April 6, 2025 - God's Name and Its Meaning (Exodus 3:13-15)

God's Name and Its Meaning (Exodus 3:13-15)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord 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 this is My memorial to all generations.’

Introduction 

One person said this, “God created everything from nothing. God makes those who He uses from nothing. He makes them realize that they are nothing. It is because God can use that person for His purpose.” Through our elder’s prayer today, he said that when we confess that we are nothing and we humbly come before God, then God will start using us. Why does God do that? The reason is seen in today’s Biblical passage. 

1. God's Name

(1) Moses' question

Verse 13 - There is a commonality among nations that worship idols. All nations that worship idols, they worship many gods. Among those gods, they all have names. The names of those gods and the idols, they are all identified by their size and their power. These gods that have huge statues, they are seen as powerful among the people. You see the sphinx in Egypt and they are huge. When Moses was living in Egypt, the Egyptians were worshiping idols. If you look at the names of those gods, man would make those names and they would use those gods for their purpose. What is astounding is that man would make those gods, decide their names, and believe in those gods. When people would see these great statues of these gods, people would ask what the name of this god was. Moses asked God what he should say if the people of Israel asked who God was. God’s answer is seen in verse 14.  

(2) A unique name

Verse 14 - Yahweh means that He exists. If you translate it in English, it is “I am who I am.” “Who” is a relative pronoun. To translate this means that God exists. If you look into this, there are three meanings behind God’s existence. Yahweh means He exists, God exists. God exists by Himself. Since God is His own existence, He never was born and His creation was not made by anything. His existence means that He was the Creator. Secondly, the next meaning shows He is the master of existence. He is the one who brings death and life. He brings about creation, judgment, and the ruler of life.  Thirdly, the term “I am who I am” brings about God’s existence that He always exists in the present. He is the One who has no past, present, and future. He is eternal. He exists for eternity. This God is the God who He is. From here, you must think about who He says He is Who He is. 

Exodus 3:2 “And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.” - The Angel of the Lord is referring to the Triune God, Jesus Christ. 

The evidence is seen in John 8:58 “Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’ ” - Before Abraham was born, Jesus said the same thing as God said, “I am.” This means that at that moment, which means that Jesus is always present. This is the Lord God we serve. 

2. The Eternal Name

(1) The Lord God

Verse 15 - The name of God is written three times in this verse. Elohim means He is the God the Creator. The word is also plural and means that God is Triune God. This God who is Elohim means that He is a God who exists, who is almighty. The second name of God shown here is Elohai which is talking about God, which means that He exists within His own existence. He is the One who exists within Himself, the One who determines who exists, and who is the First and the Last. But when God is referred to in the Bible, it refers to Him as Yahweh. 

Verse 14 - God said “I am who I am” and Moses used the word, Jehovah here. Jehovah is extracted from the word, “…WHO I AM.” When Moses used this word, he didn’t use the word Jehovah. If you look in Hebrew, there are no vowels, only consonants. When the Bible was written, it was first recorded as “YHWH.” But the problem here is that when God spoke to His people, He commanded them not to use His name in vain. So when people called out the name of the Lord God, they were too scared to call out the name of the Lord, to use the name of the Lord. So every time they would write the name of God, “YHWH”, they would cleanse their bodies clean. Since they were too scared to use the name of God, YHWH, they would just use the word, “Adonai.” The meaning of Adonai means “Lord” or “Master.” They would call out God by calling out Adonai. They couldn’t call out the name of God because they were so scared and the Lord’s name was so sacred. Later on, people realized that they needed to pronounce the word, “YHWH” but they couldn’t pronounce it so the theologians got together to see how they could pronounce it. That is how they came to the word, “Yahweh” by combining the vowels from the word “Adonai.” This is the history of the word, “Jehovah.” Since God’s name was so sacred and powerful, they couldn’t dare to say God’s name. That is why they ended up using the name, Jehovah. Why was that? 

It is seen in today’s Biblical passage in verse 15, “…My name Forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.” From forever to forever, God who exists forever, and His name needs to be glorified; that is why His name was made this way. But what is more astounding is that this God who is almighty, God said that He will send Moses. God is telling Moses to go in His name. Think about our God. God who is with us, He is always with us and is always present. All of His words, powers, and covenant are always in present tense. This almighty God commanded Moses to go. When God sent Moses, God allowed 10 miracles to be performed through Moses. God split the Red Sea. Think about this great and amazing power here. 

(2) The eternal power

1 Samuel 17:45 “Then David said to the Philistine, 'You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.' ” - We can see what David said to Goliath. This great Goliath fell completely before the name of God. This great Goliath was seen as powerful among men but he was considered nothing before God. 

King Hezekiah was able to break down the Assyrian army as seen in 2 Kings 19:16 “Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.” - When we call the name of God, God will hear us. When God heard the calls of King Hezekiah, God completely broke down the 185,000 Assyrian army. 

Luke 10:17 “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ ” - Through God’s name and when God’s name was proclaimed, all darkness and demons had no choice but to flee. 

Acts 3:6 “Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’ ” - When God’s name was proclaimed, the crippled man was able to walk again. God’s name has existence and He is existence Himself. 

John 14:14 “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” - When you call on the name of God and the Triune God as seen in the Old and New Testament, great works arose, the same works will arise when you call out the name of God. God is telling us to call out His name  and to ask anything in His name. When you pray holding onto the name of God, then great works and answers will come upon you. May you have victory with faith. 

3. Inviting One Person (Covenant to Hold Onto)

(1) Eternal covenant

Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ” - We can see how God called Abraham forth. God promised Abraham that He will make Abraham’s name great and will bless His family. When we entrust all things to God, then God will give you great blessings. God promised Abraham great blessings. God promised that He will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. When you live your life, you should experience this. Why is that? All nations will be blessed through you. Hold onto this covenant and enter into prayer. Enter into 24 hour prayer. 

(2) Make disciples of all nations

Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.” - The name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the Triune God. God promised that He will be with us and protect us till the end. 

(3) Heal all peoples  

Mark 16:17-18 “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” - 2,000 years ago, the disciples used the name of Jesus Christ to cast out evil spirits. God is telling us to use His name. Believe and use the name of Jesus Christ. The power of healing will arise through the name of Jesus Christ. Problems that we cannot solve with science and man, we can solve with the name of Jesus Christ. If we know this great power then we can use this power. 

Conclusion

Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” - Pray in the name of Jesus Christ. The name of Jesus Christ is “I am who I am.” When you pray with this name, then great power will come upon you. Give thanks to God every single day.