In the Exodus account, God revealed important aspects of His name. In the previous section, we discussed the importance of the name “I will be that which I will be”. God declared that He was not only self-existent but also that He could not be defined. Obviously, the human mind desperately wants to define who and what God is. God simply declared that we cannot. He has chosen to reveal a great deal about Himself through the Bible. This is sufficient for us to serve Him and His purpose. The process of “knowing” His name will, I believe, be an infinite task lasting throughout eternity.
There are two aspects of the concept of “name” that we must consider from a Biblical perspective. Name can mean “an identifier”. God declared this name also in the previous section. He is the “God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”. This is the name by which God chooses to be known as throughout all generations. This is the God revealed in the Bible. We should always be careful to insure that we clearly utilize this name when we are speaking of God. It is our responsibility to insure that there is no misunderstanding here. There are many “gods” in this world. There is only one who is revealed in the Bible.
Another aspect of the concept of “name” used in the Bible is a description of a characteristic or function. The name “I will be that which I will be” fits into this category. The name “El Shaddai” also describes a characteristic of God.
God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My Name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them.” (Exodus 6:2-3)
The Hebrew expression “El Shaddai” is translated here as “God Almighty”. I like to consider the construction of the word “Shaddai” as “that is enough”. The God revealed in the Bible is the “God that is enough for_______”, for whatever troubles you, you can fill in the blank.
Another name revealed in this section is “Savior” or “Deliverer”. This name is not explicitly stated here but it is evident as we consider the account. The four cups of wine in the Pesach Seder recall the promises made by God to Israel:
- I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
- I will deliver you from their bondage.
- I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.
- I will take you for My people.
God became known as the Savior of the Hebrew people as the deliverance of Israel from Egypt was completed. In a future study we will discover that God declared that Israel would never see Egypt as a captor again (see Exodus 14:13). That was an awesome promise given to a tiny, infant nation relative to a large, world superpower only separated by the Nile River. It has been roughly 3500 years since the promise was made and to date the promise is good. Later, the Messiah would be identified as “The God of Israel is my Savior”. We know the name as Jesus.
Finally, God used the entire exodus episode to reveal His intentions to the world. We read repeatedly that God “harden Pharaoh’s heart”. My translation of the expression “Lev Chazak” is that God made Pharaoh “foolishly aggressive”. He did this to reveal His more general purpose to the world.
“But, indeed, for this cause I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power, and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth.” (Exodus 9:16)
God is the Savior of all mankind. He used Israel as an instrument of revelation of His greater purpose of delivering all of mankind from the tyranny of satanic manipulation and the resultant destruction. Ultimately, all remaining mankind will rejoice in this name. We anxiously await the coming of Messiah Jesus and the establishing of the Kingdom of God on planet earth as this greater deliverance is accomplished. This will mark one of the most important steps in the process of redemption.