Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”… Genesis 32:29 (NKJV)

I love names. I keep a list of Bible names as I read His word… Asher, Crispus, Joanna, Namoi… When I was little, my parents had a name book which we looked at often, picking out names for our latest stuffed animals and plants.

When I got older, I picked out names for our children. I even chose angel names for the three babies we miscarried. I have yet to use all the names I have chosen over the years.

God likes names, too. He knows us all by name (2 Timothy 2:19). He calls us by name (John 10:3). When we get to heaven we will have a new name (Revelation 2:17). He will say to us, as He said to Mary Magdalene in the garden, “Mary.” And we will turn and look and embrace Him!

Did you know Jesus has numerous names, too? Foremost, His real name is Yeshua the Messiah, Son of Yehovah God. Somehow in the translation from Hebrew to Greek to English, His name became Jesus. I know I prefer when people call me Jenny, I wonder if our Jesus prefers to be called Yeshua?

Though they knew Him as Yeshua, after a stormy night at sea, even the disciples asked the very question upon many hearts…

…“Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”  Mark 4:41 (NKJV)

And Job queried a similar question…

Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?… Job 21:15 (NKJV)

Jesus taught His disciples that He and the Father are One.  To know Him is to know the Father.  And so their names are One.  We can include all the Father’s Names for our Lord as we pray. Let’s look at a few today…

…Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Mark 12:29 (NKJV)

El Elohe Israel:  In Genesis there is a story of two brothers, Jacob and Esau.  Esau was the elder, but Jacob stole his birthright and blessing.  Esau was so angry that Jacob ran away for 20 years.  You can imagine how worried Jacob must have been when he returned home. Yet the Lord had already put peace into Esau’s heart, and their reunion was one of reconciliation.  With joy and relief flooding his heart, Jacob went to Shechem, setting up an altar there and calling it El Elhohe Israel, which means, “God, the God of Israel, the Mighty One.”   (Read Genesis 33)

Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.  Genesis 33:20 (NKJV). 

The-God-Who-Sees-Me: Going further back in time, do you remember when Abraham and Sarah hadn’t had a baby yet? Sarah gave her made Hagar to Abraham. Hagar bore Abraham a son named Ishmael. Then Hagar showed contempt toward Sarah, so Sarah sent Hagar far away. The Lord found Hagar out in the wilderness and comforted her. He told her to return to Sarah and everything would be okay. He would bless Ishmael, too. Hagar called the Lord, “The-God-Who-Sees-Me.” (Read Genesis 16)

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”  Genesis 16:13 (NKJV)

Yehovah Yirah, The-Lord-Will-Provide: Just a few chapters after Hagar in Genesis, we find Abraham taking his promised son Isaac up on a mountain to sacrifice.  Isaac, wise beyond his years, asked his father, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham replied, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”  And God did provide the lamb, a foretelling of the day He would provide His Only begotten Son Jesus, the spotless Lamb, as the sacrifice for our sins.  (Read Genesis 22)

And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”  Genesis 22:14 (NKJV)

The Great I AM:  The Israelites had been in Egypt for over 400 years, enduring great hardships and slavery.  They cried out to the God of their fathers and He heard their cries. The Lord prepared His servant Moses and called to him from a burning bush.  Moses had quite the discussion, sure that he was not the one for the job.  Finally, Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites, Whom should I say sent me?”  The Lord’s replied, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” (Read Exodus 3).     

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”  Exodus 3:14 (NKJV)

Yehovah Rapha, Our Healing God: The Israelites had just escaped from Egypt, the Lord had parted the Red Sea and they walked through on dry ground.  Moses was leading them on through the desert, but there was a problem — no water!  Finally, after three days, they found water, but it was bitter. What could they do?  The Lord showed Moses a tree and he cast it into the waters to make them sweet, proving that the Lord could heal waters as well as His people.  Yehovah Rapha, Our Healing God, leads us to our final Name for today.  (Read Exodus 15:22-27).

“If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”  Exodus 15:26 (NKJV)

Savior, Messiah:  It’s so interesting that when Jesus, our healing God, healed people in the New Testament, He often said to them first, “Daughter, your sins are forgiven you.”  The gift of forgiveness and healing often went hand in hand.  Just as Jesus saves us from our sins, He heals our diseases.  And just as Moses lifted up a serpent in the wilderness, so those who had snake bites could look up at it and be healed, Jesus was lifted up on a cross, so that whoever looks to Him will be saved, too.  (Read Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:14-17).

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:14-15 (NKJV)

Dear Ladies, Worship the King of kings in all holiness.  He is the Lion and the Lamb, the Fire and the Water, the Locust and the Honey, the Beginning and the End, our Judge and our Redeemer.  Jesus is our Everything!  As you face the battles ahead, march forth, victoriously exalting The GREAT I AM, trusting in His goodness. For someday soon, Jesus is coming on the clouds in glory to claim His own.

Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Mark 14:62

Today’s TEACUPP:  Select one of the Bible stories above to read for further study. When you exalt our Lord today, try using some of these other names to praise Him.  Perhaps there is one name that is especially important to you at this time in your life (i.e. Yehovah Rapha for healing). Look for other names for our Lord when you read your Bible. God bless you, dear one, as you exalt His Name.  The Father is waiting to hear from you!

P.S. For another wonderful NAME, read Exodus 17:8-16.

…I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob… Mark 12:26 (NKJV)

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases.  Psalm 103:2-3 (NKJV)

Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory. Psalm 24:7-10 (NKJV)

 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let such as love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified! Psalm 40:16 (NKJV)

 The God who reigns on high, the great archangels sing, and “Holy, holy, holy,” cry, “Almighty King!” Who was and is the same, and ever more shall be, Yehovah, Father, Great I AM, we worship Thee.

(The God of Abraham Praise by Thomas Olivers, 1770, verse 3, based on Jewish Doxology)

Scripture from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982