Q&A About the Name of God

Question 2: God’s name in each age doesn’t represent God in His entirety, then what does God’s name in each age mean?

Answer: This question is very Almighty God. Today Almighty God has given us the answer to this question. Almighty God says, “‘Jehovah’ is the name that I took during My work in Israel, Eastern Lightningtake pity on man, curse man, and guide the life of man. It means the God who possesses great power and is full of wisdom. ‘Jesus’ is Emmanuel, and it means the sin offering that is full of love, full of compassion, and redeems man.
He did the work of the Age of Grace, and represents the Age of Grace, and can only represent one part of the management plan. That is to say, only Jehovah is the God of the chosen people of Israel, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of Moses, and the God of all the people of Israel. And so in the current age, all the Israelites apart from the tribe of Judah worship Jehovah. They make sacrifices to Him on the altar, and serve Him wearing priests’ robes in the temple. What they hope for is the reappearance of Jehovah. Only Jesus is the Redeemer of mankind. He is the sin offering that redeemed mankind from sin. Which is to say, the name of Jesus came from the Age of Grace, and existed because of the work of redemption in the Age of Grace. The name of Jesus existed to allow the people of the Age of Grace to be reborn and saved, and is a particular name for the redemption of the whole of mankind. And so the name Jesus represents the work of redemption, and denotes the Age of Grace. The name Jehovah is a particular name for the people of Israel who lived under the law. In each age and each stage of work, My name is not baseless, but holds representative significance: Each name represents one age. ‘Jehovah’ represents the Age of Law, and is the honorific for the God worshiped by the people of Israel. ‘Jesus’ represents the Age of Grace, and is the name of the God of all those who were redeemed during the Age of Grace. If man still longs for the arrival of Jesus the Savior during the last days, and still expects Him to arrive in the image He bore in Judea, then the entire six-thousand-year management plan would stop in the Age of Redemption, and would be incapable of progressing any further. The last days, furthermore, would never arrive, and the age would never be brought to an end. That is because ‘Jesus the Savior’ is only for the redemption and salvation of mankind. I took the name of Jesus for the sake of all the sinners in the Age of Grace, and it is not the name by which I shall bring the whole of mankind to an end” (“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

The words of Almighty God explain to us the meaning of God’s names that He takes in each age. In the Age of Law, God’s name was “Jehovah.” This name represents the disposition God expressed to the people of that age, the disposition of majesty, wrath, curse and mercy. At that time, in the name of “Jehovah,” God started His work in the Age of Law. He issued laws and commandments, and formally led His new-born mankind to live on earth. He demanded they strictly obey the law and learn how to worship and magnify Him. God’s blessing and grace would lie upon whoever followed the law of Jehovah. Those who broke the law would be stoned to death or burned by heavenly fire. So the Israelites under the law kept it faithfully and honored Jehovah’s name as sacred, and lived thousands of years under Jehovah’s guidance till the end of the Age of Law. By the end of the Age of Law, people had become increasingly corrupt and sinful and were unable to obey the law. Everyone was in constant danger of punishment for breaking it. Therefore, with the name of “Jesus,” God began a new stage of redemptive work. He ended the Age of Law and initiated the Age of Grace, and He expressed the disposition of love and mercy. He laid His boundless grace upon man, and finally was crucified to redeem man from Satan. After that, man began to pray in Jesus’ name, to worship Jesus’ name as sacred, and to enjoy the forgiveness of God and His boundless grace. The name of “Jesus” exists to allow the people of the Age of Grace to be reborn and saved. Its original meaning is the sin offering full of love and mercy that redeems people. The name “Jesus” represents God’s redemptive work, and also God’s disposition of love and mercy. In the previous two stages of God’s work, we can see that the name God takes in each age holds representative significance. Each represents the work and the disposition which God expresses in that age. In the Age of Grace, if the Lord had been called “Jehovah” when He came, rather than “Jesus,” then God’s work would have been stopped in the Age of Law. And corrupt mankind would never have gained God’s redemption. In the end, they would’ve been condemned and punished for breaking God’s law. Likewise, when God comes in the last days, if He still had the name “Jesus,” then corrupt mankind would only receive salvation and forgiveness for their sins. They would never achieve holiness and enter God’s kingdom. This is because the sins of men have been forgiven through Jesus’ redemption, but their sinful nature still remains. They still often sin and have not been fully gained by God. Therefore, in order to save men out of sin completely, God is now doing a new work of completely purifying and saving men based on Jesus’ work. And so God’s name changes and He is called “Almighty God.” The Bible prophesied long ago that God would be called “Almighty God” in the last days. We can find it with some careful reading. Let’s look at Revelation 1:8. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” Then let’s go to 11:16-17, “And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give you thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which are, and were, and are to come; because you have taken to you your great power, and have reigned.” Revelation 4:8, 16:7, 19:6, and many other verses have all prophesied that God’s new name in the last days is “the Almighty,” that is, “Almighty God.”

God is a wise God, and everything God does has great significance. The name “Almighty God” represents exactly the work God does and the disposition He expresses in the last days. If God did not come Himself to reveal these hidden mysteries, we would never know them, regardless of the time spent on the Bible. Let us read the words of Almighty God.

Almighty God says, “The work of God throughout all of His management is perfectly clear: the Age of Grace is the Age of Grace, and the last days are the last days. There are distinct differences between each age, for in each age God does work which represents that age. For the work of the last days to be done, there must be burning, judgment, chastisement, wrath, and destruction to bring the age to an end. The last days refer to the final age. During the final age, will God not bring the age to an end? And only through chastisement and judgment can the age be brought to an end. … Therefore, during the Age of Law Jehovah was the name of God, and in the Age of Grace the name of Jesus represented God. During the last days, His name is Almighty God—the Almighty, and He uses His power to guide man, conquer man, and gain man, and in the end, conclude the age” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“I was once known as Jehovah. I was also called the Messiah, and people once called Me Jesus the Savior because they loved and respected Me. But today I am not the Jehovah or Jesus that people knew in times past—I am the God who has returned in the last days, the God who shall bring the age to an end. I am the God Himself that rises up at the ends of the earth, replete with My entire disposition, and full of authority, honor and glory. People have never engaged with Me, have never known Me, and have always been ignorant of My disposition. From the creation of the world until today, not one person has seen Me. This is the God who appears to man during the last days but is hidden among man. He resides among man, true and real, like the burning sun and the flaming fire, filled with power and brimming with authority. There is not a single person or thing that shall not be judged by My words, and not a single person or thing that shall not be purified through the burning of fire. Eventually, all nations shall be blessed because of My words, and also smashed to pieces because of My words. In this way, all people during the last days shall see that I am the Savior returned, I am the Almighty God that conquers all of mankind, and I was once the sin offering for man, but in the last days I also become the flames of the sun that burn all things, as well as the Sun of righteousness that reveals all things. Such is My work of the last days. I took this name and am possessed of this disposition so that all people may see that I am a righteous God, and am the burning sun, and the flaming fire. It is so that all may worship Me, the only true God, and so that they may see My true face: I am not only the God of the Israelites, and am not just the Redeemer—I am the God of all creatures throughout heavens and earth and seas” (“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

With the name of “Almighty God,” God has begun the judgment of the Age of Kingdom in the last days. Through expressing the word, He reveals the corrupt nature of men and judges their unrighteousness. So, through reading His words, they come to know their nature and substance, and they see how deeply they have been corrupted by Satan. They see the roots of their corruption, and know God’s righteous disposition tolerating no offense. His words also give them a direction, a way to transform their disposition. Then they can renounce evil, pursue the truth, have their disposition transformed, and be saved by God. God judges and purifies men, divides them into their kinds, rewards the good, and punishes the evil. And His will is to completely save corrupt mankind from sin, and conclude His six-thousand-year management plan for man’s salvation. So in the last days, God reveals Himself to men with a disposition of righteousness, majesty, wrath, and intolerance of offending. He shows them His original disposition and all that He has and is. With such a disposition, He judges and chastises the corruption of all mankind, saves them completely from sin, and restores the holiness they once had. He’ll make them see God has the wisdom to create the heavens and earth and all things, and has the wisdom to perform real work on man. He not only created everything, but also holds dominion over all things. He not only can be man’s sin offering, but also can perfect, change and purify man. He is the First, and the Last. None can fully fathom His wondrousness, or His deeds. So, it is only fitting that we should call God by the name “Almighty God.” Now, the work of the Holy Spirit only supports the work of Almighty God. By praying this name, true worshipers of Almighty God can receive the Holy Spirit’s working, and enjoy the bountiful life provision and watering from God. Those who do not will fall into darkness, with no way out. Now an unprecedented desolation is settling on all the churches of the Age of Grace: The faith of believers has grown cold. Preachers have no message to preach. People aren’t moved in prayer. And more and more people are tempted by worldly ways…. The reason is that they fail to accept the name of Almighty God and fail to keep pace with God’s latest work.

from the movie script of God’s Name Has Changed?