Let us examine the very Name God declares is HIS NAME. Maybe we will gain a better sense of awe for God, and a better appreciation for His ability to add an ironic twist to a heavy subject.
So the “Tetragrammaton” (ancient Greek = consisting of four letters), or the four constants of God’s Name in Hebrew that we transliterate as YHWH. Original Hebrew essentially had no vowels, later markings for appropriate vowels were added. This, plus the Jewish practice of not saying God’s name (except by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement), but substituting either the Hebrew equivalent of Adonai (Lord) or HaShem (the name), led to adding vowel sounds for Adonai (“Lord”) to YHWH, which may result in pronouncing it Jehovah. The correct pronunciation is considered to be Yahweh.
In Hebrew this is יהוה(remember Hebrew reads left to right) or Yod Heh Vav Heh in modern Hebrew, but in Biblical Hebrew the “v” sound of modern Hebrew was a “w” sound or “Waw” … so Yod Heh Waw Heh (YHWH).
It is first used in the creation story —
Genesis 2:4
This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens.
World English Bible
This name of God is derived from היה (Eh-ye) that we see in Exodus when Moses asks God’s name. For our purposes (Hebrew is complicated when it comes to verb tenses, etc.) we can consider the יהוה (YHWH) as a proper name one would use when talking to others about God, with it being associated with היה (Ehye), which is not only a verb form, but is the word God would use when speaking for Himself and of Himself.
Exodus 3:13-14
13 Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you;’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” (Eh-ye Ash-er’ Eh-ye) and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM (YHWH) has sent me to you.'”
World English Bible
היהאֲשֶׁרהיה would be pronounced by English speakers as Eh-ye Ash-er’ Eh-ye and we translate generally as “I AM WHO I AM”, which is accurate, but misleading because of how English and other languages use the concept of a phrase like “I am”. So we end up with this concept of God declaring Himself to be “self-existent”; again true, but much more limited than God’s actual “being”. In Hebrew, the concept is of “becoming”, not just “being”.
Back to the complications of translating verb tenses from ancient Hebrew to English and other Western languages: Here are legitimate translations of the phrase from Exodus 3:14 –
- The self-existent one
- He who becomes
- I AM THAT I AM
- I will be what I will be
- I will become whatsoever I may become
- I will become what I please to become
AND finally that ancient Hebrew perspective that WE miss from our cultural and language perspective:
“I will be to you what you need me to be”
So, with that perspective, let us back up and look at what is going on in Exodus 3: God has heard His people’s cry, and will free them from Egyptian slavery. What the Hebrews hear in God’s response to Moses is basically equal to —
“I am, and will become what pleases me, and what pleases me is becoming what you need me to be: your deliverer.”
Exodus 2: 23-25
23 It happened in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the children of Israel, and God was concerned about them.
Exodus 3
1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb. 2 The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 Moses said, “I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.” 4 When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.” 5 He said, “Don’t come close. Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.” 6 Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 9 Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
13 Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you;’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” 15 God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘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 this is my memorial to all generations. 16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt; 17 and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”‘ 18 They will listen to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.’ 19 I know that the king of Egypt won’t give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand. 20 I will put forth my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in its midst, and after that he will let you go. 21 I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed. 22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall plunder the Egyptians.”
World English Bible
So, to this day, in God’s declared Holy Name, we have a promise: “I am, and will become what pleases me, and what pleases me is becoming what you need me to be: your deliverer.”
So now on to the other consideration: irony.
We could do a whole study on the Biblical concept that no one can keep the Law of God, and therefore is dependent upon the Grace provide through Jesus our Savior. We will just list a couple for now:
Romans 3:20
20 Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
World English Bible
Most of Galatians 3, but let us look at
Galatians 3:23-25
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
World English Bible
Other verses we need to consider:
Genesis 11:1-9
1 The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. 2 It happened, as they traveled east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there. 3 They said one to another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.” 5 Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. 6 Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. 7 Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.
World English Bible
So, God designed and decreed ALL our languages, all of which have this concept of “I” and “being”, in English it is “I am.”
AND
One of the supreme LAWS, from the Ten Commandments:
Deuteronomy 5:11
“You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain: for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
World English Bible
Now what is “in vain”? The Hebrew here is “shav” or emptiness, it may be translated in English as deceit, deceitful, deception, emptiness, empty, false, false visions, falsehood, lies, vain, vanity, or worthless.
Now ponder this: No matter the earthly language or the debate about how to pronounce the Hebrew … HIS Name means I AM in that language … So we speak in English = I AM.
EVEN those who claim to NOT know GOD speak HIS NAME every time they speak of themselves in their native tongue … every time you speak of yourself, YOU utter the name God gave himself. If you are sad, you say, “I AM sad.” When you tell someone “who” you are, you speak the I AM (real or implied) followed by your name.
Is this one of the ironies of all time? God not only knew we could not keep the law, but designed the law that melded with our nature to ensure we would have to flee to His Grace. For, when I state that I AM going to do something, while speaking to someone, or maybe just to myself … well, if that something is of evil intent, or not aligned with God’s nature, then ironically, by declaring “I AM” acting against God’s Will, “I AM” taking God’s name in vain.
Coincidence? I think not. WE have always said “it” (the I AM), it is part of who we are that, when we speak of ourselves, we utter HIS name. Maybe, it is because our existence comes from His existence.