Hear the word of God:
Moshe said to God, “Look, when I appear before the people of Isra’el and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you’; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?”
God said to Moshe, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be],” and added, “Here is what to say to the people of Isra’el: ‘Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you.’” God said further to Moshe, “Say this to the people of Isra’el: ‘Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [Adonai], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation.
Go, gather the leaders of Isra’el together, and say to them, ‘Adonai, the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov, has appeared to me and said, “I have been paying close attention to you and have seen what is being done to you in Egypt; and I have said that I will lead you up out of the misery of Egypt to the land of the Kena‘ani, Hitti, Emori, P’rizi, Hivi and Y’vusi, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ They will heed what you say. Then you will come, you and the leaders of Isra’el, before the king of Egypt; and you will tell him, ‘Adonai, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert; so that we can sacrifice to Adonai our God.’ I know that the king of Egypt will not let you leave unless he is forced to do so. But I will reach out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will do there. After that, he will let you go. Moreover, I will make the Egyptians so well-disposed toward this people that when you go, you won’t go empty-handed. Rather, all the women will ask their neighbors and house guests for silver and gold jewelry and clothing, with which you will dress your own sons and daughters. In this way you will plunder the Egyptians.”
Ex 3:13-22 - CJB
People worshiped many gods in the time of Moses. Was Moses (Moshe) really confused about which god he was speaking to, or was he just imagining the struggle of telling other people that he has been conversing with God? I think the latter. So God gives his name, YHWH, or I am/will be. He then connects his identity with the ancestors of the Israelites who have worshiped him: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
At this time, many people believed that to have the name of a person was to potentially have power over that person. God did not fear this. But such was the respect of the people of God for the holiness and otherness of their God that when they encountered these four characters that they would not pronounce them, but instead would say, “Adonai,” which is Hebrew for Lord.
May we practice a reverence for the name of God, and teach our children a respect for the name of God, that is commensurate with the holiness, the otherness, and the mystery of our mighty God. Language is powerful, and although the language we use about our God cannot change who he is, it can change the way that we understand or relate to that God. Let us be holy people before our holy God.
Grace and peace,
Ron
