Hallowed Be Thy Name: The High Cost of Holiness

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

© 2005 Terry L. Brown. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 05/09/05

ISBN: 1-4208-2054-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-5832-4 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Contents

Introduction

Chapter One What’s In A Name

Chapter Two Taking God’s Name

Chapter Three Barabbas

Chapter Four Bartimaeus

Chapter Five Demas

Chapter Six Diotrephes

Chapter Seven Elkanah

Chapter Eight Jeroboam

Chapter Nine Cain

Chapter Ten Achan

Chapter Eleven Judas

Chapter Twelve Elijah

Epilogue

Endnotes

About The Author

Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness’ (2 Timothy 2:19).

Thus says the Lord God, ‘Go, serve everyone his idols; but later, you will surely listen to Me, and My holy name you will profane no longer with your gifts and with your idols’ (Ezekiel 20:39).

And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you will be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will designate (Isaiah 62:2).

When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty (Jeremiah 15:16 NIV).

So all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of you (Deuteronomy 28:10).

The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name (Zechariah 14:9 NIV).

Unless otherwise noted Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE,  1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture references marked NIV are from the Holy Bible: New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Scripture references marked AMP are from The Amplified Bible, copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture references marked Williams are from Williams: The New Testament in the Language of the People, copyright 1937, 1965, by Bruce Humphries; copyright 1966, by Edith S. Williams.

Scripture references marked Phillips are from J.B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English, copyright 1947, 1952, 1955, 1957, by The Macmillan Company;  J.B. Phillips 1958.

Scriptures quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright  2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NEB are from The New English Bible, copyright 1961, 1970, 1972, by The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press.

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible Copyright  1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

Scripture references marked Beck are from The New Testament in the Language of Today, copyright 1963, 1967, by Concordia Publishing House.

Scripture references marked TEB are Scriptures quoted from The Everyday Bible, copyright  1987 by Worthy Publishing, Fort Worth, Texas 76137. Used by permission.

Scripture references marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Italics in Scripture quotations reflect the author’s added emphasis.

INTRODUCTION

Hallowed be Thy name. If asked, most Christians, and probably a significant number of non-Christians, could tell you these words are from the Bible. Of those many would also recognize them as part of what is known as The Lord’s Prayer.

During the Sermon on the Mount discourse Jesus taught those listening how to pray. Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen]’ (Matthew 6:9-13). And followers of Jesus have done just that. In the last twenty centuries this prayer has been repeated literally billions of times. It is so well know, in fact, that Christians (and non-Christians no doubt) can recite it verbatim without thinking about it. But therein lies a problem.

There is an old saying that goes, Familiarity breeds contempt. It is unlikely a follower of Jesus prays these words with contempt; at least, not conscious contempt. Yet, because these words are so familiar, they can become nothing more than words spoken to assuage a guilty conscience while the mind remains disengaged. That is a form of contempt. God is not pleased with such prayer; nor does it honor Him. It is a little like a wife, wanting to have a conversation with her husband, is not pleased when he hides behind a newspaper and simply answers, Yes, dear to everything she says. That is an action he was unlikely to have engaged in when he was dating her – when he was not familiar with her. But as the time spent together increased (particularly within marriage) the result could be a familiarity with her that causes him to take her for granted. He assumes, Yes, dear is sufficient to sustain their relationship. It is not. Neither is our relationship with God simply sustained by mouthing words back to Him that we think He wants to hear. This people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote (Isaiah 29:13). Jesus quoted this verse to describe the Pharisees and scribes (Matthew 15:8). These were learned men. They were professional scholars. Memorizing Scripture was an important part of their education. But their familiarity with the Scriptures caused them to develop a sense of contempt for them in that they would speak the words, but would not live the life they commanded. They sounded good when they preached or prayed, but like Cain, the Lord rejected their offering.

Christians are guilty of the same sin when they mouth the Lord’s Prayer without thinking about what they saying. Such a Christian is guilty of holding the Word of God in contempt. It is not revered as holy or sacred. Indeed, such use of the Scripture can come dangerously close to nothing more than superstition.

But what if the Lord’s Prayer is being said with thoughtfulness and reverence? That is very good; that is acceptable to the Lord. Such a prayer pleases Him and it ascends to heaven as a sweet aroma. However, it is possible something vital is still missing. "And the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join this chariot.’ And when Philip had run up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him" (Acts 8:29-31). This man Philip ran up to meet was reading the Bible. No doubt he was doing this with thoughtfulness and reverence because he was returning home to Ethiopia after having made the trip to Jerusalem so he could worship. But all his thoughtfulness and reverence could not bring understanding to what he was reading. And to truly honor and worship God he needed understanding. The Holy Spirit knew that and sent Philip to him to meet that need.

The point is even if we pray the Lord’s Prayer (or any prayer for that matter) do we understand what we are praying? Are we humble enough to admit, as did the man Philip encountered, that though we are reading from the Bible and even at times praying those words back to the Father we really do not understand what we are praying for? Perhaps we think we do. If so I would ask you, What does it mean to hallow God’s name? When we say the Lord’s Prayer that is what we pray for is it not? Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name.

Should you pray for God’s name to be hallowed without knowing what it means? Perhaps you are praying for something you would really rather not get – kind of like praying for patience just to find God brings impatient people and trying circumstances into your life so you can exercise the gift of patience He has given you because you asked for it. (I rarely pray for patience myself just for that reason.) Or perhaps you are praying for something that has already been answered – kind of like praying for forgiveness for past sins that you have already prayed for. To do so again could imply a lack of faith on your part. So if we pray once, Hallowed be Thy name, is that enough? How do you know? Do you care to know? Is it really that important?

Only you can answer those questions. But if you do not know and you want to know and find out if it is important or not, let me join you in your chariot we call life and together we will find the answers.

Terry L. Brown

November 4, 2004.

CHAPTER ONE WHAT’S IN A NAME

Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name’ (Matthew 6:9). Hallowed, in the Greek, is "hagiazo" and means to make holy, sanctify, to set apart. Jesus is teaching us that we are to keep our heavenly Father’s name pure and undefiled. It is to be held in reverence and honor. As will be seen this means much more than using God’s name as a swear word.

Jesus was not the first to emphasize the holiness of God’s name or the seriousness with which He takes this matter. Neither shall you profane My holy name [applying it to an idol, or treating it with irreverence or contempt or as a byword]; but I will be hallowed among the Israelites (Leviticus 22:32 AMP). To this day when Jews are reading from the Bible in their synagogues and come across the word LORD (Yahweh), they will not pronounce it out of reverence for God. Thus, to a certain extent, they are hallowing God’s name. Many Christians hallow God’s name in this manner by never using His name as a swear word. In fact, the very thought is abhorrent to them. Yet, to hallow God’s name goes far beyond giving lip service to the title He is known by.

To more fully understand what it means to hallow God’s name, it is necessary to examine the word, name. In the Old Testament it is the word "shem and it is almost exclusively translated as name. However, it has also been translated four times as fame, seven times as renown, and once as report".1

This last usage is found in Nehemiah 6:13. "He was hired that I (Nehemiah) should be made afraid and do as he said, and sin, that they might have matter for an evil report with which to taunt and reproach me" (AMP). Nehemiah was a Jew who had been living in exile in Persia. It saddened him deeply to know that Jerusalem laid in ruins, having been razed to the ground decades earlier by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. His master, King Artaxerxes, noticed his melancholy and asked for an explanation. Apologizing to his master he told him he wished to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. However, the people who had control of Jerusalem at that time felt their positions of power would be threatened by Nehemiah’s work of restoration if it took place. Thus, they sought to find a way to discredit him before the king who then ruled in Judea and the surrounding countries. To do this they tried to get Nehemiah to act in a cowardly manner. This would enable them to send back to the king a report that Nehemiah was not qualified for the job. The point is Nehemiah’s actions were to determine the report (name) that the king was to receive. Had Nehemiah fallen for the trap laid for him he would have been looked upon as a coward and identified as such. Thus, a person’s name, his identity, is more than the word he is known by, for it has within it his nature and character as well.

This is also illustrated in the case of Esau and Jacob. Jacob means deceiver, supplanter.2 "And he (Isaac) said, ‘Your brother (Jacob) came deceitfully, and has taken away your (Esau’s) blessing.’ Then he said, ‘Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times’ (Genesis 27:35-36)? Again, 1 Samuel 25:25 says, Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him". Nabal means fool.

Nor is this concept limited solely to the Bible. In the secular world fairy tales offer an excellent example of the significance of names. Likely, you recognize the names Happy, Sleepy, Grumpy, Doc, Dopey, Sneezy, Bashful, Prince Charming, and Snow White. If you were given this list of names and had never seen the animated version of this fairy tale, you would have no problem placing the correct name with the correct character. Why? Because the characters display the nature and attributes associated with their names. You would expect Bashful to be shy and withdrawn, and so he is. You would expect Dopey to be silly and foolish, and so he is. What woman has not desired a Prince Charming? Yet, the desire is not for a man named Prince Charming; but rather, for a man whose character and nature are equivalent to that of Prince Charming.

Another example of this type of character and name association can be seen in the cartoon series, Smurfs. These are little blue creatures who express a wide variety of occupations and emotions. Among them are, Clumsy, Hefty, Brainy, Vanity (this one always carries a mirror with him), Grouchy, Farmer, and Handy. There are more, but the point is, to know their name is to know them.

Thus, we come to realize that names are important. This is more true when the Bible is the book being studied. Names in the Bible are important. Not only do they frequently convey the nature and character of the subject, but they are often prophetic. And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sin (Matthew 1:21). Jesus means Savior.3 God the Father gave His Son the name, Jesus, because He is the Savior of the world. His name is a reflection of who He is.

It is important to point out that while it can be fun and interesting to discover what our personal names mean, they do not always reveal our true character and nature. In the closing verses of Colossians Paul is mentioning some of the men who had worked with him. Among them was, Jesus who is called Justus (Colossians 4:11). This person was, no doubt, named Jesus by his parents. It could have been a common name, but he certainly was not the Savior of the world. Only Jesus, Son of Joseph and Mary, fulfilled the ultimate meaning of this name.

God named only a few people in the Bible, but he will personally name all who enter into His heavenly kingdom. And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you will be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD will designate (Isaiah 62:2). So, while we all have names given to us by earthly parents, we will each be given a new name by our heavenly Father. It will be a name that is expressive of our newly glorified bodies and the perfection that we will then possess. For thus says the LORD, ‘To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, to them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off’ (Isaiah 56:4-5). Why is this promised to eunuchs? Because a eunuch cannot bring forth new life; he cannot bear after his own kind, and this is the point where God is bringing each of us. The natural gives birth to natural, but flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven; therefore, we must die to self by choosing God’s will rather than our own. As we do this, as we day by day join ourselves to the Lord, we find we do not bear fruit after the natural, but after the spiritual. Why? Because dying to self means freely giving up our old name – nature/character – and taking God’s name, His nature and character. The everlasting name that will not be cut off is God’s name.

But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him (1 Corinthians 8:3). How does God know him? By the new name given him at his spiritual rebirth. And this is how we are to know others. Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Corinthians 5:16-17).4

When we ask for God’s blessing the first thing He does is humble us and give us a new name. Jacob learned this during one eventful night. "And Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until daybreak. And when [the Man] saw that He did not prevail against [Jacob], He touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with Him. Then He said, ‘Let Me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let You go unless You declare a blessing upon me.’ [The Man] asked him, ‘What is your name?’ And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, ‘Jacob - supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler!’ And He said, ‘Your name shall be called no more Jacob [supplanter], but Israel [contender with God]; for you have contended and have power with God and with men, and have prevailed’" (Genesis 32:24-28 AMP). God blessed Jacob by giving him a new name, but He did it only after causing him to become lame.

Our thigh muscles allow us to stand and walk. They are a symbol of power and authority; so it is here that God starts the long process of causing us to die to self. Notice also that God renamed Jacob immediately and did not wait for the entire person to become subject to Him. So it is with us. From the moment we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we are given our new name, Christian, even though so much of our old nature – name – remains very much alive within us. Many times we get frustrated because we still manifest so much of our old nature, but God, beholding us through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, calls us by our new name and amazingly, we respond.

Having learned that names are more than titles by which people know us, that instead they represent our nature and character, we can delve more deeply into what it means to hallow God’s name.

CHAPTER TWO TAKING GOD’S NAME

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain (Exodus 20:7). Notice the commandment does not forbid taking God’s name, but forbids taking His name in vain. What does it mean to take God’s name? The word take is the Hebrew "nasa and literally means to lift up.5 Obviously, when something is lifted up attention is drawn to it. Thus, to take God’s name means we lift Him up with the result of drawing attention to Him. This can be good or bad; in vain or in holiness. The word vain implies deceit, malice, falsehood, or emptiness.6 In today’s world we see many examples of people who call themselves Christian who are using God’s name for deceitful purposes. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach, for the sake of sordid gain" (Titus 1:10-11). Many today use Christianity as a source of income only. They know nothing about holiness, nor do they even truly know the Lord; much less do they share His