The Name Of Love

“Our waiting on God will depend greatly on our faith of what He is.” –Andrew Murray

 God introduces Himself as YHWH; the “I Am”. This is such a massive truth. God Is! He is the God who is real. He is the God who is faithful. He is! Ultimately, He is the God who wants to be known. If we truly want to know the God Who Is, we need to understand a little clearer who it is that we’re referring to.

 In a sense, we should need no introduction to our Creator, as we have been created with some link to Him — whether it be a longing, curiosity, or a piece of us created like Him. But in this world full of conflicting images — some ancient, some contemporary, some being used to sell something — we need a touch-stone or something of a calling card to illuminate our own conception of who He is, as well as to be sure that we’re even knocking at the right door!

“We have forgotten that God is a Person and, as such, can be known as any person can.” — A.W. Tozer

My own journey toward deeper experience of the God Who Is has been enriched, and directed in some pretty dark places, since I began searching out the Names of God in the ancient Hebrew Scriptures. In the Hebrew scriptures God is often referred to with the name Elohim, which means: “The God Who Dwells Among Himself In Unity.”

 Elohim is the name of God used in the Shema, the central statement of the Jewish faith. “It is generally agreed that Elohim is a plural noun, having the plural ending ‘im'” writes Rabbi and Hebrew scholar Arnold Fruchtenbaum. Even while God is One God, when the plural nature of the name Elohim is understood it is easy to understand why there are then many more names for God found in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Eldad, “The God Of Love.” Jehovah Shammah, “The Lord Who Is Here.” El-yacaph, “God The Gatherer.” Eliyphal, “God Of Judgement.” Eliyezer, “God Of Help.” Jehovah-rophe, “The Lord Who Heals.” The literal meaning of El-shaddai is “God The Many-Breasted One,” which speaks of His tender care, and points up the truth that any gender designation of God is at least incomplete.

 “Let all our employment be to know God: the more one knows Him, the more one desires to know Him.” –Brother Lawrence

There are many more names of God, though even a partial listing like this begins to reveal a multifaceted personality Who is the One God Elohim, Who has many attributes by which we may come to know Him.

Use the names and meanings listed here to address God in your time with Him. Also use personal titles like, My Creator, and God The Lover Of My Soul. God loves for us to use His names. It makes our time together more personal. When you use the names of God in prayer, the universe will know Who you’re talking to.

“How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers… He waits to be wanted.” –A.W. Tozer