Binary Names
Another group of names describes specific relationships with our Abba Father that should always be in our hearts. Many of us can name every team in the NFL, NBA, and MLB; there is no excuse for not knowing the primary names of our Abba Father and their context.
The owners invented Fantasy Football to maximize a fan’s ability to engage with pro football, but we are actually in the game with the Scripture. But that does not mean winning a trivia game; it means engaging in the meanings. So suit up and put these names on our hearts with their full context.
I am considering having a church day where we all show up with that stripe of black grease under our eyes that some football and baseball players apply. That would remind everyone we are in the game, not just spectators. In case you do not know, the black stripe stops the light glare reflecting off sweaty cheekbones, which impairs their vision when looking for the ball against the sky or lights. How much glare in our vision keeps us from seeing our Abba Father clearly?
There are nine primary names coupled with Yahweh. Interestingly, they are commonly referred to as Yahweh-XXXX because Yahweh seems more like a real name in English but seldom do believers know the history. There is even more comfort in knowing how important the personal name is to Yahweh in our relationship with him.
Yahweh-Rapha
“Yahweh will heal.” This name is probably best known because we pray for healing so often. It comes from Exodus 15:26 NKJV, “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 (Yahweh-Rapha).”
Please notice the conditions included with the name in v15:26. Also read Psalm 103:2-3, Isaiah 30:26, Isaiah 61:1, Jeremiah 30:17, Numbers 12:13; Deuteronomy 32:39; 2 Kings 20:5,8; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalm 6:2, 41:4; Ecclesiastes 3:3; Isaiah 19:22, 57:18-19; Jeremiah 3:22, 17:14, 30:17, 33:6; Lamentations 2:13; Hosea 5:13, 6:1, 7:1, 14:4; Zechariah 11:16. and you will likely get a better response when praying for healing.
Yahweh-Jireh
“Yahweh will provide.” This name appears once in Genesis 22:14 NKJV, “And Abraham called the name of the place, The- LORD -Will-Provide (Yahweh Jireh); as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” This one is tricky because Jireh means “to see” or “a seer.” However, with Yahweh, seeing is foreseeing and then providing as needed. That is our Yahweh and what should be on our heart with this name. But please notice, Abraham named the place Yahweh Jireh which gives it an eternal existence even though not repeated in Scripture.
Yahweh-M’Kaddesh
“Yahweh Sanctifies us or makes us Holy.” This name appears twice but I offer that it is the most accurate expression of Yahweh’s plan for us, to be made Holy! Exodus 31:13 NKJV, “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Most assuredly you shall keep my Sabbaths: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am LORD who sanctifies you (Yahweh-M’Kaddesh).'”
Leviticus 20:7-8 NKJV, “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am LORD your God. You shall keep my statutes, and do them. I am LORD who sanctifies you (Yahweh- M’Kaddesh).”
It is his Holiness that God defends in Exodus 34:14 NKJV, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” 1 Chronicles 16:29 NKJV, “we are to “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”
Yahweh-Nissi
“Yahweh is my banner or Yahweh is My Refuge.” This name appears in the Old Testament once in Exodus 17:15 NKJV, “Moses built an altar, and called the name of it LORD is our Banner (Yahweh-Nissi).” Moses had built the altar to memorialize that Yahweh was Israel’s banner under which they had defeated the Amalekites. The name comes from the word “nês” which means banner but is used in the sense of an armies insignia flag flown on a pole signifying their camp, a place of safety. Our church today is a refuge and hopefully a staging area for battle as well.
Yahweh-Roi
“Yahweh is my Shepherd.” This is the famous 23rd Psalm, David praising his LORD. This is another great example of packing a deep meaning into a name of God. The word “shepherd” is actually overwhelmed by the entire Psalm, there are many words to remember and most Sunday Schools require it to be memorized instead of imprinting the relationship described with Yahweh, on our hearts. We should be able to mirror Psalm 23 from our heart, not just recite it. There is no time like the present, hopefully you will pray on this name.
Yahweh-Roi captures the most intimate presentation of Yahweh’s relationship with us found in the Old Testament. We easily forget God’s original intention for us, Exodus 29:45 NKJV, “I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.” Remember that elohiym originally created us together with him in Eden.
In the ancient time, the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep reflects our relationship with Yahweh. Harriet-Louise Holland Patterson wrote about the Holy Land and describes the shepherd beautifully:[i]
“Shepherding does not change much in Palestine, where wild beasts may descend still upon unprotected sheep and suddenly destroy them. The Palestine shepherd lives night and day with his animals. He establishes a degree of intimacy with them which is touching to observe. He calls them all by their names and they, knowing his voice and hearing his only, heed. He protects the sheep from thieves and preying animals who would devour them at night, by sleeping in the opening of the often makeshift sheepfold and they, sensing his watchfulness, fear no evil. He provides pasture and water even in the wilderness and the presence of enemies and they, casting all their anxiety upon him, are fed. There is a singular communion between the shepherd and his sheep which, after one has visited Palestine and observed it, makes the symbol of the good Shepherd peculiarly apt and the Twenty-third Psalm strangely moving.”
Other verses help complete the presentation. Psalm 80:1, “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock . . .” Isaiah 40:10-11 NKJV, “Behold, the LORD God shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.”
Ezekiel 34:11-16 NKJV, “For thus says the LORD God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country.
I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the LORD God.” “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”
Yahweh-Shalom
“Yahweh is Peace.” The word “shalom” appears in all its contexts as meaning whole, finished, fulfilled, and perfected as in the peace of wellness. We need to intake the full meaning of Shalom when meditating on this name of God. It appears once in Judges 6:28 NKJV, “So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.”
Like Yahweh-Nissi, it only appears once but a monument memorializes it forever. Genesis 26:26-29 NKJV gives another image that magnifies our faith with understanding, “Then Abimelech came to him (Isaac) from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army. And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”
But they said, “We have certainly seen that the LORD is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.’”
Yahweh-Shammah
“Yahweh is There.” This name appears in Ezekiel 48:35 but we first have to set the stage for Ezekiel, a verse is never just a verse. The Prophet Ezekiel was taken captive in Jerusalem by Babylon and settled with about 10,000 captives in Tel-abib during the second siege of Jerusalem in 586 b.c., about eight years after Daniel was taken captive in the first siege. Tel-abib is about one hundred miles south of the city of Babylon.
Ezekiel is a priest and his book is mainly his ministry with his exile community. The first 32 chapters present the doom of Jerusalem and Yahweh’s intention is that the people would repent for their sins that brought their destruction. Chapters 33-48 present Yahweh’s promise of the restoration of Israel and the new Temple during the end of times, the millennial kingdom or as we know it, the second coming of Jesus. In Ezekiel 48:35 NKJV, the new Temple is described, “and the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.”
The name “Yahweh-Shammah” may be the most comforting name God has given us because it is the promise of God completing what he began in us at creation, to bring us to our final glory with him! Yahweh-Shammah is the last name God revealed through the Old Testament prophets and this name reassured Israel that Yahweh had not abandoned them during their 70-year period of Babylonian captivity, and that there would eventually be a restoration of Jerusalem.
Yahweh-Tsid’Ke-nu
“Yahweh is our Righteousness.” The righteousness of Yahweh must be understood, not just recognized as a godly word. Only then can we understand our relationship with Yahweh. Yahweh’s righteousness is his own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word.
That description needs to be our description in order for us to be with him. Our failure to fit that description and Yahweh’s loving promise to solve that problem is central to our understanding of his plan for us, which in turn, reveals his love for us.
Yahweh-Tsid’Ke-nu appears twice in Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a prophet in Jerusalem who started about 22 years before Daniel was exiled to Babylon and remained in Jerusalem until eleven years after Ezekiel was exiled. Jeremiah was exiled to Egypt after Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt and conquered Jerusalem. The three major prophets are contemporaries, not just stories in Scripture. Seeing them in context helps bring them to life.
Jeremiah is exceptionally emotional in his expressions and perhaps most closely reflects Yahweh’s sorrow over being so rejected by his people. Yahweh’s sorrow over his people should be on the heart of every believer. A pastor I enjoy named J Sidlow Baxter said this about Jeremiah:[ii]
“I know of no man who reveals a truer heart-likeness to Jesus Himself than does Jeremiah, in his suffering sympathy both with God and men, in his unretaliating forbearance, his yearning concern for his fellows, his guileless motive, his humility, his willingness for self- sacrifice, and his utter faithfulness, even to the point of unsparing severity in denunciation.”
Jeramiah lived the full destruction of Judah and lamented all of it (hint, Lamentations) but he also reveals Yahweh’s promise to restore it. Early on, the prophets sounded like a lot of complaining with nothing to add because I knew how the story ends. But as the Holy Spirit has led me, what I learn from the prophets about the depth of Yahweh’s love is staggering. I encourage everyone to take a walk down that path.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 NKJV, “Behold, the days come,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is His name by which He shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness (Yahweh-Tsid’Ke-nu).”
Jeremiah 33:16 NKJV, “In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name by which she shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness (Yahweh-Tsid’Ke-nu).” Another pastor who inspired this chapter, Linda Smallwood[iii], ties this name together with the others in her insightful writing:
“Since their actions indicated that they despised Yahweh’s provision of redemption as Yahweh -Jireh, He could not continue to be Yahweh -Rapha, their Healer and without the protection of Yahweh -Nissi, their Banner, they were defeated at every turn. Nevertheless, they stubbornly refused to repent and return to Yahweh -M’Kaddesh, their Sanctifier, and they became more corrupt and degenerate. And having forsaken Yahweh -Shalom, their Peace, they were torn by internal dissension and violence, and subjected by outward aggression and conquest. It is in these contexts, therefore, that Yahweh pronounced judgment against Judah and Israel, while at the same time promising through the Prophet Jeremiah that a time was coming in the future when He would save Judah once again and execute justice and righteousness in the land through the “righteous Branch”, none other than Yeshua Mashiach (Jesus the Christ).”
Yahweh-Tzva’ot
“Yahweh of Hosts/of Powers.” This name may be the least known of the binary names of Yahweh and yet could arguably be the most important because it highlights the spiritual realm of Yahweh which believers can be so shy about embracing. Genesis 2:1 NKJV. “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.”
Yahweh-Tzva’ot is called 285 times in Scripture which should greatly magnify our awareness of Yahweh’s spiritual world but to understand this name, we need to know what “host” means. Host is one of those godly words that is easier to skip over than look silly asking what it means.
The “host” is the spiritual family (army?) created by Yahweh before creating God’s children. Its good purpose is to help protect us. Angels are the conventional teaching of the host but there is much more to it as shown in the chapter about Yahweh’s spirit world.
There are both our personal interactions with the heavenly host and Yahweh’s actions where they are called by Yahweh to battle all adversaries to his plan. Hannah was the first to call on Yahweh-Tzva’ot in 1 Samuel 1:11 NKJV, “Then she made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts (Yahweh-Tzva’ot), if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me. . . “ That was when Hannah promised her son, Samuel, to Yahweh.
We see it when the Israelites called for the ark of the covenant to brought to the battle with the Philistines, ! Sam 4:4 NKJV, “So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts (Yahweh-Tzva’ot), who dwells between the cherubim.” Psalm 46:6-7, “The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice, and the earth melted. Yahweh of Hosts (Yahweh-Tzva’ot) is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.” This name is not just about the name, it is about a name with an army!
We also see the name with Adonai in Isaiah 1:24 NKJV, “Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts (Adonai YHWH-Tzva’ot), The Mighty One of Israel, says: ‘Ah, I will get relief from my adversaries, And avenge myself of my enemies.” Isaiah 5:16 combines the name with sanctified and righteous, “But Yahweh of Hosts (Yahweh-Tzva’ot) is exalted in justice, And God the Holy One is sanctified (m’kaddesh) in righteousness (tsid’ke-nu).”
See also 1 Samuel 17:45; 1 Kings 19:14; 2 Kings 3:9-12,14; 1 Chronicles 11:9; Psalm 24:10, 46:11, 48:8, 80:4,19, 84:3; Isaiah 3:15, 6:5, 9:19, 10:26, 13:4, 14:22; Jeremiah 9:15, 11:20, 48:1; Hosea 12:5; Amos 3:13; Micah 4:4; Nahum 3:5; Haggai 2:6; Zechariah 1:3; Malachi 1:6; Habakkuk 2:13; Zephaniah 2:9.
El Names
“El” from elohiym is combined with other adjectives for thirteen names that in total appear about 200 times in the Scripture. Three are more common and the rest add little to our narrative. For example, Deuteronomy 10:17 NKJV, “For the LORD your God is God of gods and LORD of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.” Knowing the “great God” is “El HaKadosh” is not a life-changer.
El Elyon, God Most High, appears 32 times. Genesis 14:18-19 NKJV, “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High.”
El Shaddai, God Almighty, appears 28 times. Genesis 17:1 NKJV, “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.“ El Roi, God who sees me, is well known from the meeting with Haggar at the well but it is the only appearance of the name. What does move my heart is lining them up and seeing the full majesty of our Abba Father. The Faithful God, the Holy God, the God Of Israel, the God Of the Heavens, the God Of Knowledge, the God Of Truth, the God Of My Salvation, God Is With Us, the God Of Eternity, and the One God.
6 Harriet-Louise Holland Patterson,
“Come with me to the Holy Land,” url={https://books.google.com/books?id=AJogkb2I83gC}
year={1969}
[ii] J Sidlow Baxter
[iii] Linda Smallwood
