behaviour. God says that we can get a new name and a new reputation based on the merits of Christ.

Baptize in What Name?

There has been an increasing amount of discussion recently regarding the precise declaration to utter during one’s baptism. Do we baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as stated in Matthew 28:19, or in the “name of Jesus Christ” as in every example found in Scripture?

Acts 2:38 “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Acts 8:12 “But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”

Acts 8:16 “For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Acts 10:48 “And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.”

Acts 19:5 “When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Acts 22:16 “And now why tarriest you? arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”

Romans 6:3 “Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”

1 Corinthians 1:13 “Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” [Implied]

Galatians 3:27 “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

As you can see, no one is following what Christ supposedly instructed. In every verse we find people baptized into the name of our Lord Jesus Christ only. So why the apparent disobedience of the apostles?

The following dictionary explains, “The historical riddle is not solved by Matthew 28:19, since, according to a wide scholarly consensus, it is not an authentic saying of Jesus, not even an elaboration of a Jesus-saying on baptism.” — (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 1, 1992, p. 585). Further research revealed this to be the case as all Bible commentaries and dictionaries quoting on this issue claimed that it was added by the Church of Rome to support their Trinitarian formula. The quote below states the origin of this baptismal formula. See Mathew 28:19 added text for more quotes and evidence.

“The baptismal formula was changed from the name of Jesus Christ to the words Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by the Catholic Church in the second century.” — (The Catholic Encyclopedia, II, p. 263)

It must be remembered that we have no known manuscripts that were written in the first, second or third centuries. There is a gap of over three hundred years between when Matthew wrote his epistle and our earliest manuscript copies. (It also took over three hundred years for the Catholic Church to evolve into what the “early church fathers” wanted it to become.) This is what further research revealed.

Eusebius (c. 260—c. 340) was the Bishop of Caesarea and is known as “the Father of Church History.” He wrote prolifically and his most celebrated work is his Ecclesiastical History, a history of the Church from the Apostolic period until his own time. Eusebius quotes many verses in his writings including Matthew 28:19 several times. But he never quotes it as it appears in modern Bibles. He always finishes the verse with the words “in my name.”

The following example comes from an unaltered book of Matthew that could have been the original or the first copy of the original. Thus Eusebius informs us of the actual words Jesus spoke to his disciples in Matthew 28:19 which were, “With one word and voice He said to His disciples: “Go, and make disciples of all nations in My Name, teaching them to observe all things whatsover I have commanded you,” — (Proof of the Gospel by Eusebius, Book III, ch 6, 132 (a), p. 152)

Eusebius was present at the council of Nicea and was involved in the debates over the Godhead. If the manuscripts he had in front of him read “in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” he would never have quoted instead, “in my name.” So it appears that the earliest manuscripts read “in my name,” and the phrase was enlarged to reflect the orthodox position as Trinitarian influence spread.

So should Matthew 28:19 read “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
or
“baptizing them in My name.” And based on your conclusion, should Colossians 2:12 therefore read “Buried with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in baptism, wherein also you are risen with them through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised them from the dead.”
or
“Buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12.

It cannot be conclusively proven if Matthew 28:19 has been altered by the Catholic Church. But Scripture certainly strongly indicates that baptism should be in the name of Christ as all examples reveal.

The reason we are baptized in the name of Christ is because we are baptized “into” Jesus Christ. Baptism is a symbol of His death, burial and resurrection. Even if the trinity doctrine was true, only Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose again. When we are baptized in the name of Christ we become Christians. Paul argued this point in 1 Corinthians 1:13 when he said, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” The obvious answer to this rhetorical question is, “No. You were baptized in the name of Christ because He was crucified for you.”

Consider also “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;” Mark 16:16. So whose name do we call on to be saved when we are baptized? “arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Acts 22:16. And what is the ONLY name under heaven that we can be saved? “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.

I think most will agree that the weight of evidence is overwhelming that it should have read “in My name.”

A Name We Can Trust

God wants us to learn to recognize the true value of His name. Sure, this world offers us riches and pleasures and even a name for ourselves. In the end, though, all it will lead to is worthless shame and death. By contrast, the promises of God can be trusted. He has a good reputation. Jesus told us that “whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14.

On a final note, many are searching on the phrases, “the name of God is not mentioned in only one book of the bible. which one?” It is the book of Esther for those asking.

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