The name "Yahweh" first shows up in the biblical story just after the creation of man and woman. But it isn't until thousands of years later that God pronounces the significance of His name.
The people of Israel had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years. God heard their cries for deliverance. And in keeping with His promise to deliver, He chooses Moses to carry out that deliverance. Moses questioned God's call. He needed reassurance. And anticipating the resistance from fellow Israelites, he asked God whom He should say is sending him. In Exodus 3:14-15, God answered him. He said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He also said, "Say this to the people of Israel: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel: 'The LORD, 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."
It is critical to notice how God declares who He is in these verses. First, He says, "I AM WHO I AM." This is a tricky phrase to translate. Hebrew does not have past, present or future tense. However, the reader can usually determine the tense implied. In this case, the possible translations could be "I was who I was" (past tense), "I will be who I will be" (future tense) or "I am who I am" (present tense).
Each of these translations are legitimate based on the context. First, God even points backward to how He was the God of the patriarchs who lived centuries before. So "I was who I was" could make perfect sense.
Second, "I will be who I will be" could make sense. God was assuring Moses he could trust Him in the future deliverance of Israel. God says future generations will remember Him by this name.
What Does "Yahweh" Mean?
But there are limitations to each of these translations. First, it is not that God is saying, "I was." In other words, "I'm a has-been." And God is not only saying, "I will be." In other words, "I wasn't in the past, but I will be in the future." Or, "I hope to be."
So how should one translate this phrase? Because the context looks backward and forward, it is legitimate to translate it as "I am who I am." In other words, God is declaring, "I was God, I will be God, and I always and forever am God."
The Verb vs. the Noun
There is one more observation to make in these verses. The translators change between "I AM" and "LORD." The verbal form is translated as "I AM," and the noun form is translated as "LORD."
The easiest way to explain the difference is with an illustration. For example, I could say, "I run" (verbal form). And to even make this example more explicit, "I run that I run". (It doesn't make a lot of sense, I know.) But then I could say, "I am a runner" (noun form). Or to make it more explicit, what if my teammates decided to name me "Run"? They would be saying, "He is so good at what he does that from now on, we are going to call him Run." And then, one day, I send some of my teammates to recruit an up-and-coming runner, and as I send them out, I say, "Tell him that Run has sent you."
Yahweh's Description of Himself
It is one thing to consider how biblical authors described the LORD, but what if the LORD was to describe Himself? Yet this is precisely what happens in Exodus 34:6-7.
"The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation' " (ESV).
1. Full of mercy and grace
God's lead foot in describing Himself is that He is a God who is "merciful and gracious." The LORD delights in giving people what they don't deserve. The LORD's posture is not one of judgment, condemnation or ridicule. Instead, it is one of grace and mercy toward the most undeserving.
2. Abundantly patient
Next, God is abundantly patient. He describes himself as "slow to anger." The LORD does not have a short fuse. He does not become easily ticked off. Instead, He says of Himself that it takes a lot to anger Him.
3. Abounding in committed and unmovable love and faithfulness
The following way the LORD describes Himself is "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands." Because the end of the verse talks about "generations," it is assumed that "thousands" here also refers to generations. In other words, the LORD is so unmovable in His love and faithfulness that it extends to thousands of generations.
Keep Your Love on Friends!
Love Always, Lindsay Rose 🌹
Day 13: YAHWEH | I Am, Who I Am