A house for My Name

Many verses in the Bible speak of God wanting a house or a temple built “for my name.” I find these fascinating. Why would God say to build a house “for my name?” Why didn’t He say to build a temple “for Me?” Is there special meaning to the phrase “my name?” Does it mean something different, something more, something less, than “for Me?” Let’s look at a few of them. First, Nathan the prophet bringing the word of YHWH to David:

12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.

2 Samuel 7:12-14 (New King James Version)

Solomon determines to fulfill the prophecy:

5 And behold, I propose to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.”

1 Kings 5:5 (New King James Version)

Solomon gave a speech at the completion of the temple. Here is part of it:

15 And he said: “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and with His hand has fulfilled it, saying,

16 ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there; but I chose David to be over My people Israel.’

17 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple* for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

18 But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.

19 Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.’

1 Kings 8:15-19 (New King James Version)

* Literally house, also in verses 18–20

An interruption peers into my intellectual space. I will complete this post before the weekend is over.

If I tell you My Name, it will knock your socks off

Last week I said I would study up on two areas that brought up some questions in my mind. These are from the story in Judges 13, of the Angel's visits to Manoah and his wife, promising the birth of their son, Samson.

1. The Angel said, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?” v. 18
2. “and they knew that He was the Angel of the LORD.  Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!” v. 21, 22

In the first reference, why did the Angel avoid answering the question, and what did he mean, "seeing it is wonderful?" Instead of wonderful, the Authorized (King James) Version, says secret. Secret! 

In my last post, I was claiming that God wants us to know His name, and here He is keeping it secret! Either I am very wrong, or there is a reason. In view of all the verses in which God speaks of us honoring his name, I can't believe He wants to keep it secret. Therefore, I must look for the reason the Angel avoided answering the question.

My first step will be to check on the word that was translated wonderful and secret, in Strong's concordance. Instead of lugging that big book off my bookshelf, the easiest way is to go to the Blue Letter Bible, enter Judges 13:18 in the search window, and use the KJV, since that is the version that works with Strong's. Once Judges 13 pops up, I make sure the "Show Strong's" box is checked (to the right, under the blue bar of the chapter number).

Here is verse 18:

And the angel ⁴³⁹⁷ of the LORD ³⁰⁶⁸ said ⁵⁵⁹ unto him, Why askest ⁷⁵⁹² thou thus after my name ⁸⁰³⁴, seeing it [is] secret⁶³⁸³?

I want to know the various meanings for the word that has been translated secret and wonderful, so I click on 6383, where the definitions listed are:

1) wonderful, incomprehensible, extraordinary

Below that, it states, "here used of something which appears supernatural." 

When translated, the King James Version was probably influenced by the historically hidden name -- Jewish scribes by tradition believing the name too holy to write -- and therefore chose the word secret, and so the name has been for many years, though wonderful is a better translation.

My cogitations over the two questions above have helped me see that the answer to the first is revealed in the second. Manoah and his wife were obviously very excited about their heavenly visitor, and the Angel knew if He revealed who He really was, Yeshua, the Son of God, they would be so overwhelmed they very likely forget everything else He had told them about how to raise their child. This is where I get to the title of this post. In effect, the Angel was saying, "Why do you want to know my name? If I tell you, it will knock your socks off!"  You will be amazed, overwhelmed, not believe your ears. Only after He went up in smoke did they recognize they had seen God -- though they thought it was the Father -- and feared death because of their exposure to perfect Divine Power.

Praise His mysterious name

It is the Christmas season, and Christmas carols have been heard over the loud speaker systems of stores since before Halloween. The Christmas carols reminded me of the many songs we sing in church that use the phrase, "Praise His name."  I recently heard a song, performed by Jeff and Sheri Easter:

When everything falls apart, Praise his name; When you have a broken heart,  Raise your hands and say, "Lord, you're all I need,  You're everything to me,"  And he'll take the pain away.  When you feel you're all alone, Praise his name; And you feel all hope is gone,  Raise your hands and say, "Greater is he that is within me,"  And you can praise the hurt away,  If you'll just praise his name.

A most beautiful song played this time of year is O Holy Night. The words of the second verse are:

Truly He taught us to love one another,  His law is love and His gospel is peace.  Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.  And in his name all oppression shall cease.  Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,  With all our hearts we praise His holy name. 

If one were to ask, “What name?” the answer you would get would probably be either “Jesus,” or “God.” Those answers are wrong.

All who have considered His name at all know that Jesus is not His name, God is not His name, Lord is not His name, Christ is not His name, Jehovah is not His name, and even Yahweh is not His name. We do know that His name, when He came to earth as a man, was Yeshua, or something very like Yeshua, because that is the name that means Salvation – “for he shall save His people from their sins.”

Somehow we have thought that His name before He lived here as a man was probably something different, a more god-like name. Even at this point some might think that Yeshua, Salvation, was His man name, and YHWH was the god-name of the Father, with the name of the Son not revealed at all. Study of the scriptures, however, reveals the presence of Yeshua, the Son, in the Old Testament. If He was present in those stories (creation, Moses on mountain, Jacob at his midnight struggle, for example), it is very likely He was present in many more of the actions of God in dealing with his human family. I believe Yeshua, the Son, was the main person who has involved Himself in our lives through earth's history.

God did not mean for his name to be mysterious. It is a name He wants us to know, as I have been sharing for the last couple of posts, and will continue after this brief musical side trip.  Lacking other proof, there appears to be evidence that the mysterious name YHWH could, in fact be Yeshua. What an amazing thought, to see that Yeshua, Salvation, was present all through history, covenanting with us, and finally coming in person so save us!

His name is wonderful

The story of the interaction between a heavenly Being and Samson’s parents prior to Samson’s birth in the 13^th chapter of Judges involves discussion of the heavenly Being’s name. This is how the story goes:

Manoah’s wife was unable to have children (why does it seem that so many important people are born to previously barren women?), but the Angel of the LORD (I will use YHWH, as it is closer to being accurate) came to her and told her that she would have a son, and to be careful about what she ate and drank. The angel also told her that her son would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines, and that his hair should not be cut.

She went and told her husband, “A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name.” (v. 6)

Manoah wanted to talk to the Being himself, so he prayed, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.”  (v. 8)

God answered Manoah’s prayer, and the Angel returned to his wife while Manoah was not with her, so she had to run quickly and get him. Manoah wanted to prepare a young goat for the visitor to eat, but the Angel said he wouldn’t eat the food, but if they wanted to offer a burnt offering, they must offer it to the YHWH. At this point, Manoah did not know their visitor was the Angel of YHWH. He asked the Angel his name, and the Angel said, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”  (v.18)

When Manoah offered the young goat on the rock to YHWH, “He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on.” As the flame went up, the Angel ascended in the flame! Manoah and his wife fell on their faces to the ground, “and they knew that He was the Angel of the LORD.  Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!” (v. 22)


I want to focus on two parts of this story: 

1. The Angel said, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”
2. “and they knew that He was the Angel of the LORD.  Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!” 

I will study up and report next time.