Ex 3:13 Moses then said to God, ‘Look, if I go to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,” and they say to me, “What is his name?” what am I to tell them?’
Ex 3:14 God said to Moses, ‘I am he who is.’ And he said, ‘This is what you are to say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.”’
Ex 3:15 God further said to Moses, 'You are to tell the Israelites, “Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.” This is my name for all time, and thus I am to be invoked for all generations to come.
Does not this interchange between Moses and God (especially in 3:15b) read as if, for the first time, God is giving His people a name to call Him? (I know I’ve read this perspective in many other places.) The initial part of verse 15 is God providing the credibility of who He is through the lineage of people the Hebrews would know, the latter part is Him giving them (Moses too) a personal name, -more- to give them a taste of the personal nature He wishes to have with His chosen people. Indeed, through the Exodus events He will give many more examples of what He will be for them. It doesn’t seem like God wants Moses to seem credible to the Hebrews, rather Moses might be concerned he won’t be believed. God says, “tell them I’m the Elohim of your ancestors, and here’s some names they will certainly know - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - for I promised them I’d be there for them in the future. And this is the time when I will begin to show them what this will mean!”
I never thought of the possibility that the name “Yahweh” could have been known to the Hebrews previously. It certainly as interesting a conjecture as many I often make!
But it seems unlikely that it would not have been recorded / repeated numerous times in Genesis, no? Instead, God is a generic El or Elohim, but then later, as He begins to become more involved, as El Shaddai… Additionally, this is
now the Moses who has spent considerable time being educated with the Egyptians, then another 40 years in hiding, but still knowing God. I think as much as anything Moses wants a Name (wants to know God more intimately) when he requests “who should I say sent me?”. I will read this as Moses wants to know God better, but more significantly, God desires to be known better!
Just an aside…There are many times when I read the bible that I wish our English translators gave us more than God or LORD. When I read, I will be your “God who heals you” vs. Yahweh Ropheca, or “In the beginning was the Word” vs. “In the beginning was the Logos” (as in
The Purpose or
The Reason) or “I am a just God” instead of Yahweh Tsidkenu (God who
IS rigtheousness!)…
This is God speaking to us with so much more meaning…but the richness can be (often is) “lost in the translation”
Certainly too much to chew on this late at night! I look forward to your collective wisdom. I love you, my fellow believers and those hungry for a deeper knowledge of God. Isn’t our God an awesome God!?! (El Hannora - Neh 9:32)
