There are many names for Jesus, because one name cannot capture the countless facets of who he is— Savior, Emmanuel, Lamb of God, Bread of Life, Alpha and Omega, Messiah. The list can continue as we consider the incomprehensible majesty of Jesus Christ. We are less conversant with the names for God the Father, so many of us received an education from our pastor in the past weeks about a name we don’t know so well—Elohim.
Pastor Paul compared two names of God the Father and explained the different emphasis of God’s character that is reflected in them. Yahweh is God’s personal name, used when scripture speaks of God having a relationship with his people. When God is personally involved with his children, he is referred to as Yahweh. In English Bibles, Yahweh is written in all capital letters as LORD. (The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, which in ancient times had no vowels, so Yahweh was YHWH. Early scholars rewrote those four letters as “Jehovah,” but in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Biblical scholars began to use Yahweh as the personal name of God.)
Elohim, a name not so familiar to us, was used to describe God as distant, awesome, and powerful—the One who created all things, the Holy One. He is majestic and beyond our comprehension, but wholly worthy of our worship and praise God Almighty!
In an age when the name of God is used carelessly, sometimes with derision, it is wise to reflect on the words of the Ten Commandments, which we have been reading in recent weeks in The Story: “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”
Whatever name we use for God, we remember that he is Elohim, that he is holy, the creator, unapproachable in his majesty. Yet he is also— paradoxically—the loving Father who is with us in all of our life. He alone is worthy of our praise and our worship—and the careful use of his name!