God Has A Name - Pt. 3

Eheyeh Asher Eheyeh - I Am

He is the uncreated One; he just is.

He is the One who brings all things into being.

His Name - Yahweh

The ineffable name

Incapable of being expressed or described in words; inexpressible. Not to be spoken because of its sacredness; unutterable.

In Himself, God is beyond all “grammar or language: He is the Source and Foundation of all possibility of utterance and thus is beyond all definite descriptions.

What does Yahweh want us to know about Him - the utterly unsearchable, transcendent, ineffable one?

Exodus 33-34 “Show me your glory” (This doesn’t happen in the ancient world, gods are not that interested in them - Yahweh is utterly unique. The bible calls that Holy - completely other. No one, nothing like him.)

Glory:

It often refers to the special qualities of God, manifesting as a bright, shining light or a tall cloud.

The term can also denote majesty, power, or greatness beyond human comparison, as well as wealth, honor, fame, or respect

In general usage, glory signifies exaltation, praise, or honor and describes something worthy of praise or a state of extreme happiness.

The word is also associated with radiant beauty, splendor, and the bliss of heaven.

He is revealing to Moses who is to be known as. This is one of (if not the most) quoted passage in the OT. This formed the identity of Israel.

Who God says He is.

Talk about who my wife is… size, hair color, eye color etc.

But that doesn’t tell me really who she is… Is she trustworthy? Is she kind?

It is not unusual in the ancient world to find lists of various deities’ attributes. While most of the lists are more interested in attributes of power, The uniqueness of Yahweh - His list focuses on his character - the benevolent graciousness of God.

This is called the list of 13 attributes of God. This name Yahweh reveals God’s nature in the highest and fullest sense possible. And in this instance (with Moses and the Exodus) He is stressing His absolute faithfulness and presence with them always.

Exodus 34:6–7 “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.””

Yahweh is compassionate rahum and gracious we-hanun

Compassionate

Emotions of care and love and protection, personal.

Gracious

Compassion and love in action.

He doesn’t just forgive, he is forgiving - all bad.

“He does not reluctantly forgive sins against himself and others; he does so eagerly, as a manifestation of his character.”

He is absolutely just, evil must be dealt with.

Faithfulness to the covenant - love and faithfulness/blessing for thousands of generations (numbers in antiquity were not to be taken literally but rather provide message) 1000s of generations compared to 3-4 generations. - limitless blessing.

Rebellion to the covenant - punishment.

No one was fully faithful to the covenant...

Love & Faithfulness Hesed and emet (Grace and hosed.)

No English word for hesed. These two words paired together in Hebrew define each other. Gods love is his faithfulness, his faithfulness is his love.

This is way more than just love and way more than just faithful - together is expressing God’s utter loyalty - how he never ever abandons his people and is faithful to the bitter end, no matter the cost.

Covenant language

Abrahamic covenant

Genesis 15

The animals are cut in half, and the halves are separated. The most common expression for making a covenant in the ot uses the Hebrew word karath (meaning “to cut”). This is because covenants usually involved literally cutting animals. This type of covenant practice was common in the ancient Near East.

The participants fate would be that of the animals if they broke the agreement. Yahweh is the only one who walks through.

Yahweh would do it himself

Noe of us have been faithful to the covenant, we all belong under the curse, Yahwehs punishment. But Yahweh took on flesh, lived faithful to the covenant and received our curse andpunishment. Why, it’s his character- hesed emet.

Galatians 3:13–14 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”

You are blessed because of what he did.

All this is in His name!

I was asked, Why do we pray in Jesus’ name instead of Yahweh?

The disciples were not getting in trouble with the Pharisees because they were saying Jesus is Lord.

Language of John:

Language in John: John 1:14 “14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (Yahweh to Moses is utterly faithful and present with them always). We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John is taking the language from Exodus 33 & 34 and applying it to Jesus.

John 1:19–23 “19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ””

Isaiah 40:1–3 “1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

John 8:58 “58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!””

John 18:4–6 “4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” 5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.”

The Other Gospels:

Transfiguration

His face shone like the sun (Matthew 17:2)

It wasn’t a hidden face and it wasn’t a dark cloud, it was a bright cloud and they saw his face.

Jesus - the full expression and understanding of the character of Yahweh.

Hebrews 1:3–4 “3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.”

The Point | What the NT is telling us:

In the words of Paul, quoting Isaiah:

Philippians 2:9–11 “9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

It was Jesus who calmed the chaotic waters in the storm. It was He who walked on water.

Progressive Revelation

Jesus is the full expression of the character attributes listed in Exodus 34. He is what mercy looks like, he is what grace, loving kindness, faithfulness, justice look like. And he went to the bitter end of His own life in being faithful to the covenant promises he made to Abraham! He did it all on His own.

His name is Jesus.

The whole of Scripture is about Jesus. He comes 2/3ds of the way through but he is in the shadows all throughout the OT. The Angel of the Lord who has “Name” in Him.

He causes hope (expectation) to be kindled based on the incarnation of the character of God (from Exodus 34)

Jesus tells us to pray in His name

Of course this deals with a level of authority - doing something in someone’s name.

But don’t miss everything we have been covering for 3 weeks. Praying in His name is an expression of praying with hope and faith because of what that name means.

That is why in Acts 3:6 “6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.””

Acts 3:14–16 “14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.”

We know Him now in the Name of Jesus.

We can come to God based on what we’ve done

Good/bad works

We can come to God based on our what’s been done to us.

Trying to play the victim, get God’s pity

Or as God is showing Moses and the Children of Israel, come to God based on who He/Jesus is.

Jude 25 “25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”