The Old Testament contains scores of references to the name of the Lord in a context where it clearly means the authority of the Lord, and most of these references have to do with the temple, said Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve in an address at the April 1985 general conference.
"When the children of Israel were still on the other side of the Jordan, the Lord told them that when they entered the promised land there should be a place where the Lord their God would cause his name to dwell.' (Deut. 12:11; see also Deut. 14:23-24, 16:6.)"Time after time in succeeding revelations, the Lord and His servants referred to the future temple as a house forthe name' of the Lord God of Israel. (See 1 Kings 3:2; 5:5; 8:16-20, 29, 44, 48; 1 Chron. 22:8-10, 19; 29:16; 2 Chron. 2:4; 6:5-10, 20, 34, 38.) After the temple was dedicated, the Lord appeared to Solomon and told him that He had hallowed the temple `to put my name there for ever.' (1 Kings 9:3, 2 Chron. 7:16.)
"Similarly, in modern revelations the Lord refers to temples as houses built unto my holy name.' (D&C 124:39, 105:33, 109:2-5.) In the inspired dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple, the Prophet Joseph Smith asked the Lord for a blessing uponthy people upon whom thy name shall be put in this house.' (D&C 109:26.)
"All of these references to ancient and modern temples as houses for `the name' of the Lord obviously involve something far more significant than a mere inscription of His sacred name on the structure. The scriptures speak of the Lord putting His name in a temple because He gives authority for His name to be used in the sacred ordinances of that house. That is the meaning of the Prophet's reference to the Lord's putting His name upon His people in that holy house." (See D&C 109:26.)
Elder Oaks said, "Willingness to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ can therefore be understood as willingness to take upon us the authority of Jesus Christ. According to this meaning, by partaking of the sacrament we witness our willingness to participate in the sacred ordinances of the temple and to receive the highest blessings available through the name and by the authority of the Savior when he chooses to confer them upon us."
