Who is God - Part III

View Over Crystal Lake, C.V. Lacroix

Dear God seekers,

In my three-part series, Who is God, I've been explaining from Scripture who God actually is, and I hope to continue doing so in this present article. Let's begin with some of the Hebrew names of God:

Elohiym

This is the Hebrew word, 'ĕlôhı̂ym (el-o-heem'), meaning "gods" (plural) in the ordinary sense, which is used for the one, true, Supreme God. This word occurs 2,606 in the Bible, and one of the most famous verses is Genesis 1:27, proving that it is a plural word for God, thus revealing God's triune nature:

"Then God (Elohiym) said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." (Gen 1:26-27)

God is the One in whose image and likeness we are made.

El Shaddai

The Hebrew expression, El Shaddai (Ēl Šaddāy) or just Shaddai is one of the names of the God of Israel. El Shaddai is usually translated into English as God Almighty. It means "the All-sufficient One", which indicates that He is not dependent upon anyone for anything, and that He is sovereign over all. 

One of the most famous and beautiful verses where this name for God is used is in the opening verse of Psalm 91, where it is translated as "Almighty":

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." (Psa 91:1)

El Elyon

This Hebrew word ‛elyôn (el-yone') means lofty, Supreme, upper most, or Most High, and it is used of the Most High God 28 times throughout Scripture, as in Psalm 91:1 quoted above, where it is translated "Most High". 

Another verse where this occurs is in Genesis 14:22, where it says, "But Abram said to the king of Sodom, 'With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.'" 

El Roi

This Hebrew expression comes from two words, El, meaning God, and Roiy meaning One who sees. When the two words are combined together, they mean God Who Sees. This name is found in the account of Hagar by the spring in the desert, when she ran away from her mistress, Sarah.

"She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: 'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me.' That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered." (Gen 16:13-14).

Râ'âh (raw-aw') is another Hebrew word, which is translated "sees" in the bolded part of that same verse 13 above. So the bolded expression above literally means El Roi sees me, or The Seeing God sees me.

We are told in many other places in Scripture that God sees us. For example, here are just a few:

"Though the LORD is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees (Hebrew, râ'âh) them from afar." (Psa 138:6)

"For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths." (Pro 5:21)

"The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good." (Pro 15:3)

"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (1Pe 3:12) 

Other verses tell us that we must do what is right in the eyes of the Lord and not do evil in His eyes, and that we can also find favor in the Lord's eyes. For He is always watching, and He sees everything, even the thoughts and motives of our hearts.

El Olam

The meaning of this Hebrew name is "Everlasting God". It comes from the Hebrew word ‛ôlâm (o-lawm'), meaning "time out of mind (past or future), vanishing point, forever, everlasting, eternal, or perpetual." The very first time this name appears in Scripture is in Genesis where it says:

"Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Eternal God." (Gen 21:33)

Perhaps the following verse in Psalm 90, which is a prayer of Moses, best describes the meaning of this name of God:

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting (Hebrew, olam) to everlasting (Hebrew, olam) you are God (Hebrew, El)." (Psa 90:1-2). From everlasting (past) to everlasting (future), He is God.

El Gibbor

This Hebrew name for God comes from the word Gibbor, which means "powerful; by implication warrior, tyrant: - champion, chief, giant, man, mighty (man, one), strong (man), valiant man." Therefore El Gibbor can be translated Mighty God, Warrior God, or Giant God. One verse of Scripture where this name is found is in Isaiah where it says:

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isa 9:6)

Adonai
This Hebrew word meaning "Lord" is found 459 times in Scripture. One of my favorites is this verse in Isaiah that says:

"He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken." (Isa 25:8).

This word tells us that God is Master, or Ruler, possessing supreme power and authority. 

Yehova

Now let's look at some of God's names based on the name He called Himself, when Moses asked Him. He used the sacred name YHWH, which is the tetragrammaton that Jews do not pronounce. But when we add vowels to it, we get the name Yehova, meaning self-existent One. In Scripture, it is often translated into English as LORD.

Yehova Rapha

The Hebrew word râphâ' or râphâh (raw-faw') means to cure, heal, make whole, physician. So Yehova Rapha means the Lord your Healer.

"He said, 'If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.' " (Exo 15:26)

Yehova Rapha, the Lord your Healer, has the power to heal physically (2 Ki 5:10), emotionally (Ps 34:18), mentally (Dan 4:34), and spiritually (Ps 103:2–3).

Yehova Rohi

This name comes from the Hebrew word rohi (or "ro'i" or "ro'eh") for Shepherd. Yehova Rohi means the Lord is my Shepherd. 

King David, who was a shepherd himself, wrote in Psalm 23, "The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing." (Psa 23:1).

For more on this, please see The Lord, Our Shepherd.

Yehova Jireh

This name comes from the Hebrew word jireh, meaning to “see, to inspect, the perceive, to provide, to consider.” So Yehovah Jireh means the Lord my Provider. One verse where this is found is in the account of Abraham offering up Isaac on the altar to God in obedience, when the Lord provided a ram to sacrifice on the altar instead of his only son.

"So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.'" (Gen 22:14)

Yehova Nissi

This comes from the Hebrew word nês (nace), meaning "a flag; signal; banner, pole, sail, sign, or standard." So Jehova Nissi means the Lord my Banner. This is found in the account of the battle of the Israelites against the Amalekites. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, as if the Lord was a banner between his hands, but when he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.

Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner." (Exo 17:15)

Yehova Shalom

This comes from the Hebrew word shalom, meaning peace and health. So Yehova Shalom means the Lord is my Peace or simply the Lord is Peace. This is found in the account of Gideon seeing the angel of the Lord.

"When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, 'Alas, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!' But the LORD said to him, 'Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.' So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites." (Jdg 6:22-24)

God is the One to Be Feared

This comes from a passage in Psalm 76, where it says:

"It is You alone Who are to be feared. Who can stand before You when You are angry?" (Psa 76:7).

There is a Hebrew word "yaré" in this verse that can be translated as "awesome" or "feared".

It also says in that same Psalm, "He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth." (Psa 76:12).

And the King James Version of that verse says He is terrible to the kings of the earth. So we could say that He is the Terrible One. This is consistent with all of Scripture, in which we are told to fear the Lord, and it is what Jesus taught us:

"But I will show you Whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him." (Luk 12:5)

God is Life

God is life. Jesus said:

"For as the Father has life in Himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in Himself." (Joh 5:26)

God Rewards Those Who Diligently Seek Him

We are taught by the apostle in his epistle to the Hebrews that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. It says:

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." (Heb 11:6)

Putting it All Together

To sum it all up in closing, God is Elohiym, the Supreme God. He is El Shaddai, God Almighty. "the All-sufficient One". He is El Elyon, God Most High. He is El Roi, the God who sees. He is El Olam, the Everlasting God. He is El Gibbor, Mighty God. He is Adonai, Master, or Ruler, possessing supreme power and authority. He is Yehova Rapha, the Lord your Healer. He is Yehova Rohi, the LORD is my shepherd. He is Yehova Jireh, the LORD Will Provide. He is Yehova Nissi, the Lord my Banner. He is Yehova Shalom, he LORD Is Peace. God is the One to Be Feared; He is the Terrible One. God is Life and He rewards those who diligently seek Him.

I hope that this series has edified you and brought you a lot of encouragement in your faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ, and your walk with Him.

The first two parts of this series are Who is God? and Who is God? - Part II.

Attribution notice:  Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. copyright Zondervan, used by permission. The "View Over Crystal Lake" painting by my seventeen-year old daughter, C.V. Lacroix. You can find more of her lovely artwork at A Brush with Life.

Author's note: You are invited to read Who is God?, Who is God? - Part II, The Loving God Who Bids Us to Come, The Bodily Form of God the Father, Is Jesus God?, God is an Awesome God, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, The Cost of Discipleship, and Ask for the Ancient Paths. You may access the Main Directory for this Seeking the Lord blog for more articles like this, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.