Day 5 /40 Hallowed be Thy Name
- Margit Kresin
- Mar 10
- 2 min read
In the “The Lord's prayer” we pray: “hallowed be thy name.” What did Jesus want to express to us when he taught his disciples how to pray?
Essentially, it means that God's name (and therefore God Himself) is the most cherished name in the whole world. When we pray this line, a subtle subversion or reversal takes place within us. We bow our knees in reverence, for we recognize that our God is the Almighty and Eternal God. We want to glorify and worship Him.
In Isaiah 6 we read that the prophet had a vision in which he saw the angels of God before the great throne of God. They called to one another, "Holy," "Holy," "Holy is God Almighty. The whole earth is filled with His glory!" The word kadosh (קָדוֹשׁ ; holy) is used here not once, but three times in a row - a common way of emphasizing something in Hebrew. The word for holiness in Hebrew is kadosh. It means "to distinguish" or simply "to be different." In fact, the use of the word holy is first about making a distinction between divine and human . While God is holy in Himself, everything else, such as people, places and objects, can only become holy through Him. Peter in 1 Peter 1:16 quotes the following verse :
You shall be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy. (Leviticus 19:2: NIV)
The name of God is to be hallowed, that is, it is to be glorified "on earth as it is in heaven." The name of God, or we can also say the essence of God, is revealed in His glory.
The word יהוה (YHWH) is God's personal name in the Hebrew Bible text. The Israelites call Him אֲדֹנָי Adonai, which means the Eternal or Almighty Lord, because they have lost the exact pronunciation. Sometimes just הַשֵׁם haShem (the name) is used. In most Bible translations, יהוה is translated either as YAHWEH, Jehovah, Jahua, the Eternal or the Almighty or LORD. At that time, Yahweh was addressed as Elohim (or El), which means God, but is not His name.
Yahweh's name appears in many words. We find the short form YAH, for example, in the word HalleluYAH, which stands for "praise YAH". God has brought His holiness to us in Jesus. If we have accepted Jesus as our Messiah and Savior, we can also lovingly call YAHWEH Father or ABBA. And if God YAHWEH is our Father, what is there to fear?
We often find additions to the name YAHWEH, e.g. YAHWEH Jireh (Yahweh provides), Yahweh Roi (Yahweh the Shepherd, El HaGadol (the great God) and many more. A list of the names and characteristics can be found under the following link:
We want God's name to be hallowed, i.e. to be holy, for His Kingdom to come, and for His will to be done "on earth as it is in heaven." We hope and trust that His name will soon be honored, praised, and worshipped on earth as it is in heaven. We ask God to move and act in the world in such a way that people worship and value Him above all else.
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