What is in a name? Living in the construction world for as long as I did, I knew names were important or at least the nicknames that were part and parcel of the business. I mean my trade alone had all kinds of slang names just for it. If you were working concrete reinforcing, you were said to be out in the “rod patch”. You were called a “Rodbuster”. If you were doing structural work, some heady guys called themselves, “Sky jockeys” and some who did not respect the trade as much called them “bolt-heads” and just about every device or rig that was used had a name that would sound foreign anywhere else except on a construction job.
The real fun and amusement came when people working the trades either had a nickname hung on them or they were so bold as to name themselves with a moniker that was sometimes right but most of the time left you scratching your noggin.
Just so you get an idea, I will share one and I will keep it clean because some of them cannot be shared in a family audience and are not very Christ-like. This is my favorite and came from an old booming (traveling) buddy of mine. We were on the road together quite a bit in my early career and he taught me much about the ins and outs of Ironwork. His nickname was a classic, Hambone. He was a grizzled old guy. The kind you would have seen as a stereotype construction worker in a 1940’s or 50’s comedy. Hard working, hard drinking and a good brawler. When I first went to work on his crew I was frightened to death but hoped I did not show it.
I never had the nerve to ask the reasoning behind his name until one night when we were drinking in a bar in Upper Michigan. Both of us were about ‘half in the bag’ (a term for drunk as a skunk). The liquor gave me the courage I needed and when I heard the answer, I knew this guy was a good egg and we became not only friends but partners. Before I tell you the story, first imagine an old grizzled guy, missing most of all his front teeth. Long scraggly hair. Big ears and one kind of lazy eye. You got that image? Ok here is what he said in a drawl of indefinite origin, “Well, John-boy, it is like this. When I was growin’ up on a farm outside Hibbing, Minnesota, a fine neighbor of ours said to my Ma, “You know Mrs. Sorenson, that boy Elroy of yours is so ugly, you probably need to tie a hambone around his neck to get the dog to play with him.” And darn (not the word used) if that name did not catch on in that little town. Soon even the preacher forgot my God-given name. Sometimes I forget it myself. And even my dear wife has been known to use it.” To this day, I still can see the twinkle in his ‘good’ eye as he told me that story.
The truth is we have a name for everything. Traveling as much as I did in my life, I know that those names or nicknames can change from county to county. And for sure from region to region. Just to put it a little more in perspective. Being a Yankee (northerner) I always called those rolling baskets at a store a ‘cart’ but here in the south they are called a ‘buggy’ So what is in a name, a nickname, a slang term? They are all just ways of communicating a meaning, maybe with humor or with ridicule. But they are a form of communication.
Did you know that God has a bunch of what could be called nicknames? In my research I have found there is at least 956 different names referring to God, the Father; Christ, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And what I have also found is that each name God has revealed is another way He is trying to communicate with His creation. And unlike our poor attempt to name and nickname, each of God’s is powerful and can change our relationship with Him, if we use them in prayer.
There is an awesome book available which RuthAnn and I have used to seek to know our God better, it is called “The Names of God” by Ann Spangler. It contains 52 bible studies. Each has a particular name, its root Hebraic or Greek derivative with some definition. Verses where the name can be found and an in-depth devotional to help understand the name as it is revealed. It has changed the way I understand, communicate and pray because I know Him better.
There is not enough room in this blog to express this big topic but I want to just list two verses where God revealed Himself, maybe this will peak your interest to dig deeper: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD (the name Yahweh) appeared to him and said, “I am the God Almighty (the name El Shaddai); walk before me faithfully and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1) God revealing Himself as the great “I AM” who is the Almighty one. So much to contemplate in one verse.
What about Jesus revealing Himself as God: “Jesus answered, “I am (a direct Yahweh reference) the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father (Abba, God is our Father) except through me. (John 14:6) The Jews of Jesus day knew this reference and when we realize who He says He is and accept it, this name of God in the form of His son changes me.
There is so much more. If you cannot get your hands-on Ann Spangler’s book just type in “Names of God” in any search engine and add this faith-changing devotional to your daily time with Him. You will be amazed.
I am sorry to say my old friend Hambone passed away several years ago now. He helped me through the rocky waters of my early years in the Ironworking business and later was an advisor when I transitioned from field work into the office as a project manager. I knew I could call him and ask a question and he would be there. Today I feel the same about my God and Savior. I cry out to Elohim, to El Shaddai, to Yahweh. I pray through, the Christ, the Lamb of God, the I am of the new covenant. Knowing His name has allowed us to be closer as friends, partners and me as a worshipful subject. Draw closer to Him today, get to know His names.
Blessings John,
9/12/18
