The Names, Nature, and Revelation of God the Father
In the Bible, names function as much more than simple labels.
They were revered for embodying the essence of the person or thing to which they pointed. Throughout Scripture, many names and descriptions for God appear, each revealing His power, character, and presence. God’s names are part of His self-revelation so that people may come to know Him and reflect His character and glory. However, the sheer number of divine names shows that none of them can fully capture or contain God’s essential nature.
Although God makes Himself known through names, those names do not confine Him.
Instead, they help us know Him better as an unlimited Provider and allow us to grow deeper in His nature, purposes, and relationship with Him.
The Unknown Name of God the Father
The Name of the one and only true God (John 17:3), the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua Adonai, has not been made known to anyone. To address God the Father, various names are used in both the Old and New Testaments. In fact, all known names apply only to the visible manifestation of God, Lord Yeshua
YHVH—Who was and is our Lord Yeshua Adonai, the Son—is not the One and only true God: the Father, the Most High (John 17:3).
Translation and Confusion Between Father and Son
Where God the Father is meant in the Old Testament, translations often blur the distinction.
An example can be found in Zechariah.
Zechariah 3:2 (NKJV)
2 And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
Here LORD(capital letters) is the translation of the Hebrew word (H3068) יְהוָֹה (YHVH) or Yehōwāh/Yahweh
If the name of our Lord Yeshua is inserted, the verse would read:
Zechariah 3:2 (NKJV)
2 And the LORD YESHUA said to Satan, “The LORD YESHUA rebuke you, Satan! The LORD YESHUA who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
This creates a problem.
Why would Lord Yeshua say, “Lord Yeshua rebuke you,” if He Himself is speaking?
The correct understanding is that Lord Yeshua says:
Zechariah 3:2 (NKJV)
2 And the LORD YESHUA said to Satan, “GOD THE FATHER rebuke you, Satan! GOD THE FATHER who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
The Name of God the Father Is Not Known
The Name of God the Father is not known to anyone—not even to angels.
Because Bible translations consistently render (H3068) YHVH as LORD—who is in fact Lord Yeshua Adonai—the distinction between Father and Son is easily missed. This does not mean they are the same entity. That belief has been promoted by the pagan Catholic Church and later adopted widely through Trinitarian doctrine. Bible translators often translated Scripture according to human dogma rather than textual clarity. First, doctrines were formed. Then Scripture was translated to support them.
God the Father Can Only Be Declared
John 1:18 (NKJV)
18 No one has seen God at any time. The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
God the Father has never been seen—by anyone, at any time, in any dimension. Invisible things can only be declared, never seen directly. All the known names of God The Father indicates only one of the many Natures or characters of God the Father and has nothing to do with a “personal” Name as human have. In general, the word “God” is used to refer to a supernatural being, not a Name. In the OT mainly El, YHVH, YAHWEH (Jehovah), Adonai, or Elohim is used to indicate the general word for God.
1 Timothy 6:15-16 (NKJV)
15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honour and everlasting power. Amen.
Because the Father is invisible, He can only be declared or explained. Invisible things can only be declared; in science, people do the same. No one has ever seen the Father in any time or any dimension. No one! God the Father alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light.
In the Lord’s Prayer, our Lord Yeshua teaches us to pray with “Our Father.” In John 17, He again starts praying with “Father.” If our Lord wanted us to know God’s Name, He would surely have started His prayers with the Name of God. Instead, He said Abba, Father. In the Lord’s Prayer, our Lord Yeshua teaches us to pray with “Our Father.” In chapter 17 of the Gospel of John, our Lord again starts praying with “Father.” If our Lord wanted us to know God’s Name, He would surely have started His prayer(s) with The Name of God. Instead of that, He said, Abba, Father.
John 17:6 (NKJV)
6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
Lord Yeshua manifested the nature and character of God the Father through His works in the Old and New Testament eras. That’s why Lord Yeshua said: “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) and “I do what I see the Father do” (John 5:19). Lord Yeshua is the exact image of God the Father (2 Cor. 4:4) in a human, fleshly body.
Declaring the Father Through the Son
That is why Yeshua said:
Lord Yeshua is the exact image of God the Father (2 Cor. 4:4). Through His physical body, the Father was present in all His fullness (Col. 2:9). In heaven and on earth, Yeshua made the invisible God visible. Through His works, in heaven and on earth, Lord Yeshua manifested, declared, and made the invisible God the Father visible to us. In other words, He made the Father “visible” for humans through the flesh and in the angelic realm (the heaven where angels dwell), in the angelic body in which Lord Yeshua was seen on Mount Horeb/Sinai.
Exodus 33:23 (NKJV)
23 Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
The Main Purpose of Yeshua’s Coming
When addressing God directly, Yeshua always calls Him Father. This was the central purpose of His coming to earth:
TO UNITE US WITH THE FATHER
He came to reveal who God truly is, the way to God, and the gospel of the Kingdom.
When addressing God directly, Lord Yeshua always calls God “Father.” That was one of the main purposes of His coming to earth: to declare and teach us who God really is, the way to God, and to give us the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Why not declare His Name? He taught us how to call our God (Abba) and the way to our God (John 3:16).
THIS WAS AND IS THE MAIN PURPOSE OF HIS COMING TO EARTH:
TO UNITE US WITH THE FATHER.
The name of our Lord Yeshua
We call our Lord, Yeshua, by His earthly Name: Yeshua. However, He has a heavenly personal Name that is not yet revealed. A Name nobody knows but Himself.
Revelation 19:12-13 (RSV)
12 And his eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many diadems. He had a Name written down, which no one knows but Himself. 13 And he was clothed with an outer garment dipped in blood, and his name is The Word of God.
The Unrevealed Name and Unlimited Nature of God the Father
This unknown Name of the Son is also not explained here, though it has not been revealed yet. Let alone the Name of God the Father. A Name represents a particular nature or character trait and is therefore limited in meaning. That’s why people say God has many names — even pagans do. In no way would a Name limit God the Father, for He is unlimited in His nature and character(s). God the Father is “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28). No Name can contain Him.
1 Corinthians 15:28 (NKJV)
28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
No Name can contain Him.
The Names and Characters of God
This is why God the Father identified Himself in the Old Testament through the visible God (YHVH, Yeshua) as “I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE” or “I AM WHO I AM” (Exo. 3:14) — UNLIMITED!
In fact, this is the ultimate nature and characterization of His Name: unlimited in its application. He gave us the meaning, not the Name itself.
Known Natures/Characters of God the Father:
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- YHWH (LORD, Yehovah): “I AM,” The One Who Is, The Self-Existent One
- El Elyon: God Most High
- El Olam: The Eternal God
- El Roi: The God Who Sees Me
- El Shaddai: The All-Sufficient One, The God of the Mountains, God Almighty
- YHWH-Jireh: The Lord Will Provide
- YHWH-Mekaddishkem: The Lord Who Sanctifies
- YHWH-Nissi: The Lord Is My Banner
- YHWH-Rapha: The Lord Who Heals
- YHWH-Rohi: The Lord Is My Shepherd
- YHWH-Sabaoth: The Lord of Hosts, The Lord of Armies
- YHWH-Shalom: The Lord Is Peace
- YHWH-Shammah: The Lord Is There, The Lord My Companion
- YHWH-Tsidkenu: The Lord Our Righteousness
These Names describe what God is, not His personal Name.
Abba Father – The Intimate Revelation of God through Yeshua
The Old Testament also contains references to God as Father, describing His relationship with the people of Israel (Deut. 32:6; Isa. 9:6; Jer. 3:19; Mal. 2:10). More importantly, however, the Old Testament foretells the unique and divine Sonship of the Messiah, as well as His role as the Messianic descendant of King David, according to the promises made to the patriarchs (2 Sam. 7:12-14; 1 Chron. 17:11-14; cf. Ps. 2:7).
These prophecies are cited in various New Testament passages to prove that Lord Yeshua is the Messiah (e.g., Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5). Lord Yeshua is the true “Son” who opens the way to God the Father for all people, so that we too may be called children of God (John 1:12-13; 2 Cor. 6:18; 1 John 3:1).
Children of God by Grace
Lord Yeshua revealed to us that all believers in Him have become children of God the Father through grace. In a certain sense, all people are God’s creatures, but in the model prayer “The Lord’s Prayer” (Matt. 6:9-14), it is about a personal, fatherly relationship that only believers in our Lord Yeshua can have with God the Father. They alone may call Him “Abba, Father.”
This is a personal, intimate relationship rooted in grace.
The Meaning of Abba
The Aramaic word Abba (Father) appears only three times in the New Testament: once in the Gospels (Mark 14:36) and twice in Paul’s writings (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). Abba, Father is the most intimate expression of the relationship between a father and a child. It signifies unconditional trust—one of the first words a child learns, closely related to our word “daddy.” By calling the One True God (John 17:3) Abba, Father, we acknowledge Him as the One who cares for His children, offers intimacy, and gives warmth. In that one name, Abba, Father, His character is summarized. The full depth of this reality we will only come to understand in the heavenly Kingdom. This is the Name that the Perfecter of our faith, Yeshua Adonai, has taught us. Therefore, we are called to walk in His footsteps (1 Pet. 2:21).
Our Intimate Union
Our Father God is not a distant Father, but a Father who is very near to us—everywhere and always. He desires to be one with us, just as He is one with Lord Yeshua Adonai. He is in Yeshua, and Yeshua is in us. We are, after all, His temple.
More than God
Abba, Father is more than just the title “God.” Lord Yeshua is God, but the Father
is more than God. Father is the Source, the Origin, and the Perfecter of all things.
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