It’s easy to see that names are important in the Bible. Jehovah changed Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, changed Jacob to Israel and included in the Ten Commandments the order that believers “shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” In the New Testament, Zacharias was told to name John the Baptist “John,” and both Joseph (Matthew 1:21) and Mary (Luke 1:31) were told to name Jesus “Jesus.” Jesus himself renamed Simon as Peter, and included the phrase “hallowed be thy name” in the Lord’s prayer, along with numerous references to people doing things “in my name.”
According to Swedenborg, a person’s name in the Bible represents his or her entire spiritual nature, their whole state of love (good or evil) and thought (from heavenly wisdom to infernal insanity). This is why the name of the Lord is so especially important; it represents and embodies his perfect love and perfect wisdom, which is everything that we should worship and follow.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 2009
2009. That ‘no longer will your name be called Abram’ means that He will cast off the human, and that ‘your name will be Abraham’ means that He will put on the Divine, is clear from the meaning of ‘name’, also from the meaning of ‘Abram’, and after that of ‘Abraham’. When the phrase ‘your name will be’ is used in the Word it means the nature of, that is, what a person’s nature is going to be like, as is clear from what has been brought forward in Volume One, in 144, 145, 1754. And since ‘names means the nature of, a name includes everything in its entirety within that person, for in heaven no attention is paid to someone’s name, but when anyone is referred to by name, or when a name is used, a mental picture of his nature comes up, that is, of all that is his, with him and in him. This is why ‘name’ in the Word means the nature of. To make this matter clearer to the understanding let further confirmatory quotations from the Word be introduced, such as in the Blessing in Moses,
Jehovah bless you and keep you; Jehovah make His face* shine upon you and be merciful to you; Jehovah lift up His face* upon you and give you peace.
So shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel. Num. 6:24-27.
From this it is evident what ‘name’ and ‘putting Jehovah’sname upon the sons of Israel’ means, namely that Jehovah blesses, keeps, enlightens, is merciful, and gives peace, and that such is Jehovah’s or the Lord’s nature.
[2] In the Ten Commandments,
You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain, for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless who has taken His name in vain. Exod. 20:7; Deut. 5:11.
Here taking God’s name in vain does not mean His name but every single thing deriving from Him, and so every single thing belonging to the worship of Him, which must not be treated with disdain, still less be blasphemed and defiled by what is filthy. In the Lord’s Prayer,
Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, as in heaven so on earth. Luke 11:2.
Nor in this instance is ‘name’ used to mean name but all things that belong to love and faith, for these are God’s, or the Lord’s, and derive from Him. Since the latter are holy, the Lord’s kingdom comes, and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven, when they are upheld as being holy.
[3] That ‘name’ means such things is clear from all the places in the Old Testament Word and in the New where the word ‘name’ is used, as in Isaiah,
You will say on that day, Confess Jehovah, call on His name, make His deeds known among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. Isa. 12:4.
Here ‘calling on the name of Jehovah’ and ‘making mention that it is exalted’ does not in any way mean making the nameitself an object of worship, or believing that Jehovah is called on by the mere uttering of His name, but by knowing His nature, and so every single thing that derives from Him. In the same prophet,
Therefore in the Urim give honour to Jehovah, in the isles of the sea to the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. Isa. 24:15.
Here ‘in the Urim give honour to Jehovah’ means worship based on the holy things of love, ‘in the isles of the sea to thename of Jehovah, the God of Israel’ worship based on the holy things of faith.
[4] In the same prophet,
Jehovah our God, in You alone will we make mention of Yourname. Isa. 26:13.
And in the same prophet,
I will stir up one from the north, and he will come, from the rising of the sun he will call on My name. Isa. 41:25.
Here ‘making mention of’ and ‘calling on the name of Jehovah’ is worshipping from the goods of love and the truths of faith. Those ‘from the north’ are people outside the Church who do not know the name of Jehovah but who do nevertheless call on His name when they are leading charitable lives one with another and venerate some deity as the Creator of the universe, for it is the worship and what constitutes it, not the name, that calling on Jehovah entails. That the Lord is also present with gentiles, see 932, 1032, 1059.
[5] In the same prophet,
The nations will see your righteousness and all the kings your glory; and you will be called by a new name which the mouth of Jehovah will announce. Isa. 62:2.
Here ‘you will be called by a new name’ stands for becoming a different person, that is to say, as a result of being created anew or regenerated, and so stands for becoming such. In Micah,
All the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God for ever and eternally. Micah 4:5.
‘Walking in the name of its god’ clearly stands for worship that is profane, while ‘walking in the name of Jehovah’ stands for true worship. In Malachi,
From the rising of the sun and even to its setting, great is Myname among the nations; and in every place incense is offered to My name, and a pure minchah, for great is My name among the nations. Mal. 1:11.
Here ‘name’ is not used to mean the name but the worship; and this worship is the essential nature of Jehovah or the Lord, from which He wills to be adored.
[6] In Moses,
The place which Jehovah your God chooses out of all the tribes to put His name there, and to make His name dwell there, to that place shall you bring all that I am commanding you. Deut. 12:5, 11, 14; 16:2, 6, 11.
Here also ‘putting His name’ and ‘making His name dwell there’ do not mean the name but the worship, and so Jehovah’s or the Lord’s essential nature from which He is to be worshipped. His nature consists in the good of love and the truth of faith, it being with those who are governed by such good and truth that Jehovah’s name dwells. In Jeremiah,
Go to My place which is in Shiloh where I made My namedwell at first. Jer. 7:12.
Here similarly ‘name’ stands for worship, and so for doctrine concerning true faith. It may become clear to anyone that Jehovah does not dwell with somebody who merely knows and utters His name, for without any conception and recognition of His essential nature, and without any belief in it, the name by itself is a mere verbal expression. From this it is evident that the word ‘name’ means the nature of, and the knowledge of that nature.
[7] In Moses,
At that time Jehovah set apart the tribe of Levi to serve Him and to bless in His name. Deut. 10:8.
Here ‘blessing in the name of Jehovah’ is doing so not by means of the name but by means of those qualities associated with the name of Jehovah which have been referred to above. In Jeremiah,
This is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our righteousness. Jer. 23:6.
Here ‘name’ stands for the righteousness which is the essential nature of the Lord, to whom these words refer. In Isaiah,
Jehovah called Me from the womb, from My mother’s body** He made mention of My name. Isa. 49:1.
These words too refer to the Lord. ‘Making mention of Hisname’ is informing about His essential nature.
[8] That ‘name’ means the nature of is plainer still in John’s Revelation,
You have a few names in Sardis, who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who conquers will be clad in white garments and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; and I will confess his name before My father and before the angels. He who conquers I will write on him the name of God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. Rev. 3:4, 5, 12.
Here it is quite clear that name does not mean the name but the essential nature of him who conquers. ‘The name in the book of life’ is nothing else. Nor is ‘confessing his name before My Father’, and ‘writing on him the name of God and of the city, and a new name’. The same applies elsewhere to the nameswhich are said to have been written in the book of life and in heaven, Rev. 13:8; 17:8; Luke 10:20.
[9] In heaven one person is always recognized from another by his nature or character, which is expressed in the sense of the letter as ‘the name’, as may also become clear to anyone from the fact that on earth the mention of anybody’s name presents to another a mental picture of his nature or character by which he is known and distinguished from anyone else. In the next life those mental pictures survive but names perish. More especially is this so with angels. This is why in the internal sense ‘name’ means the essential nature of, or the knowledge of that nature. In the same book,
On the head of Him who sat on the white horse were many jewels. He has a name written which no one knows but He Himself. He was clad in a garment dipped in blood, and Hisname is called The Word of God. Rev. 19:12, 13.
Here it is stated openly that His ‘name’ is The Word of God, thus the essential nature of Him who sat on the white horse.
[10] The fact that the name of Jehovah means the knowledge of His nature, that is to say, it means every good of love and every truth of faith, is quite clear from these words spoken by the Lord,
Righteous Father, I have known You, and these too have known that You have sent Me, for I made known to them Yourname, and I will make it known that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:25, 26.
[11] And that the name of God or of the Lord means the whole doctrine of faith concerning love and charity, which is meant by ‘believing in His name’, is clear from these words in the same gospel,
As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name. John 1:12.
If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:13-15.
Whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give it to you. These things I command you, that you love one another. John 15:16, 17.
In Matthew,
Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. Matt. 18:20.
Here ‘being gathered together in the Lord’s name’ means those who possess the doctrine of faith concerning love and charity, and so who are governed by love and charity.
[12] In the same gospel,
You will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. Matt. 10:22; 24:9, 10; Mark 13:13.
Here ‘for My name’s sake’ clearly stands for doctrine’s sake. The fact that a name itself is of no avail, only that which thename embodies, that is to say, everything constituting charity and faith, is quite clear from the following in Matthew,
Did we not prophesy through Your name, and cast out demons through Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name? And then I will confess to them, I do not know you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. Matt. 7:22, 23.
From this it is clear that people who make worship consist in aname, as Jews do in the name of Jehovah and Christians in thename of the Lord, are not on that account worthier than any others, for the name is of no avail. But they are worthier when their characters conform to what He has commanded; and this is the meaning of ‘believing in His name’. And when they say that there is salvation in no other name than the Lord’s they mean in no other doctrine, that is, in none other than mutual love, which is the true doctrine of faith, and so in none other than the Lord since all love comes from Him alone, and all faith from that love.
* lit. faces
** lit. viscera
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6674
6674. ‘Of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and thename of the other Puah’ means the nature and state of the natural where that factual knowledge resided. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the name’ as the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1896, 2009, and also the state, 1946, 2643, 3422, 4298. For the names contained in the Word all serve to mean different realities, each name embodying in a nutshell all the characteristics, thus the nature and state of that reality to which it refers. Here therefore the names Shiphrah and Puah mean the nature and state of the natural where true factual knowledge resides since this is the reality to which those names refer, as is evident from what appears immediately before this in 6673. A person who is unaware of the fact that a name serves to mean the nature and state of the reality to which it refers can only think that no more than the name is meant when that name is mentioned.
[2] Thus he can only think that when the Lord speaks of Hisname no more than this is meant, when in fact what is meant is the essential nature of the worship of Him, that is to say, every aspect of faith and charity through which He is to be worshipped, as in Matthew,
Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. Matt. 18:20.
Not the name is meant here, but worship flowing from faith and charity. In John,
As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name. John 1:12.
Here also ‘name’ is used to mean faith and charity from which the Lord is worshipped. In the same gospel,
These things have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20:31.
Here the meaning is similar.
[3] In the same gospel,
If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. John 14:13, 14.
And elsewhere,
Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give it to you. John 15:16, 17; 16:23, 24.
The real meaning here is not that they were to ask the Father in the Lord’s name, but that they were to ask the Lord Himself. For no access lies open to Divine Good, which is the Father, 3704, except through the Lord’s Divine Human, as the various Churches also well know. This being so, asking the Lord Himself is a request made in accordance with the truths of faith; and if the request is indeed made in accord with them it is granted, as He Himself also says in the place in John quoted immediately before – If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. This matter is made even clearer by the fact that the Lord is meant by Jehovah’s ‘name’, when mentioned as follows in Moses,
I send an angel before you to guard you on the way. Take notice of His face, and hearken to His voice, and do not provoke Him, since My name is in the midst of Him. Exod. 23:20, 21.
[4] In John,
Father, glorify Your name. A voice came from heaven, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. John 12:28.
In the same gospel,
I have manifested Your name to the men (homo) whom You gave to Me out of the world. I made known to them Yourname, and I will make it known, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:6, 26.
From these quotations it is evident that the Lord’s Divine Human is Jehovah’s name or whole essential nature. Consequently all Divine worship begins in the Divine Human; and the Divine Human is what one is to worship, for by worshipping this one worships the Divine Himself, no thought of whom can otherwise be formed. And if no such thought can be formed, there can be no communion with Him either.
[5] The truth that the Lord’s ‘name’ is everything constituting the faith and love through which He is to be worshipped is still further evident from the following places: In Matthew,
You will be hated by everyone for My name’s sake. Matt. 10:22.
In the same gospel,
He who receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. Matt. 18:5.
In the same gospel,
Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold. Matt. 19:29.
In the same gospel,
They shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Matt. 21:9.
In Luke,
Truly I tell you; for you will not see Me until [the time] comes so that you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Luke 13:35.
In Mark,
Whoever gives you drink from a cup of water in My namebecause you are Christ’s, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward. Mark 9:41.
In Luke,
The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are obedient to us in Your name. Jesus said to them, Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are obedient to you, but rejoice rather that your names have been written in heaven. Luke 10:17, 20.
‘Names written in heaven’ are not those people’s their faith and charity.
[6] Much the same is meant by ‘names written in the Apocalypse,
You have a few names also in Sardis, who have not soiled their garments. He who conquers will be clad in white garments and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; and I will confess his name before the Father and before His angels. Rev. 3:4, 5.
Like wise in John,
The one entering by the door is the shepherd of the sheep; he calls his own sheep by name. John 10:2, 3.
In Exodus,
Jehovah said to Moses, I know you by name. Exod. 33:12, 17.
In John,
Many believed in His name, seeing His signs which He did. John 2:13.
[7] In the same gospel,
He who believes in Him is not judged: but he who does not believe is judged already because he has not be lifted in thename of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:18.
In Isaiah,
They will fear the name of Jehovah from the west. Isa. 59:19.
In Micah,
All the peoples walk in the name of their God and we will walk in the name of our God. Micah 4:5.
In Moses it says they were to worship Jehovah God in the place which He would choose and in which He would put Hisname. Deut. 12:5, 11, 14. Similar phrases occur in Isaiah 18:7 and Jeremiah 7:12, and in many other places besides these, such as Isa. 26:8, 13; 41:25; 43:7; 49:1; 50:10; 52:5; 26:16; Ezek. 20:14, 44; 36:21-23; Micah 5:4; Mal. 1:11; Deut. 10:8; Rev. 2:17; 3:12; 13:8; 14:11; 15:2; 17:8; 19:12, 13, 16; 22:3, 4.
[8] The fact that Jehovah’s name means everything involved in the worship of Him, thus in the highest sense everything that goes out from the Lord, is clear in the Blessing,
Jehovah bless you and keep you;
Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be merciful to you;
Jehovah lift up His face upon you and give you peace.
So shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel. Num. 6:23-27.
From all this one may now see what is meant by the following commandment in the Decalogue,
You shall not take the name of your God in vain, for Jehovah will not hold him innocent who has taken His name in vain. Exod. 20:7.
One may likewise see what is meant in the Lord’s Prayer by hallowed be Your name, Matt. 6:9.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 2724
2724. ‘And there he called on the name of [Jehovah,] the God of Eternity’ means worship from it. This is clear from the meaning of ‘calling on the name of God’ as worship, dealt with in 440. Those who belonged to the Ancient Church did not understand merely name by the word ‘name’ but the entire nature, see 144, 145, 340, 768, 1754, 1896, 2009. Thus by ‘thename of God’ they understood everything in one embrace by which God was worshipped, consequently everything of love and faith. But once the internal aspect of worship perished and only the external was left people began to understand nothing else by ‘the name of God’ than the name. Indeed they went so far as to worship the name itself, being quite indifferent to what the love and the faith were in which their worship was grounded. As a result of this nations began to identify themselves by the names of their gods, the Jews and Israelites setting themselves above the rest because they worshipped Jehovah. They made the utterance and the calling upon thename itself the essential feature of worship; but in fact worship of the name alone is not worship at all, for that practice may exist even among the worst of people who in worshipping thename alone become greater profaners.
[2] Now because ‘the name of God’ means the entirety of worship, that is, the love and faith in their entirety from which He is worshipped, it is therefore clear what is meant by hallowed be Your name – in the Lord’s Prayer, Matt. 6:9, and what by the following words spoken by the Lord,
You will be hated by everyone for My name’s sake. Matt. 10:22.
If two of you agree in My name on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them. Matt. 18:19, 20.
He who leaves houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will be allotted the inheritance of eternal life. Matt. 19:29.
Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in thename of the Lord. Matt. 21:9.
Jesus said, You will not see Me from now on until you say, Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord. Matt. 23:39.
You will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. Then many will stumble and betray one another, and hate one another, and all for My name’s sake.* Matt. 24:9, 10.
As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, John 1:12.
He who does not believe is judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:17, 18.
Jesus said, Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it. John 14:14, 15; 15:16; 16:23, 24, 26, 27.
Jesus said, I have manifested Your name to men. John 17:6.
Holy Father, keep them in Your name whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are one. John 17:11, 12.
I made known to them Your name, and I will make known that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:26.
That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20:37.
There are in addition very many places in the Old Testament in which the name of Jehovah and of God is not used to mean thename but love and faith in their entirety in which worship is grounded.
[3] But those who worship the name alone, without love and faith, are spoken of in Matthew as follows,
Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy through Your name, and cast out demons through Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name? But I will confess to them, I do not know you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. Matt. 7:22, 23.
As has been stated, once the member of the Church from being internal became external, and began to make worship consist in a name alone, people no longer acknowledged one God but many. For it was a custom among the ancients to add something after the name of Jehovah and by doing that to call to mind some benefit or attribute of His, as in the present verse, ‘He called on the name of [Jehovah,] the God of Eternity’. Another example occurs in the next chapter,
Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh (that is, Jehovah will see). Gen. 22:14.
And the following, among others, are further examples,
Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi (that is, Jehovah is my banner). Exod. 17:15.
Gideon built an altar to Jehovah and called it [the altar] of Jehovah Shalom (that is, of peace). Judg. 6:24.
It was from this custom that those who made worship consist in a name alone came to acknowledge so many gods, and also that among the gentiles, especially those in Greece and Rome, so many gods came to be acknowledged and worshipped, whereas the Ancient Church from which those attributivenames derived always worshipped but one God who was revered under so many names, for the reason that by ‘name’ they understood the essential nature.
* These six words which Sw. apparently copied from the Schmidius Latin version do not occur in the original Greek.
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 81
81. “‘And have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.'” This symbolizes their effort and work in acquiring for themselves and also teaching the constituents of religion and its accompanying doctrine.
The name of Jehovah or the Lord in the Word does not mean His name, but everything by which He is worshiped. And because He is worshiped in accordance with doctrine in the church, His name means everything pertaining to doctrine, and in the broadest sense, everything pertaining to religion.
These are the meanings of the name of Jehovah, and the reason is that in heaven the only names found are ones that reflect a person’s character, and God’s character includes everything by which He is worshiped.
One who is not aware of this symbolic meaning of a name in the Word can understand it only as a name; and in this alone there is nothing pertaining to worship and religion.
[2] Someone who keeps in mind, therefore, this symbolic meaning of “the name of Jehovah” when it is mentioned in the Word, will of himself understand its symbolic meaning in the following passages:
In that day you will say: “Confess to Jehovah, call upon Hisname.” (Isaiah 12:4)
…O Jehovah, we have waited for You; the desire of our soul is for Your name…. …by You we make mention of Your name. (Isaiah 26:8, 13)
From the rising of the sun My name shall be called on. (Isaiah 41:25)
…from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My nameshall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered to My name…; for My name shall be great among the nations…. …you profane (My name) when you say, “The table of Jehovah is defiled….” But you sneer at (Myname)…, when you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick. (Malachi 1:11-13)
…all peoples walk in the name of their god, but we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God…. (Micah 4:5)
Everyone who is called by My name, for My glory I have created him, I have formed him…. (Isaiah 43:7)
You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain; …Jehovah will not hold him innocent who takes His name in vain. (Deuteronomy 5:11)
They were to worship Jehovah in one place, where He should put His name (Deuteronomy 12:5, 11, 13, 14, 18, 16:2, 6, 11, 15, 16). And so on in many other places. Who does not see that the name in them does not mean simply a name?
[3] It is the same with the name of the Lord in the New Testament, as in the following places:
(Jesus said,) “You will be hated by all because of My name. (Matthew 10:22; cf. 24:9, 10)
…where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)
Everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters…for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and…eternal life. (Matthew 19:29)
As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
…many believed in His name…. (John 2:23)
He who does not believe is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:17, 18)
…believing (they will) have life in His name. (John 20:31)
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! (Matthew 21:9, 23:39; Luke 13:35, cf. 19:38)
[4] In respect to His humanity the Lord is the name of the Father, as witness the following:
Father, glorify Your name. (John 12:28)
Hallowed be Your name (and) Your kingdom come. (Matthew 6:9, 10)
See also Exodus 23:20, 21,* Jeremiah 23:6,** Micah 5:3.***
“Name” in the case of other people refers to a quality of worship, as in the following:
(A shepherd) calls his own sheep by (their) name…. (John 10:3)
You have a few names in Sardis…. (Revelation 3:4)
I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem…, and My new name. (Revelation 3:12)
And the like elsewhere.
It can be seen from this now that the statement, “You have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary,” symbolizes their effort and work in acquiring for themselves and also teaching the constituents of religion and its accompanying doctrine.
*Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.
**In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
***And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah His God; and they shall abide, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth.
True Christian Religion (Rose) n. 300
300
The nature of names in the spiritual world makes it clear that someone’s “name” does not mean her or his name alone but also her or his full nature. In that world, people all stop using the names they were given in baptism in this world and thenames they received from their parents or their family. All there are named for what they are like. Angels get a name that indicates the moral and spiritual life they have. In fact, the Lord was referring to angels in the following passage:
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The sheep hear the shepherds voice and he calls his sheep by name and leads them out.” (John 10:3, 11)
The same holds true in the following passage:
I have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes. Upon the person who conquers I will write the name of the city New Jerusalem and my new name. (Revelation 3:4, 12)
“Gabriel” and “Michael” are not the names of two people in heaven – these names mean all the angels in heaven who have wisdom about the Lord and who worship him. The names of people and places in the Word do not mean people and places either; they mean aspects of the church.
Even in our world a “name” means more than just a name – it also means what someone is like. People’s natures get attached to their names. We often say, “They’re doing it for their name” or “to make a name for themselves.” “Those are big names” means that those people are famous for characteristics they possess, such as creativity, scholarship, achievements, or the like.
It is common knowledge that people who insult or libel other people’s names are in fact insulting or libeling the actions of the other people’s lives. The two are conceptually linked. Such attacks ruin the reputation of people’s names. Likewise, someone who says the name of a monarch, a duke, or a great person with disrespect also dishonors the person’s majesty and dignity. It is equally true that someone who mentions anyone’sname with a tone of contempt also disparages the deeds of that person’s life-this applies to everyone. Every country has laws that forbid us to abuse, attack, or insult anyone’s name(meaning anyone’s nature and reputation).
Divine Providence (Dole) n. 230
230. The profanation of what is holy is referred to in the second of the Ten Commandments in the words, “You shall not profane the name of your God” [Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11]; and the Lord’s prayer is telling us that we must not profane what is holy when it says, “Hallowed be your name” [Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2]. Hardly anyone in all Christendom knows what “the name of God” means. This is because people do not know that people in the spiritual world do not havenames the way we do in this physical world. Rather, each individual is named for her or his own love and wisdom. As soon as we enter a community or a gathering of people, we are immediately given a name that expresses our nature. We arenamed in a spiritual language that is essentially able to give a distinctive name to every individual thing, because every letter in its alphabet means something definite; and when many letters are combined into a single word, as happens with an individual’s name, they include the whole state of that object. This is just one of the marvels of the spiritual world.
[2] We can see from this that in the Word, “the name of God” means both God and everything divine that is in him and that emanates from him. Since the Word is a divine emanation, it is a name of God; and since all the divine gifts that we refer to as the spiritual gifts of the church come from the Word, they too are a name of God.
This enables us to see what “You shall not profane the name of your God” means in the second of the Ten Commandments, and what “Hallowed be your name” means in the Lord’s Prayer.
“The name of God” and “the name of the Lord” mean much the same in many passages in the Word in both Testaments. See, for example, Matthew 7:22; 10:22; 18:5, 20; 19:29; 21:9; 24:9, 10; John 1:12; 2:23; 3:17, 18; 12:13, 28; 14:14, 15, 16; 16:23, 24, 26, 27; 17:6; and 20:31, among others, as well as a great many in the Old Testament.
[3] If you know the meaning of this “name,” then you can know the meaning of the Lord’s words, “Whoever accepts a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward; and whoever gives one of these little ones something cold to drink in thename of a disciple will not lose the reward” (Matthew 10:21 [10:41, 42]). If you understand the name of a prophet or a righteous person or a disciple to mean nothing but the prophet or the righteous person or the disciple, then the only meaning you get will be a literal one. You will not know, either, what is meant by the reward of the prophet or the reward of the righteous person or the reward for the cold drink given on behalf of the disciple. Yet the name and the reward of the prophet mean the blessed state of people who enjoy divine gifts of truth, and the name and the reward of the righteous person mean the blessed state of people who enjoy divine gifts of what is good, while the disciple means the state of people who have some of the spiritual gifts of the church, and the cold drink is any element of truth.
[4] We can also tell that the name means the nature of the state of love and wisdom, or of what is good and true, from these words of the Lord: “The one who comes in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. The doorkeeper opens to him and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (Matthew 10:2, 3 [John 10:2, 3]). “Calling sheep by name” is teaching and leading every individual whose deeds are prompted by caring, and doing so in keeping with that individual’s state of love and wisdom. “The door” means the Lord, as we can tell from verse 9: “I am the door. Anyone who enters in by me will be saved” [John 10:9]. This shows that we need to turn to the Lord himself if we are to be saved, and that the one who does turn to him is a shepherd of his sheep. Anyone who does not turn to him is a thief and a robber, as it says in the first verse of the same chapter.