It all comes back to exodus 34:4-7

The title of this book could make you think: "Uh, yeah. Of course God has a name... it's God." Or, "Yeah, he has more than one name: God, Jesus, Abba, etc., etc." What I find most unique about this book, however, is how Comer (whose writing I absolutely love) digs deeply into the most quoted part of the Bible by the Bible to figure out exactly what this name of God means. He focuses on the form of God's name that we refer to today as "Yahweh," even though this name is not an exact translation from the starkly different Hebrew language to English. All of this to say -- God's name is complicated... but also simple. It becomes complicated when one tries to fit it into a definition. But the breaking down of Exodus 34:4-7 line by line to truly comprehend who God says he is allows us to rest in a simplicity of knowing that once we see the full scope of the identity, our goal is to focus on living into that name and reflecting its owner. The brevity of who God says he is to us as his creations, his humans, his loves, is the most important thing in all of our lives. 
I can truly say I didn't know that I needed this book until I read it. Not only does it make a daunting set of verses mindblowingly interesting (when normally Exodus isn't considered the most "exciting" of books), it helps to make the cultural contexts of the Hebrew language make more sense to us modern Westerners. In essence, I believe that it makes the aspects of the God of the Old Testament -- who is also the God of today despite how different he seems -- understandable in a relational way. I can say that in my own faith, I am often daunted by the fact that I know that I won't ever be able to know everything about God no matter how many books I read or how many hours I spend highlighting and underlining the pages of my Bible. But this book, in its straightforward, realistic nature, not only puts God's name into a fitting perspective, but makes me want to seek to understand and live into that name more than ever before.



A LOT of my favorite quotes from God Has A Name:

"Here's a truth that cuts across the whole of the universe: we become like what we worship."

"There is a human bent in all of us to make God in our own image."

"We don't know what God is like, but we can learn."

"If you strip the Bible down to the core, it's a story about God, and about how we as people relate to God."

"In Jesus, we get a new, evocative, crystal-clear glimpse of what God is actually like."

"God is more of a friend than a formula."

"In prayer, we are invited to join him in directing the course of his world."

"The sun, the moon, the stars, the freckles you get on your nose in late July -- he made all of it." (I really like the intimacy of this quote)

"Jesus is God come to us."

"The reality is, planet Earth is the site of a cosmic war. So of course there's evil."

"I wonder if it's the nonspiritual things in our secular world that are the most spiritually lethal."

"God is compassionate, so we're to be compassionate." (It's as simple as that!)

"Mercy is one of those things you just can't ever have enough of."

"We're to approach the God who speaks worlds into existence with confidence."

"There are times when the healthy, emotionally mature response to evil is anger."

"To the Scripture writers, hope is the absolute expectation of coming good based on the character of God."

"God is more concerned with your long-term character than your short-term happiness."

"The empty tomb dwarfs every tragedy we ever face with his promise to make all things beautiful in their time."

"Faithfulness is long obedience in the same direction in an age of instant gratification."

"The cross was the Father and the Son working together, in tandem, to bring mercy and justice together..."

"Worship is an entire life oriented around wonder and awe at the nature of God."

"Everywhere you go... In all that you do... You are called by the name of Yahweh. And it's a really good name."

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