Where God Puts His Name
Does it matter what we call ourselves, as a church? I began studying that question two months ago. I began sharing the results of that study in a Daily Droplets on April 6th, then again on April 14th, and again on April 27th. Other obligations have kept me from pursuing the study but here is some more fruit…
God’s name is holy and we must keep it holy. Not only is that one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:7) but Jesus says it ought to be a part of our prayers (Matthew 6:9). Since God’s name is holy, that to which He puts His name also carries His holiness.
Before leaving Mount Sinai, God told Israel: “‘You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you” (Exodus 20:24).
Before the Israelites invade the land of Canaan to establish residence there, Moses told them, “But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come. …then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the Lord” (Deut. 12:5, 11).
The command for observing the Passover was: “You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name” (Deut. 16:2).
The behavior of the Israelites would (should) lead the other nations to glorify the God whose name they wore, whose character they reflected: “So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you” (Deut. 28:10).
Israel, as God’s people, was closely associated with His name: “For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself” (1 Samuel 12:22; 2 Samuel 7:23).
In God’s covenant He made with King David, He said that the house David would build (a prophecy of David’s spiritual descendants, otherwise known as the kingdom of the Messiah) would reflect the name of God: “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:13, 26).
A physical representation of that Holy Name in the midst of Israel was the temple built by King Solomon (reflecting, again, the spiritual descendants of David, portrayed by a metaphorical temple: Amos 9:11): “The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days” (1 Kings 3:2; See also 5:3-5). That temple was built for the name of the Lord God of heaven (1 Kings 8:20). It reflected His plans, His nature, His character. It was to be honored and preserved holy for that reason. “The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually” (1 Kings 9:3).
As we continue to study the question whether it makes a difference what Christians call themselves (individually and collectively), consider these thoughts from Exodus 34:14: “for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”—Paul Holland