What name should we call God?
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Just another day out in the wilderness. The sun's beating down as Moses is out there tending his father-in-law's sheep near Mount Horeb. He's been in Midian for 40 years now, a far cry from his days in the cushy Egyptian palace. Life had settled into a pretty predictable rhythm since he fled after killing that Egyptian taskmaster for attacking one of his Hebrew brothers. So Moses is guiding the sheep through the rocky terrain when something catches his eye. There's this bush completely engulfed in flames, but oddly it's not burning up. Naturally curious, he moves closer.
And that's when a voice calls out. Moses, Moses. Here I am, Moses answers, taking off his sandals when told to because he's standing on holy ground. The voice continues. I'm the God of your father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses hides his face. He's scared to look at God.
Then God lays out the mission for Moses to free the Israelites from Egypt. But Moses isn't so sure about himself. He asks how he's supposed to convince people that God really sent him so they don't think he's crazy. That's when it happens. God shares something incredibly personal with Moses. I am who I am. Tell the Israelites, I am has sent me to you.
And then he adds, "Say to them, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever. How I want to be remembered through all generations." This wasn't just about giving Moses a job to do. It was about relationship. It was about God saying, "Here's who I am." Now, fast forward to Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray.
Matthew chapter 6, he says, "Here's how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." Jesus acknowledges God's name is holy, but notice he starts off with our father. Not the divine name revealed to Moses. Later in the Garden of Gethsemane, facing the cross, Jesus falls to the ground praying, "Aba, Father, everything's possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.
Aba is such a tender term. It's like saying daddy or papa. Kind of word a child uses with a father they completely trust. These stories raise some really interesting questions about how we approach God. So let's talk about that. Does anyone know exactly how to pronounce Yahwah, the tetragraman in Hebrew? These four letters appear over 6,800 times in the Hebrew Bible.
But here's the thing. were not sure how to say it. Ancient Hebrew was was written without vowels and by the time they added vow marks to the text, people had stopped saying the name out loud out of reverence and it was lost. Even if we did know the correct Hebrew pronunciation though, it would still sound different in other languages. Think about your own name like me, John in Spanish, Johan and other other languages. Where you travel, your name would be pronounced differently. Some sounds in Hebrew don't even exist in English.
So translation naturally changes pronunciation. And plus, can any name really capture who God is? Isaiah 55 tells us that God's thoughts are not ours and his ways are not ours. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God's ways higher than our ways. He is so far beyond our understanding. No single name, no matter how sacred or perfectly pronounced, can fully express who he is. Was the divine name Yahi Wahhei preserved in the New Testament manuscripts?
Interestingly, it wasn't. Instead, we find curios and theos God. The early Christians, many of whom were Jewish, seemed totally fine with this practice. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus says, "Hallowed be your name." But does he actually use the divine name in that prayer? Nope, he doesn't. He starts with our father and doesn't use the name.
Now, that suggests that while God's name is absolutely holy, Jesus was teaching us about a close family-like relationship with God as our father. Now, what names did Jesus use for God? Throughout the gospel, he mainly calls God father, God, and Lord. Those words highlight relationship rather than formal naming. But there was that special name in the garden of Gethsemane. As we mentioned, he used abba, that intimate term like how a young child might call out daddy. That's in Mark 14:36 where he says, "Aba, father, everything is possible for you.
Take this cup from me." Now, think about this. Do you call your dad by his first name or do you say dad or papa or some other affectionate term? Most of us use the term of endearment. It would feel weird and distant to use your father's first name in everyday conversation, wouldn't it? Certainly would for me. But does all this mean that God's name isn't important?
No. Absolutely not. Names in biblical times were huge. They reflected character, authority, essence. When God told Moses his name, he was revealing his character, his eternal existence, his faithfulness, his very nature. Now, does that mean you shouldn't use whatever name for God that you're comfortable with? Not at all.
If a particular name helps you connect with God more deeply, go for it. God sees your heart, not just your word. Can I tell you something personal? Despite my background in the Jehovah's Witness tradition, when I'm in a church singing a hymn with Jehovah in it, lots of Baptist hymns have the name, I have zero problem singing along. Even though I know that's not a perfect translation of the tetra grammarin. Why? Because I also know that what matters most is the heart behind our worship, not perfect pronunciation.
But in my own prayers, I call God aba because that's the kind of relationship he wants with us, beloved father and child. Romans 8:15 says, "The spirit you receive doesn't make you slaves so that you live in fear again. Rather, the spirit you received brought about your adoption, and by him we cry, aba, father." This is about closeness, belonging, feeling safe with a loving parent. Now, here's something that might surprise you. When I pray, I don't usually kneel or look down. I often stand with my arms open, looking up.
Why would I hang my head like I'm some sort of criminal in front of a judge when I'm actually a son approaching my loving father? When my father was alive, I called him dad, not James, and we talked face to face. That's how Moses spoke with God, how Jesus spoke with God, and how we can too. Paul even wrote in Romans 8:16, "The spirit himself tells our spirit that we're God's children." Imagine finding an incredibly valuable painting in rough shape. It's so expensive that you sell your house and move into a cheap apartment just so you can buy it and hire the best restorer to bring it back to its original glory. Once it's perfectly restored, hanging on your wall, how would you feel about that painting?
Well, you are that painting. God paid everything to restore you. Ephesians 2:10 says, "We are God's masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." We are God's work of art. Don't disrespect his gift by approaching him like you're terrified. If you're a parent, how would you feel if you'd done everything to give your child the best life possible, yet every time they talked to you, they sounded scared to death? That would break your heart, wouldn't it?
That would break mine. Don't do that to God. Hebrews 4:16 encourages us. Let's approach God's throne of grace with confidence so we we can receive mercy and find grace to help us when we need it. God's name matters because it shows us his character. But Jesus taught us to relate to God primarily as father, as Aba. This doesn't make God's name any less holy.
It just adds this beautiful dimension of close relationship to our understanding of who God is. We see this balance throughout scripture. In Psalm 9:10, David writes, "Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you." Knowing God's name isn't about getting the pronunciation just right. It's about knowing his character, his faithfulness, his love. In Philippians 2:9-11, Paul wrote, "God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue acknowledged that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."
The power in Jesus' name isn't in how we pronounce it, but in who he is. Fun fact, Jesus is not his Hebrew name. When Moses asked God for his name at the burning bush, God didn't just give him a label. He revealed his nature. I am who I am. Talking about his self-existence, his eternality, the fact that he never changes. Exodus 34 shows more of God's character.
The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. This is what knowing God's name is really about. Knowing who he is. And Jesus came to show us the Father in the most personal way possible. In John 17:6, Jesus prays, "I've revealed you to those you gave me." He made the once invisible God visible to us. In ancient times, a name represented authority and character.
To call on someone's name was to invoke their presence and power. When we pray in Jesus' name, we're not using some magic formula. We're acknowledging his authority and aligning our requests with his heart. So, what does all this mean for us today? It means we can approach God with both depth of respect for his holiness and depth of joy in his closeness. It means we don't need to get caught up in debates about pronunciation when what really matters is relationship. It means we can follow Jesus example and call God father even aba knowing he welcomes us as his beloved children.
Malachi 3:16 tells us, "Those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name." God notices when we honor his name, not just in our words, but in how we lived. So, what does honoring God's name look like today? Jesus gives us a clue in John 17:4 when he prays, "I brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do." We honor God's name by living out our calling, by loving others, by showing his character to the world around us. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, "Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven."
When people see our lives, do they want to glorify our father? That's a question for you. The prophet Micah put it so simply. He has shown you what is good and what does the Lord require of you to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8, it's not complicated. This is how we honor God's name through justice, mercy, and walking closely with him. So, where does that leave us?
God's name is absolutely important. It reveals his character, his authority, who he really is. But Jesus showed us that God invites us into relationship with the father. We can honor his holy name while also approaching him with the confidence and closeness of beloved children. Whether you prefer to call God Lord, Jehovah, Yahweh, Father, or Aba, what matters most is that you know the one you're talking to. As Jesus famously said in John 17:3, "This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent." Let's remember that God looks at the heart.
1st Samuel 16:7 tells us, "People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." How we pronounce his name matters far less than the heart with which we approach him. The beautiful paradox of our faith is that the all powerful holy God whose name we reverence also invites us to call him aa. As Isaiah 57:15 puts it, this is what the high and exalted one says, "He who lives forever, whose name is holy. I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit." God is both incredibly holy and amazingly close. His name reflects both sides of his nature.
We honor his holiness and treasure his nearness. As we leave here today, let's carry with us both a deep reverence for God's holy name and a joyful confidence in approaching him as our loving father. Let's live in ways that honor that name. And let's never forget that the God who revealed his name to Moses invites us through Christ into a close relationship as his sons and daughters. Let this be our prayer. Aba Father, we stand in awe of your holiness and in gratitude for your nearness. May we honor your name in all we say and do.
Thank you for inviting us into relationship with you, not as terrified subjects, but as beloved children. Help us to live in the space between reverent awe and intimate trust. May our lives bring glory to your name and may others come to know you through us in the powerful name of Jesus who taught us to call you Aba. Amen. [Music]
