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THE NAME OF GOD
There are many gods worshiped in various places around the world. Moses' father in Iaw, Jethro, testified: “Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods...” (Exodus 18:11). The Psalmist wrote that the things that God brings to pass are for a purpose: “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth,” (Psalm 83:18). The King James Bible has influenced most all newer translations. The King James translators translated God's name, “Jehovah” five times in the Old Testament. But an additional 5,521 times they translated this name “Jehovah” as “LORD” in all capital letters. Those who worship other gods do so because they believe that their god is the greatest, but as quoted above, the Bible teaches that Jehovah is “greater than all the gods.” The Bible says about God: “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do,” (Hebrews 4:13). People are free to worship whatever they will, but Christians have one God. Jehovah is the God “with whom we have to do.” Why should we “have to do” with lesser gods, impotent ones who are unable to do what they wish to do? Christians ought not be ashamed of God and His name. After all it is a revelation of who He is. Jehovah means the eternally existing one. He is the “I am” who revealed Himself to Moses. Exodus 3:14 records: “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” God is not the “I Was” God of the past nor the “I Will Be” God of the future, but He is the “I AM” - always existing: past, present and future. Jehovah means “I AM.” Now this “I AM” or Jehovah is different from all others that men claim are god. This Jehovah has a plan and is all powerful and thus well able to carry out His plan. He has a Son who said to His father before His death, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do,” (John 17:4). And just before He died, He said, “It is finished,” (John 19:30). His meaning? That He had successfully completed His mission. Acts 2:23 speaks of “the determinate counsel” of God in which God determined ahead of time things to be done. No doubt in the eternal counsel of God the Son of God was given specific work to do while upon the earth as a sinless man who yet remained God. The God revealed in the Bible is well able to do what He wants to do. He said: “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure,” (Isaiah 46:10).
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