SHOW NOTES

Scriptures: Genesis 4:26

🙌A person is his or her name. Just as in English today, a reference in Hebrew to people's names referred to their reputation and their character. In fact, we often speak of maintaining - or restoring - our good name, meaning our good reputation.

🙌Likewise, God's name stands for his character as embodied through his actions and behavior. The meaning of God's name, the way in which it revealed aspects of his character, the importance of people's bowing at the sound of his name and praising it, and its connection with God's reputation - these are all components of a great "name" theology in the Old Testament. God reveals his name, in its many different forms and aspects, as a way of inviting his people to live with him in a dynamic, intimate relationship.

🙌God's name tells us what kind of God he is. In fact, there are over 300 names for God given in the Bible. Why so many? Perhaps, it is because no one name can adequately convey all that God is. Each is a revelation of the holy, sacred character of God. For example, God is

A holy God

🙌The only attribute of God repeated three times, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty" (Isa. 6:3 NIV). When we say God is a holy God that means that not only is he different, but that nothing can compare with him. He is distinct, unique, one of a kind. He is God and we are not.

A sanctuary

🙌A consecrated place; a place of refuge; a place of protection. With God we find sacredness and peace and calmness, protection and refuge from a world that has hurt us and abused us. Coming to God is like coming home where we know we are safe, we are accepted, we are loved. And there is nothing we must do to earn it.

A merciful God

🙌While we deserve God's justice and punishment, he chooses instead to look upon us with mercy. Aren't you thankful?

Alpha and Omega

🙌Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last letter, therefore, God is the "A and Z." He is the beginning and the end, and everything in between. He is all we need.

🙌It is the name of God that we need to call on. We need him and all that the character and attributes that he brings to us. Humans first began calling on the name of the Lord in Genesis 4:26. "At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord" (Gen. 4:26 NIV). When we call on God's name it is more than using a moniker to address him. We are calling on his character, his reputation, his attributes, his power, and his presence.

🙌We have all heard about people who left humble beginnings to find greatness or stardom or riches: the kid who becomes a world-class athlete, the poor man who becomes a successful entrepreneur, the girl from the broken home that becomes a movie star. Often just one of their names is all that is needed: Madonna, Oprah, Shaq, Trump, Obama. They have earned success, status. As their achievements increase a greater reputation is gained. They, as we say, "have made a name for themselves."

🙌Hence, associated with a name is "renown," "glory," and "fame."

🙌This need to make a name for ourselves has been one of the latent problems with mankind, even from the beginning of time. We want to make a name for ourselves. We find this desire early in history. On the plain of Shinar the world's population settled. We can read this story in Genesis 11. As the inhabitants increased, the people wanted to build a tower that reached to the heavens. Why would they pursue such an action? For the same reason athletes want to be the best and businesspeople want to amass a fortune. They answer themselves, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves ..." (Gen. 11:4 HCSB). The problem with the building of the tower of Babel was that the builders wanted to exalt their own name in the process, not God's.

🙌Ted Williams, the famous Boston Red Sox slugger, would often say, "I want to walk down the street and have people say, 'There goes the greatest hitter in baseball.'" Nothing wrong with being the greatest hitter in baseball or building skyscrapers or amassing a fortune unless you receive the glory and the fame instead of God.

🙌Likewise, God wants to make a name for himself. David prayed, "This is why You are great, Lord God. There is no one like You, and there is no God besides You, as all we have heard confirms. And who is like Your people Israel? God came to one nation on earth in order to redeem a people for Himself, to make a name for Himself, and to perform for them great and awesome acts, driving out nations and their gods before Your people You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt" (2 Samuel 7:22-23 HCSB). David could only marvel at how great the Lord is, no one is or could be his equal. Only a divine being could possibly do or be all that David attributed to the Lord: "there is no God but" the Lord.

🙌Our God is without peer. His name trumps all other names. Therefore, God makes a name for himself through his fulfilled promises, his benevolent actions, his tender mercies, his redemptive love, his abiding presence. Let's take a closer look at a few of his names:

• Adonai-Jehovah: The Lord our Sovereign
• El-Shaddai: The God Who is Sufficient for the Needs of His People
• Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord our Provider
• Jehovah-Ropheka: The Lord our Healer
• Jehovah-Shammah: The Lord is Present

🙌God never fails because his name is above all names (Phil. 2:9). We are to bring renown and glory and fame to him and to him alone. We are to exalt his name. Place it high on a pedestal. Revere it. Acknowledge it. Worship it.

Scripture Passage: Exodus 3:13-15

🙌While we can read that in our Bibles and our Father did say “I am who I am”, we need to read the next verse to see where He revealed His personal name and that is in Exodus 3:15.

“But my Bible just says LORD. So that must be His name.” It seems like it, right? And that is completely understandable but let me show you how to dig deeper using a great online Bible tool, Bible Hub. Keep reading after I show you this for more important information which you need to understand regarding his name.

1.Check out the link below first. It is Exodus 3:15 in many different translations. https://biblehub.com/exodus/3-15.htm 

🙌God revealed his divine name to Moses in rather dramatic fashion. Moses, a fugitive, was tending sheep in Sinai. One day, all of a sudden, he sees a bush burning that does not consume itself. He goes to check it out only to hear a voice asking him to remove his sandals, for the ground he is standing on is holy ground. From that bush Moses hears the word of God and revelation of his holy name.

🙌God revealed his name in the context of his care for his hurting people. God's response came to them in four significant verbs:

1. God hears
2. He remembers
3. He sees, and
4. He is concerned

🙌"So, God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and He took notice." (Exodus 2:24-25 HCSB).

🙌Then God adds two new dimensions to his relatedness. He says, "I have come down to rescue them ..." (3:8).

🙌And his promise to Moses is, "I will certainly be with you" (3:12).

🙌Each of these verbs sets the context for the revelation of the divine name. God hears the pleas of his people; he remembers his covenant with his people; he sees the distress of his people; he is concerned about his people; he rescues his people; he promises to be with his people.

🙌Then he gives his name in response to Moses' question: "If I go to the Israelites and say to them: 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is His name?' what should I tell them?" (3:13). In good Hebrew style, for emphasis and clarity, God reveals his name in two parts.

🙌First, God says, "I AM WHO I AM" (3:14). Arguably these words may be the most difficult to translate in the Bible. Those five words in English come from the older form of the Hebrew verb "to be." In other words, God's name - "I AM WHO I AM" - speaks of his essential being. That God is! is essential to the meaning of deity.

🙌In the second part of the revelation in verse 15, God moves from the first person "I AM," to the third person "He is." The Hebrew is Yahweh, translated "The LORD." Notice what God says, "Say this to the Israelites: 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; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation" (3:15).

🙌While several designations for deity are recorded in the Bible, essentially there is only one name - Yahweh. The English Bible traditionally translates this as The LORD, with all capital letters. This name is abundant with meaning. God's name is not simple; it is profound. God's name is not trivial; it is exquisite.

🙌The name Yahweh and its short form Yah occurs over 6,800 times in the Old Testament - more than any other word. Yahweh is God's self-revelation. Debates over its meaning have gone on for centuries. Some have suggested that it means absolute being, creation, and benevolent presence are all suggested. But God is revealed as One who cannot be fully comprehended in a word.

🙌From the bush, a symbol of his hiding, and fire, a mark of his holiness, comes the word of his name, a symbol of his dynamic presence - "I AM WHO I AM."

🙌What's in a name? When that name is Yahweh, everything is in that name: life, reality, and relationship to the living God. Hence, to know the name of God is to know God as he has revealed himself.

🙌Either way, it is very important to know that God has a personal name and more importantly: He wanted us to know it. The fact that it is no longer in our Bible’s is not the Father’s doing. In fact, before translators and scribes removed it, his personal name appeared in the Bible nearly 7,000 times!

🙌To see how your Bible handles God’s personal name, check the front few pages of the book and you’ll find their explanation.

🙌Below is a photo of this page in one of the Bible translations I use, under a section entitled: The Translation of Specialized Terms.

Rabbit Trails for This Week:

Symbols…all about symbols!

• There were nine plagues, not ten…the tenth was judgement sent down on Pharaoh. Look up the 9 idol gods of the Egyptians and see what happens when you match them with the plagues! Exodus 7-11
• Look up Syncretism
• The number 70 is symbolic
• Exodus 4:6, only mentioned twice in the Bible…what is this?

🙌Noteworthy highlights to close with.  YHWH uses prophetic dreams over and over in these beginning chapters as ways of communication.  In Genesis chapter 45 ends with forgiveness.  Genesis chapter 46 we see Jacob pack up all his belongings, his family and left with nothing but faith he would not be returning but trusting totally in our Father to watch over him.  In Exodus We see the midwives disobey Pharaoh because they trusted God, showing us all that we must continue to be forever in the Word strengthen our relationship with the Father and trusting Him with EVERYTHING in our lives!

DISCLAIMER:

This study is in no way to take the place of studying the entire Bible in fact if you haven't studied the entire Bible from book to book, cover to cover I suggest doing that first before you dive into this study. This study is a study, an investigative deep dive if you will, for those of you that have read the Bible and Studied God’s Word cover to cover and want to do a little deeper diving into some “rabbit trails” in the Bible.

I will be providing questions, scriptures, and points of interest, if you will, that you can look up on your own, investigate, and deep dive asking God to help you discern and come to your thoughts. In no way am I trying to influence you one way or another period! My entire goal of doing this series this year is so that you get into your Bibles even more and discover all the treasures that God has placed there for us.

You will hear me mention over and over on my podcasts, don’t take my word for it, get in your Bible, and look it up yourself! I challenge you to challenge me and find the answers for yourself. That’s right, I will bring you a message, I will back it up with scripture, I will give you prompts I will put some questions out there that will make you go or I never thought of that or wow that's something new…but, let me make this very clear….it is your job, that’s right, your job to be in Yahweh’s Word daily.