A NAME LIKE NO OTHER
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The Importance of God’s Name
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THE POINT
God’s name reveals He is the all-powerful God whom we can completely trust.
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
My father gave me a beautiful ring that was more than just a ring. While it didn’t have a precious stone, it did bear something much more valuable — our family name. Engraved above our name was our family crest.
I had another special tie to this ring. It not only displayed my family name, but it carried my father’s first name — as did I. Although I was an adult, I would always be JJ (Jere, Jr) to my siblings. Dad reminded me that the name on the ring represented generations of honorable ancestors. It also reflected my father’s reputation. He wanted me always to live in such a way that reflected our name’s trustworthiness.
God’s name carries more importance than all other names of history. When God called Moses to lead His people out of Egypt, Moses needed to know the One sending Him. God revealed an important aspect of His nature through His name: “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex. 3:14).
God is ever present from eternity past and beyond eternity future. His name reveals He is the all-powerful God whom we can trust completely.
Question 1:
Who in your family tree has an interesting or unique name?
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
Exodus 3:1-6
1 Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. 3 So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?” 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered. 5 “Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
“Meanwhile, back at the ranch.” Many western stories change scenes with that phrase. The term meanwhile ties what happens in one place with an important event elsewhere. The opening word meanwhile in verse 1 (“Now” in the KJV and NIV translations) helps us transition in time from the previous chapter as the Hebrews desperately cried out to God. The Lord had not forgotten His people. While they sought God’s deliverance, He was preparing a deliverer.
Having killed an Egyptian, Moses fled the palace of his adopted mother, Pharaoh’s daughter, and found shelter among the tents of Jethro, a Midianite priest. Ironically, 430 years earlier, it was Midianite slave traders who had taken Joseph to Egypt. Marrying Jethro’s daughter, Moses traded the silk robes of royalty for the humble clothes of a shepherd. God used Moses’s exile to prepare him for a historic act that would display the Lord’s trustworthiness.
Similarly, we may find ourselves hiding out from the sins of our past. Shame and guilt often chase us into fugitive wastelands. Sometimes our flight is not physical, but we retreat emotionally. Like Moses, we seek shelter in the most unlikely places.
God guided the errant prince to Horeb, the mountain of God, on the far side of the wilderness. Here Moses encountered an incredible sight, a burning bush that was not being consumed by the fire. From the midst of the bush came the voice of the angel of the Lord. Some writers think Moses encountered the pre-incarnate Christ there. Others separate the appearance of the “angel of the Lord” and the voice of God. The important truth is that God spoke to Moses and called him personally.
We often meet God in out-of-the-way places. Sometimes, we are seeking God, but more often He guides us into a close encounter of the divine kind. Like Moses, we are attracted by one thing, only to be brought to our knees in God’s presence.
The phrase “when the Lord saw” doesn’t suggest Moses caught God by surprise. God designed every aspect of Moses’s life for His purposes. Like Moses, we might not recognize God when He calls us. Moses simply said, “Here I am.” He didn’t know the identity of the One who spoke, nor did he fully comprehend the holy moment he had entered. People who are far from God sometimes find themselves in a similar state.
When Moses responded, God introduced Himself as “the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” He began by using what would be a vital identifier: “I am.” God isn’t merely the Lord of Hebrew history; He’s the ever-present One who transcends history. He is the God who was and is and always will be. And He knows us by name too.
In Egypt, Moses had heard the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet, he didn’t know God personally. Many people know about God, but they don’t know Him. They may think kindly of the religion of their parents or grandparents, but they have yet to enter into a relationship with God through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, His Son.
In God’s presence, Moses’s casual presumption met the clashing reality of God’s holiness. Where Moses stood was “holy ground.” Not because the dirt was special, but because God was in this place. God told Moses to remove his sandals, an act of humility and respect.
Too often we rush into God’s presence carrying the dust of the world and its cares. Pausing to recognize His holiness, we must set aside everything that hinders our encounter with our Lord.
When Moses realized he was in God’s holy presence, he “hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.” Experiencing God forces us to see our sinfulness. Like the prophet Isaiah, we cry out, “Woe is me” (Isa. 6:5). Fortunately for Moses, and for us, God takes us beyond the terrible acknowledgment of our sin into the joyous expression of salvation and service.
Question 2:
What does it mean for something to be holy?
Exodus 3:9-12
9 So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, 10 therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I am the one who sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.”
Whenever we think God doesn’t know our situation, we should remember His response to Moses. The desperate cries of His people had indeed reached His ears. This anthropomorphic reference doesn’t mean God has physical auditory organs. It affirms that God hears and knows what is happening with His people, especially in their distress. God had also seen. He wasn’t blind to the oppression the Egyptians laid on the Hebrews. They were His people. He wasn’t insensitive to their plight.
The word therefore ties what has gone before with what comes after. In verse 7, like meanwhile in verse 1, the term is more implied than included in the text. In verse 10, it’s stated specifically and purposefully. Because God heard His people’s cries and saw their oppression, He took action.
Up to this point, Moses was hopeful. You can almost hear him say, “That’s right, God. Go get ‘em.” To his surprise, God told Moses, “Go. I am sending you.” The Lord’s command was an imperative, not an invitation. The last thing Moses expected (or wanted) was to be sent back to Egypt. To return might mean his execution (Ex. 2:11-22). When God calls us to His service, it rarely involves something easy.
To make matters worse, God’s call involved an imposing tyrant and an impossible task. Moses was being sent to Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Moses had grown up in the palace. His adopted mother was a princess, but that was many years ago. In the annals of faith, Moses was known for rejecting the luxury of the royal court to identify with his people (Heb. 11:24-27). By now, he had been in his desert exile for forty years. He was eighty years old. What could an old castaway do to sway the mightiest ruler of the land?
Moses’s impossible task involved leading God’s people to freedom. How could one man overcome all of Egypt? Then, even if he could find a way to lead the people out, who was Moses to demand they follow? In fact, once Moses had secured an exit permit, the people constantly rebelled. They moaned about their hardships, blaming Moses. Moses hoped God had a “Plan B.” Moses asked, “Who am I?” Who was he in comparison to the Pharaoh, who was worshiped as a god? Who was he among the elders of Israel? He was no longer a prince of Egypt.
We can identify with Moses’s dilemma. When God presents us with a difficult task, we quickly ask, “Why me?” Surely others are better educated, more qualified, stronger, or more influential. God would do better assigning this job to someone who not only could do it, but who wanted to do it. God’s answer to us is the same as His response to Moses: It’s not about us; it’s about Him. Moses was right; he was inadequate for the task, but God was fully capable to accomplish His purposes. This omnipotent God would be with Moses as he obeyed the Lord.
God offered Moses a sign, but he wouldn’t see it until the battle was over. When all was said and done, the people would worship God on this very mountain where Moses met with God. Looking back with hindsight, we can see how God has worked in our lives. We can trust Him to do what He says He’ll do.
Question 3:
What reasons do you have for trusting God?
Engage
The Great I Am
In your notes, recreated the list below. Then beside each characteristic of God below, offer a statement of thanks or praise to Him for who He is.
Holy:
Omniscient (all-knowing):
Eternal:
Omnipresent:
Omnipotent (all-powerful):
Immutable (unchanging):
Exodus 3:13-15
13 Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?” 14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: The Lord, 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 forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.”
Moses had another dilemma; he really didn’t know God. He couldn’t undertake this mission under his own authority. He had none. Interestingly, Moses didn’t ask God in whose name he should approach Pharaoh. Moses was notorious among the people of the palace. The Israelites were a different story. If Moses went to them under the authority of the “God of your ancestors,” he needed to answer their questions about who God is. The first question would be: What is His name? Egyptians worshiped many pagan gods. No wonder Moses needed to be specific when the people questioned him about who he represented. Instead of rebuking Moses for asking His name, the Lord responded with a self-descriptive phrase: “I AM WHO I AM.” Unlike created things, God has life in Himself. He is self-existent, without origin or end.
Question 4:
When have you seen someone respond to the call of God on their life?
God made it even simpler for Moses. When the Israelites demanded who had sent Moses, he was to say “I AM” had sent him to them. This four-letter word has been translated as Yahweh or Jehovah. In most English Bibles, it is represented by the word LORD written in all capital letters. God went further and told Moses he could identify Him as the Lord who was “God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Unlike the Egyptian gods who fell in and out of favor with successive dynasties, the Lord was forever the same.
Israel had a unique purpose among all the nations of the earth. God wanted them to be a missionary people who would declare His name and magnify His glory. To do so, they needed to memorialize His name in their hearts, as well as in their history. This was His name “forever.” He was “to be remembered in every generation.” The ever-present One would be with Moses and with God’s people. And He’ll be with us too.
Question 5:
What do you appreciate about the ways God describes Himself in this passage?
LIVE IT OUT
God’s name reveals He is the all-powerful God whom we can completely trust. Choose one of the following applications:
- Listen. Listen to God’s voice. Put yourself in a place where you are most likely to be able to hear Him speak. Prayerfully seek His guidance about how you can glorify Him.
- List. Pause and examine your situation. List ways you can be God’s ambassador where you are, so that others can come to know Him.
- Look. Discover additional opportunities to take God’s name to people outside your current influence. This could mean serving in your community or even going on an overseas mission trip.
We may not wear signet rings to display God’s name, but we represent Him, nonetheless. As we trust Him and follow Him, we make clear to others how they can follow Him too.
Teachers Notes
Why
should God’s name be important to us?
God’s name is holy.
We demonstrate respect for Him by the way we treat His name. In addition to the
commandment not to take God’s name in vain (Ex. 20:7), Scriptures demonstrate
how God acts for His name’s sake (Ps. 23:3; 25:11).
God’s name reveals
His majestic nature. Because of His name, we can trust Him, worship Him, and
pray to Him. Whoever calls on Jesus’s name will be saved. We appreciate the
righteousness of His name. His name encourages us to trust Him with our
well-being.
God’s name carries
more importance than all other names of history. God is ever present from
eternity past and beyond eternity future. His name reveals He is the
all-powerful God whom we can trust completely.
SETTING: Near the
end of the book of Genesis (46:34), Joseph told his father Jacob that the
Egyptians despised shepherds. In the third chapter of Exodus, Moses went from a
privileged position in the house of the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh to
serving as a shepherd for his father-in-law Jethro. For the original audience,
these two incidents were just a few chapters apart, since the first five books
of our Bibles make up what they would have read as one book—the Torah (or the
Pentateuch). Moses must have been humiliated and ashamed. He was once a prince.
Now he was a shepherd. The end of Exodus 2 says that all the Israelites were
groaning and crying out for help. Both Israel as a whole and Moses as an
individual were in desperately needy situations. However, the end of chapter 2
ends with hope — “And God
heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with
Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto
them.” (vv. 24-25).
Exodus
3:1-6
Meanwhile, Moses
was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He
led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain
of God. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a
bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed.
So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t
the bush burning up?” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God
called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered. “Do
not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place
where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he continued, “I am the God of
your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses
hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
Having killed an
Egyptian, Moses fled the palace of his adopted mother, Pharaoh’s daughter, and
found shelter among the tents of Jethro, a Midianite priest. Ironically, 430
years earlier, it was Midianite slave traders who had taken Joseph to Egypt.
Marrying Jethro’s daughter, Moses traded the silk robes of royalty for the
humble clothes of a shepherd. God used Moses’s exile to prepare him for a
historic act that would display the Lord’s trustworthiness.
Too often we rush
into God’s presence carrying the dust of the world and its cares. Pausing to
recognize His holiness, we must set aside everything that hinders our encounter
with our Lord.
When Moses realized
he was in God’s holy presence, he “hid his face because he was afraid to look
at God.” Experiencing God forces us to see our sinfulness. Like the prophet
Isaiah, we cry out, “Woe is me” (Isa. 6:5). Fortunately for Moses, and for us,
God takes us beyond the terrible acknowledgment of our sin into the joyous
expression of salvation and service.
If you
were to ask 100 people to give only one word to describe who God is, what do
you think most people would say?
Many people might
say, “Love.” A few might say, “Light.” Others might say, “Good.” However, if
you were to ask them that same question after reading the passages from this
lesson, I think that most of them would say, “Holy.”
The holiness of God
is something that we speak about, and even sing about, but it is probably not
something that we think about very often. And we rarely consider how God’s
holiness impacts our daily lives. However, as we reflect on the holiness of
God, we should conclude that God’s holiness gives us a reason to trust in His
perfect and sovereign plan for our lives. In other words, our hope lies in the
perfect and holy character of God.
What does
it mean for something to be holy?
To be holy refers
to a state of being set apart from defilement. The Hebrew word translated
“holy” comes from a term meaning “separate.” Thus, what is holy is separated
from common use, or held sacred, especially by virtue of its being clean and
pure.
At God’s command,
Moses removed his sandals and covered his face. Taking off his shoes was an act
of reverence, conveying his own unworthiness before God. God is our friend, but
He is also our sovereign Lord. To approach Him frivolously shows a lack of respect
and sincerity.
God is a
holy God we are to approach with reverential fear.
When you come to
God in worship, do you approach Him casually, or do you come as though you were
an invited guest before a king?
If necessary,
adjust your attitude so it is suitable for approaching a holy God.
Exodus 3:9-12
So because the
Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the
Egyptians are oppressing them, therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so
that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” But Moses asked
God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the
Israelites out of Egypt?” He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this
will be the sign to you that I am the one who sent you: when you bring the
people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.”
How might
God call people today to go as He called Moses to go?
Someone in the
bondage of sin or an addition – you go in God’s name to free them. Sharing the
gospel message to someone
What did Jesus say
to the disciples and to you and me before returning to His Father – Go and make
disciples?
We can identify
with Moses’s dilemma. When God presents us with a difficult task, we quickly
ask, “Why me?” Surely others are better educated, more qualified, stronger, or
more influential. God would do better assigning this job to someone who not
only could do it, but who wanted to do it.
God’s answer to us
is the same as His response to Moses: It’s not about us; it’s about Him. Moses
was right; he was inadequate for the task, but God was fully capable to
accomplish His purposes. This omnipotent God would be with Moses as he obeyed
the Lord.
Moses made excuses because
he felt inadequate for the job God asked him to do. It was natural for him to
feel that way. He was inadequate all by himself. But God wasn’t asking Moses to
work alone, he offered other resources to help (God Himself, Aaron, and the
ability to do miracles). God often calls us to tasks that seem too difficult,
but He doesn’t ask us to do them alone. God offers us His resources, just as He
did with Moses. We should not hide behind our inadequacies, as Moses did, but
look beyond ourselves to the great resources available. Then we can allow God
to use our unique contributions.
What
reasons do you have for trusting God?
We can
trust that God will do what He says He will do.
What promises are
you trusting God to fulfill?
Exodus
3:13-15
Then Moses asked
God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has
sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”
God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the
Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the
Israelites: The Lord, 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 forever; this
is how I am to be remembered in every generation.”
The name I AM
is how God chose to introduce Himself.
What is
the significance of this?
The phrase
translated “I am who I am” in Hebrew is ehyeh asher ehyeh. The word ehyeh is
the first person common singular of the verb to be. It would be used in any
number of normal situations: “I am watching the sheep,” “I am walking on the
road,” or “I am his father.” However, when used as a stand-alone description, I
AM is the ultimate statement of self-sufficiency, self-existence, and immediate
presence. God’s existence is not contingent upon anyone else. His plans are not
contingent upon any circumstances. He promises that He will be what He will be;
that is, He will be the eternally constant God. He stands, ever-present and
unchangeable, completely sufficient in Himself to do what He wills to do and to
accomplish what He wills to accomplish.
When God identified
Himself as I AM WHO I AM, He stated that, no matter when or where, He is there.
It is similar to the New Testament expression in Revelation 1:8, “‘I am the
Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come,
the Almighty.’” This is true of Him for all time, but it would have been
especially appropriate for a message in Moses’ day to a people in slavery and
who could see no way out. I AM was promising to free them, and they could count
on Him!
6,828
Times OT - Yahweh
Israel had a unique
purpose among all the nations of the earth. God wanted them to be a missionary
people who would declare His name and magnify His glory. To do so, they needed
to memorialize His name in their hearts, as well as in their history. This was
His name “forever.” He was “to be remembered in every generation.” The
ever-present One would be with Moses and with God’s people. And He’ll be with
us too.
God’s
name reflects His sovereign character that draws us into a trusting relationship
with Him.
Jesus’ “I
am” statements would have particular significance to the first-century Jewish listener.
God had revealed Himself to Moses with a resounding “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). Jesus
used the same words to describe Himself (Exodus 4:26; 6:20; 13:19).
JOHN 8:58 KJV
"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was,
I am."
Below is a list of
Jesus’ seven “I Am” statements in the book of John.
“I am the bread of life.” (John
6:35, 41, 48, 51) As bread sustains physical life, so Christ offers and
sustains spiritual life.
“I am the light of the world.”
(John 8:12) To a world lost in darkness, Christ offers Himself as a guide.
“I am the door of the sheep.” (John
10:7,9) Jesus protects His followers as shepherds protect their flocks from
predators.
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
(John 11:25) Death is not the final word for those in Christ.
“I am the good shepherd.” (John
10:11, 14) Jesus is committed to caring and watching over those who are His.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
(John 14:6) Jesus is the source of all truth and knowledge about God.
“I am the true vine.” (John 15:1,
5) By attaching ourselves to Christ, we enable His life to flow in and through
us. Then we cannot help but bear fruit that will honor the Father.
What is the
spiritual significance of the number seven?
What does the
number 7 mean spiritually? “Seven is the number of completeness and perfection
(both physical and spiritual). It derives much of its meaning from being tied
directly to God’s creation of all things.
Conclusion:
God has an amazing
reputation. We read about Him in
scripture, hear about Him in songs, and hear testimonies from those who know
Him. However, there’s nothing like
encountering God for ourselves. There’s
nothing like knowing Him for ourselves. It’s
one thing to know of God, but it is totally different when we have our own
experience with God. He is no less God
now than He was then. Healer back then, healer right now. Deliverer back then, deliverer right
now. Provider back then, provider right
now.
