Knowing the Name of the LORD

I asked my mother why I was named, “John.” She told me that when she got married and came to this country, the president at the time was Johnson. She wanted to name me Johnson. But my Dad said that is not really a first name, but they could shorten to John. That is how I got my name. This story suggests that my parents had hopes and dreams for their first born son. The name was not chosen haphazardly. There was a story and meaning behind it.

One of the major themes in the Bible is the “name” of the LORD, which also has a story and meaning behind it. His name, “Yahweh” is translated by the word, LORD, with all uppercase letters. When God first revealed his name to Moses, he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM (EHYEH) has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people 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 thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations” (Ex 3:14-15). 

Yahweh means, “He is,” which is another form of the words, “I am.” This raises the question, “He is what?”

When Moses told Pharaoh that Yahweh said to let his people go, Pharaoh replied, “Who is Yahweh that I should obey his voice? I don’t know Yahweh, and moreover, I will not let Israel go” (Ex 5:2). Even though Pharoah audibly heard the name, he did not know Yahweh. In a sense, Israel did not know yet either. The question, “He is what?” hung in the air. 

When God spoke, he gave this recurring refrain “…and you shall know that I am Yahweh…” (Ex 6:7; 7:5,17; 8:10,22; 9:16; 10:2; 14:4,18; 16:12; 29:46; 31:13). Very soon, the question “He is what?” would be answered not through a set of theological propositions, but through God’s actions. God will demonstrate that he is a God that does not forget his covenant with their ancestor, Abraham, and will therefore deliver his people from bondage by striking mighty Pharaoh and all of Egypt.

The answer to the question, “He is what?” is answered through God’s redemptive actions which leads them through the wilderness to Mount Sinai. At Mount Sinai, God bound himself by a covenant to Israel. This reminds us that a person only gives his name to another because they will be enacting some sort of relationship. This is exactly what God does at the base of Mount Sinai. This is why he begins his covenant not with the Ten Commandments, but with the words, “I am Yahweh…” (Ex 20:2).

In the wilderness, God goes on to demonstrate who he is not through passing down theological formulas, but through his actions. This is simply the way it is in a relationship. We know our children and our spouse not simply because we know their names or a list of propositions about them. We know them through their actions. It is the same with God. His name is attached to the accounts of his redemptive actions on behalf of his people. 

His name, “He is,” is not a stand-alone thought. His name is attached to his actions. The accounts and stories of the Bible are what answer the question, “He is what?” He is the living God. He is the God who provides. He is the God who sees. He is the God who hears. He is our redeemer. There are biblical stories and accounts for each of these statements. This is why it is important to remember and reflect on the stories of God in the whole Bible

The After-Effects of your Actions

One of the things I have been struck by in reading through the Bible again this year is the focus on genealogies, especially in the first eleven chapters of Genesis.  In the past, I would breeze through them because this was not my family tree.  I knew nothing about these people other than their names and how long they lived.  However, it dawned on me that if I, along with every other Christian, am a child of Abraham due to faith (Gal 3:7), then this is also my family tree.  This gives me lessons from my heritage.  Perhaps I need to pay a little closer attention to what even a name may teach me.

One of the themes that stands out in the genealogies is the effects of a persons actions.  Genesis 5 has a genealogy that runs from Adam to Noah.  These people had incredibly long life spans, which means many of them were still alive when God flooded the earth.  They were part of the enormously wicked and violent people in the world.  This demonstrates how the effects of Adam’s sin did not stop with him.  It spread to his sons, one of which was murdered by the other (Gen 4:6-8), and to his children’s children, who increased in pride and vengeance (Gen 4:17-24).  Eventually every thought and inclination of man was continually on evil (Gen 6:5).  The only two exceptions appears to be Enoch and Noah (Gen 5:22,29).  

After the flood, sin continued.  There was the incident with a drunken Noah and his son, Ham (Gen 9:20-25).  Sin didn’t stop there, but can be seen in the name of the following genealogy in chapter 10.  There is Babel, which is the origin of Babylon, and Nineveh, he origin of Assyria.  There is Canaan, the father of the Canaanite tribes, including the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, the Hivites, and so forth.  These are the Canaanite nations which God drove out and destroyed due to centuries of sin, which would have included violence, idolatry, immorality, human sacrifice, and a host of other sins which caused the land to “vomit them out” (Lev 18:24-25; Dt 20:16-18).

On the other hand, the genealogies also suggest that a man’s faithful obedience also has an effect on many in future generations.  There are far fewer examples of this, but they are just as significant.  Noah’s faithfulness found favor with God, which is why he and his family was spared from the flood, which preserved humanity from total destruction.  Abraham’s faith became a source of blessing not just for himself, but for all the nations of the earth (Gen 22:18). 

In spite of their faithfulness, they could not turn the overall tide of sin around in the world.  Ultimately, it was one man’s faithful obedience that gave the power to completely undo the devastating effects of sin for all people.  The book of Romans contrasts the disobedience of Adam with its after-effects and the faithful obedience of Christ with its results.  “For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous” (Rom 5:19).  Only Jesus, who was without sin (Heb 4:15), could destroy the power of sin through his atoning work on the cross (1 Cor 15:3), and his renewing work through the Holy Spirit (Tit 2:15).  Through him, we can become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).

This is a sobering reminder that the effects of my actions, both good and bad, are not limited to me.  They affect people closest to me and even those who are generations away.  As I spend time reflecting on those times when selfish desires creep into my heart, it helps to try and see the big picture of their effects.  At the same time, I need to reflect on how my faithfulness to God can be an example that can also reach those who are generations away.