A Strong Tower

A Strong Tower

Proverbs 18:10 “The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.”

God is passionate about revealing Himself to us. We have seen in our Old Testament readings in Genesis, Leviticus and Numbers, that God has revealed Himself as jealous, holy, forgiving, wrathful, loving and merciful. In the ancient Hebrew culture, the name given to someone described that particular person. Every name given to God in the Bible describes an attribute of His character.

In the Old Testament, we find many names of God that are mentioned for the first time. In Genesis 1, God is referred to as Elohim, or Creator. After Moses led the Israelites through the Red Sea, the Lord made a decree to keep His people from disease if they obeyed His commandments. He referred to Himself as Jehovah Rapha—the God who heals. In Genesis 16, Hagar became pregnant with Abram’s child and Sarai, Abram’s wife, mistreated her out of her own bitterness. Hagar fled to the desert to get away from Sarai’s mistreatment but an angel of the Lord came to her while she was in the desert and told her to name her son Ishmael; for the Lord had heard of her misery. After this had happened, Hagar said, “You are the God who sees me. I give you the name, El Roi, the God who sees.” In Genesis 17:1, the Lord referred to Himself as God Almighty—El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient One. In Genesis 22, when Abraham marched up Mount Moriah to offer his son, Isaac as a sacrifice, he told Isaac that the Lord would provide the burnt offering. At that moment, he identified God as Jehovah Jireh—the Lord will Provide. In Exodus 3, God established His ultimate identity to Moses as Jehovah—the self-existent One, the Beginning and the End. God uttered His holy name from a voice in a burning bush as he spoke to Moses. In Exodus 15, after Moses led the Israelites through the Red Sea, the Lord made a decree to keep His people from disease if they obeyed His commandments. He referred to Himself as Jehovah Rapha—the Lord who heals. After the Israelites defeated the Amalekites at Rephidim, Moses built an altar of victory and named the Lord, Jehovah Nissi—the Lord is my Banner of victory. In Exodus 31, God instructed His people to observe the Sabbath day and declared Himself to be Jehovah Mekoddishkem—the Lord who Sanctifies or makes holy. In Psalm 23, we read that the Lord is our Shepherd—Jehovah Raah.

These are just a few of the names given to God in Scripture, but we can see the unfolding of His unfailing character throughout the generations of the Patriarchs. The Lord loves to hear His name uttered. To call the Lord by His specific names increases our faith and turns the ear of God toward us. We can praise Him according to His names and we can cry out to Him in times of distress according to His names, because His names represent who He is. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into and are safe! Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God! Blessed be the name of the Lord!