What is your name? Does it have any special meaning or significance? Even if you don’t know something specific about your name, your name was chosen especially for you. Our names are precious to us … they are a part of our identity.
In Bible times names were even more important than they are today. A person’s name was considered to reveal his or her character. God’s name also reveals His character.
Q. What comes to your mind when you hear the name 'God'?
Q. Do you know any other names for God? What do those names tell you about God?
Unfortunately, when we hear the name God or Lord, it typically conveys little more to us than the designation of a supreme being. But throughout Scripture, we find that the names of God actually present to us miniature portraits of who He is. Throughout the Bible, a person’s name identified them and stood for something specific. This is especially true of God. Naming carries special significance.
God’s names actually reveal His character and tell us about His very nature. By knowing God’s names, we gain strength for times of struggle, comfort for times of disappointment, and wisdom for times of confusion.
Many Christians experience confusion in their lives because they don’t really know God—who He really is or how He works in our lives. You can know God more fully by knowing and studying His names which in turn will give you strength for times of struggle, comfort for times of disappointment, and wisdom for times of confusion.
Seven different names for God that were used often in the New Testament are included in this lesson. Study each name and its meaning, read the verses associated with each name, and take time to reflect upon how that specific name of God touches your life. Know that God’s names reveal to us His very nature—He is waiting to meet you!
- Emmanuel: God with us
- Adonai: Lord and Master
- Elohim: God, the strong, faithful One
- El Elyon: The Most High God
- El Olam: Everlasting God
- El Roi: The God who sees
- El Shaddai: God Almighty
Emmanuel: God with us
“For this reason the LORD himself will give you a confirming sign. Look, this young woman is about to conceive and will give birth to a son. You, young woman, will name him Immanuel.” —Isaiah 7:14
Q. What comes to your mind as you consider Emmanuel—God with us?
To actually have the God of the Universe “with” us is a mind-staggering concept! Not just a God “out there,” but a God who is always with us!
Q. Because God is Emmanuel/God with us, I can …
Adonai: Lord and Master
“Then both parties to the controversy must stand before the LORD, that is, before the priests and judges who will be in office in those days.” —Deuteronomy 19:17
When we have a relationship with God, He is our Lord and Master. The word “Lord” indicates a relationship, one in which we are submissive to God’s will over our lives. Sometimes this is a hard concept for people to accept. When God is “Adonai,” He has total possession of all that we are and all that we have.
“Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes will look to the LORD, our God, until he shows us favor.” —Psalm 123:2
Q. What is hard for you about this verse from Psalm 123?
Q. What is reassuring to you as you think about God as your Lord and Master?
Q. Because God is Adonai/The Lord and Master, I will …
Elohim: God, the strong, faithful One
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” —Genesis 1:1
God has been the consistent, stable factor in all of creation since the very beginning of time. He has proven himself the strong, faithful One again and again.
Q. When times are tough, what keeps you from turning to God, the strong, faithful One?
Q. When have you experienced God’s strength and/or faithfulness?
Q. Because God is Elohim/God the strong, faithful One, I can …
El Elyon: Most High God
El Elyon is the name the Bible uses to tell us that God is the Most High God; the sovereign ruler of the entire universe.
“Worthy of praise is the Most High God, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” —Genesis 14:20
“The oracle of the one who hears the words of God, and who knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty.” —Numbers 24:16
Q. What does it mean to you that God is the Most High God?
Q. How can depending on El Elyon change your life?
Q. Because God is El Elyon/The Most High God, I …
El Olam: Everlasting God
“Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, the eternal God.” —Genesis 21:33
Q. What does it mean to you to know that God is everlasting?
Q. Because God is El Olam, Everlasting God, I …
El Roi: The God who sees
“So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘Here I have seen one who sees me!’” —Genesis 16:13
Q. Have you ever considered that God always sees you? What does this mean to you?
Q. Because God is El Roi/The God who sees, I will …
El Shaddai: God Almighty
“When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am the Sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless. Then I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.’” —Genesis 17:1-2
Q. How can knowing that God is almighty influence the moments of each one of your days?
Q. In what ways has God revealed Himself to you as El Shaddai?
Q. Because God is El Shaddai/God Almighty, I know …
Application
Q. What are some other things you look to for deliverance when you are experiencing difficulty in your life?
Q. As you consider the different names for God included in this study, which one is most real to you at this point in your life?
Q. Which one seems the most unfamiliar to you?
Q. Which one gives you most the comfort?
Q. Which one is most confusing to you?
Q. How can holding on to these different names of God help you when you are struggling, are disappointed, or need wisdom?
Here’s a great resource for learning more about God’s names as they are presented in the Bible: Lord, I Want to Know You: A Devotional Study on the Names of God by Kay Arthur.
You can also go to this external resource, bible.org. Read the article, Names of God.