A place for My name, My eyes, My heart

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.”

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.