This has, unfortunately, been a very long “weekend,” so long
that my train of thought has completely been lost. I will, however, include
more verses in which My name is mentioned, where God wants His name to live with his people.
In the following verses, Solomon is praying a prayer of
dedication after the building of the temple.
27 But will God indeed dwell on the
earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much
less this temple which I have built!
29 that Your eyes may be open
toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that You may
hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.
1 Kings 8:27, 29 (New King James Version)
The Lord responds, including the fascinating information
that He will put His name there forever, His eyes and heart to be there
perpetually. What does forever mean, given that "forever" in this verse wasn't "forever"? Certainly a concept for further study.
2 that the LORD appeared to Solomon
the second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon.
3 And the LORD said to him: “I have
heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have
consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there
perpetually.
1 Kings 9:2-4 (New King James Version)
I was relieved to see that I wouldn’t have to look very far
to understand how God could say “forever,” when we know that His presence in
the temple left a long time ago. The concept of forever is clarified in the next few verses. Forever is God’s ideal, but it was based on conditions. If they
were not faithful, God would remove them from the land and no longer have his
presence -- His name, His eyes, His heart – in the temple.
6 But if you or your sons at all
turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I
have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,
7 then I will cut off Israel from
the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight.
Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
1 Kings 9:6-7 (New King James Version)
When Solomon turned his back on God, he lost most of his
kingdom, but God still maintained a place for His
name for the sake of David:
35 But I will take the kingdom out
of his [Solomon] son’s hand and give it to you—ten tribes.
36 And to his son I will give one
tribe, that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the
city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there.
1 Kings 11:35-37 (New King James Version)
Much later, Elijah brought a message from God to King Ahab,
because Ahab had desecrated the house of God:
3 For he rebuilt the high places
which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made
a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host
of heaven and served them.
4 He also built altars in the house
of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.”
5 And he built altars for all the
host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
2 Kings 21:3-5 (New King James Version)
Imagine, building altars to a false god, worshipping the
sun, moon, and stars, in both the courts of the temple! We are astounded when
we consider it, but when I look at myself, I wonder, have I made any of those
concessions? Have I moved His name from
the place where it belongs and replaced it with something else, thus making
that something else my god? The importance of His name becomes more and more
evident, the more that I study.
These are not the only verses that I came upon while
searching for verses containing the phrase, “My name.”
