How You Can Know God’s Character

How can you know God? By His character. A person’s character can tell you a lot about who a person is. In the Bible, God reveals His character through His special names. Get to know Him better through this post.

Do you have a nickname? Not just a shortened version of your given name, but a name of endearment or description given to you by your family, friends, or maybe even a bully at school.

Names are very important and often can tell us a lot about a person. Names like Big Jack, Princess, Buddy, or Stinky can give us word pictures about a person.
The names of God tell us, His family, a lot about Him too…

Names In The Bible

The Bible is filled with the names of God. Elohim, Yahweh, El Shaddai, Adonai, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-shalom, Messiah, Christ, and many more. But mostly, in our English Bibles, we see God’s name written as God and Lord. It is hard to catch the true and deep flavor of the names of God and why they are so important in showing us who God is unless we are willing to dig a little deeper.

To the ancients, a name was a window into a person’s character and abilities. This is true for even God Himself.

A Perfect Example

A perfect example of a name is Jesus.

God told Mary and Joseph to name their firstborn baby Jesus. Jesus means “God saves”. We just hear Jesus, but ancient Jews were hearing, “God saves”! What a perfect describer for this baby who would grow up to save the whole world!

I feel bad for Jabez, Mahlon, and Achan, whose names mean sorrow, sickness, and trouble. I wonder if we get the phrase “here comes trouble” from Achan?

God’s Character Revealed In His Name

If we just dig in the bible a little, we can learn God’s name and, from that, learn about His wonderful and awesome character. One of my favorite names for God is found in Genesis 17. God appears to Abram and says…
“I am God the Almighty” A ni El Shaddai (Hebrew).

Everyone in the ancient world believed in a god. Most believed in many gods. We call them idols (literally means “block of wood” in Herbrew… I love that!) How did the ancients know which god was the real god? They had a very easy test. The strongest or mightiest god was the real god!

The One True God

So, God appeared to Abram and said, Abram, I am the true God because I am the ALL Mighty God. Literally, El means god, and Shaddai means mighty. Why God introduced Himself as the ALL-MIGHTY GOD is so interesting!

Abram was a ninety-nine-year-old man at that time. He had a pretty good and successful life. But for the one thing that was most important to a man of his day, Abram did not have a child. It was a great cultural shame not to have children. And to make things worse, the name Abram means “exulted or great father”! Every time his name was spoken, it reminded him of the biggest shame of his life!

But God, El Shaddai, was about to show Abram just how mighty of a God He was! God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning “father of a multitude of nations”! So Abram when from being a great father to the Abraham, the father of a multitude of nations.

God would have to be the mightiest of all and the true God if he could take a ninety-nine-year-old man and his old wife and make them the patriarchs of a multitude of nations!

And God Almighty, El Shaddai, did just that! Abraham’s descendants are as numerous as the stars!

God showed this ancient man that He was the mightiest and the only true God! And the story of Abraham shows us that, too!

Calling Out To God

What are you facing that needs a mighty God? Are you carrying something heavy? Do you need to see God’s mighty power in your life?

Don’t turn to other things, blocks of wood, to help you! You have El Shaddai, the Almighty God, who loves you more than you could ever imagine, to help you. Just ask and keep on asking!

God’s Character Revealed In His Names

God is also known as Jehovah-Jireh (Genesis 22), the God Who Provides! Our Almighty God will provide what you need, what you really need!

Here are some other names of God that give us a glimpse into His wonderful character…
God is El Sabaoth~ the God of the Armies of Heaven
God is El Elyon~ the Most High God
God is Adonai~ Master
God is Jehovah~ The Lord, The Self-Existent God, God’s Covenant Name
God is Jehovah Raah~ The Lord My Shepherd, Psalm 23 and John 10
God is Jehovah Rapha~ The Lord Who Heals
God is Jehovah Mekoddishkem~ The Lord Who Sanctifies You
God is El Olam~ The Everlasting God
God is Jehovah Shalom~ The Lord Of Peace
God is Elohim~ The Creator, The Triune God

There are more names of God that show His wonderful character and His all-powerful ability! No wonder the Bible says that He is our ALL IN ALL (1 Cor 15:28). He is everything we will ever need or want!

Verse To Ponder This Week

Here’s the verse I am memorizing this week…

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:3

Happy Sunday, friends!