E6-1: God sharing His Name was one step out of many to progressively reveal Himself to mankind

Today we begin Exodus Chapter 6.

For the Complete Jewish Version, click here.

For the King James Version, click here.

“God spoke to Moshe; he said to him, “I am Adonai.   I appeared to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov as El Shaddai, although I did not make myself known to them by my name, Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh.“-Exodus 6:2-The Complete Jewish Bible

Okay, from this one verse Exodus 6:2 alone, there’s quite a lot to unpack.

First, I know I’ve already said this about 20 billion times already, but concerning the word ADONAI that I bolded and underlined in the above-pasted Scriptural verse…

…the original Hebrew there is YHVH folks.

And as I’ve also said before, YHVH appears in about 6000 other places in the Old Testament.

Yet in spite of this, most versions will usually use the words “Lord” or “Adonai“in place of YHVH.

I think this invites confusion because “Lord” is simply the English translation of the Hebrew word “Adonai“.

These two words are synonyms.

Again, nothing against Jewish tradition, but I feel if God gives us His personal name to use when referring to Him, I think we ought to use it, even if we don’t know exactly how to pronounce it.

Using God’s personal name allows us a much more intimate connection and deeper understanding of the unique and endearing nature of the God we worship.

The truth is that most of the pagan gods at the time were also called “Lord”.

“Lord” is simply the ancient term for “master”.

It was a title used as a sign of respect, NOT a formal name.

It’s high time that we resurrect the use of God’s Holy, personal name, especially since in this day and age we have a challenger called ALLAH.

Let’s move on.

Notice where God says “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as EL SHADDAI”.

The word for “appeared” in Hebrew is “RA’AH” and it actually means “to see” as in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob SAW God as EL SHADDAI.

However, understand when I say “see”, I don’t mean “see” as in to physically look at something.

Rather I mean “see” as in the sense of “Oh I finally see” as an expression of finally coming to a correct perception or realization of something.

So it means “to comprehend” something.

It’s not like YHVH appeared to the Israelites in some visible form and they literally saw Him. 

Next, the word “SHADDAI” actually comes from the Akkadian word SHADDU and means mountain.

So YHVH was telling Moses that although his ancestors knew Him as the Highest God who ruled over the mountain, He now wishes to be known by His Personal Name.

The point is that now God was for the first time revealing more of Himself and entering into a much more intimate relationship with Israel than had existed before.

The spiritual takeaway here is awesome.

God so wants to enter into an intimate relationship with us that He is progressively revealing Himself to mankind.

He wants us to know (and I believe use) His personal Name.

In the Book of Genesis, we are only given a glimpse, an outline if you will, of who God is.

However, by the time we reach the end of the Torah, you will know more about the true nature of God and His attributes than probably 95% of churchgoers.

Finally, of course the most powerful personal manifestation of God is Yeshua Himself.

God came to us in the flesh in the form of Messiah (not literally but with the Father’s power and authority) and tabernacled among us.

And now as believers, we have the Spirit of the Living God dwelling inside of us.

It just doesn’t get more personal than that.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets
at many times and in various ways,
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,
whom he appointed heir of all things,
and through whom also he made the universe. 
-Hebrews 1:1-2

But very truly I tell you,
it is for your good that I am going away.
Unless I go away,
the Advocate will not come to you;
but if I go, I will send him to you.
-John 16:7