His name is God

Gen. 1:1-31

Years ago, my family was travelling in the car and my oldest son Nathanael piped up to ask what his name meant. “Well, son,” I replied, “Your name means ‘gift from God.’” He leaned back into his seat and grinned triumphantly. Not to be outdone, my daughter Karis asked the same question. “Sweetie, your name means ‘grace.’” She made a cute face then continued on her made-up song about baby puppies.

Jake’s turn. “What does my name mean dad?” ‘“Well ... son ... er ... uh, your name means, uh, the heel grabbing deceiver who takes the place of another.”’

What’s in a name? We don’t usually name our children by their meanings any longer; we choose their name mostly for their aesthetic qualities.

God has names too, a bunch of them. But each one of His names means something specific. And everyone but one has its basis in God’s character or works.

The first name we are going to look at is the first one mentioned in the Bible: Elohim.

(Gen 1:1) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

This name is used over 2,500 times in the Bible and is comprised of two parts. “El,” and “him.”

El means “strong one,” or “one who is great.” “Him” as a suffix denotes number. The Hebrews have certain endings to indicate singular, dual or more than two. “Him” is the ending for “more than two.” This indicates the Triune nature of God.

You put these two words together and you have “Elohim.” It is usually translated simply as “God.”

The Bible uses Elohim in many cases, but especially when emphasizing His sovereignty,

His creative work and His relation to Israel.

For example:

(Psa 68:7) O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah: This verse emphasized God’s relationship with his covenanted people, the Israelites

(Jer 32:27) Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

Here we have this verse emphasizing God’s sovereignty.

(Gen 1:1) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The verse we started with, emphasizing His creative work.

What we see here is that God is the supreme source of everything that is. He is God. He is mighty and He is in charge. Simply, He is God.

May we remember the words of the Psalmist, (Psa 5:2) Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.