The Progressive Revelation of God's Name and Trust

"They that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee." What does it mean to know God's name? Not merely a designation, but a manifestation of the Eternal Deity itself. The trust of His rational creatures is commensurate with their knowledge of all that is involved in His name.

The early patriarchs knew Him by the name Elohim (God)—a marvelous designation containing implicitly the mystery of plurality of persons in the unity of the Divine nature. They adored Him with deep awe and absolute trust in His power, righteousness, and goodwill. That name delivered them from the fetichism of idolatry and brought them into contact with the spiritual world.

A further disclosure came through Jehovah (the Self-Existent One), when Yahweh made all His goodness pass before Moses, proclaiming: "Jehovah, Jehovah, Elohim, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." This revelation came with an entire system of typical institutions, preparing the way for perfect discovery—quickening conscience and indicating the conditions of future atonement.

But the Name in its highest sense was declared by the incarnate Word. The full meaning flashed upon the spirit of man when the Saviour commanded baptism be administered "in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The progressive revelation of God's character—from Elohim to Jehovah to the Trinity—calls forth increasing trust proportional to deepening knowledge.