YWHW El-Hakkabod

Names of God – Part 22

LORD God of Glory

YHWH is the actual name of God, revealed to Moses. In English, it is usually spelt Yahweh or Jehovah, in many Bible translations it is written as LORD (in all capitals or small capitals).

El is a Hebrew word meaning God.

The third part of the name is how people relate to God, either as individuals or as a nation, or another group.

Kabod, Hebrew for glory is a word that works in both directions. God id the LORD God of Glory, and we are instructed in scripture to give glory to God. (Hakkabod means of Glory).

The Glory of God

When used about God, it means the glory or splendour that occupied the tabernacle as a consuming fire surrounded by a cloud. Only Moses could enter and speak to God face to face. The glory of God similarly entered the Jerusalem Temple. God is holy, majestic, totally other than us.

Post-exile Old Testament writings shoe the glory of God returning at the end of time, the book of Revelation takes up this theme about the return of the Christ. The Glory of God is Jesus.

Giving Glory to God

As for us — this was one of those “I have never heard that before moments — I have been used to seeing that spiritual look on the faces of people singing O give Him the glory, Great things He hath done, but that is not what giving glory to God, in the sense of kabod, really means. Kabod, whether giving glory to God or to someone else, implies confession. If we give glory to God we have to keep none for ourselves, it is all his.