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all things. Nature points beyond itself, but to to philosophical inquiry or individual paths of
what or whom we can not say without some seeking the "Divine."
revelation from the Creator Himself.
God tells Moses that he is to return to Egypt
According to the Hebrew Bible God re- and deliver the Israelites from their slavery,
vealed Himself clearly and dramatically, once bringing them to the land of Canaan that had
for all, in the time of Moses, at Mt. Sinai, when been promised to Abraham. Moses is hesitant
Israel was delivered from slavery in Egypt. and offers many objections. One of these is
This fundamental revelation was like no other particularly noteworthy. Moses protests that if
before or since. It is constantly referred to by he goes to the Israelites and tells them that the
the later Prophets and in the Psalms. It was ax- God of their fathers has appeared to him, they
ial, absolutely fundamental, and never to be su- will ask "What is his name"? In other words,
perseded or forgotten. This is not just some they will want this God to be identified. At that
"Old Testament Bible story," which the Chris- point God tells Moses:
tian can quickly skim over as some kind of
"background" to the New Testament. Rather, Say this to the people of Israel, YHVH, the
this is absolute, essential, bedrock. Without a God of your fathers, the God of Abraham,
deep understanding of this core revelation at the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has
Sinai one will never understand and know the sent me to you:" this is My Name forever,
true God. and thus I am to be remembered through
out all generations (Exodus 3:15).
This extraordinary revelation comes di-
rectly through Moses, "the meekest man on This is quite remarkable. God appears to
earth," when he is 80 years old (Numbers Moses in His Shekinah Glory, speaks directly
12:3). Initially God appears to him in the Sinai in the first person, and most important, He
area in the form of the Shekinah Glory -- identifies Himself by name. God actually has a
speaking in the first person from the burning Name, just as Moses and all other human be-
bush. Notice, God first identifies Himself: ings have identifying names. The Name here,
represented by the four Hebrew consonants: Y
I am the God of your father, the God of H V H, is called the Tetragrammaton. It is used
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of nearly 6,000 times in the Old Testament. It is a
Jacob (Exodus 3:6). compound of the Hebrew verb hayah, "to be."
The meaning appears to be "The One Who Will
The way God describes Himself here is Be/Is/Was," combined into a single Name. For
striking. He is not merely the Creator, or the centuries devout Jews have considered this
First Cause, or a cosmic Power or Force. God Name too sacred to pronounce, and they have
is the intimate, personal God of Abraham, substituted "Adonai" (Lord) in prayer and
Isaac, and Jacob -- a definite family line "HaShem" (which means "the Name") in speak-
through which He reveals Himself. To speak of ing. Most modern translations have rendered it
the "God of Abraham" is to tie into a definite by the title LORD, written in all capital letters.
claim about historical revelation. It is a claim This translation is most unfortunate. The word
that the One God, the Creator, has involved "Lord" is clearly not a name, nor does it mean
Himself specifically in an unfolding historical anything even related to the letters YHVH in
Plan. In other words, He will be known and un- Hebrew. It confuses this very definite proper
derstood through the concrete historical experi- Name of God with the title, Lord, which is
ences of His chosen people. This is in contrast adonai or adon in Hebrew (meaning

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