What's in a Name?
/I have had the great blessing of having my daughter, son-in-law and nineteen-month old grandson with me during this period of isolation. Graham is a source of constant entertainment. Not only has he mastered Dada, Mommy, Grandpa, and Nonnie, but he is learning new words everyday and loves to repeat what we say. The other day my daughter needed her husband who was upstairs. She yelled, “Josh!” Without missing a beat, Graham ran to where she was standing and, with the same urgency, yelled for his dad, “JOSH!” As Josh responded by coming downstairs, Graham suddenly realized that Dada and Josh were one and the same. Since that time, we have occasionally heard Graham call out “Josh.” It almost seems that the name Graham uses for his dad connotes different needs. Josh is the name to use when he really needs something!
This observation made me think, is there a particular name of God that we can use when we address Him in prayer during times of urgency? For me, I generally begin, “Heavenly Father.” After all, Jesus Himself taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven…” (Matthew 6:9). But perhaps during this crisis, I can apply other attributes of God to reflect upon as I come to Him in prayer--other names with which I could address Him.
God has many names recorded in Scripture. Some of the most common Hebrew names with their translations are:
ELOHIM: Strong, Mighty, Creator God
EL SHADDAI: God Almighty (He has ultimate power)
ADONAI: Lord God, Master of all
YAHWEH-JIREH: Providing God
EL ELYON: Most High God
EL ROI: God of seeing
EL OLAM: Everlasting God
Each of these names give us a picture of God’s multifaceted nature. We could begin our prayers with any of these names for God, and find comfort. But as I was looking at the various prayers in Scripture, one prayer addressed God in a way that I had never considered in my own prayers, but perhaps could provide great comfort in these trying days. Hannah was the first person in the Old Testament to pray to God as the Lord of Hosts.
“O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head” (1 Samuel 1:11).
Lord of hosts is translated from the Hebrew words YAHWEH-SABAOTH. YAHWEH is often translated LORD, and refers to the eternal, unchangeable, and covenantal nature of God. SABAOTH is translated armies. Therefore, Lord of Hosts means God of armies--heavenly armies.
Why would Hannah have chosen this name for God? Hannah prayed this prayer during a time of great personal suffering. It is as if she was recalling that God has resources that we cannot fathom--armies of heaven! He has chariots, angels and warriors. They are all under His command. Jesus referred to the magnitude of this host in Matthew 26:53: “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” Jesus was saying that God could gather 72,000 angels at a moment's notice!
We are living in a time of uncertainty and urgency. What better time is there to call out to the Lord of Hosts. The name immediately conjures up the majesty and power of God. I can close my eyes in prayer, envision the image that the Prophet Isaiah had of the Lord of Hosts. This brings me to my knees in humble reverence. While my prayer may not change the current circumstances straightaway, the prayer changes me, encourages and humbles me, by reminding me that He alone has ultimate power. In that knowledge I can rest.
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Isaiah 6:1-5