Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 3:13

And Moses said unto God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his name? what shall I say unto them?

13. The God of your fathers ] Cf. v. 6. These words shew clearly that, according to the writer, the name Yahweh was not known to the patriarchs: when the Israelites hear of the ‘God of their fathers,’ they do not know what His name is, and ask to have it told them. This agrees with the predominant, and probably, when the narrative of E was in its original form, with the uniform, usage of E in Genesis. (In J the name Yahweh (Jehovah) is used consistently from the very beginning of the history, Gen 2:4 b, 5, &c.).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13 15. The name which, if asked, Moses is to give as that of the God who has sent him.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13 22. Moses’ second difficulty: his ignorance of the name of the God who has sent him. In reply, he is told what the name is; and is reassured with regard both to his being listened to by the Israelites ( v. 18a), and to his securing ultimately the deliverance of his people ( vv. 21 22). In ancient times, every deity had his own personal name; and it was of importance to know what this name was; for only if it were known, could the deity who bore it be approached in prayer and appealed to for help; the name was also often an indication of the nature and character of the deity whom it denoted. Cf. DB. v. 640 b ; also iv. 604 a , v. 181 a ; and see, for illustrations, L. R. Farnell, The Evolution of Religion (1905), pp. 184 192, Frazer, Golden Bough 2 , i. 441 ff.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

What is his name – The meaning of this question is evidently: By which name shall I tell them that the promise is confirmed? Each name of the Deity represented some aspect or manifestation of His attributes (compare the introduction to Genesis). What Moses needed was not a new name, but direction to use that name which would bear in itself a pledge of accomplishment. Moses was familiar with the Egyptian habit of choosing from the names of the gods that which bore specially upon the wants and circumstances of their worshippers, and this may have suggested the question which would be the first his own people would expect him to answer.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Exo 3:13

What shall I say unto them?

Ministerial difficulties to be anticipated, and how to overcome them

I. Ministers must anticipate difficulties in the performance of their life-mission.

1. Arising from prejudice in reference to the man.

2. Arising from scepticism in reference to the truth.

3. Arising from lethargy in reference to the mission.

II. To overcome these difficulties ministers must seek direction from God.

1. Divine recognition of ministerial difficulty. He will not reject any who seek His aid.

2. Divine sympathy with ministerial difficulty.

(1) Manifested by the gift of heavenly vision (Exo 3:2).

(2) Manifested by the gift of needful instruction (Exo 3:15-17).

(3) Manifested by the gift of holy companionships (Exo 3:12).

Such a manifestation of Divine sympathy ought to inspire every minister with spirit and fortitude for his work. They that are for him, are more than all that can be against him. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Why did Moses ask the name of God?

1.Not to instruct his ignorance. He had not forgotten God in Egypt.

2. Not to gratify his curiosity.

3. But to satisfy Israel.

Error has many gods, he therefore wanted to know how he might prove to the enslaved nation that he came in the name of the True One. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Lessons

1. It is good for a minister to know on whose business he is going.

2. Gods answer to one objection oftentimes begets another in His servants.

3. Dissatisfaction of men about Gods instruments is very probable.

4. Gods servants very reasonably expect that He will clear up all doubt as to His name, and their duty. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

What shalt I say unto them.-a question for the pulpit

I. Shall I say unto them truths that are in harmony with their depraved condition? No; ministers are not to preach doctrines in harmony with the depraved tastes of men–but to awaken them from their sin, by the proclamation of the Divine name and freedom.

II. Shall I give them an argumentative discourse? It would be necessary for Moses to convince the Israelites that he was divinely commissioned–and the chief use that a minister can make of logic is to prove the divinity of his call to the ministry.

III. Shall I give them a sensational discourse? Had Moses done this he might have aroused a wave of feeling, but it would soon have subsided into calm. The freedom of the nation would not have been achieved in this way. The sensational preachers of the world are not doing the most towards the moral freedom of the race.

IV. Shall I say unto them how clever i am? Moses had humbled himself before God. And men humble before God are generally so before their fellows. Ministers should not make a display of their learning-such conduct will never accomplish the freedom of souls.

V. Shall I tell them about the cross of jesus? Yes, replies the penitent sinner; that is what I want. Yes, replies the aged believer; that is the charm of my soul. Preach the Cross as the emancipation of the world. Not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

What to preach

I remember being asked by the late Dr. McLeod, who was head physician in one of the Government asylums, if I would preach to some of the inmates. What kind of men are they? I inquired. Oh, mostly sailors; and if you accept the invitation to preach to them, you must make up your mind to stand a good knock or two, perhaps even a blow in the face; but if you wish to make friends with them, you must take no notice of it. I am not a bit afraid of them, I replied; if they be sailors I shall speak to them as sailors, and I am sure they will not teach me.. I went and spoke to them. There was no attempt to molest me, but many of the poor fellows came up to me afterwards and thanked me for what I said. Some declared that what they liked about me was that I spoke to them as sailors. No one who had ever spoken to them before had done so. Their former visitors had seemed to believe all that they were told, that they were kings, dukes, and earls, but I had spoken to them as sailors, to their true selves, and though insane, they felt that I was speaking the truth. Similarly we must speak to sinners as being just what they are. (Christian Herald.)

God-directed speaking

A man in America died, who had long been renowned for wickedness. His intellectual abilities were of no mean order; his property was considerable, and he had belonged to a family of good position. By the practice of every kind of dissipation he had achieved an evil notoriety, and gloried in being considered the most fascinating and dangerous roue in the country. This being so, his associates resolved upon giving him a funeral worthy of his reputation. As one means of ensuring this, they invited one of the most eminent Presbyterian ministers in the region to deliver the funeral discourse. To the surprise of many, after some little hesitation, he consented. On the day and at the hour appointed the country church was crowded to overflowing by an assembly composed of the relatives, friends, and companions of the deceased, together with a mixed multitude drawn from far and near by curiosity to hear what such a minister could find to say of such a man. Punctual to the moment, the tall form of the clergyman ascended the pulpit, and the service began. There was first the reading of the Scriptures. Then followed a prayer, subdued and tender, for the family and relatives of the deceased. But the announcement of the text fell upon the assembly like a clap of thunder. It was from Luk 16:23 : And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments. The sermon was a most pungent and powerful exhibition of the character, course, and end of a wicked man. It held the assembly spellbound to the very last word; but there was in it not a single direct allusion to the person whose obsequies they had come there to celebrate. In silence and in deep solemnity the congregation dispersed after the service was finished. Some were indignant, but any attempt to excite odium against the preacher was a failure. It was generally thought that in what he had done he was governed by a sense of duty. He was said to have stated afterwards that when he was invited to preach on that occasion he had determined to decline, but, in answer to prayer, received a message which he believed to be from God–Go–and preach the preaching that I bid thee. (Christian Herald.)

Gods servants report Gods words

Words spoken on your own account, without reference to your Lord, will fall to the ground. When the footman goes to the door to answer a caller, he asks his master what he has to say, and he repeats what his master tells him. You and I are waiting-servants in the house of God, and we are to report what our God would have us speak. The Lord gives the soul-saving message, and clothes it with power: He gives it to a certain order of people, and under certain conditions. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Moses difficulty

If Moses had been rejected forty years before, what resistance and what objections might he not expect then? And when he should speak to them of the God of their fathers, and should say to them, I have seen Him; He has spoken to me, He has made promises to me, He has sent me to you, would they believe him, would they listen to him, would they understand him? It was thus that the apostles of Jesus Christ, when they went to gather together the people of God amid idolaters, had to encounter two classes of enemies; on the one hand, the emperors of Rome, the rich and powerful priests of the old religions, who had their gods, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and many more; on the other hand, the nations whom they were sent to convert: there was the greatest difficulty. Read the Acts of the Apostles, and you will readily perceive that the apostles impediments and persecutions came from the people more than from the emperors and the great men of the world. But do you fully understand the objection that Moses expected from the unbelief of the people? The Israelites had probably become idolaters by living among the Egyptians, who worshipped a great number of gods, each of which had its name, as Ammon, Isis, Osiris, Apis. They shall say to me, What is His name? Is He truly the God of our fathers? Has He said so to thee? We do not see Him; He has forsaken us. (Prof. Gaussen.)

A necessary inquiry

Before going on any of lifes great errands, we should know who has sent us, and what is the business on which we proceed. Inquiries of this kind will lead to a true apprehension of our position, and in not a few cases to a reversion of our daily course. What are you living for? You are hurrying and whirling forward at a tremendous rate, your brain teems upon conceptions, your hand hardly knows a moments rest, you pursue the bubble, you jostle and compete and envy, you flatter and are flattered, you hoard and you dispense. What does it all mean? Who sketched the map by which yon regulate your pilgrimage? What account can you give of yourself to those who ask the name of your guiding spirit? Take the subject in the light of every-day affairs, and the singular absurdity of not knowing on whose business you are engaged will instantly appear. You meet a traveller who is professedly engaged in business; you ask him what is his business, and he cannot answer; you ask him whose interests he represents, and no reply is forthcoming; you ask him whither he is bound, and he returns the inquiry with a look of vacancy;–to what conclusion can you come respecting such a person? You instantly feel that the man is a child, and that the child has gone astray. The same thing holds true in the deeper and vaster concerns of life; and he who is wisely and profoundly anxious to know on what basis he is proceeding in commercial transactions, should look beyond the mere detail, and face the great question–upon what principle is my intellectual, emotional, moral, and spiritual life proceeding? Oh man, be persuaded for a moment to tarry in thy impetuous course, and cross-examine thine own heart! Dont be deluded by the whirl and thunder and tempest of an outer life; mistake not commotion for progress, enthusiasm for regeneration, self-applause for the benediction of heaven! (J. Parker, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 13. They shall say – What is his name?] Does not this suppose that the Israelites had an idolatrous notion even of the Supreme Being? They had probably drank deep into the Egyptian superstitions, and had gods many and lords many; and Moses conjectured that, hearing of a supernatural deliverance, they would inquire who that God was by whom it was to be effected. The reasons given here by the rabbins are too refined for the Israelites at this time. “When God,” say they, “judgeth his creatures, he is called Elohim; when he warreth against the wicked, he is called Tsebaoth; but when he showeth mercy unto the world, he is called Yehovah.” It is not likely that the Israelites had much knowledge of God or of his ways at the time to which the sacred text refers; it is certain they had no written word. The book of Genesis, if even written, (for some suppose it had been composed by Moses during his residence in Midian,) had not yet been communicated to the people; and being so long without any revelation, and perhaps without even the form of Divine worship, their minds being degraded by the state of bondage in which they had been so long held, and seeing and hearing little in religion but the superstitions of those among whom they sojourned, they could have no distinct notion of the Divine Being. Moses himself might have been in doubt at first on this subject, and he seems to have been greatly on his guard against illusion; hence he asks a variety of questions, and endeavours, by all prudent means, to assure himself of the truth and certainty of the present appearance and commission. He well knew the power of the Egyptian magicians, and he could not tell from these first views whether there might not have been some delusion in this case. God therefore gives him the fullest proof, not only for the satisfaction of the people to whom he was to be sent, but for his own full conviction, that it was the supreme God who now spoke to him.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Since I must go to them in thy name, and thou hast variety of names and glorious titles, and some of them are ascribed to idols, not only by the Egyptians, but by too many of thy own people; what name shall I use, whereby both thou mayest be distinguished from false gods, and thy people may be encouraged to expect deliverance from thee?

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And Moses said unto God,…. Having received full satisfaction to his objection, taken from his own unfitness for such a service, and willing to have his way quite clear unto him, and his commission appear firm and valid to his people, he proceeds to observe another difficulty that might possibly arise:

when I come unto the children of Israel: out of Midian into Egypt;

and shall say unto them, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; with a message to them to receive him as his ambassador and their deliverer:

and they shall say unto me, what is his name? a question it was probable they would ask, not through ignorance, since in their distress they had called upon the name of the Lord, and cried unto him for help and deliverance; but either to try Moses, and what knowledge he had of God: or there being many names by which he had made himself known; and especially was wont to make use of a new name or title when he made a new appearance, or any eminent discovery of himself, they might be desirous of knowing what was the present name he took:

what shall I say unto them? what name shall I make mention of?

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

When Moses had been thus emboldened by the assurance of divine assistance to undertake the mission, he inquired what he was to say, in case the people asked him for the name of the God of their fathers. The supposition that the people might ask the name of their fathers’ God is not to be attributed to the fact, that as the Egyptians had separate names for their numerous deities, the Israelites also would want to know the name of their own God. For, apart from the circumstance that the name by which God had revealed Himself to the fathers cannot have vanished entirely from the memory of the people, and more especially of Moses, the mere knowledge of the name would not have been of much use to them. The question, “What is His name?” presupposed that the name expressed the nature and operations of God, and that God would manifest in deeds the nature expressed in His name. God therefore told him His name, or, to speak more correctly, He explained the name , by which He had made Himself known to Abraham at the making of the covenant (Gen 15:7), in this way, , “ I am that I am, ” and designated Himself by this name as the absolute God of the fathers, acting with unfettered liberty and self-dependence. This name precluded any comparison between the God of the Israelites and the deities of the Egyptians and other nations, and furnished Moses and his people with strong consolation in their affliction, and a powerful support to their confidence in the realization of His purposes of salvation as made known to the fathers. To establish them in this confidence, God added still further: “ This is My name for ever, and My memorial unto all generations; ” that is to say, God would even manifest Himself in the nature expressed by the name Jehovah, and by this He would have all generations both know and revere Him. , the name, expresses the objective manifestation of the divine nature; , memorial, the subjective recognition of that nature on the part of men. , as in Exo 17:16 and Pro 27:24. The repetition of the same word suggests the idea of uninterrupted continuance and boundless duration ( Ewald, 313 a). The more usual expression is , Deu 32:7; Psa 10:6; Psa 33:11; or , Psa 72:5; Psa 102:25; Isa 51:8.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Verses 13, 14:

In spite of God’s reassurance Moses continued to doubt the validity of the Divine call. He remembered his earlier rejection by his brethren. He feared a repetition of this. He asked for the Name of the One sending him, that he might identify Him to Israel’s elders. That Name is: “I AM THAT I AM,” literally “I WILL BE THAT I WILL BE.” This denotes real, perfect, continual and unconditional existence. “I AM” is the abbreviated form, conveying the same meaning.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

13. Behold, when I come to the children of Israel. If we believe that Moses spoke his own sentiments here, he would say, that he could not be the messenger of an unknown God; which seems highly improbable. For who can think that the faith of the holy Prophet was so obliterated, that he was forgetful of the true God, whom he had devoutly served? Whereas, in the name of his elder son, he had borne witness to his solemn recollection of Him, when he voluntarily professed himself a stranger in the land of Midian. Nor does it appear at all more suitable to the children of Israel, in whose mouths the covenant made with their fathers constantly was. It will not, however, be far from the truth, if we suppose that the faith both of Moses and the Israelites had grown somewhat faint and rusty. He himself, with his father-in-law, was altogether without the instruction which would retain him in that peculiar worship, and in that knowledge, which he had imbibed in Egypt; and the whole people had departed far away from the course of their fathers; for although the brightness of the true and ancient religion was not entirely gone, still it only shone in small sparks. But whilst Moses tacitly confesses his ignorance, because he was not sufficiently familiar with the doctrine handed down from the holy patriarchs, yet because he was about to present himself to the people as a stranger, he infers that he shall be rejected, unless he brings with him some watchword which will be acknowledged. “I will declare that which thou commandest, (he seems to say,) that I am sent by the God of our fathers; but they will deride and despise my mission, unless I shall present some surer token, from whence they may learn that I have not falsely made use of thy name.” He therefore seeks for a name which may be a distinguishing mark; since it is not a mere word or syllable which is here in question, but a testimony, by which he may persuade the Israelites that they are heard on the score of the covenant with their fathers.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

ILLUSTRATIONS

Exo. 3:14. Tully relateth how Simonides, being asked by Hiero, the king of Sicily, what God was, desired one day to consider of it; and after one day being past, having not yet found it out, desired two days more to consider of it; and, after two days, he desired three; and to conclude, he had at length no other answer to return unto the king but this that the more he thought upon it, the more he might; for the further he waded in the search thereof, the further he was from the finding of it. And thus Plato: What God is, saith he, that I know not; what He is not, that I know. Most certain it is that God only, in regard of Himself, knows Himself as dwelling in the light inaccessible, whom never man saw neither can see. Here, now, the well is not only deep, but we want a bucket to draw withal. God is infinite and never to be comprehended essentially. Oh, then, that we could so much the more long to enjoy Him, by how much less we are able to apprehend Him [Spencer].

Though the sun is the source and fountain of light, there is little good in gazing at the sun, except to get blinded. No one over saw the better for looking the sun directly in the face. It is a childs trick, grown up people know better. We use the light which the sun gives, to see by, and to search into all thingsthe sun excepted. Him we cannot explore, beyond what he reveals of himself in the light and heat which he sheds upon us, and in the colours by which he is reflected from the earth. There is no searching of the sun, our eyes are too weak. How much less can we search the suns Creator, before whom the myriads of suns are but as so many cloud bodies! His revelation of Himself in His works and in His word, in His Son and in our souls, is more than enough for us. Persons who dare to go as they say in a directer way to Himself, are like children looking at the sun, who, instead of getting more light and better eyes, get less light and an infatuated eye [J. Pulsford].

Hilary, an ancient Christian writer, says these words charmed him, and gave him a high opinion of Moses, before he became a Christian, there being nothing so proper to describe God by as this name [Orton].

Many heathens, copying from this expression, have inscribed it, or something like it, on their temples. On the Delphic temple was inscribed, according to Plutarch, the Greek word El, which signifies Thou dost exist. [Howe].

Who ever conceived a more beautiful illustration of this sublime text than the following by Bishop Beveridge,I am. He doth not say, I am their light, their guide, their strength, or tower, but only I am. He sets His hand, as it were to a blank, that His people may write under it what they please that is good for them. As if He should say, Are they weak? I am strength. Are they poor? I am all riches. Are they in trouble? I am comfort. Are they sick? I am health. Are they dying? I am life. Have they nothing? I am all things. I am wisdom and power. I am justice and mercy. I am grace and goodness. I am glory, beauty, holiness, eminency, supremacy, perfection, all sufficiency, eternity! Jehovah, I am! Whatever is amiable in itself, or desirable unto them, that I am. Whatever is pure and holy, whatsoever is great and pleasant, whatsoever is good or needful to make men happy,that I am.

When God would teach mankind His name,
He calls Himself the great, I am,
And leaves a blank; believers may

Supply those things for which they pray.

Exo. 3:17. Like as, if a man were assured there were made for him a great purchase in Spain or Turkey, so, as if he would but come thither, he might enjoy it, he would not forbear to adventure the dangers of the sea, and of his enemies also, if need were, that so he might come to his own; even so, seeing that Christ Jesus hath made a purchase for us in heaven and there is nothing required of us, but that we will come and enjoy it, we ought to refuse no pains or fear in the way, but carefully strive to get in [Cawdray].

CRITICAL NOTES.

Exo. 3:14. I am] That this Divine declaration is an exposition of the meaning of the great and gracious name, JEHOVAH, must be obvious at a glance over the context. From this follows the need of all possible care to understand the exposition itself as it falls from the mouth of God, and is here recorded for our instruction. Let us briefly state the essential pointswith all reverence, while yet, as far as possible, with due freedom from the yoke of timid tradition.

(1.) What is the radical meaning of the root ha-yahthe great verb of the sentence? Usage decides that, in the language of Dr. J. W. Donaldson (Heb. Gram. p. 59), ha-yah is essentially a verb of becoming: not merely of coming into being, but coming into relationship, i.e. becoming this or that to some one. We may say, in brief, that it primarily means (a) of personsTO BECOME; (b) of eventsTO COME TO PASS; the concordance will prove this. Then

(2.) What is the force of the tense in wh. ha-yah here twice appears? Eh-yeh is the imperfect tense of ha-yah; i.e., as that tense is understood by the best Heb. scholars (Ewald. Roediger, Driver, Prof. A. B. Davidson), imperfect in the broad sense of the incomplete, the incoming tensethe incipient (Murphy) Applied to the verb under consideration, this tense yields the following rendering: I am becoming, or, I will become. As our future suits well here, let us say, simply, I will become. Then the declaration will run: I will become what I will become.

(3.) Nothing, surely, cd. exceed the sweetness, the fitness, and the simple grandeur of the clause when thus rendered. (a) It is full of promise: I will becometo Israel, disheartened, timidwhat I will becomeall that it is in my heart to become to them, all that they need. Their redemption is in me; and, therefore, out of the fulness of my nature, shall it be unfolded act by act, step by step, stage by stage. Not apart from me can they enjoy it. I must work it out for themin themthrough them: drawing them ever nearer to myself coming ever nearer to thembecoming more and more to them. The promise is unlimited. And, further, though we can scarcely realise its richness without some attempt at paraphrase, yet (b) it is very general, to the verge of vaguenessa vagueness, however, adapted to elicit faith. It seems to say: Trust me; leave the future in my hands: I will become to you more than you can yet know: I will become what I will become.

(4.) How does this exposition of the Name prepare us for the Name itself? For we assume the now generally admitted derivation of JEHOVAH (more exactly, YAHWEH) as the third person singular imperfect of ha-wah, an old form = to hah-yah; and thus conclude that the Name literally gathers into itself the force of the previous Divine announcement. In other words, we take YAHWEH to mean: He who is becomingpurposes to becomewill become = The Becoming One. In this way we have first the verb repeated in a clause; then the verb once by itself; lastly the noun, cognate with the verb: God said unto Moses, Ehyeh asher ehyeh, I will become what I will become. Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Ehyeh, I will become, hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Yakweh, The Becoming One, God of your fathers, &c., hath sent me unto you. Well might the gracious Promiser add: This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. Must not that Name relate to us through which God will be remembered by us?

Possibly the evangelical German expositors have not expressed themselves in precisely the above manner in their exegesis of this great matter; but how fully they have led the way to our main conclusions may be seen in the following extracts from Kurtz: Jehovah is the God of development, who Himself enters into the development, condescends into it, embodies Himself and co-operates in it, in order to conduct it safely to its destined goal. Ha-yah is equivalent to , , ; it indicates concrete, not abstract beingsuch being as makes its appearance, manifests itself in history, and, so to speak, becomes historical. This meaning comes out more fully and prominently in the imperfect form of the name derived from it. Hence is God outwardly manifesting Himself, revealing Himself, living, working, and reigning in history, ever unfolding there, more and more, His character and being. (Hist. O. Cov. I. i. sec. 13.)

It remains only to say that even if Yah-weh be considered as formed in the conjugation Hiphil (as, with this pronunciation. Dr. B. Davies seems to think it must) the substance of the above account will remain untouched. The fullest possible justice would be done to that causative conjugation by rendering the name, He who brings to pass = The Fulfiller. In point of fact, He BRINGS TO PASS His purposes by Himself BECOMING all that He designs to BECOME. However, Dr. Kalisch considers the name, pronounced YAH-WEH, as formed in Kal; thus, in this matter, fully sustaining our primary explanation.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 3:13-18

MINISTERIAL DIFFICULTIES TO BE ANTICIPATEDAND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM

I. That ministers must anticipate difficulties in the performance of their life mission. (Exo. 3:13.)

1. Arising from prejudice in reference to the man. Moses felt that he would be liable to the prejudice of Israelthrough his residence in the palace of Pharaoh, and his supposed connection with a despotic government. He had not shared their bondagethey would prefer one as the leader of their destinies, who had been more thoroughly identified with their condition of woe. Moses anticipates these difficulties, and asks the Lord how he should reply to them. So ministers of the gospel have to combat innumerable prejudicesof trutheducationcapriciousweakhence the difficulty of their work. They must be divinely commissioned to overcome them.

2. Arising from scepticism in reference to the truth. Moses feared that the Israelites would not credit the doctrine of freedom he had to proclaim to them. They would rather remind him of Pharaohs army, and the impossibility of their escape. Moses would find great difficulty in getting them to believe in the promise and power of God. So, ministers to-day have a large amount of scepticism to overcome, in relation to the apparent difficulties of the truth they preach. They must exhibit their Divine credentials.

3. Arising from lethargy in reference to the mission. Moses found the Israelites in a state of utter destitutionmorally weakincapable of great effortalmost willing to die, rather than live. He would have great difficulty in awakening them to action, equal to the requirements of the caseand to secure their co-operation. So, it is with ministers of the gospel. They comepreach to men, who are inervated by sinto arouse them to a sense of their manhoodto seek their co-operation in the mission of freedom they announce. The moral weaknessindolence of men is the greatest difficulty the true minister has to contend with.

II. That to overcome these difficulties, ministers must seek direction from God (Exo. 3:13). That God will give this direction is seen from:

1. The Divine recognition of ministerial difficulty. The Divine Being admitted all that Moses had said about the difficulty of his mission to Israel. No word of reproach was utteredno rebuke expressedbut directions were given in response thereto. Equally does God recognize the perplexity a, ministerial lifehence He will not reject any who seek His aid.

2. The Devine Sympathy with ministerial difficulty. (i.) Manifested by the gift of heavenly vision (Exo. 3:2.) (ii). Manifested by the gift of needful instruction (Exo. 3:15-17). (iii). Manifested by the gift of holy companionships (Exo. 3:12). Such a manifestation of divine sympathy ought to inspire every minister with spirit and fortitude for his work. They that are for him, are more than all that can be against him.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Exo. 3:13. But Moses puts another question; for the human heart is full of questions [C.H.M.]

It is clear that Moses anticipated the greatest difficulties from the degenerate condition of his countrymen.
Why did Moses ask the name of God?

1. Not to instruct his ignorance. He had not forgotten God in Egypt.
2. Not to gratify his curiosity.
3. But to satisfy Israel. Error has many Gods, he therefore wanted to know how he might prove to the enslaved nation that he came in the name of the true One.

It is good for a minister to know on whose business he is going.
Gods answer to one objection oftentimes begets another in His servants.
Dissatisfaction of men about Gods instruments is very probable.
Gods servants very reasonably expect that He will clear up all doubt as to His name, and their duty.

A QUESTION FOR THE PULPIT

I. What shall I say unto them? Shall I say unto them truths that are in harmony with their depraved condition? Moses might have told the Israelites to remain peaceful in their bondageto make the best of their circumstancesthat they were not responsible for their situationit being the fault of their ancestors for coming to Egypt. He might have told them not to trouble about any effort for freedomas it would require timemeansarmiesbeyond their command. And perhaps many of the Israelitesalthough they would feel the sorrow of of bondagemight think his advice wise. But no; he went to them with the tidings of freedom. The pulpit may take a pattern here, not to preach doctrines in harmony with the depraved tastes of menbut to awaken them from their sin, by the proclamation of the Divine Name and freedom.

II. What shall I say unto them? Shall I give them an argumentative discourse? It would be necessary for Moses to convince the Israelites that he was divinely commissionedand the chief use that a minister can make of logic, is to prove the divinity of his call to the ministry. This once proved to Israelthey will be ready to follow him. So, congregations will hold but little argument with a man whom they feel to be called to free them from the power of sinthey will follow him. His heart speaks to them.

III. What shall I say unto them? Shall I give them a sensational discourse? Had Moses gone to the Israelites in this way, I would not have given much for his real success. He might have got his name up. He would have attracted a few wearied slaves to himself. He might have aroused a wave of feeling, but it would soon have subsided into calm. The freedom of the nation would not have been achieved in this way. The sensational preachers of the world, are not doing the most towards the moral freedom of the race.

IV. What shall I say unto them? Shall I say unto them how clever I am? Moses might have told the Israelites that he had spent so many years in the Egyptian collegesthat he had been brought up in a palace. But he did not. He would never have achieved the freedom of Israel if he had adopted this course. He had humbled himself before God. And men humble before God, are generally so before their fellows. Ministers should not make a display of their learningsuch conduct will never accomplish the freedom of souls.

V. What shall I say unto them? Shall I tell them about the Cross of Jesus? Yes; replies the penitent sinner that is what I want Yes, replies the-aged believer, that is the charm of my Soul. Let ministers preach the Cross as the emancipation of the world. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord.

THE DIVINE NAME

Exo. 3:14.

I. As only revealed by the Divine Being Himself. Only God can give a revelation of His namecharacterattributeswill. Human reason cannot, by searching, find out God. The human heart may search for Godbut unaided, will never find Him. He that dwelleth in the bushthat calleth His servant to arduous toilmust speakmust make himself knownor the world will be eternally ignorant of His name.

II. As only partially understood by the grandest intelleces. Although we have such an abundant revelation of the name of Godhow little of it is comprehended by man. It appears to us as the faint glimmering of a light placed in the cottage window on a dark night. God is mystery. Mans intellect can read the histories of the stars, can trace the wonders of the globebut, at the threshold of Heavens temple, it must bow in reverent acknowledgment of its inability to understand the things presented to its vision.

III. As sufficiently comprehended for the practical service of the Christian life. Moses did not fully understand the meaning of the revelation given to him of Godyet he recognised sufficient for his mission to Israel. He could speak the name of Godand that name, vocal on a human lip, has a power to inspire and free the slave. All ministerial power lay in the utterance and hope of the Divine Name: it touches human heartsawakens solemn thoughtsand makes men think of destinies. We know enough of God to give strengthresponsibilityhopeto our Christian work and life.

God announces Himself:

1. As personal.
2. As independent.
3. As self-existent.
4. Immutable.
5. What an element of sublimity this imparts to the mission of Christian service.
6. What an inspiration it furnishes for the toils of life.
7. How superior to any gods of the Egyptians.

The true knowledge Of God is the power of deliverance to the enslaved. The revelation that a greater than Pharaoh cared for them was to be the stimulus to snap their fetters and be free. Nothing but a true knowledge of God will ever move men to fight against corrupt principles, vicious practices, evil habits. We are creatures of love and faith, and need something to move our faith into vigorous exercise; we need an unchanging object worthy of our love. This is life eternal, to know Theethe only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent [Homilist].

Gods reply is at hand to show His name unto those that seek to know it.
Perfect Beingthe cause of all other beingis the name of God.
Gods Being, well-known and considered, is enough to answer all objections.
It is good for Gods servants to go out to duty under the protection of His name.

Exo. 3:15. Gods will is that He makes revelation to His instruments that they may make them known to the Church.

The first general cognizance of covenant relation to a Church was to the Fathers of Israel.
The relation of God to Fathers is declared for the comfort of children.
That we are commissioned by God is enough for men to know about our mission.

I. An eternal name.

II. An eternal memorial.

Exo. 3:16. The wisdom of gathering the few; or the considerateness of the Divine Being in reference to the mission of His servants:

I. This would be the most effective method of enlightening the mind of the nation in reference to the Divine intention. Moses was to gather the elders of Israel togethernot the elders as regards agebut the officers and influential men. The nation was not without these while in Egypt, as would appear from (Exo. 5:14.)

1. This afforded Moses a good opportunity for personal explanations. Moses would have greater influence with these few elders than with the nation at large. The respect he had paid in thus calling them to be the first recipients of his messagetheir intuitive feeling that what he said was truetheir superior intelligencecandourattentionwould give him a splendid opportunity for impressing them with the needrealitysuccess of his mission. Thus a gathering of this kind would admit of explanations so helpful at the commencement of all great enterprises, to remove suspicion and avert peril.

2. It was a good precaution against the ignorance and fanaticism of the common people. The elders would be amongst the most judicious men of the nationwould therefore not only be able to enter into the important matter requiring their attention, but would have influence with their comrades; and hence, if they accepted the proposal of Moses, the nation at large would be more likely to do so. Had he carried the Divine message immediately to the enslaved peopleapparently alonewithout armywithout sceptreit would have aroused their indignation, their rejection; they would have derided his pretensionshis dream of freedom; they would have regarded him as a fanatican impostor. But all this opposition was averted by calling the eldersand making them the medium of appeal to the nationand his companions in the effort of liberation. The more agencies a man can bring into his life work the better.

II. It would be the most effective method of gaining the sympathy of the nation. Moses was a comparative stranger to the Israelites. The elders were well known to themwere associated with the traditions of their religious lifehad shared their persecutionwere one with them in all the phases of life. They would, therefore, be far more likely to win the sympathy and help of the Israelites than Moses. He would have to influence them from without, they from within. They can previously educate their thought to the idea of freedom, then the nation will be ready to welcome any Moses who will work it out into history. All great workers should be judicious in their movement.

III. It would thus be the most effective method of working out the Divine project in reference to the nation.

1. How considerate of the Divine Being to give Moses this idea of working. Moses would have spent hours in devising the best method of approaching the Israelitesand after all might have been most injudicious in his arrangements. But there are times when God tells a good man how to do his workcompassionatehelpfulthe secret of success. Many men will not listen to the Divine instructions. This is the occasion of the great failure of so much religious energy.

2. How numerous are the agencies put in motion for the performance of Divine projects. God is the source of all commissions for the moral good of man. He calls Mosestells Moses to call the elders. God empowers His ministers to awaken new instrumentalities for the good of the enslaved world.

3. All great workers may find a pattern here. Not to trust their new and divine enterprises to the tide of popular opinionstorms may gathermay be wrecked. Launch them first on the more tranquil waters of the fewafterwards they will be more likely to weather the national gale. Let men in authority, knowing the influence they possess, take care to welcome all men of heavenly commission, and themselves to set a good example to the public.

This was a greater honour done to the Patriarchs than if God had written their names in the visible heavens, to be lead of all men [Trapp].

The Divine commands require the obedience of all who know the Divine name.
The Divine errands require despatch.
Gods will is that all His servants Should declare His name as their Divine warrant.
Jehovah, the God of Abraham alone can warrant good men in their work.
When God appears it is generally to make known some deliverance for His people. Divine visitations:

1. Penal.
2. Judicial.
3. Merciful.

An inferior motive for a Religious Life.

Exo. 3:17.

I. Some people are religious because they hope thereby to be saved from affliction. I will bring you out of the affliction of Egypt.

1. They hope to escape the affliction of a bad name.

2. They hope to escape the affliction of a retributive providence.

3. They hope to escape the affliction of moral banishment from God.

II. Other people are religious because they hope thereby to better their condition, and gain greater enjoyment. Unto a land flowing with milk and honey:

1. Because they imagine religion will free them from slavery.

2. Because they imagine religion will give them an advantage over their enemies.

3. Because they imagine religion will give them rich possession.

III. That while the land flowing with milk and honey may be one motive for a religious life, the superior is love to God and moral freedom.

At Gods own will, He changeth His church from bondage and misery to enlargement and plenty. The resolution of Divine mercy:

1. Awakens instruments to convey its message.
2. Prepares Churches to welcome its tidings.
3. The giving of a new impulse to history.

The encouragement God gives to Christian workers:

1. Divine aid in the work,
2. Bright hope in their future.
3. Glad success in their toil.

A happy residence:

1. A land of plenty.
2. A land of beauty.
3. A land of promise.
4. A land of freedom.
5. A land of rest.
6. A land typical of heaven.

Exo. 3:18. Now let us go, we beseech thee. We see here the opportunity God gives men to be virtuous. Pharaoh was asked to let Israel go:

1. That he might have the credit of a good action.
2. That he might take the responsibility of a bad action.
3. That he might render just any calamity that came upon him.
4. That he might shew the real nature of his character.
5. The Divine Being could have wrought the freedom of Israel without the consent of Pharaoh, but He did not, for the foregoing reasons.

The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us. The Divine wish was the only reason assigned to Pharaoh for the outgoing of Israel.

1. Not the wish of the enslaved nation.
2. Not that his predecessors had murdered their children.
3. Not that he had no right to detain them.
4. The Divine claim must take precedence of any human. And now let us go, we beseech thee, three days journey into the wilderness. Why are only three days named?

1. That, if they went further Pharaoh had no right to complain, they not being his subjects.
2. This was all that God revealed unto Pharaoh, reserving His good pleasure till afterwards.
3. That in refusing so small a request, his obstinacy might appear the greater, especially after the service Israel had rendered him.

SACRIFICE IN THE WILDERNESS

I. It would have shewn the willingness of a freed man to worship God anywhere.

In the wildernesswith poor supply of animals for sacrificial purposes. After tired by a three days journey, just out from bondageyet they were to worship God. Cannot we sacrifice to God in the varied scenes of life after the hard toils of the day, especially after freedom from sin?

II. It would have shewn the need of rendering gratitude to God for what would have been a merciful interposition. They would have been away from Pharaohslavery behind them; they would have been freegreeted by the joyful appearances of nature. To sacrifice would have been their duty; it is ours.

III. It would have evinced the return of a better manhood. No longer idolatersthey would have sacrificed to the true God. It is Gods work to make men hear and obey the message of salvation He sends to them.

Upon Gods encouragement the instruments and subjects of redemption must move thereunto.
Hearts wrought upon by God not merely hearken, but use means for deliverance.
Under Gods commission His oppressed ones shall face their oppressor.
Gods message must never be withheld from oppressors.
The Lord owns His people under their most despised name, Hebrews.
God will have His people use humble address, even to their persecutors.
Liberty is to be sought by the good

1. It is commanded by God.
2. He raiseth instruments for its accomplishment.
3. No man has a right to enslave them.
4. It is necessary to the duties of our religious life.

God, who can command all from tyrants, is pleased to order His people to beg small things.
Wilderness service is desired by God rather than mixtures with Egypt.
The end of all deliverance to the Church is Gods worship.
Man can largely hinder his neighbour from a convenient worship of God.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

(13) What is his name?In Egypt, and wherever polytheism prevailed, every god had, as a matter of course, a name. Among the Israelites hitherto God had been known only by titles, as El or Elohim, the Lofty One; Shaddai, the Powerful; Jahveh, or Jehovah, the Existent. These titles were used with some perception of their meaning; no one of them had as yet passed into a proper name. Moses, imagining that the people might have become so far Egyptianised as to be no longer content with this state of things, asks God by what name he shall speak of Him to them. Who shall he say has appeared to him?

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

13. His name Now he desires to look at his commission, and asks, What is His name. With the Hebrews proper names were not simply labels attached to individuals they were significant they indicated character. So the change from Jacob to Israel from Abram to Abraham indicated change of character and relation. So when Jacob pleaded with the Angel, “Tell me thy name,” he meant “Reveal thy character.” Name is thus constantly used by the Scripture writers to mean a cluster of attributes. To praise God’s name, is to adore the holiness, justice, truth, signified by that name. To profane it, is to slight his character, his person. We pray through Christ’s name; that is, through his character and work as Redeemer. At successive epochs of revelation God has revealed himself by different names to set forth different phases of his glorious character, and he promises to write upon the redeemed at last “his new name,” that is, to show them glories in his character which can never be seen till then. Moses asks, then, in this question, What new phase of God’s character is to be revealed? God replies by unfolding afresh the true significance of a name which had long been known, at least to a few, but whose meaning was now to be stamped anew by wondrous works into the national consciousness.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Exo 3:13. Shall say to me, What is his name? &c. Bishop Warburton judiciously observes, that “at this time, so great was the degeneracy of the Israelites in Egypt, and so sensible was Moses of its effects, in ignorance of, or alienation from, the true God, that he would willingly have declined the office; and, when absolutely commanded to undertake it, he desired that God would let him know, by what NAME he would be called, when the people should ask the name of the God of their fathers. In which we see a people, not only lost to all knowledge of the UNITY, (for the asking for a name necessarily implied their opinion of a plurality,) but likewise possessed with the very spirit of Egyptian idolatry. The religion of NAMES was a matter of great consequence in Egypt: it was one of their essential superstitions: it was one of their native inventions; and the first of them which they communicated to the Greeks. A NAME was so peculiar an adjunct to a local, tutelary deity, that we see, by a passage quoted by Lactantius, from the spurious books of Trismegist, (which, however, abounded with Egyptian notions and superstitions,) that the one Supreme God had no name, or title of distinction. Zechariah, evidently alluding to these notions, when he prophesies of the worship of the Supreme God, unmixed with idolatry, says, in that day shall there be one Lord, and HIS NAME ONE, Zec 14:9. Out of indulgence, therefore, to this weakness, God was pleased to give himself a NAME. And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you: where we may observe, according to the constant method of Divine Wisdom, when it condescends to the prejudices of men, how, in the very instance of indulgence to their superstition, he gives a corrective of it. The religion of names arose from an idolatrous polytheism; and the name here given, which implies eternity and self-existence, directly opposeth that superstition.”

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

If we spiritualize this in all our undertakings we shall never go forth to any service until we have first gone forth to a throne of grace. Eze 2:7 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Moses Excuses Himself

Exo 3:13-14

The wisdom of Moses is seen in the nature of the inquiry which he proposed. He was resolved not to go a warfare at his own charges. Every man should know upon whose business he is going in life. Who is sending me? is an inquiry which a man should put to himself before venturing upon any course that is doubtful, hazardous, or experimental. Moses wished to be able to identify the personal authority of his mission. It was not enough to have a message, he must also know the name of the Author. There are some doctrines which are independent of personality; there are others which depend upon personality for their authority and beneficence. Amongst the latter are all religious doctrines and appeals. The Giver is greater than the gift. The Speaker is greater than the speech. To know the Speaker is to have deep insight into the meaning of the words spoken. The answer returned to Moses was the sublimest reply ever made to reverent inquiry. God announces himself as Personal, Independent, Self-existent. There is no word to qualify or limit his personality it is, so to speak, pure being it is infinite life it is the fountain out of which all other lives start on their little course. Mark the comprehensiveness of the name. It relates not only to being, but to character, to self-completeness; it is the ONE life which can live without dependence and without society. The element of sublimity must be found in religion; the measure of the sublimity is the measure of the condescension. A man proceeding to his work under the influence of such a revelation as was granted to Moses must be superior to hardship and triumphant in the presence of difficulty. A man’s inspiration should always be in excess of the duty which is imposed upon him. The inspired man descends upon his work and conducts his service with an overplus of power; but he whose inspiration falls below his duty toils fretfully and unsuccessfully, and eventually becomes the prey of the spirit of the hireling. It is here that the Christian worker actually triumphs in his labour, and rejoices even in persecution and tribulation: God the Holy Ghost is in him, and so the whole tone of his life is infinitely superior to the influences which seek to distract his attention and baffle his energy. In the absence of God the Holy Ghost, Christian service becomes a toil, and ends in failure and mortification: but under the influence of the life-giving and light-giving Spirit of God, sorrow itself is turned into joy.

Notwithstanding this revelation, Moses was unable to overcome his infirmity; he still doubted, as well indeed he might, in the presence of such a vocation as had probably never been addressed to man. Let us listen to his excuses, and we shall see how unbecoming it would be on our part to sneer at a man upon whom the Divine burden pressed so heavily. Moses himself was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, nor did he doubt the authority with which he had been charged; but a difficulty presented itself from the other side. Moses thus puts the case:

“And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee” ( Exo 4:1 ).

Human distrust is a difficulty which every preacher, teacher, and holy labourer has to encounter. All great movements are carried by consent of parties. God himself cannot re-establish moral order without the concurrence of the powers that have rebelled against his rule. Moses had difficulty to fear on the side of Israel, as well as on the side of Pharaoh. His message was to be addressed, in the first instance, to the children of Israel. The tidings of their proposed deliverance might be too much for their faith. They had been the sufferers of so many terrors and disappointments, they had been so long buried in the darkness of despair, that the gospel of emancipation might appear to them to be but a mocking dream. What if they should hear the message of Moses, and treat it in a spirit of unbelief? The suggestion of Moses was not at all unreasonable. He will work none the less effectively for putting these preliminary inquiries, provided he does not carry them to the point of excess. So long as they come out of a humble and reverent spirit, God will answer them with gracious patience; but should they become degraded into mere excuses, or discover a cowardly spirit, the patience of God will become a flame of judgment. After all, the spiritual labourer has less to do with the unbelief of his hearers than with the instruction and authority of God. We have to ascertain what God the Lord would have us say, and then to speak it simply, distinctly, and lovingly, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear. The preacher must prepare himself for having doubts cast upon his authority; and he must take care that his answer to such doubts is as complete as the authority itself. God alone can give the true answer to human doubt. We are not to encounter scepticism with merely ingenious replies and clever arguments, but in the power and grace of the living God.

Moses, having being furnished with signs by which to convince the children of Israel that he was the messenger of God sent to redeem them from the oppression of Egypt, might be supposed to be fully qualified for his mission. Surely, there is now an end of inquiry and debate upon his part. Not so, however; Moses fell back upon his own unworthiness.

“And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say” ( Exo 4:10-12 ).

Moses has now descended from the high level of the argument, and narrowed the case into one of mere human personality. He has forgotten the promise, “Certainly I will be with thee.” The moment we get away from Divine promise and forget great principles, we narrow all controversy and degrade all service. Self-consciousness is the ruin of all vocations. Let a man look into himself, and measure his work by himself, and the movement of his life will be downward and exhaustive. Let him look away from himself to the Inspirer of his life, and the Divine reward of his labours, and he will not so much as see the difficulties which may stand ever so thickly in his way. Think of Moses turning his great mission into a question which involved his own eloquence! All such reasoning admits of being turned round upon the speaker as a charge of foolish if not of profane vanity. See how the argument stands: “I am not eloquent, and therefore this mission cannot succeed in my hands,” is equivalent to saying, “I am an eloquent man, and, therefore, this undertaking must be crowned with signal success.” The work had nothing whatever to do with the eloquence or ineloquence of Moses. It was not to be measured or determined by his personal gifts: the moment, therefore, that he turned to his individual talents, he lost sight of the great end which he was called instrumentally to accomplish. How sublime is the rebuke of God! Cannot the Maker of man’s mouth touch with eloquence the lips which he has fashioned? What is human eloquence but the expression of Divine music? Pedantic rhetoricians may fashion rules of their own for the refinement of human speech, but he who waits diligently upon God, and whose purpose is to know the will of God that he may speak it to men, will be entrusted with an eloquence rhythmic as the sea, and startling as the thunder. Rhetoric is the gift of God. Eloquence is not a merely human attainment. The secret of convincing and persuasive speech is put into the hearts of those who forget themselves in their homage to God and truth. Moreover, God condescended so far to the weakness of Moses as to find for him a coadjutor in his mission to the children of Israel and to the king of Egypt. Aaron could speak well. Moses was a thinker; Aaron was a speaker. Aaron was to be to Moses instead of a mouth, and Moses was to be to Aaron instead of God. Thus one man has to be the complement of another. No one man has all gifts and graces. The ablest and best of us cannot do without our brother. There is to be a division of labour in the great work of conquering the world for God. The thinker works; so does the speaker, so does the writer. We are a chain; not merely isolated links; we belong to one another, and only by fraternal and zealous cooperation can we secure the great results possible to faith and labour. Some men are fruitful of suggestion. They have wondrous powers of indication: but there their special power ends. Other men have great gifts of expression; they can put thoughts into the best words; they have the power of music; they can charm, fascinate, and persuade. Such men are not to undervalue one another; they are to co-operate as fellow-labourers in the kingdom of God.

Here we leave the region of the miraculous and come into relations with which we are painfully familiar. Man excusing himself from duty is a familiar picture. It is not a picture indeed; it is a personal experience. How inventive we are in finding excuses for not doing the will of God! How falsely modest we can become! depreciating ourselves, and putting ourselves before God in a light in which we could never consent to be put before society by the criticism of others. Is not this a revelation of the human heart to itself? We only want to walk in paths that are made beautiful with flowers, and to wander by streams that lull us by their own tranquillity. Nerve, and pluck, and force we seem to have lost. In place of the inventiveness of love we have the inventiveness of reluctance or distaste. It should be our supreme delight to find reasons for co-operating with God, and to fortify ourselves by such interpretations of circumstances as will plainly show us that we are in the right battle, fighting on the right side, and wielding the right weapon. The possibility of self-deception is one of the most solemn of all subjects. I cannot question the sincerity of Moses in enumerating and massing all the difficulties of his side of the case. He meant every word that he said. It is not enough to be sincere; we must have intelligence and conscience enlightened and enlarged. Mistakes are made about this matter of sincerity; the thing forgotten being that sincerity is nothing in itself, everything depending upon the motive by which it is actuated and the object towards which it is directed. The Church is to-day afflicted with the spirit of self-excusing: it cannot give, because of the depression of the times; it cannot go upon its mighty errands, because of its dainty delicateness; it cannot engage in active beneficence, because its charity should begin at home; it cannot enter into ardent controversy, because it prefers the comfort of inaction. Churches should not tell lies to themselves. The first great thing to be done is for a man to be faithful to his own heart, to look himself boldly in the face, and speak the clear truth emphatically to his own consciousness.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

Exo 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his name? what shall I say unto them?

Ver. 13. What is his name? ] God is above all name, all notion. When Manoah inquired after his name, “It is wonderful,” said he: that is, I am called as I am called, but such is thy weakness that it surpasseth thy conception. a Afri vocant Deum ignotum Amon, id est, Hens tu, quis es? b

a Bede. Victorinus.

b Plutarch, De Isid. et Osiride.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Moses Sent to Deliver Israel

Exo 3:13-22

How unlike this Moses was to the man who, forty years before, had acted with such impulsive haste, Act 7:23. He had learned much since then, and most about himself. But there should be no shrinking when God says I am. Fill in this blank check with whatever you need for life or godliness, and God will do that and more also, with exceeding abundance.

Had we been called upon to demonstrate the life beyond death from the Old Testament, we should hardly have turned to this chapter. But our Lord read the profound significance of these august words, Mat 22:31-32. Evidently the patriarchs must have been all living when God spoke, or He would never have described Himself as being still their God. Had they ceased to exist He must have said, not I am, but I was the God of the fathers.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

The Eternal Name

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.Exo 3:13-14.

A new day was dawning for Israelthe day of exodusthe era of national developmentin which each man was to have a part unknown before. National expansion always involves new views, new terms, fresh adjustments, and changed ideals. And as Israel faced a new life, there was given a new view of God and new terms were chosen for its definition.

The text suggests three things

I.The Necessity for the Name.

II.The Meaning of the Name.

III.The Revelation in the Name.

I

The Necessity for the Name

1. Why did Moses ask to know the name of God?The reason, as the text tells us, was not primarily to satisfy himself, but that he might possess credentials wherewith he could approach this stubborn people. He had just been gazing at the burning bush, and by that sight he had been taught that the place where God reveals Himself is holy ground and that His presence should ever inspire reverence and holy fear. God appeared to Moses with a message, and Moses was charged to deliver it. Whereupon, overwhelmed by the commission, he urged: But who am I that I should go in to Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the Children of Israel out of Egypt? Moses recognized his own insufficiency. Unless he could tell the Israelites and Pharaoh in whose name he was sent, he knew that it would be useless to undertake the commission.

The naming of an heir to a throne is regarded as not unworthy of debate and argument by grave and aged ministers of State. Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, on succeeding to the throne, styled himself Edward vii., thus making an appeal to the noblest traditions of the English past. It was with deliberate intention that the late Emperor of Germany called himself Frederick William, and that his son, the present Emperor, chose the name of William. So the assumption of a title by the Popes, who at their accession to the tiara drop their own names, and choose a new one from those borne by the first Bishops of the Roman See, is watched with great interest as affording an indication of the probable policy and character of the coming pontificate. It was with relief that the world heard Cardinal Ricci take the style of Leo xiii., rather than that of Pius, or Gregory, or Clement, or Sixtus. No one can imagine that the late Emperor of the French could have held his throne for sixteen years had he, whose baptismal appellation was Louis Napoleon, preferred to be known as Louis xix., instead of Napoleon iii.1 [Note: C. C. Edmunds.]

2. What did the commission of Moses mean?The Israelites without faith could not come near to God. Sinful as they were, they could not, if they dared, behold the glory of God. They could not even behold the face of Moses when it shone with the radiance of Gods glory; still less could they understand the revelation of Gods loving, ever-abiding presence which He vouchsafed to His true servant. This, then, was the commission given to Moses first of allto interpret Godin so far as he could understand and interpret the incomprehensibleto this faithless people.

When the people of Israel crowded for the first time into the House of God which Solomon had reared, the king, on bended knees and with uplifted hands, exclaimed: Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have builded. It is the spirit in which the Infinite should ever be approached by the finite. As no space can enclose Him, so no name can contain Him. Human speech, which can clothe the things of man in pompous attire, is poor, ragged, and beggarly when brought near the throne of God. Even the holy angels, whose faculties have never been beclouded by sin, and who know the nearest and fullest revelations of God, bow before the Ineffable Unknown, the Unutterable One. Our words, then, which only glance superficially at earthly things and never reach their depths, how can they fitly describe or contain the Infinite, the Holy God, in whom is all fulness of perfection, whom we have never seen, and whom by faith alone we approach?1 [Note: R. V. Pryce.]

3. To interpret God in any degree a name is necessary.No name indeed can ever set God forth, yet some name we must have. Accordingly we revere the name of God as well as God Himself, and say: Hallowed be thy name; for though the name is only a name, as in any other case, yet it sets before us what no other name canit sets before us a living God.

My father named me after Boardman, that dauntless hero who preceded Judson in missionary work among the Karens. When I was old enough I read the history of the struggles, sufferings, and achievements of that brave young man. His name, which I so unworthily bear, has been to my soul an abiding and unfailing inspiration. Luther, Calvin, Knox, Bunyan, and Carey were long ago gathered to their fathers; but the power of their names is still invoked wherever Christian workmen need a higher courage, a steadier purpose, and a more fervent zeal. But there is a name above every namea name which is reconstructing our disordered planet, re-creating our fallen and ruined humanity, and which stands everywhere for the sweetest charities of earth, the synonym of the purest life, and the symbol of the highest civilization; a name which carries healing to the wounded, rest to the weary, pardon to the guilty, and salvation to the lost; a name which makes the dark gateway of the tomb the portal to a temple resplendent with the glory of celestial light, where the music of golden harps by angels fingers touched is ineffable and eternal.2 [Note: J. B. Hawthorne.]

II

The Meaning of the Name

1. It is probable that the name Yahweh was not new to Moses or the Israelites. An entirely new name would have meant to them an entirely new God. It is extremely unlikely that the name is of Babylonian origin. If the supposed traces of it in Babylonian literature are genuine, they only point to the introduction of foreign (i.e. Western Semitic) cults. Some maintain that the name is found as an element in early North Syrian proper names. But, if so, this only implies that the name became known to Semitic tribes other than the Israelites.

The ultimate etymology of the name is quite uncertain. The primary meaning of hawah was perhaps to fall (cf. Job 37:6, hw,? fall thou), which is found also in Arabic. Hence some explain Yahweh as He who causes rain or lightning to fall; or He who causes to fall (overthrows) by lightning, i.e. the Destroyer. In this case Yahweh in primitive Semitic times would be somewhat equivalent to the Assyrian Adad or Ramman. It is quite possible that the name Yahweh may in the far past have had a physical meaning, and have been a product of nature-worship.1 [Note: A. H. McNeile.]

2. Hebrew writings tell us much as to the character and attributes of the God of the Old Testament, yet the exact meaning which the writer of Exo 3:14 attached to the name Yahweh is far from clear. Yahweh, however, may be considered as (1) causative imperfect of hawah, to be, which would express He who causes to beeither the Creator or the Life-giver, or He who brings to passthe Performer of His promises. But an objection to this interpretation is that this tense of the verb is found only in late Syriac. (2) The ordinary imperfect of hawah, to be. The Hebrew imperfect denotes either habitual action, or future action, and therefore can be translated either He who is, or He who will be. The name He who is represents to modern thought the conception of an absolute existencethe unchangeable, self-consistent, absolutely existing One. And this has been adopted by many writers both in ancient and modern times. But the early Hebrew mind was essentially practical, not metaphysical. Professor A. B. Davidson (in Hastings Dictionary of the Bible, ii. 199b) says that the verb does not mean to be essentially or ontologically, but phenomenally. He explains it as follows: It seems evident that in the view of the writer ehyeh and yahweh are the same; that God is ehyeh, I will be, when speaking of Himself, and yahweh, He will be, when spoken of by others. What He will be is left unexpressedHe will be with them, helper, strengthener, deliverer; the word is explained by the I will be with thee, of Exo 3:12.

Among other interpretations Davidsons is the most attractive. The passage receives a simple and beautiful explanation if the expression, I will be what I will be, is taken as an instance of the idem per idem idiom, which a speaker employs when he does not wish to be explicit. Moses asked for Gods name, i.e. for a description of His nature and character (cf. Gen 32:29; Jdg 13:17 f.); and he was taught that it was impossible to learn this all at once. God would be what He would from time to time prove to be; each age would discover fresh attributes of His Being.1 [Note: A. H. McNeile.]

3. The new name of God was no academic subtlety, no metaphysical refinement of the Schools, unfitly revealed to slaves, but a most practical and inspiring truth, a conviction to warm their blood, to rouse their courage, to convert their despair into confidence and their alarms into defiance. They had the support of a God worthy of trust. And thenceforth every answer in righteousness, every new disclosure of fidelity, tenderness, love, was not an abnormal phenomenon, the uncertain grace of a capricious despot; no, its import was permanent as an observation of the stars by an astronomer, ever more to be remembered in calculating the movements of the universe. In future troubles they could appeal to Him to awake as in the ancient days, as being He who cut Rahab and wounded the Dragon. I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Therefore I trust, although to outward sense

Both true and false seem shaken; I will hold

With newer light my reverence for the old,

And calmly wait the births of Providence.

No gain is lost; the clear-eyed saints look down

Untroubled on the wreck of schemes and creeds;

Love yet remains, its rosary of good deeds

Counting in task-field and oer peopled town;

Truth has charmed life! the Inward Word survives,

And, day by day, its revelation brings;

Faith, hope, and charity, whatsoever things

Which cannot be shaken, stand. Still holy lives

Reveal the Christ of whom the letter told,

And the new gospel verifies the old.2 [Note: J. G. Whittier.]

4. Two thoughts are evidently contained in the Name.

(1) There is the thought, first, of the permanence of God. We have often heard an expression concerning the Great I Am, as if, in popular esteem, it involved only the thought of self-sufficiency; that God is complete in Himself, having no real need of others to augment His pleasure or to complete His world; that He rules alone, absolute Master and Dictator of everything, and in no way bound to listen to any earthly voice or make change in the operation of ordinary laws or sequences. But that is not the idea He was giving to Moses. It is all that some men claim to see in Him, and so they ignore Him and live alone. God had come to each of the old Hebrew saints, being to each of them what He was not to the others, and yet being the complete answer to the needs and aspirations of all. And it was in just this sense that He wanted to come into touch with the individual lives of His people through all succeeding time. Along with the spirit of adaptability which would make Him of value to each life, regardless of its eccentricities, was to go the thought of permanency. He lives perpetually in the present tense. I AM, is His name. We live, so often, in other tenses. Some of us in the past, perhaps, when life was serener and we had other difficulties to combat; a past for which we long, because it was easier and more triumphant. Or, perhaps, we are living in the future, and feeling that all the blessedness of Gods presence will be given to us then. This is the view that so many of us get, of a God who is to be ours by and by, when we shall have struggled through the world by dint of hard endeavour and have saved our soulsthat the vision of God will be ours when heaven begins. But the personal presence, personal co-operation, personal blessing, is to be ours all through the years.

(2) But there is a thought here, also, as to the permanence of life. Our Saviour quoted this text and gave such emphasis to His interpretation that St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke have noted it. St. Matthew quotes Him as saying: But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Christ emphasizes the eternal presence, and means us to note the tense. There is no statement which suggests that the personal relation of God to these men was merely a matter of historythat it is entirely a thing of the past. Every past moment was once present, and so the statement of this perpetual presence reaches back into the past. But every future moment will at some time be present, and the eternal presence reaches forward through all coming time.

One of the later scientific reinforcements of the philosophic argument for immortality has been drawn from the principle of continuity. This principle has been used by the authors of the Unseen Universe as the basis for the construction of an elaborate argument for the continuation of our life after death; and still further, with the help of other admitted physical truths, they have sought to render conceivable the possibility of another sphere of existence connected with this, yet superior to it, in which we have now our spiritual birthright, and into which after death our life shall without personal loss be transformed. According to this view, death would become a transference of individual existence from this visible universe to some other order of things intimately connected with it. The conclusion of their reasonings with regard to life in its connection with matter, they have expressed in this sentence: In fine, we maintain that what we are driven to is not an under-life resident in the atom, but rather, to adopt the words of a recent writer, a Divine over-life in which we live and move and have our being.

5. As the sublime and beautiful conception of a loving spiritual God was built up slowly, age by age, tier upon tier, this was the foundation which ensured the stability of all, until the Head Stone of the Corner gave completeness to the vast design, until men saw and could believe in the very Incarnation of all love, unshaken amid anguish and distress and seeming failure, immovable, victorious, while they heard from human lips the awful words, Before Abraham was, I AM. Then they learned to identify all this ancient lesson of trustworthiness with new and more pathetic revelations of affection: and the martyr at the stake grew strong as he remembered that the Man of Sorrows was the same yesterday and to-day and for ever; and the great apostle, prostrate before the glory of his Master, was restored by the touch of a human hand, and by the voice of Him upon whose bosom he had leaned, saying, Fear not, I am the First and the Last and the Living One.

The mysterious I AM who spake to Moses is the same I am, the ever-existent Christ, who speaks to us. He whom we adore as submitting to death was the Lord of Life. He whom men treated with such indignity was the Lord, the Creator of angels. He whom men falsely and unjustly judged was the Judge of quick and dead, the sole executor of judgment, for it is said by Him, that the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. He, the I AM who thus, as recorded in Exodus, at the bush, spake to Moses, and declared His intention of redeeming His people from Egyptian bondage, now redeemed them from another and far worse bondage, not by plaguing their oppressors, and physically destroying them, but by submitting Himself on their behalf, first to ignominy and tortures, and then to death. Not by power, not by might, but by My Spiritthe Spirit of love, meekness, gentleness, goodnessnot by superhuman power, but by superhuman humility. Thou art the king of glory, O Christ: thou art the Everlasting Son of the Father: when thou tookest upon thee to deliver man thou didst not abhor the virgins womb; when thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

III

The Revelation in the Name

1. When God wants a man to do some good and useful work, He gives him a fresh thought about Himself, His character, and His purposes, a thought which tells him what He is, what He has done, what He is now doing, and what He wills to be done; and by that thought He not only illumines his mind, but also feeds his faith, sustains his patience, and fires his zeal, so that though he may never set foot in the land of promise, yets he keeps on, steadfastly climbing the slopes of Pisgah, and from its heights catches cheering glimpses of the lengthening issues of his toil.

Somehow the revelation comes! You see it written on the sheet let down from heaven to the startled gaze of the sleeper on the house-top at Joppa, assuring him that the creative energy of God cleanses all His work of commonness and makes it full of meaning and beauty; that He condemns the narrowness that would shut out from His infinite love any Cornelius who fears God and works righteousness, and that therefore prejudiced and reluctant Peter must initiate a new era in the religious thought and life of the world.

It comes to the perplexed Augustine, as, with wearied brain and agitated soul, eager to find pardon for his sin and freedom from the tyranny of his youthful lusts, he wanders in the gardens of his friend Alypius, at Tagaste, and says to him, Tolle lege; tolle lege! Take and read; take and read! And forthwith he opens the New Testament and reads the closing verses of Romans 13 and at once dedicates himself to the life of purity revealed in Jesus Christ.

Somehow it comes. See how it haunts the soul of Martin Luther, filling his youth with awe and firing it with the passion for holiness. Constraining him to listen to the spiritual counsels of Stanfutz, then goading him to undertake the pilgrimage to Rome, where, as he climbs the holy staircase, he swiftly learns that God does not require men to crawl up the Scala Santa repeating hollow phrases, but to accept His free forgiveness, and from the impulse it gives follow after that holiness without which no man can see the Lord. It comes to John Wesley from the Moravians, and makes him glad with a new joy and strong with a new power. It comes to Dr. Clarke as he meditates on the needs of the churches, and guides him in creating that latest and most effective instrument, the Christian Endeavour movement, for the training and culture of the young in robust godliness, fervent piety, and fruitful service to mankind.

2. Wherein lay the strength of this revelation of God to Moses?

(1) First, it identified God with the work he was given to do. It asserted, in effect, that it was a part of His work, belonged to God, and partook of His eternity; did not depend primarily upon the worker, but upon God Himself. The man was but as a cog in the mighty wheel of the progress of the world; a tool in the hands of the infinite. In that is security. Moses had lived in the midst of whirling change, and inherited a past crowded with trouble and sorrow. His own fortunes had passed through the splendours of a court, the privations of the desert and the anxieties of the criminal; but now, as he faced the responsibilities of leadership, it was with the assurance that God, the God of Abraham, his fathers God, endured, that He was the Eternal, the one fixed centre in a wide circle of ceaseless vicissitude, the I am that I am; and as He was, so was His work. Therefore the heart of Moses was fixed, trusting in the Lord, and he went to his task, body, soul, and spirit, with faith and insight, hope and endurance. He saw not the fleeting forms of service, but Gods invisible Israel, the regenerate future of humanity, the gold separated from the dross in the fires of trial, and man redeemed, ending triumphant over every obstacle, and feasting on the bounty of God.

Where ordinary men see a stone and nothing more, the genius of Michael Angelo beholds an angel before hammer or chisel has touched it. To the eye of his companions John Newton is a drunken, swearing sailor; but God sees in him the redeemed, re-made, messenger of love and mercy. The people of Elstree see no more than a tinker, living a loose, irregular life, in John Bunyan; God sees the dreamer of the pilgrim journey from the City of Destruction to the land of Beulah. The call of God is so fraught with revelations of the possibilities of men and of man in God, that those who hear it go forth to their work with an unquenchable hopefulness and an all-subduing zeal.

Blind souls, who say that Love is blind;

He only sees aright;

His only are the eyes that find

The spirits central light.

He liftswhile others grope and pry

His gaze serene and far;

And they but see a waste of sky

Where Love can see the Star.

(2) When a man feels that his work is Gods rather than his own, he is raised at once to the loftiest ranges of power by the development of his humility. The maximum of human force for any work is never reached till we are self-oblivious, absorbed in our task, heedless of ourselves and all besides, except the mission we have to carry out. At this height men are simply irresistible, for they are one with Gods eternal purpose and almighty power.

Ruskin says: I believe that the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I do not mean by humility doubt of his own power, hesitation of speaking his opinions, but a right understanding of the relation of what he can do and say to the rest of the worlds doings and sayings. All great men not only know their business, but usually know that they know it; they are not only right in their main opinions, but they usually know that they are right in them; only they do not think much of themselves on that account. They have a curious sense of powerlessness, feeling that the greatness is not in them, but through themthat they could not do or be anything else than God made them; and they see something Divine and God-made in every man they meet, and are endlessly, foolishly, incredibly merciful. Kipling pictures the artist at the supreme moment of his success as realizing that his work is due, not to his own genius, but to a power that is working in him and through him. This is our strength. God works in us, to work not only our own, but also the worlds salvation.

Whither away, O brawling Stream,

Whither away so fast?

Fleeing for life and death you seem.

Speak, as you hasten past

Answered the Brook, with a pompous roar,

Tossing its creamy foam,

I go, my flood in the Main to pour

Listen, O Sea, I come!

Whither away, O River deep,

Gliding so slow and calm?

Your gentle current seems half asleep,

And chanting a drowsy psalm.

Answered the River, with whisper low,

Swaying her lilies fair;

Down to the measureless Sea I go

The Sea will not know I am there.1 [Note: Augusta Moore, in Scribners Monthly, xiii. 30.]

(3) But the tenderest and strongest element in the new thought of God given to Moses is that God is the Redeemer, and is coming down to the lowest levels of the suffering life of Israel to save the people from all their troubles and raise them up to share His own life in its peace and joy for evermore. That is the sum of all Gods speech to us. Out of the burning bush comes the revelation of the Cross. God is Himself at the centre of the fires that burn humanity; He is afflicted in all our afflictions; He shares our lot so that He may redeem us from all our iniquities.2 [Note: John Clifford.]

A living God means an active Redeemer. This is the interpretation of God which Moses is to set before the people. God chooses Moses to go and speak to Pharaoh on Israels behalf. He will be a Pillar of Fire, giving light by which an untrained, unarmed nation of hereditary bondsmen will see the way out of Egypt. He will, in the meek and slow-tongued Moses, confound the arrogance and assumption of the magicians of a mighty Empire. Tell them that I AM hath sent thee. Let them know that I have heard their cry. Say to the elders that I have visited you. Tell them that certainly I will be with thee, and ye shall serve God in this mountain.1 [Note: J. G. Gibson.]

3. The credentials which God gave to Moses are the same as Christ gave to His Church. But how often we are loth to go without better credentials than these! And yet what better could we have? As my Father sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. As we look upon the seething chaos of social hopelessness, we feel it to be well-nigh impossible to do anything greatwe are so feeble, and in nature so insufficient. We feel much as Elijah did when he bent in abject despair at the brook: I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life to take it away. Considered numerically, what prospect is there that the few millions of aggressive Christians will ever win over the hundreds of millions who are at present almost altogether out of sympathy with the objects of the Christian religion? Surely all our ferment and prayer and testimony, our martyrdom and love and self-sacrificing thought are thrown away! We are only men as they are, and must be borne down at last by numbers!

A tiny volume of gas is not distinguishable from the gases we call air about it. But give to that gas in its tiny volume heat, and it becomes incandescent; and so long as gas remains with air about it, that flame gives light, in darkness ever so dense. One tiny volume enlightens many thousands of times its own space of air, because that very burning has taken place in connexion with it. So, though dark the social night in which we shine, our Gospel will be approved. We are Messengers of the King of Light, in whom is no darkness at all, and our presence is omnipotent for good, so long as He goes with us.1 [Note: J. G. Gibson.]

Literature

Chadwick (G. A.), The Book of Exodus, 54.

Gibson (J. G.), Stepping-Stones to Life, 181.

Leckie (J.), Sermons Preached at Ibrox, 35.

Pierce (C. C.), The Hunger of the Heart for Faith, 71.

Sadler (M. F.), Sermon Outlines for the Clergy and Lay Preachers, 115.

Stanford (C.), Symbols of Christ, 74.

Vaughan (J.), Sermons (Brighton Pulpit), xxii. No. 1242.

Christian World Pulpit, xxx. 259 (Pryce); lix. 352 (Clifford).

Churchmans Pulpit (Fifth Sunday in Lent), vi. 175 (Peabody).

Thinker, i. 324 (Lowe).

Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible

What is his name: Exo 3:14, Exo 15:3, Gen 32:29, Jdg 13:6, Jdg 13:17, Pro 30:4, Isa 7:14, Isa 9:6, Jer 23:6, Mat 1:21, Mat 1:23

Reciprocal: Exo 6:12 – children Exo 33:19 – proclaim Exo 34:6 – The Lord Num 6:27 – put my Deu 32:3 – Because 1Ki 8:42 – great name Psa 20:1 – God Psa 48:10 – According Pro 18:10 – name Isa 42:8 – that is Joh 17:6 – have manifested Act 22:14 – The God

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Exo 3:13. When they shall say, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? What name shall I use, whereby thou mayest be distinguished from false gods, and thy people may be encouraged to expect deliverance from thee?

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Moses’ fear that the Israelite elders would not accept him is understandable (Exo 3:13). God had not revealed Himself to His people for over 400 years. When Moses asked how he should answer the Israelites’ question, "What is His name?" he was asking how he could demonstrate to them that their God had sent him.

"According to the conception prevailing in the ancient East, the designation of an entity was to be equated, as it were, with its existence: whatever is without an appellation does not exist, but whatever has a denomination has existence." [Note: Cassuto, pp. 36-37.]

"The question contains both a request for information and an explanation of its significance. There are two aspects of the one question. Clearly the people want to know more about God’s intention. By requesting his name, they seek to learn his new relationship to them. Formerly he related to them as the God of the Fathers. What will he be to Israel now?" [Note: Childs, p. 75.]

"What Moses asks, then, has to do with whether God can accomplish what he is promising. What is there in his reputation (see Num 6:27; Deu 12:5; Deu 12:11; Deu 16:2-6; Psa 8:1; Psa 74:7; Amo 5:8; Amo 9:5-6; Jer 33:2) that lends credibility to the claim in his call? How, suddenly, can he be expected to deal with a host of powerful Egyptian deities against whom, across so many years, he has apparently won no victory for his people?" [Note: Durham, p. 38.]

God’s name expressed His nature and actions (Exo 3:14-15). The Israelites would ask for proof that the God of their fathers was with Moses. God explained the name by which He made Himself known to Abraham (Gen 15:7).

"The repetition of the same word [I am] suggests the idea of uninterrupted continuance and boundless duration." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 1:442-43.]

Yet it means more than this.

"To the Hebrew ’to be’ does not just mean to exist as all other beings and things do as well-but to be active, to express oneself in active being, ’The God who acts.’ ’I am what in creative activity and everywhere I turn out to be,’ or ’I am (the God) that really acts.’" [Note: Sigmund Mowinckel, "The Name of the God of Moses," Hebrew Union College Annual 32 (1961):127.]

"I am that I am" means "God will reveal Himself in His actions through history." [Note: Charles Gianotti, "The Meaning of the Divine Name YHWH," Bibliotheca Sacra 142:565 (January-March 1985):45.]

Other translations are, "I will be what I will be," "I am the existing One," and "I cause to be what comes to pass." [Note: Johnson, pp. 54-55.] One writer paraphrased God’s answer, "It is I who am with you." [Note: Cassuto, p. 38.] In other words, the one who had promised to be with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had sent Moses to them.

"The answer Moses receives is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a name. It is an assertion of authority, a confession of an essential reality, and thus an entirely appropriate response to the question Moses poses." [Note: Durham, p. 38.]

Moses had asked, "Who am I?" implying his complete inadequacy for his calling. God replied, "I am who I am!" implying His complete adequacy. The issue was not who Moses was but who God is. I believe God meant, I am the God of your forefathers who proved myself long ago as completely adequate for all their needs, so it really doesn’t matter who you are, Moses. Moses would learn the complete adequacy of God Himself in the events that followed. Later, Pharaoh would say, "Who is the LORD?" (Exo 5:2), and God’s response was, "I am the LORD!" (Exo 6:2; Exo 6:6; Exo 6:8). Pharaoh, too, then learned God’s complete adequacy. The real issue, then, was, and is, who God is.

This is the first reference to the elders of Israel (Exo 3:16). [Note: See Leslie Hoppe, "Elders and Deuteronomy," Eglise et Theologie 14 (1983):259-72.] The elders were the leaders of the various groups of Israelites.

God told Moses to request Pharaoh’s permission for the Israelites to leave Egypt (Exo 3:18).

"The sequel shows that there was no element of deceit in the request for ’a three days’ journey into the wilderness,’ i.e., right out of contact with the Egyptian frontier guards. Pharaoh knew perfectly well that this implied no return; indeed, since Israel was a tolerated alien people, he would have no claim on their return, once they had left his territory." [Note: H. L. Ellison, Exodus, p. 22.]

"Moses’ demand for complete freedom, though couched in polite words, is there from the start." [Note: R. Alan Cole, Exodus: An Introduction and Commentery, p. 72.]

 

The signs God proceeded to give Moses would demonstrate to the Israelites that their God was again actively working for them (Exo 3:20; cf. Exo 4:2-9). God told Moses that the Israelites would believe him (Exo 3:18).

Probably there were several reasons the Israelites were to ask their Egyptian neighbors for jewelry and clothing (Exo 3:22). By doing so, they would humiliate the Egyptians further. They would also obtain articles needed for the wilderness march and the construction of the tabernacle. Moreover they would receive partial payment for the labor the Egyptians had stolen from them during their years of slavery (cf. Deu 15:12-15).

The writer stated God’s sovereignty over Pharaoh in Exo 3:14-22. God demonstrated it in the plagues that followed (chs. 5-11). [Note: See ibid., pp. 19-40, for an exposition of the character of God as revealed in Exodus.]

"With the name ’Yahweh’ revealed and explained and with the proof of this explanation illustrated, at least in prospect, Moses can have no further question about God’s authority. The narrative deals next with Moses’ own authority, and how that is to be made clear." [Note: Durham, p. 41.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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