Question

Just wondering,
If God is so important why don't people think he would have a name? When people hear what JW's say a lot of the time they get mad and repetitively tell me he doesn't have a name...can someone explain this to me?

Answer 1

well, He doesn't exactly have a definite name
There are many things people call Him, like Abba Father, God, God the Father, the Lord, the Great I Am.... He is not like you and I, as we are human, so it is natural that we be named at birth. I can't be definite about this, but I'm pretty sure that He has been existing throughout however long he has existed, basically forever. To think on it deeply is pretty mind blowing, because we humans have not been here for a long time, if you look into history

Answer 2

Isaiah 42:8
8 I am Jehovah. That is my name;
I give my glory to no one else,
Nor my praise to graven images.

Answer 3

When God appeared to Moses with instructions to go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to seek the release of the children of Israel from their Egyptian captivity, what did Moses ask Him? “Then Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they say to me, “What is His name?” what shall I say to them?’” (Exodus 3:13).

At that time God gave Moses one of His many names: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you”’” (Exodus 3:14).

God called Himself “I AM.”
Elohim

The first word translated as God in the Bible is found in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God here is from the Hebrew Elohim. It is the most-often-used Hebrew word translated as God in the Old Testament. It is translated as God well over 2,300 times. Elohim is revealed here as the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

However, that is not all that the word reveals. Elohim is a plural word. It is the plural of Eloha—a name that is only used 52 times in reference to the true God in Scripture. (Forty-one of those occurrences are found in the book of Job, so a study of Job can give us an understanding of the meaning of this name of God.)

But, the point is: Elohim is a plural word. It is translated as gods—in reference to false gods—over 240 times and is always translated as the plural word gods. The fact that Elohim is a plural word also reveals vital information. It reveals important information about the Godhead—that there is more than one member of the Godhead. We see this understanding of the plural nature of Elohim in Genesis 1:26:

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”

In those religions that worship the God of Abraham there are many concepts that are not accurate to the Scriptures due to the fact that people do not understand the nature of the Godhead—the nature of Elohim. See more about this in the articles “God Is One,” “Children of God” and “What Did the Apostles Believe About God?”

El

In the Bible there are many other names that God uses to call Himself. El is one example that is used in compound words such as in El Shaddai—God Almighty or the Almighty God (Genesis 17:1). El is often found in the names of individuals in the Bible—Samuel (Hebrew “his name is El”), Eleazar (“God has helped”), Immanuel (“God with us”) and many more.

LORD

The most often used name for God is translated as LORD in the Old Testament. It occurs over 6,500 times. It consists of four Hebrew consonants, which have been represented in English in various transliterations: YHVH, JHVH, IHVH, JHWH and YHWH. These four consonants have been given a name—the Tetragrammaton.

YHWH was the Hebrew word that was considered too sacred to be spoken by the Jews. No one today knows exactly how it was to be pronounced. The Hebrew language consists of 22 consonants (most Bibles list these consonants in Psalm 119 as subheads over every eight verses). Vowel sounds are indicated by placing various dots or small lines around these consonants. The vowel points have been left off the Tetragrammaton (YHWH).

According to the Online Bible Hebrew Lexicon, the name is “unpronounced except with the vowel pointings of adonay.” Therefore, there is no accurate translation of this word into any language—Hebrew, English or otherwise. Commonly used pronunciations like Jehovah or Yahweh are just guesses.

Some people go to great lengths to use only certain names for God or believe that He can only be addressed by a name in a specific language. God never required this, for He has many names and has called people speaking many languages.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus likely spoke three languages: Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. Yet He never instructed His disciples that God should only be addressed by a specific name in a specific language. In the Gospel of Matthew, which was preserved in the Greek language, Jesus taught us to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9). Crying out to God just before His death, Jesus exclaimed “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which is Aramaic for “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

God uses many names to refer to Himself for He has many qualities, characteristics, attributes, activities and traits that He wishes to reveal by His names. These are all qualities of His very nature that He wishes us to understand. In learning His names, we can come to know Him better.

Answer 4

When I hear someone say they believe in God I don't know what their talking about. Are they using the dictionary definition "a supreme being or super natural power" or some other. Personally the name of my Lord's are what they expect me to do not some imaginary concept the air. I heard a saying "What would Jesus do, WWJD" which is actually contrary to his teaching, it should be "What would Jesus have you do, WWJHYD". The fact is there are things that only the Lords can do and for one to try may result in death which is contrary to their teaching.