What is His Name?

What is His Name? 

Exodus 3:1-15

Common names for God in the Old Testament 

El- simply God. The same word was used in Hebrew when referring to other gods, false Gods. Little g gods. So when El is used to refer to our God it is almost always combined with qualifying words that distinguish him from foreign gods. 

El elyon- The most high God. Speaks of the supremacy of God. He is the strongest of the strong and the highest of the high. Used in Genesis 14:19-20 where it says Melchizedek is a priest to Most High God and Abram is blessed by Most High God. It speaks of the transcendence of God. He is not a part of the universe. He is above all. 

Elohim- Creator. This is the name of God used throughout the Genesis creation story. Along with el elyon, this name of course confirms that God is the source of everything. 

Today I want us to look at the proper name for God. 

In Exodus 3, God introduces Himself to Moses as Yahweh. (YHWH) 

This isn’t the first time we see this name in scripture. We see it for the first time in Genesis 4:26. A son was born to Seth, and he began to call on the name of Yahweh. 

The patriarchs used that name as well. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all used the name. But it was not used by any of the children of Jacob. It appears that between the generations of Jacob and Moses had lost at least a measure of the knowledge of the true God and probably the practice of praying to him and worshipping him regularly and properly, by his name. 

God defines the name: I am that I am. I am has sent me to you. 

I cause to be. I cause to be because I cause to be. The name should be understood as referring to Yahweh’s being the creator and sustainer of all that exists and thus the Lord of both creation and history, all that is and all that is happening—a God active and present in historical affairs. This would have been a significant understanding for Moses, in light of what he has gone through and what the people of Israel are enduring. 

Yahweh is a fitting name for the eternal creator of all things. This God is the ultimate author of all reality. 

This would have been important as Moses went into Egypt. He couldn’t have gone there saying he was sent by El. The Egyptian gods were referred to as el. Even el elyon or Elohim were too generic and could have easily been confused for other, less powerful gods, as we know non-existent gods. 

If I needed you to go do some official business for me, you would need credentials. It wouldn’t be enough to go say some guy sent me. Or the preacher sent me. Or even Seth sent me. You would need my full name, date of birth, social security number, and power of attorney stating that I have given you the full authority to speak and act on my behalf. 

Moses needed to know the proper name of the one true God. 

This name, Yahweh, would become the name by which God was known to His people. It became a Holy name, revered to the point that later on in the history of Israel, the people wouldn’t speak it out loud or write it down. (Jehovah was actually developed later in the history of Israel as a name that could be reverently substituted for Yahweh.)

But let’s go deeper into what the name means. 

Implications of the name: 

1. He is the only God. 

There is no other God but Yahweh. This seems obvious to us, but to others it might not be. (Darrell and Teresa are sharing the gospel in a culture that believes in hundreds of gods)

2. He is self-existent. 

If he causes to be, he must be self existent. The one who causes to be cannot be caused to be. There can be no cause to the first cause. 

Apologetic focus: There must be a first cause. 

3. He is immutable. 

He never changes. Change is enacted by time, age, and external factors. God is not affected by any of those things. 

Everything changes. God never changes. 

One of the few guarantees in life is that things change. 

People are born and people die. People get sick. Job situations change. 

Different politicians are elected. 

Governments rise and fall. Economies rise and fall.

Time marches on, but God exists outside of time. He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end. He existed before the world was created and he will continue to exist long after this world passes away. 

Everything changes. God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

4. He is incomprehensible. 

We are studying the names of God because we want to understand who God is. We want to know his character and his nature. We need to know as much as we can about the God upon whom we’ve staked our hope. 

And we can know a lot about him, because he reveals a great deal about himself. 

But we can know and understand only a fraction. God is incomprehensible. We can’t comprehend the mind of God. We can’t comprehend the purposes of God. We can’t comprehend the power of God. The nature of God. The love of God. The grace and mercy of God. The highest heavens cannot contain God, and our minds certainly cannot wrap around him. 

I’m ok with that.  

Application: 

1. God’s faithfulness to His promises is rooted in who He is. 

His promises are true because He is truth. His promises never fail because he never fails. He is able to provide for you because he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He will never leave you nor forsake you because he is omnipresent. He is able to protect you from anything because he is stronger than all things. 

God’s promises to you are not dependent upon you. God’s promises in scripture are always dependent upon himself. When God made the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, he did so using a common ancient symbol. He sacrificed animals and split them into two parts, separating the halves to make a pathway. Historically, both parties were supposed to pass between the animals, but in Genesis 15, God put Abraham to sleep and only God passed through. The covenant was between God and Abraham but Abraham had nothing to do with it! 

God promised Moses: I will be with you, and Moses could trust that promise. 

2. The Great I Am is for you. Who can be against you? 

Romans 8:31

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

37: No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Why did Paul say “any other created thing”? Because he understood Yahweh! Nothing can separate us from the love of God because God is the only all powerful, unchanging entity in the universe. 

3. The Great I Am has sent I Am to rescue you from bondage. 

Moses is a foreshadowing of Christ. 

I am statements of Jesus. 

Bondage of sin. 

4. You can know Him. 

The one who is incomprehensible has made himself known. 

5. The promise to Moses is the promise of the Great Commission, given by the same God. 

All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples. And I am with you always. 

I will be with you. Success is guaranteed. 

6. God can use us only when we realize who He is, and who we are. 

Moses: Who am I? 

Nobody. But Yahweh is everything.