Bible Q & A

The WWCW thanks Jeff L. for the following question (the wording is ours):

In Exodus 6:3 God tells Moses that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not know God's name "Jehovah" when that name of God is, in fact, communicated to the patriarchs as evidenced in Abraham's naming of a place "Jehovah-jireh" (Gen. 22:14) and elsewhere.

This is a great question. One that takes some digging before the answer becomes obvious. As students of the Bible, when we find something that appears to be a Biblical contradiction, a "red flag" should go up (see the discussion of Abraham's thwarted sacrifice). Should Christian's run and hide from questions such as these? Not a chance! We, as Christians, wait in anticipation for what the Holy Spirit will reveal from such a mystery. So let's dig in...

"God also said to Moses, 'I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as El-Shaddai [which means God Almighty], but by my name Jehovah [or Yahweh which means I AM] I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.'" (Ex. 6:2-5)

Does this mean that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob never heard the word "Jehovah"? It can't mean that because we know Abraham names a place after that very word. He names the place "Jehovah-jireh" which means "The Lord Will Provide" (which brings up another question as to why Abraham said "will" and not "did" - again, see Abraham's thwarted sacrifice mentioned previously). So what is the Holy Spirit trying to tell us here? To answer this, we have to remember that God uses different names as descriptive terms of His character, not always as simple titles.(1,2) A good example of God's different descriptive names occurs in Gen 6:5, 12-18. God is "Jehovah" in verse 5 and in verses 12-18, God is "Elohiym." Obviously the same God, but a different aspect of His character (in a future Bible Q & A, we may explore this is more detail - as a homework assignment, look at what "Jehovah" says as compared to what "Elohiym" says and ask yourself what each reveals about God's character).

So what part of God's character had Abraham, Isaac and Jacob not seen? They had not seen Jehovah lead them to the promised land - they had not seen the covenant fulfilled.(3) The meaning of "Jehovah" is not only "I AM" but also, "he is" or "he will be."(4) God is saying here that "he will be" the one to lead them to the fulfillment of His covenant. More specifically, "Jehovah" is the name often used for the characteristic of God that is Just. Here, Jehovah will fulfill His promise and keep His covenant because He is Just. It's nice to know that not only is God "The Almighty," the creator of the Universe, He is also "Jehovah," the one who hears us and remembers His covenant - not only His covenant to the Israelites but His covenant to us involving His son and our redemption! In fact, the "I am he" of John 18:5-9 may be a reference to God's covenant fulfilling character "I AM." Remember how the very words "I am he," when spoken by Jesus, knocked those who came to arrest Him to the ground?

If we did not look at the verse following the one in question, we may have concluded that a contradiction exists. The following verse revealed that God said to Moses "I have remembered my covenant" which was a key to unraveling this mystery. Another key was the knowledge of God's names, which lead to a better understanding of God Himself.

Here at the WWCW we know that more than a few atheists and Bible skeptics will be reading this particular answer, after all they are the ones who asked the question! Will they accept this answer? Probably not, it's hard for the unsaved to understand the things of the Spirit as evidenced by the verses "Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" (1 Co. 1:20) and "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." (1 Co. 1:18) Is this a "cop out" to providing an answer acceptable to a Bible skeptic? Not at all - if the Bible skeptic understood just a small portion of the Bible he or she would understand what becomes obvious to Christians (sometimes with a little or a lot of study). Once the answer to this question was researched and prayer was entered into, the outcome could only prove the greatness of the Holy Spirit. Pray for the skeptics, Christians, and pray for us that our witness to them is pleasing to God. Many times, in our zealousness for God, we unintentionally destroy our witness.

Notes (Bible verses are referenced in the text):

1. Jukes, Andrew "The Names of God", p.7

2. "The New Treasury Of Scripture Knowledge", p.88

3. Andrew Jukes, in "The Names of God,"(pp.49,50) differs on this point. He states, "God has always been 'Jehovah,' but in the character which his name declares, that is, as the God whose love would be in virtue of certain qualities, even His elect, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had not as yet known Him... Not until the redemption out of Egypt, when He gave the law, and said, 'Be ye holy for I am holy,' was the full import of the name 'Jehovah' revealed to Israel." He goes on to say that many people in the past have known the name "Jehovah" but, again, the Law fully revealed Jehovah to His people.

4. "The New Treasury Of Scripture Knowledge"

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