Last week we learned about the three persons of God by examining the account of Moses and the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3. It’s only fitting that the name of God we learn about today is first revealed in that same chapter.
Exodus 3:13-15 (NIV)
Moses said to God, “Suppose 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?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
God said 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 to the Israelites, ‘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, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.
“I AM WHO I AM” can also be translated “I will be who I will be” or “I cause to be what is”. God does not just give Moses a name by which to call Him, but an explanation of His character. God points us to His self-existence and to the facts that He is eternal, all-powerful, and unchanging. Then, God gives Moses His name: Yahweh. In Hebrew, the name consists of four consonants, YHWH.
As time went on, Israelites would begin to feel that the name Yahweh should be held in such great reverence that it should not be written or spoken. When reading the text, they would replace Yahweh with the word “Adonai”, meaning lord or master. This is why in our English translations Yahweh is written as LORD in all caps.
In order to keep anyone from accidentally reading or speaking the true name of God, Jewish scholars began replacing the word Yahweh in the texts with the word Yahowah, a combination of YHWH and Adonai. Yahowah wasn’t meant to be spoken aloud, but was a visual reminder for readers to use the word Adonai.
As Christians began translating the Bible, they didn’t know that Yahowah wasn’t the proper name of God. This led to developing a pronunciation for it, which eventually became the name Jehovah.
In John 8:58 Jesus echoed Yahweh’s introduction of Himself. “‘Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’”
God has always wanted us to know Him personally. He reveals His character and nature to us: three persons in one, eternal, unchanging, all-powerful, all-knowing, self-sufficient and self-existent. He invites us to call Him by name - Yahweh.