The Old Testament is replete with references to the Name of God and its inherent meaning. There is a true revelation about the Name itself. Trinitarians miss that complete revelation since they have called the name given to Christ merely Lord, and miss the point of Matthew 28:19 as it mentions the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost being Jesus in light of the truths I note below in this study. Gods name was repeated again and again and stressed so much so that we are left to realize that there is an important note to be understood concerning just His Name. God informed Israel that throughout the world they would be called by His Name. Deuteronomy 28:8-10 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. The Name of God was to be praised, exalted and thought about! Psalm 34:3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. Psalm 113:1-3 Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORDS name [is] to be praised. Psalm 83:16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD. The Name of God was a distinguishing factor given to Israel to separate them from all other people and other religions. As peoples names in the Bible were not chosen for mere pleasantness of sound, as they are today, there was a special reason OT saints implemented when naming their children. The name they chose often declared the circumstances surrounding the childs birth or aspirations the parents held for the child. So names in those days represented the nature of the individual. It revealed the persons character. (Recall Jacobs name supplanter, being changed to Israel, Prince with God.) So, too, was Gods name indicative of His nature and Character. Note the words God spoke to Moses regarding His name: Exodus 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.Exodus 6:7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. Abraham used that name JEHOVAH, but he did not know the full significance in that name. He did not know God as a God of Deliverance. When God delivered Israel, they knew Him in a new way! They had greater understanding of his character than did Abraham. Progressively, more and more, God revealed His character to mankind, and it was often expressed by a new name! Jehovah-Jireh means, God our Provider. Jehovah-rapha - God our Healer. So, when people wanted to know more about God, Himself, they sought to know His name. Genesis 32:29 And Jacob asked [him], and said, Tell [me], I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore [is] it [that] thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. Judges 13:17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What [is] thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? 1 Kings 8:43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as [do] thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name. The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible says, To know the name of God is to know God as He has revealed Himself... When used of God, name in the Old Testament has a revelatory content. The amount of stress that is put upon the name of God in the Old Testament is put upon the name of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The trend to exalt Gods name and to praise and call upon His name in OT reading is continued in NT writings, but the name mentioned and stressed, exalted and praised, is JESUS name. This in itself proves that the name of Jesus is indeed the Name of the God of the Old Testament. Where is there stress of any other name in the New Testament? You cannot find another name stressed so highly besides Jesus. Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. The early church preached in such a manner as to incite onlookers, including critics, to comment how they preached the name of Jesus. What could they have possibly been saying to incite such descriptions of themselves? The following passage relates the answer: Acts 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, [even] by him doth this man stand here before you whole. Acts 4:15-18 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them [is] manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny [it]. But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Notice the reputation the early church had: Acts 5:40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten [them], they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Acts 9:27 But Barnabas took him, and brought [him] to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. Acts 9:29 And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him. Acts 15:25-26 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 19:17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. As seen in Acts 4, the Name was literally preached. It was stressed. This is not so today amongst many churches due to the Trinitarian doctrine which shadows over the Name of Jesus and the understanding of it as being the supreme name revealing Gods Character is lost. Trinitarian doctrine merely attributes the name Jesus to being the name of the second Person, and not God in totality. Calling Oneness people JESUS ONLY is actually a compliment to the Oneness people, since it indicates a reputation of being associated with the NAME Jesus. One man said, Youre not merely Jesus Only, youre JESUS EVERYTHING. This was the stress given to the early Church, and Gods intention was to have them be known by the Name Jesus. Acts 15:14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. If the Name intended to be understood by the early church in emphasis other than Jesus, pray tell, where is such a name mentioned? What other name is given in the NT that we are to assume is the intended name referred to by the early Church? The name Jesus is mentioned more than any other name associated with God in the NT. Is that name an unknown name? Of course not! It is Jesus. Jesus is the highest Name of God ever revealed to mankind. It is the supreme revelation of God today. No other name of God has been so full of Gods glory, thus revealing His nature to humanity, as much as the name Jesus. Jesus means literally, Jehovah Salvation. Salvation, all agree, is the greatest work God has ever accomplished amongst humanity!! Yet the name which encompasses all former revelations of God (since JEHOVAH is part of the name) and this greatest revelation of salvation, is not exalted as such by trinitarianism. One cannot compare Jesus Christ to Elijah, for example, by saying, in refutation of my statement, that Elijah means God is God, and Elijah is not God Himself. That would be folly. We cant compare Jesus Christ to any other man since no other man was God incarnate. If Jesus is God incarnate, then Jesus is the greatest name ever revealed. Matthew 1 reveals this: Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Jehovah shall save His people from their sins. This is direct fulfillment of the following prophecy: Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Immanuel means God with us. Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Literally God was with humanity since God, Himself, was incarnate as the Son of God. There are two parts to the name Jesus. 1) Jehovah 2) Saviour. So you have the fulfillment of IMMANUEL, which also includes two parts. Immanuel means GOD WITH US. 1) God 2) with us. In the name of Jesus you have Jehovah, or GOD. And secondly you have Saviour, which corresponds to with us since He is with us now due to salvation. We are no longer alienated from Him because we have been reconciled to Him by salvation!! The name Jesus incorporates all the character and identity of God since the name Jehovah is included in the name Jesus. It is simply another manner of extending the revelation of Himself as was the trend in OT days by calling Himself, Jehovah-Provider or Jehovah-Healer. Just as Moses saw a characteristic of God that Abraham did not see, that being deliverance, all New Testament saints have seen a characteristic of God that was never fully revealed before - salvation! And remember, to say that Jesus was another, lesser being than God is to say that the trend of the OT stressing of Gods name was cut off during the NT period. Since salvation is the greatest revelation and the most recent revelation of God yet given to humanity, the name Jesus is the highest name ever given: Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: Paul said that Jesus is the name above every other name, including every other name God formerly revealed of Himself! If Jesus is not Gods name, then we have a being who possesses a name greater than Gods own name! Jesus must be Gods name! Isaiah prophesied about the truth of all people bowing to Him. Isaiah 45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth [in] righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. And we read in the New Testament a direct fulfillment of that verse, which interprets it as saying that Gods Name is Jesus. Philippians 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth; FATHER, SON AND HOLY GHOST These three words are not names. They are only titles. The word Lord has been promoted as being the name God gave to Jesus that is above every other name. This is utter nonsense. Lord merely directs ones attention to the name Jesus. It magnifies the name of Jesus. Lord does not take away from the supremacy of the name Jesus as the personal name of God incarnate. It magnifies it! One brother gave an example. When Abraham Lincoln became President Abraham Lincoln he was given the highest title. However, his unique distinguishing name, Abraham Lincoln, was still all important. In fact, it was magnified. His signature could not be effective by simply writing Mr. President. He had to write President Abraham Lincoln. Father, then, is not a name either. It describes the role of God in the work of redemption with mankind, as does also, Son and Holy Ghost. These three titles regard salvation. Thus the name Jesus is the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Ghost. Since Jesus involves Jehovah Salvation, Jesus is the name of the Father since salvation came about initially by God Fathering the Son of God, and begetting that which alone would be a sinless, substitutionary, atoning sacrifice for our sin. He was Son, regarding salvation, by being incarnate as that sinless sacrifice. Jesus is clearly the name of the Son. And God was the Holy Ghost since salvation involved the regenerating and transforming the people who believe and obey the gospel. Thus, Jesus is the name that encompasses all three roles since it is the one Name given for salvation. Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Since God said that there was no Saviour beside Himself, we must deduce that Jesus is the name of God, Himself, and not merely one of a set of three persons comprising a single God.. Hosea 13:4 Yet I [am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for [there is] no saviour beside me. SIMPLE BIBLE SEARCH A simple search by computer throughout all the Bible using the words, one, two, three and Lord and God will prove that never are the numbers two and three used as descriptors of God. If Trinitarianism were true, there would be at least one single descriptor of God given as two or three. Modern trinitarianism always and constantly uses the numbers three and two as descriptors of God. That speaks for itself!
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 21:23:56 +0000
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