Alrighty, so we’re continuing our fascinating discussion about how the Lord step-by-step progressively revealed Himself to His people at different stages in history.
Take a look at the following verses from the Book of Exodus and pay special attention to the parts I bolded and underlined.
The scene is Moses having a conversation with the Lord at the Burning Bush just weeks before he would be sent to Egypt to save the Israelites who had been in bondage under Pharaoh for over 400 years.
“Moshe said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the people of Isra’el out of Egypt?’ He replied, “I will surely be with you. Your sign that I have sent you will be that when you have led the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Moshe said to God, “Look, when I appear before the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you’; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?‘ what am I to tell them?” God said to Moshe, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be],” and added, “Here is what to say to the people of Israel: ‘Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you.'” God said further to Moshe, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [ADONAI], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya’akov, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation. Go, gather the leaders of Isra’el together, and say to them, ‘ADONAI, the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya’akov, has appeared to me and said, ‘I have been paying close attention to you and have seen what is being done to you in Egypt; and I have said that I will lead you up out of the misery of Egypt to the land of the Kena’ani, Hitti, Emori, P’rizi, Hivi and Y’vusi, to a land flowing with milk and honey.'”-Exodus 3:11-17
Okay, so here’s what you’ve got to understand.
In the ancient world, the name of the deity you worshipped decided everything.
It decided where they ranked in the hierarchy of gods.
It decided EXACTLY which geographical region they wielded power in.
It decided how much power they possessed and specifically what aspects of nature they had the power to impact.
In a nutshell, a god’s name instantly spelled out everything-his or her attributes, characteristics and personality etcetera.
Here’s the thing.
To the ancient Middle Eastern mind, it wasn’t considered strange that a god knew what was happening in some other territory outside of where he or she ruled.
The Hebrews wouldn’t have any problem accepting that part of the message where the Lord said…”I have been paying close attention to the Israelites and have seen what is being done to them in Egypt”.
That part would have been easy-peasy to accept.
However, when the Lord said…“I will lead them out of the misery of Egypt to the land of the Kena’ani, Hitti, Emori, P’rizi, Hivi and Y’vusi, to a land flowing with milk and honey.'”
The Israelites would have been like (and this is a paraphrase)…“Now just hold on a minute there Jack. The God we worship EL SHADDAI, He doesn’t have any power in Egypt. So please don’t try to raise our spirits with false hopes”.
And that is why God told Moses to go to the Israelites with a DIFFERENT NAME.
Because a different name would equal a God who possesses different powers, different attributes and a different reputation than what Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were familiar with.
Are you catching this?
The thinking of the enslaved Israelites was handcuffed by their conception of Hashem as passed down to them by the Patriarchs.
If Moses had come to them and said “EL SHADDAI came to me and told me to tell you He’s gonna rescue you from slavery in Egypt”, Moses would’ve been laughed out of the camp.
Why?
Because everyone and their grandmother knew that EL SHADDAI didn’t have any power in Egypt.
If EL SHADDAI so much as tried to step foot inside of Egyptian territory, it was just understood the Egyptian gods would beat the living hell out of Him.
That’s why God knew He had to present Himself through Moses in a different way that would cut through the false perceptions of how the gods worked during this time.
Things were about to change homies.
A war between the God of the Hebrews and the gods of Egypt was about to begin and it wasn’t gonna be pretty for the Egyptians.
But new information had to be supplied to the Israelites so they could accept Moses claim that they were about to be freed from slavery.
The Israelites had no faith that their current God called EL SHADDAI could help them.
But hey maybe this God called YHWH who Moses claimed was the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob could do the trick.
This is the power of presenting old information in a new way.
And believe me, as a professional copywriter, I know the power of presenting old information in a new way.
However, in the case of the Scriptures, it’s more a situation of the Lord presenting ETERNAL information in a new way to His people.
This is progressive revelation in action folks.
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. The Son is the radiance of
God’s glory and the exact representation
of his being, sustaining all things by his
powerful word. After he had provided
purification for sins, he sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
So he became as much superior to the
angels as the name he has inherited is
superior to theirs.”
-Hebrews 1:1-4
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