As you enter the Old City of Jerusalem by way of the Zion Gate, you may notice an inscription, written in the days of Suleiman, stating that the gate was constructed in 1541 AD. The wall here is pocked with gunfire. During the fiery rebirth of Israel in 1948, the Jewish Palmach breached the gate for a short time and secured a passage into the besieged Jewish Quarter before being forced to withdraw. It was not until 1967 that the Israeli Defense Forces broke into the Old City again, through the Lion’s Gate and this Zion Gate to secure the Temple Mount.
Only the Zion Gate and the Dung Gate, further east along the southern wall, allow direct entrance into the Jewish Quarter. We step, for a moment, out of the brilliant sunshine into the deep shadow under the crenellated walls of Old Salem. If we have not been blinded by the sudden change of lighting, or distracted by trying to avoid a vehicle twisting its way through the narrow passage we are sharing with it, we might notice a cylindrical object fastened to the wall. It is a large mezuzah, similar to ones found on the doorposts of faithful Jewish households.
The word mezuzah is simply the Hebrew for “doorpost” and is the name given to the container for a parchment scroll inscribed with Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21. It also includes the name of God, Shaddai. If we stand and watch for a minute, we might see orthodox Jews, dressed in black, side locks blowing in the breeze, hurrying by. Often they will brush their fingertips across their lips and then across the mezuzah at the gate. It is to them, perhaps, a sign of respect or affection, or a “sacred” good luck charm. But one cannot help but wonder if this is a classic expression of “lip service” to the Lord while their hearts are far from Him.
Jews faithful to their religion will not use the name of God. His covenant name, Yahweh, or YHWH, must never be spoken; it is too holy, they say. In fact, even government brochures, if they must speak of the Deity, spell it G_d.
Instead, He is often referred to simply as la shem, the Name. This usage is quite biblical. Often “the name of God” is used to speak of God Himself. To “call upon the name of the Lord” was to express dependence on Him; to “forget His name” was to turn away from a relationship with Him; to “take the name of the Lord in vain” was to, at the same time, acknowledge Him (by using His name) and deny Him (by abusing it).
The name of the Lord that the Jews will use (as on the mazuzot) is the mighty-tender name of El Shaddai, the God of power (El) and provision (Shaddai, from shad, the breast). It is the name that links most closely the fatherly authority and motherly affection of God. The name begins with the Hebrew letter Schin–pronounced sheen (see enlargement to the left).
The present inhabitants of Jerusalem are glad to explain that, from the air (or heaven, if you will), the mountain-valley topography around their capital city forms this letter. The left branch and base follow the path of the Hinnom Valley around the west and south flanks of Mount Zion; the central branch can be superimposed upon the Tyropean Valley which separates Mount Zion from Moriah; and the right branch of the Schin takes the route of the Kidron Valley between Moriah on the west and Olivet on the east. Thus they quote Psalm 125:2, “As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth even for ever.”
In the New Testament, the name of the Lord Jesus is invested with everything included in the “name of God” in the Old Testament. Sinners are saved through believing on His name (John 1:12; 2:23). All who are, should be baptized in that name and begin to gather with the Lord’s people, meeting in that name. We are to “pray” and “ask” in that name (John 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:23-24). This would bring the animosity of the world, the Lord said, and we would be hated for His name’s sake.
And so it came to pass. Peter and John were forbidden to “speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18). Again they said, “Did we not straightly command you that ye should not teach in this name?” Beaten and expelled, they departed, “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” Do we?