There are several names attributed to God in the Bible. Some have listed them into different groups as the 72 names of God and other unique names.
However, in this message, we will be studying 7 Redemptive Names Of God In The Bible. We will see how the names came to be, their meanings, and what they signify to The Believers Today.
Meanwhile, have you seen the message, Above All Else, Guard Your Heart? You should give it a read!
What Does ‘Names Of God In The Bible’ Mean?
A name is a word or phrase used to identify a person or thing. It is a unique means for an observer or a second person to distinguish a person from others by what they say or do.
For example, my name is Joseph Edem Bassey. That is my official name, and I just told it to you. But you can call me Minister JEB because of what I do. It is still my name. (Smile.)
The name or names of God in the Bible refers to the words or groups of words used to identify God in the scriptures. They are characterized by who He is, what He did, and will do.
One would ask, how many names of God are there in the Bible? While the list is inexhaustible, there are about a hundred to a thousand unique names attributed to God in the Bible. The commonly used names of God in the Bible are Elohim and Yahweh.
Elohim is used over two thousand times in the scriptures, while Yahweh appears over six thousand times. Let us focus on Elohim a little bit.
Elohim is the Hebrew word for gods or deities, a plural for El or Eloah. It is said to refer to the unity of God as the Trinity. But it is important to note that when referred to God in Hebrew, it means the Supreme One or the Mighty One. That is to say, the One Above all.
According to Genesis 1:1 WEB, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The God there is translated from Elohim which refers to Him as the Creator.
Does God Have A Name? (YHWH)
There have been contentions about whether or not God has a name. In The Nine Billion Names Of God, a short story written by Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, there is a claim that names like God, Jehovah, Allah, and the like, given to the supreme being, are man-made.
The book presents quite a fascinating science fictional story dated back to 1953, with a discovery of the names of God, numbered at Nine Billion (9,000,000,000), and monks trying to figure out all the names of God with the help of computers from the West. The idea is that the world would end when they complete all the names of God.
However, we may not ascertain which being was referred to in the book, considering it is a work of fiction. But if we settle with the scriptures, we can say God has a name.
In Exodus 3, the word of the Lord came to Moses in the burning bush, instructing him to go to Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to bring the people of Israel from captivity.
“Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?’
He said, ‘Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.’
Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you;’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?
God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM,’ and he said, You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’
God said moreover to Moses, You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, 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 this is my memorial to all generations.” Exodus 3:11–15 WEB.
There are two names mentioned here: I Am and Yahweh. But according to the scripture, Yahweh is the name that the Lord said is his name forever.
The Hebrew word translated as Yahweh, also translated as Jehovah in other Bible translations, is YHWH (יְהוָ֞ה), the Tetragrammaton, presented as Yəhōwā. It is known to be the proper name of God to the people of Israel and those who believe in God in the Bible.
“God spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am Yahweh;
and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them.” Exodus 6:2–3 WEB.
So Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the patriarchs, knew God as El Shaddai, not as YHWH, which is the name by which God is known, especially in the Old Testament.
What is the meaning of YHWH or Yahweh? A popular etymology implies that Yahweh (YHWH) means The Being or To Be. It goes back to the first passage we read in Exodus 3, where the Lord said, I Am Who I Am (eh-yeh ă-šer eh-yeh), I Am (eh-yeh), and then Yahweh (YHWH). Further expressions of the first two are as follows: I Am What I Am, and I Will Be What I Will Be.
However, it is arguable that I Am Who I Am and I Am are the meaning of YHWH.
First, I Am Who I Am in Exodus 3:14 suggestively implied that God would be with Moses while he went to Egypt. And I Am (eh-yeh), while sounding similar to Yahweh, would not necessarily be the case with an argument pointing to the 6th and 10th letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
YHWH (Yahweh) is important in this study as every other redemptive name of God that we will be looking at below. And with all that we have seen, I would add that it describes God as the Self-Existing One who is able to deliver and save.
The One who is our Salvation, revealed in the person of Yeshua or Joshua, Jesus the Christ, as seen in the Gospels and the New Testament.
7 Redemptive Names Of God In The Bible
Redemptive is relative to redeeming and refers to the ability to rescue, deliver, or save from sin, evil, and death.
The Redemptive names of God in the Bible refer to the names that describe the ability of God to deliver and save those who trust in Him.
In this section, we will look at 7 Redemptive names of God and their meanings and what they signify to The Believers Today. They include:
- Jehovah Raah or Yahweh Rohi
- Jehovah Tsidkenu or Yahweh Tsidkenu
- Yahweh Jireh or Jehovah Jireh
- Jehovah Rapha or Yahweh Rapha
- Jehovah Shalom or Yahweh Shalom
- Jehovah Mekoddishkem or Yahweh Mekoddishkem
- Jehovah Nissi or Yahweh Nissi.
Jehovah Raah Or Yahweh-Rohi
Jehovah Raah or Yahweh Rohi are the same. They mean The Lord Is My Shepherd or The Lord Our Shepherd.
Raah or Rohi commonly means to see, see, or cause to see. It also refers to the one who tends, shepherds, or to pasture.
David used the name in Psalms 23:1 WEB, where he said, “Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing.” The term My Shepherd is Rō-‘î in Hebrew. It refers to The Lord as the one we look to, the one we see, the one who tends for us, the one who leads us, or the one who shepherds us.
It signifies that God is the Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep and is sufficient for them.
In John 10:11 WEB, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” So we see how God revealed Himself as the caring Shepherd to redeem His people from their sins, evil, and death.
Jehovah Tsidkenu
Jehovah Tsidkenu is another Hebrew name of God in the Bible. Tsidkenu is the word for straight, right, and just. It refers to OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Therefore, Jehovah Tsidkenu means the Lord Our Righteousness, or the Lord Is Our Righteousness.
Jeremiah while prophesying in Jeremiah 23:6 WEB, said, “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name by which he shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness.”
The name signifies that God is the one who justifies and is just. He makes righteous and is right.
As one of the redemptive names of God, we see the perfect description of Jehovah Tsidkenu, where Christ became sin for us that we might become the Righteousness Of God.
Paul said in Romans 3:21–26 WEB:
“But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets;
even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction,
for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;
whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God’s forbearance;
to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.”
So at Redemption, we see God identifying with us in Christ, clothing us with His Righteousness, which has become our righteousness. And we are His Righteousness through faith in Christ Jesus.
Yahweh Jireh Or Jehovah-Jireh
Yahweh Jireh or Jehovah-Jireh is another Hebrew name of God in the Bible that portrays the concept of redemption.
The term Jireh means to see as well as provide. It could mean the Lord saw and provided, but a common interpretation is that God will provide. Otherwise, it refers to God as the Provider.
The name originates from a unique story of Abraham and Isaac, his son. According to the scriptures, we learned that Abraham had Isaac as a promised child in old age, but the word of the Lord came to him (as a test), instructing him to offer Isaac to the Lord.
The next day, Abraham took his son whom he loved, saddled his donkey with two of his men, shared the wood for the burnt offering, and went to the place commanded him.
As they were close to the mountain, he told the men to wait while they went up to worship and would return. So he went up with his son, carrying the wood for the offering while he carried the fire and the knife.
“Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, ‘My father?’ He said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’
Abraham said, ‘God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.’ So they both went together.
They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood.
Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.
Yahweh’s angel called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He said, ‘Here I am.’
He said, ‘Don’t lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’
Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide. As it is said to this day, ‘On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.’” Genesis 22:7–14 WEB.
While Yahweh Jireh, or Jehovah-Jireh, was named after a place where God made provision in the sted of man, it is identical to God. The event figuratively communicates how God would provide Himself an offering for humanity in the person of Christ, the Lamb of God that was slain.
The Gospel of John said this about the Baptizer: “The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” John 1:29 WEB.
Jehovah Rapha
Jehovah Rapha is one of the redemptive names of God in the Bible. The word Rapha means to heal or make healthy.
Jehovah Rapha means the God who heals or the Lord our Healer. He restored health and cure to the wounded and the unhealthy.
After the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, Moses led them through the wilderness of Shur for three days, and they found no water. But when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water because it was bitter. So the people murmured to Moses, asking him what they would drink.
“Then he cried to Yahweh. Yahweh showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them;
and he said, “If you will diligently listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you.” Exodus 15:25–26 WEB.
Here, we see the word of the Lord promising physical health to those who would obey the commandments of the Lord and keep His statutes. And one unique thing that happened in that passage was the restoration of sweetness to the water from bitterness.
Over time, God revealed Himself as Jehovah Rapha in the face of Christ. Isaiah the prophet said in Isaiah 53:1–5 WEB:
“Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him.
Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.”
In the fulfillment of the prophecy, Peter echoed the same about Christ when he said in 1 Peter 2:22–25 WEB:
“who did not sin, ‘neither was deceit found in his mouth.’
Who, when he was cursed, didn’t curse back. When he suffered, didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously;
who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
For you were going astray like sheep; but now have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
While Jehovah Rapha healed the diseased, even the brokenhearted, in redemption, He restored life eternal to the dying man through faith in Christ Jesus.
Jehovah Shalom
Jehovah Shalom is one of the names of God on our list concerning the redemptive works of God.
Shalom is a common Hebrew word for peace. It is also a mode of greeting as in Shalom aleichem, which means peace be to you (or upon you).
A deeper understanding of the word Shalom is to be in a state of wholeness, completeness, delightfulness, or stillness in the innermost.
Jehovah Shalom means the Lord is Peace. Therefore, God is our source of wholeness, completeness, happiness, and calmness. He is our source of peace as opposed to war, whether within or without.
In Judges 6:24 WEB, “Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it ‘Yahweh is Peace.’ To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.”
Isaiah 9:6–7 WEB says:
“For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on the throne of David, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this.”
Here, we see Christ identified as the Prince of Peace (the Chief, Captain, or Minister of Shalom): the one who brings true peace to man in redemption by reconciling us with the Father. Therefore, we find our completeness and are made whole again by faith in His finished works.
According to the Gospel of John 14:27 WEB, Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.”
“May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23 WEB.
Jehovah Mekoddishkem
The number six of the seven redemptive names of God in the Bible on our list is Jehovah Mekoddishkem.
Mekoddishkem is a derivation from the Hebrew word Qâdash or Kaddesh. It means to sanctify, to make holy, or to set apart.
Therefore, Jehovah Mekoddishkem means The Lord who sanctifies, makes holy or sets apart from the rest. In other words, God is the one who cleanses from Sin.
The name Jehovah Mekoddishkem or Yahweh Mekoddishkem appears twice in the scriptures, in Exodus 31:13 and Leviticus 20:8.
However, we see God at redemption, sanctifying The Believers Today through Christ Jesus.
“For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
saying, ‘I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.’” Hebrews 2:10–12 WEB.
Therefore, it is necessary to note that God is the one who sanctifies, and Christ is our sanctification. This sanctification is of the Spirit indwelling.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:30–31 WEB, “But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, ‘He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.’”
“For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.” 1 Thessalonians 4:7 WEB.
Jehovah Nissi
Jehovah Nissi is number seven on our list of the redemptive names of God in the Bible. Nissi means banner.
Jehovah Nissi, Yahweh Nissi, or YHWH Nissi, means The Lord Is My Banner or The Lord Our Banner. The term appeared once in the Bible in the book of Exodus 17:15.
The background was when Amalek went to war against Israel, and Moses commanded Joshua to take soldiers to fight against them. He went up the mountain with ‘the staff of the Lord’. When he lifted it, the Israelites prevailed, but when he put it down, Amalekites prevailed.
According to the scripture, Moses’ hands were heavy, and Aaron and Hur prepared a stone for him to sit on while they held his hands, one on each side. So, the Israelites, led by Joshua, defeated the Amalekites and were victorious.
Afterward, the word of the Lord came to Moses, instructing him to write down the event as a memorial and make it a reminder to Joshua because He promised to blot out the Amalekites (their enemy) from the Earth.
Then, in Exodus 17:15 WEB, “Moses built an altar, and called its name Yahweh our Banner.”
Here, we see Yahweh Nissi, a name attributed to God, given to a place where the Israelites had victory over the Amalekites. It symbolized their allegiance to the Lord and their submission to His leadership in victory.
At Redemption, we see the Lord Our Banner in the face of Christ, who showed up to defeat death on our behalf. We pledge our allegiance to Him or acknowledge Him as our Banner by faith in what He did.
“‘Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?’
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:55–57 WEB.
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith.” 1 John 5:4 WEB.
Why God’s Names Are Important To Know
While there are other names attributed to the Lord like Adonai, Jesus, Immanuel, Alpha and Omega, and ABBA, to mention a few, I want to share with you why it is necessary to know the redemptive names of God and their meanings in the Bible.
I will present two specific reasons, one to the other as two in one. Let us get it done already!
- The first reason is so that you know what God does for you.
- The second is so you know what you should do as The Believers Today.
When you know and understand that God is the Good Shepherd, you know why you should follow His leadings.
When you know and understand that God is our Righteousness, you will see the reason to live righteously.
When you know and understand that God is our Provider, you will be sure He will supply your needs.
When you know and understand that God is our Healer, you should trust Him for healing.
When you know and understand that God is our Peace, you will see reasons to live in peace with others.
When you know and understand that God is our Sanctification, you will depend solely on Him to keep you.
When you know and understand that God is our Victory over sin and death, you will trust and have faith in Him alone.
Essentially, we see these unique names of God and their meanings finding full expression in the person of Christ Jesus. Therefore, I concluded with Paul’s statement in Colossians 3:17 WEB:
“Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.”
