El Kanna is the Hebrew name for God meaning consuming fire, jealous God. This name contains a holy version of jealousy that God has for His people. God is jealous for you and me. We are greatly loved and treasured! God is jealous for you. He wants every inch of your heart connected to His. God’s holy jealousy is rooted in a desire to protect, provide, and bless. Join me as we unpack the treasure found in this beautiful Hebrew name of God, El Kanna.
El Kanna-Consuming Fire, Jealous God
You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you. Exodus 34:14.
Pronouncing The Name: El kan-NAH
This is Day 10 of a 30 Day study on The Names Of God. If you haven't read the introduction yet, please start HERE
Understanding the Name Of God, El Kanna-Consuming Fire, Jealous God:
El Kanna the Hebrew name for God is mentioned six times in the Old Testament of the Bible. We first meet it in Exodus 34:14.
After leading the nation of Israel out of Egyptian slavery, God brings them to Mount Sinai where He gives Moses the Ten Commandments. While Moses is on the mountain with God, the people talk Aaron into making a golden calf for them to worship. As Moses comes down from the mountain and sees the calf, he becomes angry and throws down the stone tablet God had given him that had His commandments on them. God is ready to wipe the entire nation out, but Moses intercedes for them.
You will get a better understanding of the rules that God set out for His chosen people as you read about this story in the book of Exodus. It was for their protection, both physical and spiritual. It is the same for us! God gave us these commandments to protect our hearts. God is a jealous, loving God and He loves us passionately! In fact, in this Hebrew name of God, El Kanna describes God as Israel's husband, jealous for her affections and ours too. El-Kanna demands an exclusive love relationship with His people. In Deuteronomy 6:5, we learn we are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. There is no room in our relationship with God for any idols.
Let's read this story from Exodus :
Then the Lord told Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones. I will write on them the same words that were on the tablets you smashed. 2 Be ready in the morning to climb up Mount Sinai and present yourself to me on the top of the mountain. 3 No one else may come with you. In fact, no one is to appear anywhere on the mountain. Do not even let the flocks or herds graze near the mountain.”
4 So Moses chiseled out two tablets of stone like the first ones. Early in the morning he climbed Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.
5 Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh.[a] 6 The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out,
“Yahweh![b] The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. 7 I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.[c] I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected— even children in the third and fourth generations.”
8 Moses immediately threw himself to the ground and worshiped. 9 And he said, “O Lord, if it is true that I have found favor with you, then please travel with us. Yes, this is a stubborn and rebellious people, but please forgive our iniquity and our sins. Claim us as your own special possession.”
10 The Lord replied, “Listen, I am making a covenant with you in the presence of all your people. I will perform miracles that have never been performed anywhere in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people around you will see the power of the Lord—the awesome power I will display for you. 11 But listen carefully to everything I command you today. Then I will go ahead of you and drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
12 “Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going. If you do, you will follow their evil ways and be trapped. 13 Instead, you must break down their pagan altars, smash their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.
15 “You must not make a treaty of any kind with the people living in the land. They lust after their gods, offering sacrifices to them. They will invite you to join them in their sacrificial meals, and you will go with them. 16 Then you will accept their daughters, who sacrifice to other gods, as wives for your sons. And they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against me by worshiping other gods. 17 You must not make any gods of molten metal for yourselves. Exodus 34:1-15.
17 You must diligently obey the commands of the Lord your God—all the laws and decrees he has given you.18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so all will go well with you. Then you will enter and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to give your ancestors.19 You will drive out all the enemies living in the land, just as the Lord said you would. Deuteronomy 6:17-19.
God’s jealousy is more about you than about Him. He wants you to be passionately searching and communing with Him. He wants a relationship with you. This involves surrendering everything in your life to Him and following His commands. God wants you and me to reach our full potential that He has created us to reach to. He has a plan and a purpose for each of us.
Take note of the above verse from Deuteronomy 6:18,
"Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so all will go well with you. Then you will enter and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to give your ancestors."
God promises that all will go well with us when we surrender everything in our lives to Him and love Him passionately like a husband with no unfaithfulness in our hearts.
Why is that important? Why does God have to be jealous for us?
When we surrender everything to Him and love Him passionately, it provides a track or a path for Him to work in your life and bring His blessings.
El Kanna in Hebrew:
El Kanna is Hebrew for consuming fire, jealous God. The root idea in the Old Testament word 'jealous' is "to become intensely red" and refers to how rising emotion colors our face when something or someone very dear to us is threatened.
God is zealous and eager to protect what is precious to Him. This jealousy for us compels God to pursue us relentlessly, no matter how hard we may try to evade Him. We are not perfect and no matter how hard we try, we can never be holy enough to come into God's presence. That is why our God, El Kanna gave us Jesus. He died on the cross so that His blood could pay or atone for our sins. God did all this for us because He is jealous for you and me and provided a way for us to come into His Holy presence.
Applying the name of God, El Kanna to your life:
El-Kanna demands an exclusive love relationship with His people. There are many things that need and grab our attention away from God. Many activities we do can easily become an idol and take the place in our hearts of where God should be. As you use the following prayer journal, ask God to reveal to you of anything that you need to repent of. Has something taken His rightful place in your life?
How does knowing God as El Kanna-Consuming Fire, Jealous God affect your life?
I have prepared a free printable for you to use as you explore the names of God. You will find it in our Resource Library Here.
This page has prompts for you to use as you prayerfully meditate on the names of God.
So who is El Kanna to you?
How does knowing God as El Kanna impact your life?
How can you grow in your Christian walk by understanding God as El Kanna?
Praying the Name Of God, El Kanna:
When you pray the word of God, you are praying His words of truth into your situation. It is the same when you pray the names of God. When you understand the meaning of the specific name of God and pray it over your situation is declaring His power over it. It certainly will build your faith and expectation of God to move in it. When you pray God's name, you are declaring the truth of who God is and you are proclaiming His power at work in your life. And when you pray to El Kanna, you are praying to God who is jealous for you. You are His, you belong to Him and He is passionately pursuing you.
Let's Pray:
El Kanna, thank you for loving me so relentlessly and passionately. Help me to comprehend what that means. Help me to understand the depth and width of your love for me. I thank and praise you for loving and pursuing me, even when I don't want to be found. Show me any areas of my life that I have made an idol, enable me to remove the idol taking Your rightful place, and forgive me, Father. Thank you for never letting me go or giving up on me. Give me such a divine hunger for more of You. Amen.
I would love it if you could share with me your thoughts as you work your way through this Scripture plan. You can connect with me via emailkaren@scripturalgrace.comor on our FACEBOOKpage. Come back tomorrow as we unpack the name, Yahweh Shalom.
It's all about His grace
xx Karen.
