What's in a Name?

What is in a Name? ,Exodus Chapter 3: 1-15
Dean Smith

Our Hebrew Text Today is from Exodus Chapter 3, verses 1-15.
As our story begins, Moses is living the nomadic life of a pastoralists with his family and the family of his father in law Jethro. Far from Egypt and the royal trappings of his early life, he has become a simple sheppard. While watching his flock he is intrigued by a distant fire that appears to not smoke. Please listen while I read from the New International Version:

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."

4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."

5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you [a] will worship God on this mountain."

13 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?"

14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am . [b] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, [c] 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 by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

Today I would like to talk about names. People often use the phrase ‘first name basis’ to describe people that they know relatively well. It often refers to a person who is known well enough to talk with openly. As a middle school teacher, I know the importance of learning the first names of my students. When you can call on a child by her or his first name, you create a connection. This, of course, is one of the biggest problems for substitute teachers. Students instinctively know that they are not as accountable if they are just one of a group in a class.

During the first couple of days of school each September, I set aside some time to play some form of the ‘name game.’ Every successful teacher I know has some form of this game in her or his bag of tricks. These games help the students to know each other, and probably more importantly, help the teacher to know the students. In one of my classroom games, students sit in a circle and share their name and a favorite hobby. The students next pass around a ball and attempt to remember the hobby and name of the student who had the ball last. I must admit that as I have gotten older, this game has become a bit more difficult.

Tom Chiarella of Esquire magazine wrote that using a person's name confers a strange power. In the world of influence, he writes, "names are money. "Schoolteachers know it. Bartenders know it. Salesmen know it. Very polite children know it. " These people have figured it out. A name well used makes people feel seen.

Names today, of course, can be almost anything. Parents often prize themselves on their creativity. Sometimes, we know this makes it difficult for kids growing up with names like Apple, Sage Brush, London Bridge, or Shayd Green. If you want more examples, just Google the names of Frank Zappa’s children. USA Today recently reported on a case in Italy, however, where a court ruled that a family could not name their child Friday. The court ruled that it would bring the child shame and ridicule to be named after the character in Robinson Crusoe. In America, of course, there are no courts to regulate the creativity of ones parents. Many books have been written to guide the less creative and there are also websites updated frequently with the most popular baby names.

Now historically, many names were given to young children in order to honor important people from the Old and New Testaments. Names like Rebecca, Rachel, Mathew, Mark, and Thomas and many more come right from the Bible. In the medieval and classical world, names were often given as descriptors. In large Roman families, children usually shared their names. Siblings were often differentiated with nicknames such as ‘the elder’ or the ‘younger.’ Girls often took on the feminine form of their father’s last name. If a family had more than two daughters, they were often distinguished by ordinal numbers: For example, Cornelia Quinta, the fifth daughter of a Cornelius. Men often have had names like ‘the bald,’ ‘the fat,’ or the ‘unready.’ Names are indeed important in our society and truly then can be very powerful.

In our scriptural reading today, God has called out to Moses from a burning bush. As we are told, this bush is not consumed by the fiery presence of the Lord’s Holy Spirit. God tells Moses to go to Egypt to set His people free. God explains that he knows that His children are hungry and that they are suffering. Moses is to be sent to bring the Lord’s people out of bondage and slavery in the sinful lands of pharaoh and he is charged with bringing the Lord’s people home. This, of course, was a very important mission. We know historically that it will be a most important service to God’s people. Moses, however, was not all that excited by God’s call. In at attempt to get excused, if you will, he provided a list of reasons as to why he felt he was unsuited for this task. One of his concerns is that he does not know by what name to refer to God when he goes to the children of Israel in Egypt. Remember that Moses had been raised in pharaoh’s household.

Moses has no doubt been well exposed to the polytheism of Egypt. He has also been living in the western desert with his father in law Jethro, the priest of Midian. In the ancient world, nearly every town, mountain, or well spring seemed to have an associated god named with it. Moses asks God, if “I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ they may say to me “what is His name?” What shall I say to them?

At this point, I believe that God gives one of the most important theological statements in all of scripture. God declares in Exodus 3, verse 13, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”

God goes on to say, “The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Israel, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.” This is MY name forever, and this is MY memorial name to all generations. ”

Wow! God has named Himself. Above all names that we humans pick to show our affection and our worship and devotion, this name must be revered. For this name was given by the Lord Himself. As a purely theological statement, this name rises above all others. Consider the awesome name that God uses for Himself when you consider Biblical stories from creation in Genesis, through Jobe and the Whirlwind, to John chapter 1, verse 1. All things are because of Him. HE IS, and creation exists because HE IS. God tells Moses to tell the children if Israel, “I AM WHO I AM, I AM has sent you.”

There are many names, many descriptors, which can be used for God. In fact, the Bible uses many different names. The name Adonai, which means Lord of All, occurs 449 times in the Old Testament. Elohim, the Strong One, is used more than 2500 times in the Old Testament. El Shaddai, one of my favorites, is probably best translated as the "Mountain." El Olam, means Everlasting God. With Jesus Christ, we have Emmanuel, God is with us. All of these names and more are used for our Lord. The name Yahweh, sometimes pronounced Jehovah, occurs more frequently than any other divine name. One estimate had it appearing 6828 times in the Old Testament. Yahweh is defined by many such as the Catholic Encyclopedia as meaning "He who WILL BE, IS, and HAS BEEN". All of these names are important and each provides a different view of our God.

My friend and minister, Gary Wolfer, has suggested a reason for why God decided to introduce Himself to Moses with this name. The truth is that Moses was afraid. He was afraid of this new God. Moses was afraid of this new mission and he was afraid to go back to Egypt. I believe that God is telling Moses, “I AM” now in the present and as you go to Egypt, I AM with you. As you confront the most powerful king on earth, I AM with you. As you lead MY people back to ME, I AM with you. I think that God was telling Moses: If you have faith Moses, to go to Egypt and confront Pharoh, I Will be right there beside you. The God of Moses, the God of Jesus is present throughout our history because God desires our presence and because He chooses us to join in His Holy work.

I AM, is the present tense, vocative for you grammarians. He alone IS and we are because of Him. In an ancient world where hundreds of god sprits were worshiped, the only true God calls Himself ‘I AM’. He exists. The Good News of Moses’ story is that Moses was sent by the God who is real, the God who IS, and the God by whose very word makes all things. I am memorized by the simple awesome wisdom of this name. He is certainly All Powerful, a God of Peace, Certainly, Creator and Sustainer of all things, truly, but most importantly, He alone, in His very words, HE IS.

I invite you to also consider that I AM is found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Gospel of John, we read that Jesus said:

· I AM the bread of life John 6.35

· I AM the light of the world. John 8.12

· I AM the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, yet he shall live. John 11.25

God Is, Jesus Is, and through God’s Creation and through Jesus’ saving Grace, we are. There is truly power in this name. If God’s name is timeless as I believe it is, and if his words and mission are timeless, and truly the Bible proclaims that they are, than we should also consider that this piece of scripture from Exodus 3 holds timeless words for us too. I believe that God uses this piece of scripture to tell us now in the 21st Century that HE IS and He uses this same scripture to call us to his service. In Exodus, God tells us through Moses that His name shall be remembered to all generations.

In this way, the God who sent Moses out to serve his people IS today sending us out to serve His church. The God who sent out Moses to free His people from bondage is sending us out today to deliver His people from bondage. Whether the bondage be actual slavery or any kind of inhumane abuse which is still seen in many parts of the world or whether it be neglect and malnutrition in our own neighborhoods, the Great I AM calls us to set His people free today.

We have considered names in their social context and we have seen how speaking to people using their own names help us to form connections. They help us feel seen. We know that names are deeply rooted in our culture. Finally, and most importantly, we found in scripture; a divine first person use of a name. God emphatically tells us His own name and He tells us how it describes God. From everlasting to everlasting, God is speaking to us “I AM” the eternal now, I AM with you always.