Exodus 2:23-3:15
Abraham’s Covenant:
- Despite the Israelites suffering, God’s name is not mentioned nor does He appear to be present until the end of chapter 2.
- In some ways, God appears absent. However, Exodus makes it clear that God is at work.
Q. Where do we see God at work?
- Hebrews were fruitful and multiplied to the point they threatened Pharaoh
- The Pharaoh’s command to punish the Hebrews through enslavement, more work, his command to the midwives, and ultimately through Moses.
- God shows that He is at work through the irony of using the Nile river, the instrument meant to kill him as the method of his deliverance. Pharaoh’s own family raises Moses. Moses’ mother ends up being paid to take care of Moses. Pharaoh’s own family saves the person who will eventually free the Hebrews. Pharaoh’s own actions to subjugate the Hebrews leads to their freedom.
Q. Why does God act in such an ironic way?
- God uses irony to show that He is the One who is bringing salvation to His people, not mere chance events. Truth here is much stranger than fiction. This is a pattern that will be repeated over and over again throughout the Bible.
Q. What book in the Bible never mentions the word God?
- Esther. Some have made an argument that Esther should not be considered part of the Old Testament canon because God is not mentioned. Yet I think there is something real about it because this is often how God works. He is not readily apparent and works behind the scenes.
- When God finally is mentioned, it is revealed that He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- The word remember is certainly the correct translation, however, remember used in conjunction with covenants means to apply or honor the terms of the covenant. So it might be best to read this sentence “God heard their groaning and he decided to honor the terms of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’
Q. Let’s review, what is the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that God is remembering?
- Abraham’s seed would be a great nation, God would bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. All the nations of the earth would be blessed through Abraham’s seed.
- Clearly the situation in Egypt was working against all of these promises. Things would have to change for God to honor the terms of His covenant.
- All the events of the Exodus are based on the Abrahamic covenant. The Abrahamic covenant is the way all the nations of the world will be blessed. It is primary even before the covenant at Sinai.
- In fact, all the covenants flow out of the Abrahamic covenant. The Davidic covenant that establishes David as the king is a specialized administration of the Abrahamic covenant since the Abrahamic covenant always envisioned a kingdom and thus a king. The king is given special privilege in bringing about the promise of the Abrahamic covenant. The identity of this king becomes important as it is linked the one who crushes the serpents head and ultimately brings about the promises given to Abraham. We know this eventually leads to Jesus. That is why it is so important for the apostles to proclaim that Jesus is a descendent of David.
- The new covenant, which is first introduced as far back as Deuteronomy, will be further expanded upon by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. It is also linked to the Abrahamic covenant. The promises of the New Covenant are really the promises of the Abraham covenant.
- I think the best way to interpret the Old Testament is to see the Abrahamic covenant as primary and the Sinaitic covenant and New Covenant as two methods of bringing about the promises of the Abrahamic covenant. The Siniatic Covenant failed because it depended on the ability of the Israelites to carry it out. The New Covenant is different because it depends on God.
- This understanding of the primacy of the Abrahamic covenant seems to be Paul’s understanding as well Galatians 3:15-18
- All of these will be themes we will take up in the future and flesh out. My point is to give you a broad overview so we can begin to look in to the details as the Bible study progresses.
God’s Name:
Q. If Moses comes in the name of the God of the Hebrews’s fathers, then why does Moses want to know His name?
- The Hebrews lived in a completely polytheistic, pantheistic, and syncretic world. There were many gods, nature was a manifestation of the gods, and all gods had at least some validity. There are no known exceptions.
- The Hebrews had lived in Egypt for over 400 years and it is difficult to know how much of the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob they still retained.
- Later on we are told in Exodus 6:2 that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew God as El Shadiah but He did not make Himself known by YHWH.
- Some have concluded that this is the first introduction of the name YHWH. However, we find YHWH used throughout Genesis as far back as Genesis 2.
- This has led some scholars to conclude that YHWH is of a later origin than Elohim and that the two traditions were combined to create the religion of Israel as we know it today.
- This explanation goes back to the 18th century and was developed by a Frenchmen named Jean Austruc. Eventually a German scholar developed it further adding the Priestly source and the Deuteronomist source. This is called the Wellhausen hypothesis, documentary hypothesis, or JEDP theory.
- I think this is based on a false premise. I do not contest that different sources were involved, however there is a lot of evidence for the unity of the torah.
- How do we explain the discrepancy?
- First, Moses does not ask use the typical word mi which is is translated who. When you want to know someone’s name is Hebrew you say “who is your name?” Instead Moses use the word mah which means “what is your name?” That sounds normal to us but in Hebrew that means more like “what is the meaning of your name?’ Or given all the suffering we have been through, what does YHWH mean anyway?
- Second, the Hebrew word know does not mean know as we understand it. We use know to mean knowledge of a fact or proposition. In Hebrew, know means to experience. This is why it can be used for sexual relations.
- If you are familiar with the movie Pulp Fiction, you know this concept. Ezekiel 25:17. We know the people were familiar with the name YHWH. This is not a new revelation of His name. Instead because God lays his vengeance down the people will experience YHWH.
- So Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew the name YHWH but they never experienced what it means. The Hebrews are getting ready to understand exactly what it means.
History of YHWH
- Before we delve into the meaning of the name YHWH, I want to give you some background on its use throughout history.
- Our Bibles typically do not use the word YHWH. Instead our Bibles translate the word as Lord and write it in small caps. So anytime you see the word lord in small caps its YHWH. This differs from Elohim which is translated God.
- Translating YHWH as lord follows the Jewish practice of not saying the name YHWH so as not to violate the 3rd commandment “thou shall not take the name of YHWH your God in vain.”
- When the text was read in Hebrew the reader would substitute the Hebrew word Adonai which means lord.
- Hebrew was originally written without vowels relying on the reader to supply the vowels. Since the name YHWH was never spoken, the vowels became forgotten.
- When the vowel points were added to the Hebrew by a group of early Medieval Jews called the Masoretes, the vowel points for Adonai were added to YHWH.
- Early Christian scholars continued this practice and so often translated YHWH as Lord some out of reverence for the 3rd commandment but also because they were typically bad Hebrew scholars and so relied on the work of Jewish scholars. So for instance the Latin version of the Bible uses dominus which means lord.
- In the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, scholars began to return to the original languages and translated from the Masoretic texts. Since the Masoretes used the vowel points for adonai, these scholars did too. They were also German and did not use the letter y and instead used J. Therefore, YHWH was translated as Jehovah.
- Jehovah is certainly incorrect and later scholars began using the more correct YHWH. We are pretty certain the first vowel should be an “a” sound which is always pronounced as a short “a” like the “a” in father.
- The reason we are sure is that a lot of names in the old testament have ending that derive from YHWH and we have the vowel points associated with them. For example - Jeremiyah, Isiayah, Zechariyah, Allelujah.
- We don’t really know what sound to use for the second vowel. It is mostly an educated guess based on how other Hebrew words with those letters are pronounced.
The Meaning of YHWH
- God explains the name YHWH by the phrase eyah asher eyah. Typically this is translated I AM WHO I AM. In several other passages in the O.T. God describes Himself in sentences of a similar form.
Exodus 33:19 “And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name YHWH. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
- The point seems to emphasize God’s complete freedom.
- YHWH is then the 3rd person form of this phrase or HE IS WHO HE IS.
- However, its not as simple as all that. This is a “be” form of a verb and those are complicated in any language. It depends on what the meaning of the word is is. Its even more complicated in Hebrew since the verbs are tenseless and determined by context. Since we have very little context, its difficult to determine the tense.
- Also the be verb in Hebrew, as most Hebrew verbs, can be used in a lot of different ways.
1. I am who I am
2. I will be who I will be
3. I cause to be what I cause to be
- The context is limited so we do not know what is correct. I think the ambiguity is actually the point.
- In the ancient world knowing a deity’s name gave you control. We have already established that whatever the translation, the form of YHWH’s explanation is intended to communicate total freedom. Not having a clear cut translation for the verbs also emphasizes this point.
- Beth what do you always say about God - You cannot put God in a box.
- By giving this name, YHWH makes himself a person and known and yet does not sacrifice His transcendence.
- There is a Japanese koan that makes this point.
Q. Who knows what a Japanese koan is?
- A koan is a story or statement used in zen buddhism to lead people to doubt what they know and thus achieve enlightenment.
Shuzan held out his staff and said: “If you call this a staff, you oppose its reality. If you do not call it a staff, you ignore the fact. Now what do you wish to call this?
If you call this a staff, you oppose its reality. If you do not call it a staff, you ignore the fact. It cannot be expressed with words and it cannot be expressed without worse. Now say quickly what it is.
Q. What do you think this koan means?
- Naming something limits it because a name can never describe something entirely. However, we have to name things to identify them. They give the illusion of capturing reality but never completely do so. Yet to not name something is to ignore it and deny its existence
- The cool thing about the Judeo-Christian God is that he is transcendent and immanent.
Q. What does transcendent mean?
- God is not part of creation. He is outside of creation.
Q. What does immanent mean?
- God is involved with creation. He is not separated from creation.
- A completely transcendent god is a deistic god. This is a god who creates the universe but does nothing else. This is the view of god of someone like Aristotle.
- An completely immanent god is one who is part of creation and is identified with creation. This is a pantheistic god.
- The Judeo-Christian God is both transcendent and immanent.
- By giving the name YHWH, God allows Himself to relate to us, He identifies Himself. He makes Himself know. He is immanent However, by emphasizing His freedom and refusing to be defined, He still remains transcendent.
- It’s really a brilliant use of language.
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