Jan 21, 2024 | GPS by Pastor Bob Spicer
February 2022 GPS
Earlier in this study we looked at what the different names of God tell us about His nature, character and attributes. In this month’s study we will look at ways in which God’s name is to be used – and how it is not to be used. This time we will look at a way in which His name is not to be used.
In Exodus 20:7, we read: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” Why is the prohibition so important and how is it to be obeyed?
This prohibition is so important because of the function which God’s name performs. His names reveal His nature/character/attributes. If we think about the names of God that we have studied so far, we will notice that there is one quality that is common to all of them. They all reflect the fact that God is nonmaterial. We cannot see the qualities portrayed in them except as they are manifested in His behavior. We cannot see love, but we can see how it acts. We cannot see holiness, but we can see how it is manifested in His behavior.
John made this one quality clear in the prologue to his Gospel: “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” (John 1:18, NASB95) That is why the second of the Ten Commandments prohibits idolatry. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.” (Exodus 20:3–5, ESV) Any physical representation of God would distort the truth about Him. When God manifested His presence in the Tabernacle/Temple, it was in the form of a cloud or pillar of fire, not in the form of an animal or person or thing that could be touched. When the Samaritan woman brought up the question of the proper location where God manifested His presence, He said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”” (John 4:24, ESV)
How then are we to conceive of God? Isaiah 40:9b-31 helps us answer that question, as it is a self-portrait of God. I will not quote it here, but you can read it yourself. You will notice that all of it deals with God’s power. It is an exposition of one of God’s names, El Shaddai, God Almighty, a name that we studied in September’s GPS. In other words, our conception of God is to be formed by contemplating His attributes as they are revealed in Scripture. An important part of that revelation in Scripture is composed of the names He has given us for Himself there.
The LORD’s response to Moses’ request to see His glory is very instructive in this regard. “The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:5–7, ESV) In this passage “the name of the LORD” is composed of a list of His attributes.
His name is so closely identified with Himself that there are even a few times in the Old Testament where His name seems actually to be a reference to Himself. “Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of fury, and his tongue is like a devouring fire; his breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck; to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.” (Isaiah 30:27–28, ESV) What comes is “the name of the LORD,” but the following phrases make it clear that the LORD Himself is the one coming. Notice how “the LORD” is synonymously parallel with “the name of the God of Jacob” in the following verse: “May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion!” (Psalm 20:1–2, ESV)
The same kind of identification can be observed in the New Testament. For example, after the chief priests and the council deliberated regarding what to do with Peter and the apostles, “when they had called in the apostles [from prison], they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.” (Acts 5:40–42, ESV). Another example is found in Acts where Luke quotes Joel 2:32: “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” (Romans 10:13, ESV) Surely, the point in each of these passages is the “the name” refers to the Person in view, the Lord Himself. Still another example is found when John alludes to brothers who are working for Christ by saying of them: “For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.” (3 John 7, ESV) Again, “the name” must be a reference to the Lord. Israel was forbidden to take His name(s) in vain because they reveal His nature/character/attributes.
Jan 21, 2024 | GPS by Pastor Bob Spicer
January 2022 GPS
We began our study of names by looking at the way names reveal something about the nature/character of the one who bears the name. We then looked at what some of the names of God tell us about His nature or character. Although there are many more examples of names for God in the Bible, we will conclude our study of His names for now with one last example. This name is especially precious for two reasons. First, we need to have hope for the future when we see governments in various parts of the world making decisions and taking actions that are morally wrong. We wonder if there is any hope for a future where all government for the world will be just. This name assures us that there will come a day when the government that rules the world will be just and righteous.
Second, we need hope when we look at ourselves and recognize how far short we fall from God’s standards of holiness. If God is just, and He is, and we are so guilty, and we are, what hope is there for us to be right in His eyes?
The last name we will look at gives us a sure and certain hope for our own future as well. The name we will consider is “The LORD our righteousness.” The prophet Jeremiah lived and ministered at a time in history when the Babylonians ruled the near east, including Israel. In his lifetime Jerusalem would be conquered and many of his people would be deported. The walls of the city were flattened and the Temple of Solomon was utterly destroyed. Jeremiah knew that all of that destruction was coming because of the sins of the nation. Most of the kings of Judah who had reigned over the nation had been evil and had made disastrous decisions. Was there any hope? In that horrible situation, Jeremiah wrote: ““Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23:5–6, NASB95)
As in the other uses of names of God, this one also describes His nature/character. The basic meaning of the root word for “righteous” or “righteousness” is that which conforms to the correct standard. A helpful example is: “You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:36, ESV) The Hebrew word here translated “just” is another form of the same word translated “righteousness” in the Jeremiah passage. In other words, Israelites were to make sure that the measurements they used to conduct business would conform to the standard that was right. They were to be accurate. It would be like our saying today, “Make sure your gallon really is a gallon.” Make sure your measurement conforms to the correct standard.
In the Jeremiah passage quoted above, that is exactly the point that was being made about the One whose coming was being prophesied. In verses 1-2 of chapter 23, the Lord had pronounced woes upon the shepherds (kings) over His people who had mistreated the sheep. They had not measured up to the standard of the way shepherds should behave, so He pronounced judgment on them. Then, in verses 3-4, He promised to regather His sheep and to give to them shepherds that would take good care of the sheep. Then, in verses 5-6, the LORD promises something greater still. He will raise up for David a righteous branch who will reign wisely and execute justice and righteousness. In His days the whole nation, north and south, would be rescued and dwell in security. Of course this was a prophecy of the Messiah, God’s Anointed. The name of this promised One would be, “The LORD [is] our righteousness.” (ESV) The behavior of the coming King will conform to the way a godly King should behave. Furthermore, in some way He, Himself, as to His nature or character, will conform to God’s standard of holiness. Not only would this coming One be righteous Himself and reign righteously, but in some way He would be the righteousness of the nation. How could that be? I think we find help to answer that question from the Apostle Paul. In 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, Paul describes the change that God brings about in a person when he or she is born again, regenerated. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17–19, ESV) The believer becomes a new person. God does not count their trespasses against them but rather God reconciles them to Himself. For that reason, as an ambassador of Christ Paul pleads with people to accept that reconciliation. “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20, ESV) How is it possible for God, who is just, not to count our trespasses against us? The answer is in verse 21. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV) Jesus became sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. He is our righteousness. We have no righteousness of our own. “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (Isaiah 64:6, ESV) His righteousness becomes our righteousness. The same was the case with believers in Jeremiah’s day.
Jan 21, 2024 | GPS by Pastor Bob Spicer
December 2021 GPS
So far in our study of names, we have looked at the way names reveal something about the nature/character of the one who bears the name. Since Christmas comes in December, it seemed appropriate, in our study of names, to focus in our study for this month, on what Mary and Joseph were told about Jesus’ names. We will begin by looking at the name “Jesus.”
When Mary was informed about what would happen to her, we read, “And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:30–31, ESV) When Joseph was told about the conception and birth of Jesus, the angel added an explanation for the reason why the name “Jesus” was chosen. Speaking of Mary, He told Joseph, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”” (Matthew 1:21, ESV) It is generally known that the name “Jesus” is a Greek form of the Hebrew name “Joshua.” Furthermore, it is known that the Hebrew name “Joshua” means Jehovah (Yahweh) is salvation. So, when Joseph is told that Mary’s Son will be called Jesus, he was also told the reason why He was to be given that name. “He will save his people from their sins.” As I noted above, one of the functions of names was to denote the nature/character of the one being named, whether humans or God. That is exactly what the name “Jesus” did when applied to our Lord. He expressed by His life and by His character the fact that the LORD is salvation. He is the One who saves. To “save” is to deliver or rescue from something. From what does Jesus save (deliver/rescue) His people? The angel told Joseph exactly from what Jesus saves His people. He saves (delivers/rescues) them from their sins. What kind of a being would it take to accomplish that deliverance since all human beings have sinned? All of us are caught in the quagmire of sin. None of us stands on solid ground so that we can rescue anyone else. We need someone who is more than human. The rest of the messages, received by Mary and Joseph, give us the answer to that question.
When Mary asked how it could be that she, a virgin, could conceive and then give birth to a son, “The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35, ESV) After Matthew recorded the angel’s message to Joseph explaining why “Jesus” was to be the child’s name, Matthew added that this was to be a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He wrote, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).” (Matthew 1:22–23, ESV quoting Isaiah 7:14) These two passages tell us that Jesus, the Savior, was more than a mere human. He was the God/man. When the angel told Mary about how she would conceive in her womb, what he described was a miracle because of which the child to whom she would give birth would be called the Son of God. This name would describe His character/nature. He would be human, for He would be her son. He would also be deity, for He would be God’s Son. As such, He would have characteristics of a human (without sin) and characteristics of God. When the angel told Joseph about the child Mary would bear, he said that His name would be called “Immanuel,” “God with us.” This name also would describe His character/nature. He was in reality God with us, with human beings. God was dwelling among human people! Because He was not only human but also divine, He was able to do what no mere human could possibly do. He was, and is, able to save (rescue/deliver) people from their sins.
What does that deliverance entail? We often think only of deliverance from the guilt and penalty of our sins, and that is certainly included. That is not all that it involves, however. It also includes being delivered from the power of sin. He is able to give us the strength to resist temptation and live godly lives. It also includes deliverance from the very presence of sin. One day, when we see Him and are made like Him, we will no longer sin at all. All of this is ours if we have come to faith in Jesus as our savior (deliverer/rescuer). No wonder we sing, “His Name Is Wonderful”! That is indeed His nature, His character! In the next few months we will look at the significance and use of names in the Bible, especially God’s names. For example, what does it mean to take God’s name in vain? What does it mean to make a request in Jesus’ name? What does it mean to give a cup of cold water to someone in Jesus’ name? What does it mean to baptize someone in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit?
Jan 21, 2024 | GPS by Pastor Bob Spicer
November 2021 GPS
In the August GPS, we saw that one purpose for names in the Bible was to identify the origin/nature of the subject under consideration. In the September GPS, we looked at how two names of God revealed aspects of His nature or character: “I am” and “God Almighty.” This month we will look at two other names of God. The first of these is “Lord [or God] of Hosts.” Either one form or the other of that phrase is used 242 times in the Bible. An example is: “For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the LORD, the God of hosts, is his name!” (Amos 4:13, ESV) The noun behind the word “host” is used of great numbers of various beings or things. It is used to refer to inanimate heavenly bodies: “And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.” (Deuteronomy 4:19, ESV) In some cases it refers to humans: “And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army [in Hebrew “host”], to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?”” (Judges 4:7, ESV) It may refer to great numbers of heavenly beings, which I think is the idea behind its use in this name for God: “And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left;” (1 Kings 22:19, ESV) “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45, ESV) “The Lord GOD of hosts, he who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile, and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt; who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and founds his vault upon the earth; who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth— the LORD is his name.” (Amos 9:5–6, ESV) This name is usually understood to refer to God as the leader of the armies of heaven. Obviously, the omnipotent Creator of the heavens and the earth does not need the support of anyone else to accomplish His purposes. When He is depicted as the commander of a vast number of heavenly beings, the effect is to dramatize His mighty power in a way that human beings can begin to grasp it. We can see an example of this at work in 2 Kings 6, when the army of the king of Syria had surrounded the city of Dothan where Elisha “the man of God” was staying. “When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:15–17, ESV) The LORD of hosts, our God, is invincible.
The next name for God that we will consider reveals a completely different attribute of our God. It is “the God who sees me.” When Hagar fled from her mistress, Sarai, who was treating her harshly, we read: “The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.” (Genesis 16:7–14, ESV) Although she was only a servant, all alone in the wilderness, fleeing from her mistress, Sarai, God saw her and comforted her. In Psalm 139, David sings of God’s comprehensive knowledge of us as well. He is not only mighty, but He is also attentive to each one of us. He is the God who lives and sees us.
Jan 21, 2024 | GPS by Pastor Bob Spicer
September 2021 GPS
In last month’s GPS we saw that one purpose for names of people in the Bible was to identify the origin/nature of the subject under consideration. This month we want to look at how that purpose is reflected in God’s name.
When the Lord commissioned Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt we read the following interchange between them. “Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” (Exodus 3:13–15, ESV) It is not surprising that Moses would anticipate that his people would ask who this God is that has promised to deliver them from captivity for throughout the ancient near east all nations were polytheistic. God identified Himself to them in two ways. He tells them what His name is and that He is the same God that their ancestors had worshipped and who had made promises to those ancestors.
Moses is to tell Israel that His name is “I AM.” Then, in verse 15, Moses is instructed to say to Israel, “The LORD… has sent me to you.” It is important to understand that “I am” in Hebrew is a form of the same verb that lies behind the English word “LORD” when it is in all capital letters. If the Hebrew word behind “LORD” [normally pronounced “Yahweh” in Hebrew] were actually translated it would be “HE IS,” which is the correct response of the people to the declaration of God’s name as “I AM.” If, as I wrote above, one of the purposes for a name in the Bible is to identify the origin/nature of the subject under consideration, what does the name I AM” tell us about God? Obviously, it does not tell us about His origin because He does not have one. He has always existed. It does tell us something about His nature, however. Old Testament scholars have made a number of suggestions about its significance such as that God is saying He is eternal or self-existent or that He will be what He will be. In my opinion the simplest explanation is that God is simply declaring that He is a being who really exists, which is something that cannot be said about any of the other gods of the ancient world. None of the gods of the Egyptians or of the Canaanites had objective reality. They were no gods, but Yahweh (He is), did and does exist.
Throughout the Bible several names are ascribed to God in compound forms, such as “the LORD is our righteousness” (Jer. 23:6) and “the LORD of hosts” (1 Sam. 1:3). I plan to look at some of these in the coming months.
Another name of God which provides information about His nature is, in Hebrew, “El Shaddai” which is usually translated “God Almighty.” It means exactly what it says. He is all powerful. We find the first occurrence of it in Genesis 17, where the Lord again confirms His covenant with Abram. “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”” (Genesis 17:1–2, ESV) I believe that God identifies Himself with this name because He is going to reaffirm His covenant with Abram for the third time after having given it to him in chapter 12, and He wants to use a name for Himself that was designed to strengthen Abram’s faith in the reliability of God’s promise of a son. Furthermore, we are told that Abram was ninety-nine when this promise was given and that he was one hundred when Isaac was born (Gen. 1:5). It would take an almighty God to fulfill this promise. The second use of that name is when Isaac sends Jacob away to Laban’s home to find a wife. “God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!”” (Genesis 28:3–4, ESV) Isaac knew that it would take an almighty God to fulfill his request. The third use of this name was when God appeared to Jacob after Simeon and Levi had dealt treacherously with the Shechemtes. “And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”” (Genesis 35:11–12, ESV) Again, it would take an almighty God to fulfill the great promises He made to Jacob that day. He is and He is almighty. Next month we will look at what some other names of God tell us about Him.
Jan 21, 2024 | GPS by Pastor Bob Spicer
August 2021 GPS
In the Bible God makes it quite clear that His name is important. One of the Ten Commandments forbids using the name of
the Lord in vain. Jesus said that if we ask anything in His name He would grant the request. He taught that the phrase,
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” is significant. He also said that His followers should baptize people in
the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Paul said that Jesus has a name which is above every name and that the day
will come when at the name of Jesus every knee will bow. Why does God attach such importance to His name? What is
involved in the meaning of “name” in passages such as the ones noted above?
In order to understand why God places such importance on His name we need to consider the Biblical function of names in
general. Of course, the most obvious purpose for names is to identify someone or something, but that act of identification
needs further nuancing. What was the purpose behind the choice of Biblical names? In the Bible names were selected for
a number of reasons. Early in the Creation account we see two reasons for a name being chosen. One is that it identifies
the origin/nature of the subject under consideration. In Genesis 2:7 we read: “then the Lord God formed the man of dust
from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” ( ESV) In this
verse, “man” translates the Hebrew word adam which is related to the Hebrew word translated “ground” which is
adamah, designating the material from which the man was created. Throughout this passage the same Hebrew word,
adam, is translated either Adam or man, depending upon whether the translator thought it was a generic term
designating a human being or a proper noun designating the individual Adam.
Similarly, further down in the same chapter of Genesis we read: “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man
should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for [other translations have “suitable for” or “corresponding to”] him. Now out
of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man
to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave
names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a
helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and
closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought
her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”” (Genesis 2:18–23, ESV) This paragraph begins with God’s observation that it was not
good for the man to be alone so God would make “a helper fit for him.” Then we are told that Adam gave names to all of
the animals which God brought before him but that there was not found a “helper fit for him.” The names Adam gave the
animals were obviously classification kinds of names, not individual names for each of them. They may have functioned
much like scientific names do today. At the conclusion of what must have been a very long process it was determined that
none of those animals really corresponded to Adam. They were not humans. They were in a different category. When God
brings Eve to Adam, he recognizes that she was “fit for him.” That is, she was a being that corresponded to him. Adam
called her (gave her the name) “Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” In Hebrew, the words for “man” and
“woman” are related very much like the English words are. “Man” is ish and “woman” is ishshah. In both English and
Hebrew the words for “man” and “woman” are related much like “Adam” or “the man” are related to “ground.” In both
cases, the name chosen indicates the origin/nature of the one being named.
A bit later in the Creation narrative we find “name” being used to indicate a different kind of identification. In this case,
“name” the personal identity of the one being named. To do so, the name tells something unique about the subject. “The
man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” (Genesis 3:20, ESV) Although she fitted within
the category of human beings called women, her particular identity within that category was indicated by her personal
name “Eve.” Adam names the woman “Eve,” because “she was the mother of all living” [human beings]. The Hebrew word
for “Eve” is hawwah is related to the Hebrew word for “living,” the adjective hai. Eve’s name reminds us of her
relationship to all later living human beings. Similarly, “Adam” [Hebrew Adam] gets his name from the material God used
to create him, the ground [Hebrew Adamah].
Next month we will look at how this applies to God’s name.
