Young Adults' Group

Highest Regard For The Holy Name Of God

by Pastor Mark
June 04, 2015

A great visit to the Chesed El Synagogue

We thank God for the wonderful experience that we had in visiting the Chesed El Synagogue. It was a good time of learning about the kind of worship that the Jews practised.

We were given insights as to the significance of each part of their worship and the kind of regard that they gave to God. We thank God for all who came and were given a greater appreciation of the Jewish faith.

“The Name”

One thing that struck me was the high regard that the Jews had for the name of God. We were told that the Jews do not pronounce the name of God… Yahweh. In the Hebrew Bible, the name is represented by four letters “YHWH”. This is called the Tetragrammaton, which means four letters in Greek.

The name is written in such a way that it is not pronounceable. Each time when they come across this name during prayers, they will say “Adonai” which means “Lord” and refer to it as the “HaShem” which means “The Name” at other times. Indeed, the Jews have such a high regard for the name of God. As for us, what is our regard for the name of God like?

Regard for the name of God

1. A name forever

An example of the use the name of God is when God spoke to Moses and said “Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord 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 this is My memorial to all generations.’” (Ex 3:15)

Moses was learning from God about His name. He was the Lord God of Moses’ forefathers… Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This name would last forever. Moses was to remember this name as a memorial. Let us appreciate this special name always.

2. A holy and awesome name

“He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name.” (Ps 111:9)

Through what the Lord had done, He demonstrated how holy and awesome His name is. He brought redemption to His people. He made a covenant with Israel that was forever. Great regard should be given to the Lord’s holy and awesome name.

Hallowing the name of God

“Hallowed be Your name” (Matt 6:9)

One thing that the Lord Jesus taught in His model of prayer to His disciples was to hallow the name of God, who is their heavenly Father. The word “hallow” means to make holy, to consecrate. The name of God should always be given the highest regard. It should not be taken in vain in any way. We are to give great reverence to the name of God. It should be honoured by the way we pray. It should be glorified by the way we live our life. Let us be challenged to have the highest regard for the name of our Lord God.

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