God's Names

Introduction

Always remember that God does not reward man for what he does but for what he is; therefore should you extend help to your fellows without the thought of rewards. Do good without thought of benefit to the self.

The ancient Hebrew language best explains the origin and derivation of the common English word for deity, which is, God, or, god. Our English word for god or God develops from repetitious vocalization of a Hebrew word, Gaad-Gädi-Jedi-Jidi-Gedi and Gadii (transliterated Gad & pronounced gawd), even though for centuries was used in pagan deity worship.

The name of the church shall be The Gádian Church (Jewish spelling), Gádian (Tiberian Spelling) (hereinafter referred to as the ?The Church?). The ancient Hebrew language best explains the origin and derivation of the common English word for deity, which is, ?God? or, ?god?. The typical path sought to ascertain the radical or primary signification for the English word, ?God?. Our English word for ?god? or ?God? develops from repetitious vocalization of a Hebrew word, ?Gaad ? Gádian? (transliterated ?Gad? & pronounced ?gawd?, in the Slovakian & Norse it is ?Gäd? & pronounced ?G/Jëd? G/Jëdi = plural), the Tiberian spelling of ?Gaad? is with a line above thus ?G?di? from this we have the ?Church of God?. The name of Gad in the Bible means the Son of God as well as the office of seer in the theocratic government.

Pronounced: gdiy ghed-ee´ from the same as ´gadah´; a young goat (from browsing):--kid.

Gadiy: gaw-dee´ from ´gad´; fortunate; Gadi, an Israelite:--Gadi.

Gadiy: gaw-dee´ patronymically from ´Gad´; a Gadite (collectively) or descendants of Gad:--Gadites, children of Gad.

Gaddiy: gad-dee´ intensive for ´Gadiy´; Gaddi, an Israelite:--Gaddi.

Gaddiy´el: gad-dee-ale´ from ´gad´ and ´´el´; fortune of God; Gaddiel, an Israelite:--Gaddiel

The Irish word for eel is EASG so this is not AGHADE, but the Gaelic term GAD meaning "withe" or "rod" would seem to account for the site name AGHADE. As a county name, Carlow in Gaelic is said to derive from Ceathar Loch "four lakes", perhaps the four main stars of the Pleiades. However, the accepted current Gaelic name for the Pleiades is Griog Lach = Carlow.

"The Lord is God from of old, creator of the earth from end to end, he never grows faint or weary, his wisdom cannot be fathomed. He gives strength to the weary, fresh vigor to the spent. Youths may grow faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but they who trust in the Lord shall renew their strength as eagles grow new plumes: they shall run and not grow weary, they shall march and not grow faint." (Isaiah 41:28-31)

"I am the first and I am the last, and there is no god but Me." (Isaiah 44:6)

"Above the expanse over their [the angels'] heads was the semblance of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and on top, upon this semblance of a throne, there was the semblance of a human form. From what appeared as his loins up, I saw a gleam as of amber-what looked like a fire encased in a frame; and from what appeared as his loins down, I saw what looked like fire. There was a radiance all about him…. That was the appearance of the semblance of the Presence of the Lord." (Ezekiel 1:26-27,28)

"I looked, and on the expanse over the heads of the cherubs, there was something like a sapphire stone; an appearance resembling a throne could be seen over them." (Ezekiel 10:1)

"They say to the wood, 'You are my father.'' To stone, 'you gave birth to me,' while to Me they turned their backs and not their faces. But in their hour of calamity they cry, 'arise and save us!' and where are those gods you made for yourself? Let them arise and save you, if they can, in your hour of calamity. For your gods have become, O Judah, as many as your towns! Why do you call Me to account? You have all rebelled against me" (Jeremiah 2:27-29)

At the end of Job, God says that since we are not God, we are not privy to understand suffering. Suffering need not seem logical. It may be a test, a chastisement, or a punishment. (Job 38-39) And God has the power to return to you what he has taken (Job 42)

"To You nations shall come from the ends of the earth and say: Our father inherited utter delusions, things that are futile and worthless. Can a man make gods for himself? No-gods are they! Assuredly, I will teach them, once and for all I will them my power and My might. And they shall learn that my name is Lord." (Jeremiah 16:19-21)

"He made the earth by His might, established the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the skies. When he makes His voice heard, there is a rumbling of waters in the skies; He makes vapors rise from the end of the earth, He makes lightning for the rain, and brings forth wind from His treasuries. Every man is proved dull, without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame because of the idol, for his molten image is a deceit-there is no breath in them. They are a delusion, a work of mockery; in their hour of doom, they shall perish. Not like these in the Portion of Jacob, for it is He who formed all things; And [Israel is] His very own tribe. Lord of Hosts is His name." (Jeremiah 51:15-19)

Lord of Hosts, enthroned on the Cherubim (Isaiah 37:16, Numbers 7:89, 1 Samuel 4:4, 2 Samuel 6:2, 2 Kings 19:15, 1 Chronicles 13:6, Psalms 80:1, Psalms 99:1)

God flew on a Cherub (II Samuel 22:11, Psalms 18:10)

"Behold, the Lord Himself comes from afar in blazing wrath, with a heavy burden-His lips full of fury, His tongue a devouring fire, and his breath like a raging torrent reaching halfway up the neck-to set a misguiding yoke upon nations and a misleading bridle upon the jaws of people…. For the Lord will make His majestic voice heard" (Isaiah 30:27-28,30)

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I beheld my Lord seated on a high and lofty throne; and the skirts of his robe filled the Temple. Seraphs stood in attendance on Him. Each of them had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his legs, and with two he would fly. And one would call to the other, 'Holy, holy, holy! The Lord of Host! His presence fills the earth!'" (Isaiah 6:1-3)

The midrash (BT Kiddushin 30b) on Deut 13:5 says that the command to walk after God means to follow his attributes, not physically. Even so, some of God's attributes (Dt. 5:9) are forbidden to man (Dt. 24:16)

"Be on guard concerning all that I have told you. Make no mention of the names of other gods; they shall not be heard on your lips." (Exodus 23:13)

"Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elder of Israel ascended; and they saw the God of Israel: under his feet there was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity….When Moses had ascended the mountain, the cloud covered the mountain. The Presence of the Lord abode on Mount Sinai, and the cloud hid it for six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. Now the Presence of the Lord appeared in the sight of the Israelites as a consuming fire on the top of the mountain." (Exodus 24:9-10,15-17)

God controls nature and uses it to cajole our obedience (Dt 11, Sam 12, I Kings 18:20-46)

"You whose powerful deeds no god in heaven or on earth can equal!" (Deut. 3:24)

"And now, O Israel, give heed to the laws and rules that I am instructing you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I enjoin upon you. 3 You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did in the matter of Baal-peor, that the Lord your God wiped out from among you every person who followed Baal-peor; 4 while you, who held fast to the Lord your God, are all alive today. 5 See, I have imparted to you laws and rules, as the Lord my God has commanded me, for you to abide by in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. 6 Observe them faithfully, for that will be proof of your wisdom and discernment to other peoples, who on hearing of all these laws will say, "Surely, that great nation is a wise and discerning people." 7 For what great nation is there that has a god so close at hand as is the Lord our God whenever we call upon Him? 8 Or what great nation has laws and rules as perfect as all this Teaching that I set before you this day? 9 But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live. And make them known to your children and to your children's children: 10 The day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to Me, "Gather the people to Me that I may let them hear My words, in order that they may learn to revere Me as long as they live on earth, and may so teach their children." 11 You came forward and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was ablaze with flames to the very skies, dark with densest clouds. 12 The Lord spoke to you out of the fire; you heard the sound of words but perceived no shape-nothing but a voice. 13 He declared to you the covenant that He commanded you to observe, the Ten Commandments; and He inscribed them on two tablets of stone. 14 At the same time the Lord commanded me to impart to you laws and rules for you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy. 15 For your own sake, therefore, be most careful-since you saw no shape when the Lord your God spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire-16 not to act wickedly and make for yourselves a sculptured image in any likeness whatever: the form of a man or a woman, 17 the form of any beast on earth, the form of any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18 the form of anything that creeps on the ground, the form of any fish that is in the waters below the earth. 19 And when you look up to the sky and behold the sun and the moon and the stars, the whole heavenly host, you must not be lured into bowing down to them or serving them. These the Lord your God allotted to other peoples everywhere under heaven" (Deut. 4:1-19)

Nature of Revelation

"4 Face to face the Lord spoke to you on the mountain out of the fire-5 I stood between the Lord and you at that time to convey the Lord's words to you, for you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain" (Deut 5:4-5)

"4 Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. 7 Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; 9 inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land that He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to assign to you-great and flourishing cities that you did not build, 11 houses full of all good things that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant-and you eat your fill, 12 take heed that you do not forget the Lord who freed you from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. 13 Revere only the Lord your God and worship Him alone, and swear only by His name. 14 Do not follow other gods, any gods of the peoples about you 15 -for the Lord your God in your midst is an impassioned God-lest the anger of the Lord your God blaze forth against you and He wipe you off the face of the earth." (Deut 6:4-15)

"13 Further, there shall be an area for you outside the camp, where you may relieve yourself. 14 With your gear you shall have a spike, and when you have squatted you shall dig a hole with it and cover up your excrement. 15 Since the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you, let your camp be holy; let Him not find anything unseemly among you and turn away from you." (Dt 23:13-15)

Moses argues with God

" 'If then You slay this people to a man, the nations who have heard Your fame will say, 'It must be because the Lord was powerless to bring that people into the land He had promised them on oath that He slaughtered them in the wilderness.' Therefore, I pray, let my Lord's forbearance be great, as You have declared, saying[Ex 34:6-7], 'The Lord! Slow to anger and abounding in kindness; forgiving iniquity and transgression; yet not remitting all punishment, but visiting the iniquity upon children, upon the third and fourth generations.' Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to Your great kindness, as You have forgiven this people ever since Egypt.' And the Lord said, 'I pardon, as you have asked. Nevertheless, as I live and as the Lord's Presence fills the whole world, none of the men who men who have seen My Presence and the sign that I have performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and who have tried Me these ten times and have disobeyed Me, shall see the land that I promised on oath to their fathers; none of those who spurn Me shall see it.'" (Numbers 14:15-23)

God has bad aim (after Korah):

"When Moses and Aaron reached the Tent of Meeting, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Remove yourselves from this community, that I may annihilate them in an instant.'… He [Aaron] took the incense and made expiation for the people; he stood between the dead and the living until the plague was checked." (Numbers 17:8-10,12-14)

When people whore around, God kills them until Pinehas kills a ringleader (Numbers 25:6-9)

"I am the Lord and there is none else; beside Me, there is no god. I engird you, though you have not known Me. So that they may know, from east to west, that there is none but Me. I am the Lord an there is none else, I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe(oseh shalom u-voreh ra)-I the Lord do all these things." (Isaiah 45:5-7)

God changes his mind very easily? Or so it seems…

"The word of the Lord then came to Samuel: 'I regret that I made Saul king….' [Saul then confesses his sin and repents] And Samuel said to him, 'The Lord has this day torn the kingship over Israel away from you and has given it to another who is worthier than you. Moreover the Glory [Eternal] of Israel does not deceive or change His mind, for He is not human that He should change His mind.'" (I Samuel 15)

"And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Lord with one name(YHWH echad u-shemo echad)." (Zechariah 14:9)

That is why Scripture states that the olive oil is intended for Moses and not for God ("to bring you clear oil" in Ex 27:20, as compared with Ex 25:2, "You shall accept gifts for Me"). The pronoun in the second person singular makes explicit that God has no need for human light.

Jonathan Edwards