Names of God Bible Study Yahweh-Jireh & Yahweh-Shammah "Let them praise the name of the LORD: for His Name alone is excellent; His glory [is] above the earth and heaven." Psalm 148:13 (KJV) Editor's Note: As there is considerable variance among Bible scholars as to former customs, usage, and translations of the numerous names of God in the Bible, the neutrality and factual accuracy of this article may be disputed. These articles are a summation of those ideas and conclusions on which most scholars agree. Most of God's compound names arise out of some historic incident, and portray God in some aspect of His character meeting human needs. Naturally, all of these names are significant because of their relation to the name Yahweh. As we've already learned, the name Yahweh reveals God as the Covenant-Keeping Eternal I AM, The Self-Existent One, The Holy God, and The God of Revelation. It isn't enough that we simply know these names as some sort of rote learning exercise. We must study their significance in the historical settings in which they're given. Only then, may we even come close to grasping all that the Elohim of Heaven and Earth wants us to know about Him. Yahweh-Jireh (Yireh) — Yahweh Sees / Yahweh Provides / Yahweh Will Provide Pronounced Yä-wá' (or Yä-vá') Yir-eh', the name appears in the Old Testament only once in Genesis 22:14 by Abraham to memorialize God's intervention in the sacrifice of Isaac by providing an animal substitute for the sacrifice of his son: "Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh-Jireh. As it is said to this day, 'In Yahweh's mountain (Mount Moriah) it will be provided.' ". The word "jireh" is a transliteration of a Hebrew word which means "to see" or "to foresee". In the Hebrew Bible, it is translated "to see" or "to appear", and it is often used to refer to certain men who could foresee — prophets — as in... 1 Samuel 9:9 — (In earlier times in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he said, Come, and let us go to the seer [jireh]; for he who is now called a Prophet was before called a Seer [Jireh].) 2 Kings 17:13 — Yet Yahweh testified to Israel, and to Judah, by every prophet, and every seer [jireh], saying, "Turn you from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets. 1 Chronicles 9:22 — All these who were chosen to be porters in the thresholds were two hundred and twelve. These were reckoned by genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer [jireh] did ordain in their office of trust. See also 1 Samuel 9:11,18-19; 2 Samuel 15:27, 24:11; 1 Chronicles 21:9, 25:5, 26:28, 29:29; 2 Chronicles 9:29, 12:15, 16:7,10, 19:2, 29:25,30, 35:15; Amos 7:12 Obviously, there might be some confusion as to how the word "to see" can then also be translated to "provide", unless we consider the nature of Almighty God [El Shaddai]. As the 19th Century Anglican pastor H. W. Webb-Peploe wrote in "The Titles of Jehovah": "...with God, to see is also to foresee. As the One who possesses eternal wisdom and knowledge, He knows the end from the beginning. . . . From eternity to eternity He foresees everything. . . . Thus with God foreseeing is prevision. As the Jehovah of righteousness and holiness, and of love and redemption, having prevision of man's sin, and fall, and need, He makes provision for that need. For provision, after all, is merely a compound of two Latin words meaning "to see beforehand". And we may learn from a dictionary that "provide" is simply the verb and "prevision" the noun of seeing beforehand. Thus to God prevision is necessarily followed by provision, for He certainly will provide for that need which His foreseeing shows Him to exist. With Him prevision and provision are one and the same thing." (emphases added) Thus, "Yahweh Sees" becomes "Yahweh Provides" or "Yahweh Will Provide". In the circumstance of the compound name in Genesis 22:14, Yahweh-Jireh is significant because it commemorated a great deliverance. Naming the place Yahweh-Jireh served as a perpetual reminder of the marvelous, awe-inspiring grace of God. Yahweh-Shammah (Samma) — Yahweh Is There Pronounced Yä-wá' (or Yä-vá') shawm'-maw, the compound name appears in the Old Testament only once in Ezekiel 48:35 to portray Yahweh's presence in the coming millennial kingdom: "It shall be eighteen thousand reeds round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, Yahweh Is There [Yahweh-Shammah]." The name "Yahweh-Shammah" may very well be the most exciting and comforting name God has given us. Why? Because in "Yahweh-Shammah" is the promise and pledge of God completing the work He began in us at creation, to bring us to our final rest and glory; for as the Catechism says: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." The word "shammah" is derived from the Hebrew word "sham", which means "there". Yahweh-Shammah is the last name God revealed through His Old Testament prophets. In the historic setting in which it's given, this name reassured Israel that God had not abandoned them during their 70-year period of Babylonian captivity, and that there would eventually be a restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple. As Ezekiel had prophesied 25 years earlier that Jerusalem and the Temple would be utterly destroyed — and the people's hopes of one day returning were declining — this prophesy was a promise to them that God was indeed in Jerusalem: Yahweh-Shammah! There are several beliefs concerning the fulfillment of this promise: Orthodox Judaism believe this has a strictly literal interpretation that will be fulfilled in the restoration of the Temple and the sacrificial system, following which time the Messiah will come to reign in Jerusalem as the Son of David. Then, "Yahweh-Shammah" will be realized. Other Bible scholars interpret the name solely in a spiritual sense with no fulfillment in an earthly Jerusalem. A third group of scholars combine the two interpretations and believe it has both a literal and a spiritual fulfillment. I believe the third theory to be more accurate, if one considers the entire Scripture, both Old and New Testaments. As Bible scholar Nathan Stone wrote in "The Names of God": "It has been seen that the fulfillment of this name was limited in the Old Testament both in its manifestation and scope. Every manifestation of God's presence in the midst of His people, though real, could only be but a shadow of a glorious reality to come. As to its scope, it was limited to the nation Israel. "In the New Testament dispensation it has a wider scope in that it is more spiritual than symbolic, and more personal rather than national. For now it has been fulfilled ideally in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. "As man, and representing the human race, 'the whole fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Him' (Colossians 1:19, marg.). He was the effulgence of God's glory and the very image of His substance (Hebrews 1:3, ASV). 'The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us,' says John, 'and we beheld his glory' (John 1:14, ASV). Thus He became 'God with us,' the Immanuel of Isaiah 7:14, the Child, the Son, the mighty God, the everlasting Father of Isaiah 9:6. "The One who in the Old Testament came in occasional, mysterious appearances as the Angel of Jehovah, the Angel of His Presence, the Angel of the Covenant, the Angel in whom is Jehovah's name, became in Christ both the Presence itself and the Temple in whom the Presence resided so that in Him and of Him it could be said Jehovah-Shammah, Jehovah is there. "This Presence is now in believers as living temples of God. 'Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you' (I Corinthians 3:16, ASV)." What an excellent name is this Yahweh-Shammah: The LORD is There.... The LORD is Here.... The LORD is in Me.... The LORD is in You....!! As you meditate on that, remember what we learned in the second study in this series: God is very serious about where His name abides! Oh, praise His holy name! Yahweh, the Covenant-Keeping God of the Universe, has chosen for His name — His very essence — to abide in me and in you! Knowing that He is always with us should bring immediate comfort, an infusion of courage, and a sense of confidence to endure. Hallelu YAH! Next month, we'll learn about the compound names Yahweh Rohi (Ro'i) and Yahweh Rophe (Rapha). Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB)