Blog 37: A Name for Himself
What is a name, and why is naming biblically significant? In Genesis 1, God called things by name when He brought them into existence. He called the light Day and the darkness He called Night. God called the raqia heaven, the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters Seas. God created the human in Their task likeness, yet They did not name the human but engaged Their image in the creation of animals. Whatever the human called each living creature God brought to him was its name. The human had no name until he named the ezer God made from his side “Woman” (Ish-shah, אִשַּׁה). Then, the human knew who he was and named himself “Man” (Ish, אִישׁ).1 With God’s ezer, Ish could achieve fruitfulness and fill the land. Naming calls into existence and tells of a function, the role of the named always within a relationship. What an entity does is what an entity is named, based on a discerned capacity in association with something or someone else.
At first, God had a generic name “god, ruler, judge, divine one,” elohim. After Elohim created the heavens and the earth and took up enthroned residence within the Sabbath sacred space in Genesis 2:1-3, eleven times in Chapter 2, He is called YHWH Elohim. YHWH means in the Hebrew word picture, “the existing One’s hand creating existence, Life-giver” (BDB expanded Definitions, H3068; Seekins, p. 169). The root of YHWH (H2331) means “to tell, to declare, to show, to make known, to breathe, to live” combined with “to be, to become” (H1961, H1933), indicating He causes to come to life what He is creating by manifesting the way (Barnes Notes, Gen. 2:4). YHWH Elohim, the name which occurs 18 more times in Genesis after chapter 2’s 11 times; 14 times in Exodus; 10 times in Deuteronomy, totaling 53 (16th P; 7th PP; 72 + 22) Torah appearances, tells us that He is the covenant God of the Garden who gave life to our existence so we can walk with Him, serving as co-rulers, family in His sacred Sabbath space.
The Creator’s name labeled Him by His work and His sustaining of it. The same Genesis name phenomenon repeats in Exodus. “Elohim” solely appears until Exodus 3:2, after which we find YHWH’s name 398 times in Exodus and 1821 times in the Torah. Significantly, in Exodus 3:2, the Angel of YHWH appeared to Moses amid a burning bush on Sinai, revealing that “I AM What I Will Be” was the God of Moses’s father, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exo. 3:6) and had come to send Moses on a job assignment to go to Pharaoh that he may bring His people of Israel out of Egypt.
When Moses asked YHWH, “Who am I?” (Exo. 3:11), YHWH answered, “I will be with you” (Exo. 3:12). Moses’s identity as Israel’s deliverer was directly related to YHWH’s identity and His being with Moses, “You cannot be who you are unless I am with you.” In Egypt, Moses asked again, “Why is it you have sent me? I came to Pharaoh to speak Your name that Israel be delivered” (Exo. 5:22-23). YHWH answered again, “I am YHWH. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai, and did I not make Myself known to them as YHWH when I established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan?” YHWH made covenants with Adam, Noah, Abram, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Israel at the Exodus (Hos. 6:7, Gen. 9:9-17, 12:1-3, 15:18-21, 26:24, 28:13-15; Exo. 3:12, Hag. 2:4-5). YHWH is a covenant God, bringing out and walking with His people to fulfill His promises of blessing.
The Biblical goal is to bring humanity back into the presence of the Life-giver, the Source, the One not dependent upon another for existence (Exo. 29:45-46). Creation’s autonomy is death. All things must be joined to YHWH in union with His life force to exist. YHWH’s “I will be with you” began when He told Abram, “I will be your shield and glory” (Gen. 15:1). The covenant promises were contingent upon Israel’s being connected to YHWH’s name. He reveals His identity within the exodus, His covenant to bring us back into His dwelling and access to the Tree of Life. By Israel’s Exodus story, YHWH made a name for Himself so that Israel and the world might know Him (2Sa. 7:22-24, 1Ch. 17:21-22, Neh. 9:5-14, Jer. 32:19-20). His covenant of “I will be with you” was the means of proving His name, YHWH.
“I will be with you” was YHWH’s exodus promise to bring Israel out of bondage to death and into an ultimate existence of being a light to the nations. He placed His name on the temple in Jerusalem so that it would become a “house of prayer” to all nations, the place of connecting to the Existence of Life. The force of YHWH’s “I will be with you,” repeated sevenfold in Exodus 6, is framed by His “I am YHWH.”
Therefore, say to the children of Israel: ‘I am YHWH; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you as My people, and I will be your Elohim. Then you shall know that I am YHWH your Elohim who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am YHWH” (Exo. 6:6-8, emphasis mine)
With humanity in exile, YHWH reveals Himself in word and action so we may know who He is and who we are. YHWH called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees and brought him to Canaan, where he dwelt in a tent as a foreigner. After YHWH helped Abram and his 318 men rescue Lot (see Blog 26 Fun Factors, 318 = YHWH of help), He came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Fear not, Abram. I am your shield and will give you great blessings” (30 letters, 9 words, letter sum 1906, 2 × 953, 412 × 152). “Shield” in the Hebrew word picture is of a walled garden; a shield is a wall of protection (H4043, Ancient Hebrew Lexicon Definitions). Israel becomes a people saved by YHWH, the shield of their help (Deu. 33:29). He is humanity’s ezer, the YHWH of help and blessing, making a name for Himself. Psalm 5:11-12 proclaims, “You defend those who love Your name. For You, Oh YHWH, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.” YHWH as our shield is used 19 times in the Psalms and links to trusting in His name, His shield of salvation, and His Word. YHWH is a sun and shield, giving us grace and glory (Psa. 84:11). He is our help and shield (Psa. 33:20, 115: 9, 10, 11). Abram knew YHWH’s name as the One who brought him out, the Elohim of Help who sustains with His blessings, keeping the covenant. He tells us to “Fear not” because “He will never leave us, nor forsake us” (Gen. 15:1, Heb. 13:5-6).
Takeaway:
Humanity cannot exist outside of YHWH, but we can have life by merging with the Life-giver. YHWH reveals Himself to us so we might know His name, “I am YHWH,” as the God who brings us out of bondage, who is our help and shield, and the covenant God who will always be with us. His actions define His name, YHWH, and knowing who He is defines us, His image and likeness. He has made a name for Himself as the YHWH of our exodus, of our salvation, a shield and blessing, giving us grace and glory.
Fun Factors:
Exodus 3:14, I AM What I Will Be, אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה, has a numeric value of 543, 3 × 181; 181 is the 42nd prime and 19th Pythagorean prime, a sum of two squares, 102 + 92, indicating YHWH’s certainty of bringing all generations of humanity into His judgment and justice related to the 19 year Metonic.
“I am YHWH” (letter sum 87, 8 + 7 = 15, Israel’s restoration number) occurs 18 times in Exodus, 73 times in the Torah, and 161 times (7 × 23) in the Tanakh. He adds “who brought you out” (sum 1033, 174th prime, 84th Pythagorean prime, 322 + 32) to His name 24 times in the Torah, making it His most emphasized epithet. The numbers play on the meaning of YHWH, restoration to life (15 and 18), the wisdom of living (73 and 7 × 23), and 1033 added to its reverse 3301 is 4334, equal to 372 + 382 + 392.
YHWH’s titles and appellations come in multiples of 37 (example: Dan. 4:2 Elaha2, sum 37, the High, sum 111, added equals 4 × 37 = 148 = number sum of pesach, פֶּסַח, and sawfakh, סָפַח, to join, cleave together, Isa. 14:1). After His Passover cleansing, wholeness occurs by attaching to YHWH, abiding in Him. “And the Spirit of God hovered over the waters” is 372 (Gen. 1:2), and “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities” is 372 (Isa. 53:5). John 3:16 has a sum of 13,690 or 372 × 10. From Abraham’s birth to Jacob’s death spans 307 years of the three founding patriarchs walking with YHWH.
Footnotes:
1 The human names himself Ish, אִישׁ, and his helper, Ishah, אִשַּׁה, by adding the letters of Yah (yod and hey, יָה) to the Hebrew word for fire (esh, אַשׁ). Since he sees Yah in His holiness, the fire theophany, the human patterns their own names with the fiery image plus the letters of the Life-giver’s name. For them to be fruitful and multiply, to bring forth life like Yah, they must become one, the image of God. They, as one, reflect humans joined to YHWH, the branches unsevered from the vine.
2 https://www.studylight.org/lexicons/eng/hebrew/0426.html
Elaha’s aleph lamed pictograph is of the ox head and shepherd’s staff, signifying “strong authority.” The staff on the shoulders is a yoke to harness power. Often, two oxen were yoked together; the older, more experienced teamed up with the younger, less skilled. The older ox in the yoke is the “strong authority” who, through the yoke, teaches the younger ox.
What does the word ezer mean? Maybe I overlooked it but I didn’t see the meaning of the word. I love when He said “ You cannot be who you are unless I am with you.” That still is true today, I cannot fulfill the purpose He has for me apart from Him.
Hello Shawn,
That is an excellent question! From Blog 35, “The blessing of abundant life was all around Adam, but there was no one for him to be fruitful with. So, God, taking half of Adam, made him a helper, an ezer, who would bring forth humankind.” Ezer is a Hebrew word that means “helper.” It is one of those seed words you can follow all through the Bible. I thought it so interesting how Adam crafted the names for man and woman, ish and isha. Here is the the footnote from Blog 37: The human names himself Ish, אִישׁ, and his helper, Ishah, אִשַּׁה, by adding the letters of Yah (yod and hey, יָה) to the Hebrew word for fire (esh, אַשׁ). Since he sees Yah in His holiness, the fire theophany, the human patterns their own names with the fiery image plus the letters of the Life-giver’s name. For them to be fruitful and multiply, to bring forth life like Yah, they must become one, the image of God. They, as one, reflect humans joined to YHWH, the branches unsevered from the vine.
Thank you for your answer! That is fascinating how the Hebrew word for fire is used. I never knew that before.