What Is In A Name?

"Your name is ointment poured forth. Therefore the virgins love you." - Song of Songs 1:3

When Moses asked God to "show me Your glory", God did not respond by giving him a glimpse of heaven, or some spectacular demonstration of His power through a sign or wonder. God's response was to declare to Moses His name! A name, according to Song of Songs, which is so fragrant that causes us to love Him! As I meditated on these passages today, I was particularly struck by the conversation that precedes the declaration of God's name in Exodus 34.

In Exodus 33:17, God begins the encounter by saying to Moses "you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name". We have often heard it said that God know our name, which is amazing! But as I meditated on these words I realized that it was more than just, "how neat, the uncreated God can address me by the name which my parents called me at birth!" - it says that God knows me by name. Put another way, we could say that by our name we are known by God. To be even more specific, our name is the way in which God relates to us - how we can expect Him to encounter us.

But sometimes our names do not reflect the plans that God has for our lives, and God proceeds to call us by a new name. Throughout the Scriptures there are great examples of this reality, with one of the most obvious being Abram being changed to Abraham (Father of a Multitude). It was after this name change that he went on to become the father of both the Jews through Issac and the Muslim nations through Ishmael. His grandson Jacob also had his name, which meant "Deceiver", changed by God at the end of his days of turmoil and unrest. Thousands of years later we have another great example in Simon, who had his name changed to Peter (Rock), in preparation for the building of Christ's Church on the foundation of Peters life and ministry.

So what is in a name? According to Scripture, a lot!

God reveals His glory through His name. He continuously declares His name to us, as a declaration of who He is and how He has chosen to relate to us.

The question then becomes, by what name have we been called? By our family? By our friends? Our enemies? By God? And by what name do we live by? 'Loser'? 'Geek'? 'Princess'? 'Son'?

As I think about these things I'm left with a couple of questions:

1) What names have I embraced about myself?
2) What name does God declare over me?

The truth is that I will live my life based upon the name that I believe in, not what others believe about me. If God calls me "Friend", but I don't accept that name, then I will not relate to Him as a friend. If God calls me a "Son" or "Daughter", but can't receive that name, then I will struggle to know Him as a "Father", because the two names are inseparable. However, if I believe that I am a "Loser", "Failure", "Rebel" or any other name, I will live toward God and others by that name. On the positive side, if I accept that He calls me "Bride", "Beloved", "Adopted Son" and "Joint Heir with Christ", then I will be able to relate to Him in a much different way!

As I sit here thinking about the names by which I call my children, I am reminded of the passage: "Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat it's fruit." - Prov 18:21


The names that we call one another are monumental to the lives that we live. We need to hear and accept names rightly, and weigh them under the light of God's word and what He has declared over us. We must agree with God, which is humility, about the names we live by. Has God called you "Righteous"? Is that hard to accept? Has God called you "Accepted", but you still believe that you are rejected? What names are we going to live by? And more importantly, which of His own names is God using to reveal Himself through in this season or your life? Healer! Provider! Deliverer! 

Bless you today! I pray that God will bless you with a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. That you might know what He declares over you today by the testimony of Jesus.