YAHWEH is Our God
December 1, 2024
Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6, And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD [YAHWEH], the LORD [YAHWEH], the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” —Exodus 34:5-7 NIV
Common Inaccurate Views of God:
Cosmic Cop
Teddy Bear
Presidential
Absent Landlord
God’s proclamation of His
His name -
“But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.” —Exodus 3:11-15 NIV
A. Yahweh’s name reveals his dependability and nature. Whenever God tells Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” He is saying - “Whatever it is that I am, I AM that; that’s my name.”
B. We can depend on human beings sometimes to be who they are, but we can, in every situation, always depend on Yahweh to be who He is.
C. We see the first thing that the LORD is to Moses - with him.
D. “The important thing to remember is that this sacred name reveals God’s nature, God [Yahweh] present with His people as the One who is always adequate to every situation.” —William Greathouse and H. Ray Dunning, Wesleyan Theology.
His character -
Exodus 34:5-7
A. The tendency to isolate certain characteristics of Yahweh leads us to believe in an inaccurate view of Him.
B. 5 character traits (verse 6) - compassion, gracious, slow to anger, loyal love, and faithfulness.
C. Yahweh describes how He has just acted in the story of Exodus (Ex. 32-33; 32:11-14).
D. Forgive: to carry; pick up; to bear the weight.
E. The revealing of what kind of God Yahweh is appears to be present in order to help Moses/the Israelites understand that He is committed to partnering with and loving them, however long it takes.
F. Yahweh’s justice is an expression of His love.
The claim of the Bible is that Jesus of Nazareth is Yahweh - the God of the universe.