Yahweh

This, the Memorial Name of the Deity, presents features of special interest. It is essentially “the Name”; it is for this “Name’s sake” that many of the things referred to in an earlier section have been done and other things promised. Around it circle the most interesting phases of the purpose of the Deity. The circumstances under which it was first proclaimed are suggestive. Four hundred and thirty years after the promises to Abraham had been made the subject of a covenant, the time had arrived for an important development to take place in the long chain of circumstances that were to lead to the realisation of the things promised. Israel had been enduring hard bondage in Egypt. Their cries had ascended on high, and the destined deliverer had been prepared. He was now to receive his commission to lead Israel out of the house of bondage, and in response to a question as to the Name he was to announce as appertaining to the God who had sent him, he was told, as the Authorised Version expresses it, “I am that I am,” which was immediately afterwards paraphrased when “God said moreover unto Moses, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Yahweh, Elohim of your fathers... hath sent me unto you; this is My Name for ever, and this is My Memorial unto all generations.” Shortly afterwards God spoke again unto Moses, “I am Yahweh, and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of El Shaddai, but by My name Yahweh was I not known to them” (Exod. vi. 2 and 3). The name Yahweh thus became associated with a purpose with which Israel’s deliverance from Egypt was connected.

The declaration of that purpose takes us back to Abraham with whom the covenant was made. When the promise became a covenant by means of its typical ratification, God said, “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Gen. xv. 13-16). “In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land” (verse 18). By the incident referred to above and which were connected with a definite stage in the purpose, the name has become associated with that purpose and covenant, and is, therefore, a covenant name.

With this fact in mind we may consider the translation as it appears in the Authorised and Revised Versions. In the text of both it is shown as “I am that I am.” Orthodox professors have used this rendering as a proof of their doctrines of the Trinity and the pre-existence of Christ. They base their arguments on the fact that when Christ was in discussion with the Jews, He said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John viii. 58). The argument is, at first sight, plausible, but when carefully considered is found to be entirely unsatisfactory. It takes no cognisance of the fact that this was not the only time that Jesus used the words, “I am.” On two other occasions in the same chapter are the words used (verses 24 and 28). In each of these cases the translators have inserted the word ” he ” after them – rightly so. An examination of the context will indicate the idea which is associated with that pronoun. In the seventh chapter there is a discussion as to the Messiahship of Jesus. Except for the parenthesis of the incident of the woman taken in adultery, that question is pursued all through the eighth and ninth chapters, and the statements, “I am he,” clearly refer to the fact that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah. It was that day of Messianic glory that Abraham rejoiced to see. By faith he beheld him seated in the gates of his enemies in fulfilment of the promise which had been given to him, blessing all the families of the earth (Gen. xxii. 17 and 18). The statement has no reference whatever to pre-existence. It must also be remembered that Jesus deliberately used language which was intended to mislead those who had already adversely judged His claims, and too literal an interpretation must not, therefore, be attached to some of the expressions used.

The error of the orthodox explanation is still more apparent when attention is directed to the passage in Exodus and the language is examined critically. The marginal rendering of the Revised Version reads, “Or, I am because I am, or I am who am, or I will be that I will be.” It is generally admitted now that the last of these is the true rendering of the Hebrew. It declares not that God is, but that He will be. It is thus really a Memorial Name, bringing to memory His covenanted promises. There is very little meaning in the ordinary translation. To say, “I am that I am,” is to repeat a self-evident truism, a thing inconceivable in such circumstances as those under which the declaration was made. To say, “I will be that I will be,” or “I will be who I will be,” is a very different matter. None but one who could foretell the future and control all the possible events of that future, could make such a statement. It involves all that we must consider as inherent in the One God. Absolute omnipotence, omniscience, and prescience are involved. There must be power to prevent any untoward accident. It pre-supposes also that there must be a purpose clearly determined. That purpose was involved in the promises made in Eden and to Abraham. Much more was to be declared before the full knowledge of that purpose could be attained by man, but even in those early promises there was sufficient to make the name of Yahweh singularly appropriate to designate the God of Abraham. For Yahweh is a name which is equivalent to the “I will be” of the declaration to Moses. The marginal reference of the Revised Version against the title, “The Lord” (Exod. iii. 15), reads, “Jehovah, from the same root as Ehyeh,” which as the previous note on Exod. iii. 14 indicates, means, “I will be,” and is frequently so rendered.

“Out of over forty other occurrences of this first person, singular number, future tense of the verb, in such a grammatical position as to make it allowable to draw a comparison with this verse (that is, excluding cases where what is known as the vav conversive, alters the state of affairs), there is only one instance of ehyeh being rendered 'I am’ in the A.V. We have ‘I will be’ twenty-seven times, and the remaining occurrences represented by ‘will I be,’ ‘I shall be,’ ‘shall I be,’ ‘though I be,’ ‘should I be,’ etc., etc.” (Christadelphian 0f 1881 page 212)

The following quotation from Eureka will help to a realisation of the meaning of the name.

“In the name and memorial thus revealed at the bush, the Deity declared that He would be a person, or persons, not then manifested. He announced to Moses that He was the Mighty Ones who had appeared as three men to Abraham, and as a host to Jacob; but that at a future period He would manifest Himself in others, even in persons of the Adamic race. Hence in view of this new manifestation, and to keep it constantly in remembrance, He imposed upon Himself the name of Ehyeh. ‘I will be.’ And this name of the Deity was to retain its import in a certain time hidden in the future. The time when it shall no longer be memorial is not yet arrived. It is to continue for the Olahm – for that epoch when ‘He Who is, and Who was, and Who is coming,’ shall come with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall wail before Him (Apoc. i. 7) When this terrible crisis is passed, the ascription of chap. xvi. 5, ‘Thou art righteous, O Lord, Who art, and wast, and SHALT BE,’ will be anachronous, for it will be no longer ‘shall be’ on earth, seeing that He will then be here, and reigning on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously.” (Eureka Vol. 1 pages 98 and 99)

The first use of this name in the Scriptures (Gen. ii. 4) is suggestive of the significance which has been indicated. As, however, it is there joined with the word Elohim, it had better be reviewed when this combination of names is considered. From the time of Abraham the name frequently occurs. This is what might be expected, seeing that the covenant had then become a foundation truth in relation to the purpose of God.

This fact, however, raises a difficulty. In referring to the Memorial Name, God said, “I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of El Shaddai, but by My name Yahweh was I not known to them” (Exod. vi. 3). Yet in the records of the lives of these men frequent allusion is made to Yahweh. It is said, for example, that “Abram called on the name of Yahweh.” It was “by Yahweh, the God of the heaven and the God of the earth,” that Abram caused his servant to swear that he would not take a wife for Isaac of the daughters of Canaan, and it was to Yahweh Elohim that the servant prayed. Such an apparent discrepancy calls for consideration. Many suggestions have been made in regard to it. It would seem that the name was known as a name, but that its memorial character and meaning were not perceived or declared in patriarchal times. There are gradations in the meaning of the word “know,” one of which is defined as “to learn, to be informed, to learn by experience.” The latter definition is specifically connected with the name of Yahweh in the passage under notice. After saying, “by My name Yahweh was I not known unto them,” God proceeded to declare that He would bring Israel out of Egypt, adding “And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you Elohim, and ye shall know that I am Yahweh your Elohim, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage. I am Yahweh” (Exod. vi. 7 and 8). It was thus an experimental knowledge which was to be imparted to the children of Israel in the development of events connected with the purpose associated with the Memorial Name. In this sense the Name had not been known to their fathers.

When we proceed to examine the development of the things suggested by the Memorial Name, most interesting matters are brought before us. “I will be who I will be.” Who will He be? Primarily He was to be Jehoshua (Yahweh saves or helps) – Jesus. As the Son of God by reason of the overshadowing of Mary by the Holy Spirit Jesus was “the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” In him the Father dwelt. “Though ye believe not me, believe the works, that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in Him” (John x. 38). “I am in the Father and the Father in me... the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works ” (John xiv. 10). “God was in Christ” (2 Cor. v. 19). By reason of this he was “Emmanuel, God with us.” As such he was the one through whom the effects of sin were to be overcome. He was the seed of the woman, originally referred to in that section of Genesis where the name of Yahweh first occurs. The great truth thus declared by and concerning Christ was a development of the Yahweh Name, and furnishes the first manifestation of the Memorial, “I will be Who I will be.”

But much more than this is involved. The indwelling of the Father in Christ was to be the basis for a further development in the future when, as a multitude which no man can number, the faithful of every age and race will be the temple, or dwelling-place of Yahweh. This twofold idea comes out in two statements found in the prophecy of Isaiah. “Thus saith Yahweh, the King of Israel, and His redeemer, Yahweh of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last, and beside Me there is no Elohim ” (Isa. xliv. 6). “Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning ? I, Yahweh the first, and with the last, I am He” (Isa. xli. 4). In the first of these quotations the word for last is singular, in the latter it is plural. The comparison will be more striking if the unexpressed and unnecessary words are omitted, thus:

I first, and I last (singular), and beside Me no Elohim.
I Yahweh, first and last (plural), I, He.

It cannot be imagined that this variation is accidental, or meaningless. It calls for explanation, and the ideas previously expressed supply that explanation. Yahweh, the great El, is the first. That as we have already seen is the foundation of any doctrine concerning God. Before Him – nothing! After Him – nothing! Out of Him are all things. That being so, whatever may be in the future must be of Him. But though all things are of Him, there are some things which are more particularly associated with Him – the things directly connected with His purpose. These things centre in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence Yahweh, the first, is in His manifestation in the Lord Jesus, also the last (One). He is also the last ones inasmuch as all those who attain to the life eternal will do so as the result of the Divine work in Christ and them. God was in Christ, as we have seen. God raised him from the dead. God calls the saints to His kingdom and glory through Christ. God in Christ reconciles to Himself. God works in the saints to will and to do of His good pleasure. And finally, when they are accepted at the judgment seat and changed from mortal to immortal nature, they will partake of the Divine nature – God will be all in all. Thus He is the last ones in them, and will be universally so when the end shall come. Thus the Yahweh Name contains within itself the declaration of the purpose of the Deity, and is the Memorial of that purpose.

The usage of this Name in the Scriptures can be followed without difficulty. Whenever the words LORD or GOD occur in capitals the Hebrew is Yahweh, except in the instances given below where the name Yah is used. Yah is, of course, an abbreviated form of Yahweh, and is the form in which it occurs when it is used as an element in the name of a man, e.g., Jehoshaphat (Yah will judge), and Isaiah (Yah has saved).

Jehovah is an unauthorised representation of Yahweh. The Jews held the latter as something too holy for human lips. As it occurs constantly in the Scriptures it was necessary to make some arrangement whereby it could be expressed, and the vowel sounds of Adonai were incorporated into it, thus making the combination into Yehovah, or Jehovah. Whenever Jehovah occurs in the Scriptures in the English translation it is, of course, a rendering of Yahweh. The following are the cases where the name Yah is used: