The Name

Concept

In Scripture a name is never a mere label; it carries the person — their character, authority, and reputation. To know someone's name is to know who they are, and to act "in the name" of another is to act with that person's authority. So when the Bible speaks of the Name of God, it speaks of God himself as he has made himself known: his revealed character, his presence, and his renown among the nations. Later Jewish piety even said simply "the Name" (ha-Shem) out of reverence for the covenant name too holy to pronounce.

The decisive disclosure comes at the burning bush, where God reveals his personal name to Moses — "I AM WHO I AM" — the name by which he is to be remembered forever (Exodus 3:14–15). That name is so weighty that Israel must never take it up emptily or falsely (Exodus 20:7). God chooses to set his Name in one place, causing it to dwell among his people so that the sanctuary is where his Name — his very presence — abides (Deuteronomy 12:5; 1 Kings 8:29). The Name becomes a refuge: "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe" (Proverbs 18:10). To trust, praise, call upon, or fear the Name is, in the Psalms and Prophets, simply to trust and worship God himself (Psalm 20:7; Joel 2:32).

In the Gospels this hope narrows to a person. Jesus says he has "manifested your name" to those the Father gave him and will make it known (John 17:6; John 17:26). The disciples are gathered, baptized, and sent in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), and they pray and ask in Jesus' name (John 14:13–14). The apostles declare there is "no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

The whole sweep climbs to Christ being given "the name that is above every name," so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess him Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9–11). To honor the Name, then, is to honor the God who put his own presence and saving power into it — and now wears it as the name of Jesus.