Names are important. As I commented in a blog post a few days ago, names in the Bible often give insight into character. Sometimes God reveals his character by telling us one of his names. But SOMETIMES... sometimes we create our own names for God as we encounter Him.
In Genesis 16, (teenage?) Hagar was in serious trouble. Her childless mistress Sarah had arranged Hagar's marriage to her own elderly husband as a 2nd wife, specifically to get her pregnant. (Oh, joy.) She gets pregnant, 1st wife gets abusive, and so Hagar runs away. Exhausted, she stops to rest at a stream and promptly has an emotional breakdown. She is destitute, quite pregnant, and out of options. In this moment of crisis, God appears to her and tells the runaway to go back home to her difficult marriage. Moreover, God tells her the name of her unborn child, his incredible future, and of his character.
In response, Hagar names God "El Roi." The- Strong- God- Who- Sees- Me.
Sometimes we wonder if God sees us; if He sees the trouble we're in-- and if He even cares? In the movie Avatar, the most meaningful greeting is "I see you." As in, "I see INTO you. I see what you're all about, and I (still) choose to be here with you." Hagar felt that love, that acceptance, and her heart's response was to say "You are The- God- Who- Sees- Me." Put another way, The- God- Who- Loves- Me- Just- As- I- Am. Wow. Powerful stuff!
(My friend Freeman Voyles is a Gen-Z influencer and does a great Christian podcast on Apple and Spotify called "kneutrality." Her Instagram account and podcasts focus on contemporary philosophy, sexuality, and politics as they relate to our personal walk with God. She just published a beautiful Prayer Journal and Liturgical Planner called "Milk & Honey," with places to write down notes and prayers answered. I especially love the back cover, showing Hagar in the middle of her God-encounter with El Roi. You can find it at www.kneutrality.com, in the Store section.)
In Exodus 3:13-14, God has just told Moses at the burning bush to go tell the Hebrews that the God of their fathers had sent him. So Moses asks what name to tell them. (I mean, there were gods running around everywhere, right?) But instead of revealing his proper name, God instead gives a descriptive name. "I AM WHO I AM. Tell them 'I AM' has sent you." God was proclaiming his eternal character. As opposed to those other gods-- idols made by human hands.
Fifteen hundred years or so later, Jesus asserted both his identity and his character. The conversation was recorded in John 8:56-59. He was having a discussion with people who were relying on their ancestry as children of Abraham as proof of their identity and character, and Jesus told them "your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad." They were incredulous. "You are not yet 50 years old, and you have seen Abraham?" You're kidding, right?
Jesus then countered their argument by proclaiming his OWN identity and character, by saying simply, "Before Abraham was, I AM." He was saying that HE was The Great I AM who appeared to Moses at the burning bush. And He was combing present tense and past tense to show that he was timeless. He is beyond Time, because he is self-existent. And so we can trust our Times, our timelines, our eternity-- into his hands.
I really love long hyphenated character names. I think they're cool. In Psalm 23, David comes up with one: "The- Lord- Who- Shepherds- Me." One that I made up and use regularly is "The- God- Whose- Timing- Is- Perfect." My current favorite is found in Joel 2:26, in The Message:
You'll eat your fill of good food.
You'll be full of praise to your GOD,
The- God- Who- Has- Set- You- Back- On- Your- Heels- In- Wonder.
Has God ever set you back on your heels in wonder? I would love to hear about it. Others would also, so tell somebody! Maybe somebody in your circle really needs to hear what God is doing in your life. So go for it. Spit it out. Be bold!
May The- God- Of- The- Angel- Armies be with you.
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