VARIOUS NAMES OF GOD
[p. 425] VARIOUS NAMES OF GOD
In undertaking to say a word about the Father I feel that I have to own to a very meagre apprehension of what the name signifies; but I wish that our hearts should be directed to it, in order that we might prove something of the reality of what is spoken of in the passage in chapter 14 of this gospel; that is, that the Father comes to us: He comes to those who, as loving the Lord, keep His word. The Father and the Son come to us, and make their abode with us. In what I shall have to say, however, I shall dwell largely on names under which God revealed Himself previously, with the hope that it may be seen that all the goodness and blessedness of these names are necessarily included in the name He takes in relation to Christians.
What I would say at the outset is that whatever light it may please God to vouchsafe to His people, it does not in any wise detract from light previously furnished. It rather enhances light previously given, and this is particularly seen in the names which it has pleased God, from time to time, to take with His people. God said to Abraham, “I am the Almighty God”, (Genesis 17: 1) and later on, speaking to Moses, He revealed Himself in a new name, “Jehovah”. Now the name “Jehovah” really amplifies, or gives fulness to, the name of Almighty. In other words, I might say that in taking the name of Jehovah with His people, God proves that He is almighty, for the faithful fulfilment of His engagements with Abraham (and this is what “Jehovah” means) necessitated the power of God. The fulfilment of “the promises made to the fathers” (Romans 15: 8) involves the resurrection of Christ, and it is only in this that the almighty power of God is seen. It is a very wonderful thing for us to get into our souls an understanding [p. 426] of the Almighty God. It is not that any one of us, any finite person, can compass almightiness. We are accustomed to speak of Almighty God: it is a very familiar phrase, but no finite being can compass almightiness. Even the creation of the physical universe is beyond man, and it in itself is finite. There are those who understand (or think they do), something about the universe, but no one can give you an account of how it has been brought into existence. The eternal power and divinity of God are demonstrated, it is true, in the things that are made, but God speaks about His being almighty at a subsequent date to that of the creation. Now what I would say is that you do not require to compass almightiness; it is not necessary, but the knowledge that it exists in God is the solution to all difficulties that may arise from obstacles which appear in your way, and from obstacles which might seem to prevent the accomplishment of divine counsels. The comfort that lies in the almightiness of God is that there is no power that can stand in His way. It is a wonderful thing, as I said, to know that God is almighty, and every believer needs to know it. It is a fundamental element of the knowledge of God. If He is not almighty, there is a possibility of defeat; but if God is almighty there is no possibility of defeat in the heavens or in the earth. Knowing this, the Christian is at perfect rest, for he, thereby, is in the secret that God has ability to bring to pass all His pleasure. Like Abraham, we may have individual difficulties, but the Almighty God can cope with these whatever they may be. Abraham wanted an heir; God promised him an heir; and Abraham believed that God was able to do what He promised. He was able, for Isaac was born of those who were as good as dead. Then on the other hand, we see what is in God’s mind, and we are in sympathy with Him as to all being effectuated. God would make [p. 427] known what is in His mind; He took Moses up into the mount and communed with him for forty days, and gave to him a pattern of what He intended to be constructed as to His dwelling-place. It was a most wonderful thing for Moses to be taken into divine confidence in this way, and there cannot he any doubt that he was in full sympathy with the Lord in the carrying out of His thoughts. The tabernacle represented a system of things in which God would dwell and shine out; the Spirit enables us to understand all; and we have the comfort of knowing, as in the light of the resurrection of Christ, that He is “able” to bring all to pass. The almightiness of God involves resurrection from the dead, and this is the light in which all the patriarchs knew Him. It was not a question of resting on statements of Scripture with these honoured men (they did not have the Scriptures), God appeared to them as almighty: they had to do with Him in their souls, and thus they knew Him in this light, hence, although they were aware that they had to die, the knowledge of God they possessed would enable them to expect that He would raise them again. He was their God, and “He is not a God of the dead, but of the living”. Matthew 22: 32. We may consider Joseph as an illustration of their faith. He knew that he was going to die and his exercise was that his bones should be in the right place. He desired that they should be buried in Canaan. Why in Canaan? Egypt was an excellent burying-ground; and at that time there was greater skill there for burying, I suppose, than in any other country. Joseph could have had an excellent tomb there. He would doubtless fare with the Pharaohs in this respect. But no; Abraham had bought a burying-ground in Canaan, and there he would be buried.
God had promised Canaan to Abraham and if God were the Almighty God, and they knew that they [p. 428] were going to die, they naturally expected that God would act for them according to the principle of almightiness. His almightiness did not refer to Egypt, but to Canaan, hence Joseph’s request as to his bones. Egypt may be taken to represent the burying-ground of the wicked: there is much there that speaks of the dead. The wicked dead shall be raised, but what is demonstrated in this is not exactly the almighty power of God, although He raises them. The almightiness of God speaks of His ability to effectuate His counsels of blessing. The fathers knew they had to die, but the God who had become their God was almighty (He was stronger than death), hence their part in the blessing, when introduced, was ensured. Canaan was the promised land: here the blessing would he enjoyed (see Psalm 133), so the bones of believers lie there. Joseph’s were carried forty years in the wilderness; although dead, they were a living testimony to the faith of Joseph, and as such a rebuke to the unbelief which marked the camp of Israel.
With reference to Jehovah, the new name God took with Israel, God stating that He was almighty did not involve any engagement, but He made a covenant with Abraham, and in this covenant He engaged Himself to accomplish certain things for Abraham and for Abraham’s seed. This is a different matter entirely. It is one thing to state certain things in regard to yourself, and it is another thing to make an engagement with another. To make an engagement with another involves that in order to vindicate yourself, you must fulfil your engagement. That is what comes out in Exodus 6. Jehovah speaks to Moses, and says He had made Himself known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the Almighty God; but now He would take a new name. He says, “My name, Jehovah”. Exodus 6: 3. He would make Himself known to Moses and to the children of Israel [p. 429] by His new name; and their deliverance from Egypt, and introduction into Canaan, were wrapped up in it. “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm, and with great judgments: and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob and I will give it you for an heritage I am the Lord”, Exodus 6: 6 - 8. It was, as it were, God saying, “I am here to make good”. It is a wonderful thing that it pleased God to condescend of His own accord to enter into covenant with man, and then to see Him coming down to make good what He promised. The latter is what the early chapters in Exodus present to us. God came down to make good His engagement with the people, and that is what the name “Jehovah” represented. It is God coming down to earth voluntarily in Christ, in faithfulness, to fulfil His engagements. That is what Jehovah means. Christians require to be established in the truth of God’s faithfulness. The apostle had this before him in writing the second epistle to the Corinthians. God was true, and this was demonstrated in the fact that whatever promises of His there were, they were yea and amen in Christ, The Son of God, Jesus Christ, is the yea, hence God is faithful. But as I said before, this involves His power. There is really little use in engaging yourself to accomplish a certain thing unless you have the ability to do it, and so the effectuation of the promises of God demonstrates His power, as is now seen in Christ. Israel celebrated this in their song — Exodus 15. The power of [p. 430] Jehovah was manifest in the destruction of the Egyptians and in the deliverance of the people from their hand then it goes right on to Canaan. Jehovah would bring them in and establish them in the sanctuary, which His hands had established.
Now I hope you have clearly before you the thought of the almightiness of God, and the faithfulness of God. It is with such a God that we have to do. But there is another feature of the revelation of God to Israel that I must dwell upon before passing on to the New Testament. It is mercy. This comes out in Exodus 33. Israel had broken down completely: their hearts had turned aside to idolatry, and they made the calf of gold, and said, “These be thy gods, O Israel, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt”. Exodus 32: 8. Moses had been on the mount with God to receive the law and the pattern of the tabernacle, and he returned to the camp to find this sorrowful state of things, The very gold which God had requested to be given to Him as a heave-offering, by the people for the construction of the tabernacle, had already been devoted to idolatry! We may say that the very first actual giving of the people of Israel was for the purpose of idolatry. I do not know of anything more sorrowful. This refers to the affections of the saints. The effect of the Spirit’s work in us is to produce response to God — we become concerned as to His dwelling-place. God claims the affections of His people, but the offering would be as each one gave “willingly with his heart”.
The state of things which Moses found in the camp of Israel on coming down from the mount corresponds fully to the present condition of Christendom; indeed, the apostle alludes directly to this in 1 Corinthians 10: 7 he says, “Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play”. It would not, perhaps, be readily admitted, but idolatry [p. 431] prevails in that which has the responsibility of being the assembly; and many who really belong to Christ have, alas! their part in this. It is a question of what is engaging the affections of people: the apostle does not mention the golden calf; he quotes, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play”. 1 Corinthians 10: 7. They were enjoying themselves in the absence of Moses, the mediator. They said, “As for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him”. Exodus 32: 23. The absence of him through whom the deliverance of the people had been effected was not felt, and this made room for the idolatrous conduct that followed. At the beginning, when in the bloom of first love, the church felt the absence of Christ, but this soon gave place to forgetfulness — forgetfulness in an adulterous affiliation with the world, which resulted in her who glorified herself and lived deliciously, saying, “I sit a queen and am no widow and shall see no sorrow”. Revelation 18: 7. Enjoyment in connection with this state of things is idolatry. Moses heard the noise of singing, but the noise of war in such a camp would have been preferable; there was war immediately, for Moses directed that each one who was on the Lord’s side should consecrate himself and slay his brother, and three thousand were slain by the sons of Levi. It was useless to introduce the pattern of the tabernacle into such a scene: as I said, that which God had expected to be given for its construction had already been devoted to idolatry; and besides, there could be no connection whatever between Jehovah’s dwelling-place and an idolatrous camp. Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp. This was the act of a man who had a deep sense of what is due to God when evil is working among His people — an act which the Lord owned fully when the cloudy pillar descended and He talked with Moses at the tabernacle door.
[p. 432] Now, idolatry coming into the camp necessitated the disclosure of a new attribute in God namely, sovereign mercy. He had spoken of His power to Abraham, and of His faithfulness to Moses, but neither of these could be effective in meeting the present state of the people. God had attested both of these attributes by the deliverance of the people from Egypt, and they, notwithstanding this, had utterly broken down; it is evident, therefore, that a new principle must be introduced and, blessed be God! it was there to be introduced. This was mercy. God proclaims His name to Moses “I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy”, Exodus 33: 19. Israel had forfeited every claim upon Jehovah by their terrible sin, and so all was over on the ground of the covenant with Abraham: God says to Moses, “Let me alone, that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation”. Exodus 32: 10. He could make a great nation of Moses, but this would be but a reattestation of His almightiness; it would involve no new feature in His nature: but through the intercession of the mediator He retires into His sovereign right of mercy. I cannot dwell further upon it: I only wish to indicate how God came out step by step in the revelation of Himself. The one principle that comes out here is sovereign mercy, and it is that upon which the blessing of the Gentile rests. God is the God of the Gentiles as of the Jews, and He will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy. That is the ground upon which we stand. God claims the right to have mercy on whom He will, and who can question this right of His? How we can all thank God for His mercy! “According to his mercy he saved us”, as it is said, “by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost”. Titus 3: 5.
[p. 433] Now when we come to the New Testament it is not simply God taking certain names with His creatures, but a Man is seen here on earth in the blessed relationship of the Son with the Father. The Son, a divine Person, is here as Revealer, and so all that God is is declared. The Lord says, “I have declared unto them thy name”, John 17: 26. This was more than God saying He was so and so: what the name Father involves was demonstrated livingly before the eyes of the disciples by One in the infinite enjoyment of it. They saw the Lord as “an only-begotten with a father” John 1: 18; and more, they witnessed in His words and works all the blessed significance of that name. He says, “I have not spoken from myself, but the Father who has sent me has himself given me commandment what I should say and what I should speak, and I know that his commandment is life eternal; what therefore I speak, as the Father hath said to me, so I speak” John 12: 49,50. The gift of eternal life attests the Father’s name — it was His commandment. The great testimony in John 3 is to God’s love, and this is proved by the gift of His Son to the end that the believer should not perish, but have eternal life. In John 17, the Father gives authority to the Son, that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father gave Him. If the Son is here we may look for full testimony as to God’s nature. Christ going into death proves that God is love, but we must not stop there; we should go on to what is in view, that is eternal life. Chapter 4 is on the same line; the Lord says to the woman, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”. John 4: 10. God was being fully made known: the presence of the Son as a lonely Stranger, asking from a sinful woman a drink of water, was a proof of this. He was there in order to bring God to her poor heart;
[p. 434] and did she but know this, and who He was (God Himself), who stooped so low as to ask from her, she would have asked from Him. Knowledge of the divine gift and of Him who stooped so low in order to make it available, dispels all fear from the heart and inspires confidence in the love there expressed, hence we ask. The gospel rightly presented brings God to the heart of man, and this is what we find here. John had his own peculiar way of setting forth the gospel, but he does set it forth. For him it is a question of divine Persons as such, acting “the Father has sent the Son as Saviour of the world”. 1 John 4: 14. The Father is not demanding, it is all gift. It were well if souls saw this clearly: when believers do see it, they ask. God’s answer to our asking will be according to His gift. The Father knows how to give “good gifts”, and His gift is the Holy Spirit — He gives “the Holy Spirit to those that ask him”. Luke 11: 13† It is wonderful that the blessed Spirit of God may be had for the asking. In John 4 the Lord is bringing God forward: He is giving. This poor woman had no claim on “Jehovah”, for God had made no promise to the Samaritans; but God was giving, and gift does not refer to faithfulness, but to love. The gift was for man as such, and so for this poor Samaritan. The Lord says, “thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have given thee living water”. John 4: 10. The Son of God has been given for us, but the Spirit of God is given to us. The living water refers to the Spirit. There are many believers who have not the Spirit, and I will tell you why: they have not asked for Him. Many get the Spirit without asking for Him; but then He is to be received for the asking, and this is wonderful. God delights to give to all, but especially to those who ask; and the true mark of a man who has light as to God is that he asks — he prays. We see this in Saul of Tarsus: the Lord encouraged
†See note on page 436.
Ananias to go to him, saying, “Behold, he is praying”. Acts 9: 11. We are not told what he was praying for, but what he was to receive is striking, — he was to receive the Holy Ghost. The message of Ananias to Saul was precious gospel to him! The gift of the Spirit is especially connected with the Father. The Lord received Him from the Father and shed Him forth.
But although possession of the Spirit attests to us the nature of God’s gift, we must not content ourselves with the knowledge that we have received it: the Spirit will not engage us with Himself alone; He will work in our affections so as to direct them to the blessed source whence He came — the Father and the Son. We must not stop short of the full thought of God for us, which is eternal life; and this is defined to be the knowledge of the Father and the Son whom He had sent. It is to be feared that the highest privileges which are accorded to us are not appreciated, nor sought after. There can be nothing higher than being introduced into the circle of divine affections. In the passage I read the Lord says, “That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them”. John 17: 26. The Father’s name is declared to us so that His love might be in us: this latter is by the Spirit; and if the Father’s love is in our hearts, there is a place in our hearts for the Son. Many Christians are content with light and certain territory possessed, such as a “south land”. Achsah, Caleb’s daughter, describes a different class. She had a south land, but still wanted the blessing. She says to her father, “Give me a blessing;” “give me also springs of water”. Joshua 15: 19. Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. The upper springs I take to be the Father and the Son, and the nether springs would be the Spirit in the believer. These springs involve eternal life. Eternal life is God’s thought for man (the “blessing”), but the Lord does not stop with [p. 436] this in His instructions to the Samaritan woman. The woman introduced the subject of worship, which afforded the Lord an opportunity to present God in this connection. God was a Spirit, and the hour was come when He should be worshipped according to His blessed nature. The “true worshippers” were now appearing who should worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father sought such. God was being revealed in Jesus according to the affections of His heart, and these affections demanded a response in those upon whom they were lavished. The Father seeks worshippers. He gives the Spirit and eternal life and seeks worshippers.
May we all know God as thus revealed in Christ, and respond more fully to His blessed desires!
Note. —— We have to note that Luke 11: 1 - 13 is instruction in regard to prayer, and what accrues to us through it. The Holy Spirit is mentioned by the Lord as the Father’s characteristic gift ... to those who ask Him. It is not a question of how the Spirit is given, or when, but that the Father gives such a gift to those who pray. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost cannot render this inapplicable to the present time, for God is still ready to give the Spirit to men on the ground of faith. We learn from Acts 8 and 19, and from practical observation, that souls may believe on Christ in this dispensation and yet not have the Spirit, hence as this wonderful Gift is available it is quite right, if one has it not, to ask for the Holy Ghost. Scripture teaches that the Holy Ghost is given to those who believe in Christ, and it also teaches that He is given to those who ask for Him. These two things do not conflict with each other.
Pages 437 to 474 “Redemption and Life, New York, 1907” (Volume 4).