The Power of the Name - David Mitts
One of the most powerful revelations of God is the revelation of His Name. When God reveals Himself He gives His children access to Him through His name. He spoke to Israel through Moses, His prophet, that He was named as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which is the say that He is the God of covenant and the God who is faithful to the generations.
When God sent Yeshua it was to reveal Himself as salvation which is what the name Yeshua means. Let’s go a little deeper into what a name reveals.
The Hebrew word for name is shem. It is made up of two characters, the shin and the mem. The shin is the ancient Hebrew picture for teeth. It also resents three flames of fire. The word for fire is esh, which is an aleph and a shin. The second character is the mem, which is the symbol for water. Together these signify the boundaries of reality.
Both of these symbols together comprise the heavens, shamayim; the very Hebrew word shamayim is comprised of two words, aish (fire) and mayim (water), water being the stuff that clouds are made of and turn into. Fire and water are also the eternal opposites. The heavens express the consummate paradox that miraculously brings together in peace those elements that seem to be constantly at war with each other, fire and water.
If you think about it the heat of summer brings the water up from the earth and makes the clouds which eventually release the life-giving rain.
We are cleansed by both water and fire. The world was judged by water in the time of Noah and the coming judgement is a fire one.
“For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.” (Isa 66:15-16)
We are immersed in both water and fire.
“John responded to them all, saying, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but He is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the straps of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Luk 3:16)
The baptism of fire is the activation of the Holy Spirit, who is expressed with tongues of fire:
“And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.” (Act 2:3-4)
The living water that flows in our inner man also is revealed through our immersion in the Holy Spirit of God.
““The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”” (Joh 7:38)
All this interplay between water and fire is contained and summed up in the name of God, His shem.
In the wilderness, Israel was led by Him through the pillar of fire and by the water symbol, the cloud of His Presence.
“And the LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from the presence of the people.” (Exo 13:21-22)
These were not just manifestations but a revelation that his shem, contains both the fire and the water. You see He is the foundation of all names.
If we dig a little deeper into the name, we learn that the name is a revelation of his character, what He is known by and for.
When God manifested Himself, he revealed Himself by the name He used in each manifestation. We know the base name of God, YHWH, spoken as Yahweh. God then attached attributes to His name by each revelation of Himself in varying circumstances which extended His name of His character to what was revealed in each situation.
This process of situational revelation is where the testimony of Him and His character is empowered.
““And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” (Rev 12:11)
Testimony is linked to circumstance. Think about for a moment. The eternal God allows Himself to be linked to circumstances in our lives to demonstrate that He is real in our specific human needs.
Let’s look at some of those name revelations:
1. YHVH Yireh: Literally this means God sees and in that seeing He is the provision.
a.) “Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.” (Gen 22:8)
b.) This is the foundation stone for all of our specific interactions with God. God is not blind to our troubles. He sees, and in His seeing His favor and provision is extended. Favor is all about perspective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. God sees us as His beloved and extends His provision base on that perspective. Vision precedes provision.
2. YHVH Rapha: The God who is healing. Healing is not what God does but who He is. In Him there is only healing.
a) “and said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you."” (Exo 15:26)
b) Listening to His voice is healing to our bodies, minds and spirits.
3. YHVH Nissi: God is my banner.
a) “And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD is My Banner;” (Exo 17:15)
b) A banner or a flag represents an identity to rally around. God’s name is the rallying. This is heart of the hallal, the shout of the Lord, the war cry of heaven. God calls us to the battle with the blast of the shofar!
4. YHVH Shalom: God is peace. God is a warrior, but the purpose of the battle is never the war itself but the peace. We strive and work to establish peace.
a) “When Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh, Lord GOD! For I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!” But the LORD said to him, “Peace to you, do not be afraid; you shall not die.” Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it The LORD is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.” (Jdg 6:22-24)
Like fire is the opposite of water, peace is the opposite of war and God is the boundaries of both. As Solomon said: “A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.” (Ecc 3:8)
b) God is tied to His name to both our battles and our victories!
5. YHVH Tzuri: God is our rock, our foundation stone.
a) ““Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.” (Isa 26:4)
b) “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my savior, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (Psa 18:2)
c) When I think of how fragile life is, I am so blessed to know that God is my rock, my firm foundation that I can build my life upon. He is solid.
6. YHVH Tzavaot: God is the Lord of Hosts, Lord of heaven’s armies:
a) ““Stop striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted on the earth.” The LORD of armies is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah” (Psa 46:10-11)
b) In times of great injustice, where the oppression of the enemy is at its highest, we need to remember that there is an army in heaven that will be released to execute judgment in the earth.
c) There will be soon a time when Jerusalem is surrounded by her enemies but the Lord has not forgotten that He has named Himself the covenant God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. He is a champion and all those being martyred in Nigeria and other hellholes are not forgotten and they will be avenged!
7. YHVH Yeshua: God is our salvation. The most important question we all must answer and ask of others was given by Yeshua Himself:
a) “Now when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is?”” (Mat 16:13)
b) “He *said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?”” (Mat 16:15)
c) When we answer this question, we reveal His name in our lives.
Being above all names means all names derive their significance from Him. In Him, we live and move and have our being. He is the source of our name. he brings us into the fire and the water, the place of His glory.
Activation: Ask Him what is your name to Him. You have a given name but you also have a new name.
“‘The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows except the one who receives it.’” (Rev 2:17)
There is a new name that is written on the stone. Ask Him to reveal it to you.
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