Bible Understanding of a Name Part 2
Names of God:
Yahweh:
When God reveals Himself to Moses in the Burning Bush (Exodus 3), He identifies Himself as the God of the patriarchal covenant:
5 Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God (vs. 5,6). (God dwells in a light that no man can approach-remember when Moses came down from the Mountain, he had to put a veil over his face because his face shown so brightly from being in the Presence of God).
This is no small claim. The covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:1-21, 17:1-14), reaffirmed with Isaac (Gen. 26:23-25), and to Jacob (Gen. 28:3-19; 35:9-14), included the promise of : a great name, a great nation, a blessing to all the nations, an everlasting kingdom, and a land to possess forever. Abraham received this promise by faith (Gen. 15:6), at which point God cut the covenant with Abraham by Himself (Gen. 15:9-19). In doing this He demonstrated His everlasting commitment to upholding His own promise!
As He appears in the Burning Bush, God continues by expressing His concern for the nation of Israel and tells Moses He has heard their “cry” (Ex. 3:9). Moses’ mission is to go and bring His people out of their oppression in Egypt; this in keeping with the covenant that God has already made. Moses responds:
11 “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.” 13 Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” 15 God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD (Yahweh), the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.
God is placing incomparable significance on His own name. He identifies Himself as Yhvh, or Yahweh which becomes the proper name of the God of Israel. It is used 6824 times in the Old Testament as God’s name. Little can be determined as to the meaning of this name from the etymology, therefore we must look to God’s character through word and deed in order to understand it.
“God’s immediate promise to Moses had been, “Certainly I will be with you” (Ex. 3:12). So his assertion in verse 14 would seem to be saying, “I am present is what I am.” Indeed the fundamental promise of his testament is, “I will be their God and they will be My people” (Ex. 6:7, etc.; contrast Hos. 1:9); thus “Yahweh,” “faithful presence,” is God’s testamentary nature, or name (Ex. 6:2,4; Deut. 7:9; Isa. 26:4).”
It is of no small significance that God declares, “This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations” (vs. 15). Yahweh is instructing Moses that He is to be known in the context of His everlasting covenant promise, forever. A memorial-name (zeker) is a name which recalls God’s great deeds. Several psalms use this word and demonstrate that the name, Yahweh, had indeed become synonymous with His covenant actions toward Israel.
Psalms 145:7
7 They shall eagerly utter the memory (zeker) of Your abundant goodness and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
Psalms 111:4
4 He has made His wonders to be remembered (zeker); The LORD is gracious and compassionate.
God has disclosed to Moses His very nature. His name proclaimed Him as eternal, self-sustaining, self-determining, ever-faithful, sovereign reality in an everlasting covenant relationship with Israel. This was the starting point for Moses who was about to lead them on a journey of faith and deliverance. We can be sure that Moses understood Yahweh to mean more than an identifying label for God, just as God disclosed it as more than a label.
2 God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD (Yahweh); 3 and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty (El-Shaddai), but by My name, LORD (Yahweh), I did not make Myself known to them. 4 “I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned.
The patriarchs knew God as El-Shaddai but now God was making known His name, Yahweh. This indicates that God was at work progressively revealing His own character through His name. He was unfolding His plan.
God invited Moses to observe history in the making as He disclosed His plans and actions. Moses not only received the revelation from God but was prepared to recognize God’s power in events about to occur. God rehearsed with Moses a history of His revelation to the forefathers, reminding Moses that He was the same God whose plans had been developing for generations. He was known historically by different names, but He remained the same Divine Presence who gave purpose to earlier Israelite leaders. . . . God’s revelation builds off past revelations, prepares His chosen leader to interpret present actions, and builds a path to future revelations. God reveals Himself when His people need Him. . . . Moses had a dimension of what he knew about God that Abraham did not have. . . . That is not to say that earlier information was wrong. It is only saying that earlier information was not as complete as later information.
This idea of a progressive unfolding of God’s character through His name is overwhelmingly apparent in Moses’ writings. In addition to Ex. 6:2, He uses several combined names for God in the context of specific events where a new aspect of God’s character is illustrated.
For example, in Genesis 22 when Abraham is told to sacrifice Isaac, God reveals Himself as Yahweh-raah (or Jehovah-jireh). In verse 8, Abraham said to Isaac, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” When God did provide a ram for the burnt offering, “Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide (Yahweh-raah), as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the LORD it will be provided” (vs. 14). The place was called Yahweh-raah but Yahweh revealed Himself as God who provides what he asks for in return.
Likewise, in Exodus 17, Israel waged war against the Amalekites. As long as Moses held up the staff of God, Israel prevailed. When Moses’ arms were lowered, the enemy prevailed. Soon Aaron and Hur supported Moses’ arms so that the Amalekites were utterly defeated (see vs. 8-13). “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
Moses built an altar and named it The LORD is My Banner; and he said, “The LORD has sworn; the LORD will have war against Amalek from generation to generation” (vs. 14-16). The altar was named Yahweh-nes because God fought the war for Israel and prevailed.
The Banner was Moses’ rod and was a symbol of Yahweh’s faithful, powerful presence and working. It was God’s signal to rally to Him and among Jews it is also a word for “miracle.” The lesson here is that Israel could not wage warfare alone; Yahweh is My Banner!
In another situation, God reveals a broader moral aspect of Yahweh. When Moses is leading Israel in the wilderness, his discouragement brings about a fascinating discussion between he and Yahweh in Exodus 33 & 34. Moses’ real need is for God to show him His glory. This will encourage him to complete the mission that God has given him.
17 The LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” 19 And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” 20 But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”
God reveals that His goodness, graciousness and compassion are all wrapped up and defined by His name, Yahweh.
J.I. Packer asserts this as the “foundational announcement of his moral character” and something that is echoed later in Scripture (Psalms 86:15; Joel 2:13).
This is in answer to Moses’ request of God to show His glory. It is clear by the fact that Moses could only glimpse at the back of God that His amazing and incomprehensible goodness is but a glimpse of the glorious, perfect nature of Yahweh.
Not long after this incident Yahweh reveals more depth as to His moral character, desire for intimacy, and covenant longing by announcing Himself as “the LORD whose name is Jealous (Ex. 34:14). The word qanna, is only used 5 times in Scripture and solely of God in the context of idolatry.
As a name for God, Jealous gives power to the second commandment (Ex. 20:5) which commands Israel not to make and worship idols, “for I am a jealous God.” This of course, is not an unrighteous jealousy. Instead, it “is covenantal: it is the virtue of the committed lover, who wants total loyalty of the one he has bound himself to honor and serve.”
There are hundreds of occurances of the Name Yahweh in the Old Testament. Space does not permit covering them all, but from these, It is clear from what we have seen that both God and Moses placed tremendous importance on names. God’s names progressively reveal His character.
Once understanding the full power of them, as Moses did in the incident of the Burning Bush, it would be inconceivable to use them without meaning. In addition, the name Yahweh is so intrinsically tied to covenant promise that the theological meaning and practical significance for Israel during the most desperate times of nationhood and in the most fruitful times, is inescapable
The following is a partial list of some of the names associated with Yahweh in the Old Testament:
Yahweh-jireh = “Yahweh will provide” or “I AM will provide”: But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ And he said, ‘Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, form Me.’ Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behind him he saw a ram caught up in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place [Yahweh-jireh]-The LORD will provide, as it is said to this day: On the Mountain Yahweh provides (Genesis 22:11-14).
Yahweh-rapha = “Yahweh who heals”: If you will give earnest heed to the voice of Yahweh your God and do what He regards as right, if you pay attention to His commandments and keep all His laws, I shall never inflict on you any of the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians, for I am Yahweh your Healer [Yahweh-rapha] (Exodus 15:26).
Yahweh–nissi = “Yahweh My Banner”: (after willing a battle with God’s assistance ) Moses built an altar, and named it Yahweh is My Banner [Yahweh-nissi] …(Exodus 17:16).
Yahweh-mekoddishkem = “Yahweh Who Sanctifies You”: And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ‘But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, “You shall surely observe My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you [Yahweh-mekoddishkem]…(Exodus 31:12).
Yahweh-shalom = “Yahweh is Peace”: He said, ‘Alas, my Lord, Yahweh! Now I have seen the Angel of Yahweh face to face ‘ Yahweh answered, ‘Peace be with you; have no fear; you will not die.’ Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and called it Yahweh is peace [Yahweh-shalom] (Judges 6:22-24).
Yahweh-sabaoth = “Yahweh of Hosts” (the “hosts” are the army of angels who serve God): Who is He, this king of glory? Yahweh of Hosts [Yahweh-saboath], He is the king of glory (Psalm 46:7, NJB); The LORD of Hosts [Yahweh-sabaoth] is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold (Psalms 22:10, NAB).
Yahweh-raah = “Yahweh My Shepherd”: The LORD [Yahweh-raah] is my shepherd; I shall not want … (Psalms 23:1, NAB).
Yahweh-tsidkenu = “Yahweh Our Saving Justice”: Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall rise an upright Branch for David; He will reign as king and be wise, doing what is just and upright in the country. In his days Judah will triumph and Israel live in safety, and this is the name He will be called Yahweh-our-saving-justice [Yahweh-tsidkenu] (Jeremiah 23:5-6).
Tomorrow we will continue the study of God’s Names.