This coming Sunday (Jan 28, 2024) I am reflecting on the second petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “may your Name be honoured!” I will use Exodus 33:17-34:8. Here are some of my own observations and applications. You can post your own thoughts about the passage in the ‘Comment’ section below. You can find the sermon videos posted here.
- Does God have a name? The word ‘God’ is not a name, it is a title or label; the same with the word ‘Father’. When God first calls Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, he asks God what his Name is, so that he can tell the people (Exodus 3:13). God tells Moses: “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:14) So God’s name is “I AM…” Is this a ‘fill in the blank’ name, can we put anything in the blank?
- God explains his name! Moses wants to know God in all his glory, to see what God is like: “Now show me your glory!” (Exodus 33:18) God’s answer helps us to know how to finish the name “I AM…” “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord (I AM), in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Exodus 33:19). In other words, “I AM mercy” and “I AM compassion”.
- God explains his name even more! In Exodus 34 God shows Moses his glory, as much as he can take. God proclaims his name to Moses: “I AM, I AM… the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” (Exodus 34:6-7) It seems that God’s name is all of these: I AM compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love, forgiving!
- Names in Bible Times. In ancient times, names were not just labels, they revealed something about the person named. New names were given to people based on who or how they were. Abram (exalted father) became Abraham (father of many nations). Jacob (the heel puller) became Israel (wrestling with God). In Exodus 34 God tells us who he is, what he is like – his character and his essence.