Tag: God’s Name

His Name Forever

Exodus 1-3

After Moses fled Egypt and saved the Midianite women from the jerks at the well he settled down and had children and lived a simple life as a farmer/shepherd.  Meanwhile the rest of the Israelites were groaning in their captivity in Egypt and their cry rose up to God and he took pity on them (Exodus 2:23-25).  God was then ready to call up Moses out of the wilderness so that he can carry out God’s plan.

Exodus 3:10-15

10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 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.”

13 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?”

14 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.’”

15 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.”

It is very interesting that Moses had to ask God about his name.  In the eyes of the Israelites God had abandoned them when they were enslaved in Egypt, and they had mostly wandered away from God since then and had taken on the gods of the Egyptians.  It was the mindset of the Israelites that God had forsaken his promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Moses was basically asking if God was wanting to start over in his relationship with the Israelites and form new covenants.  God emphatically states that he is to be known to his people as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, to remind them that those promises still stand, and will stand for eternity. It is helpful to remember God in terms of what he has done for you or your loved ones, which is why God instructs the people to remember him as the God of Abraham so they will remember the stories that have been passed down of God’s faithfulness to their ancestors.

We need to be reminded of the fact that God does not change his mind like we do.  God does not forget a promise. Just because things have changed in our lives and we are having doubts doesn’t mean that God is no longer the one who created the foundations of the earth.  If we have sinned, or walked away from God for a time, or had a traumatic event in our lives it doesn’t change the fact that God IS, and that the blood of His Son Jesus can still cover our sins.

-Chris Mattison

(Originally posted for SeekGrowLove on Oct 3, 2018)

Reflection Questions

  1. What do we learn about Moses in the first 3 chapters of Exodus?
  2. How did the first 40 years of his life, spent in Egypt in the Pharaoh’s house, help prepare him for the job God selected him to do when he was 80? How did his years in Midian help prepare him? What talents, characteristics, knowledge, wisdom, connections, experiences, failures and accomplishments are in your past and present that could be useful for a future task God is preparing you for?
  3. What examples of God’s faithfulness would you do well to remember and pass on to the next generation so they can remember, too?
  4. What does it mean to you that God wants to be known by this same name forever? What does it tell us about God? What does it tell us about the past, present and future?
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Moses and the Burning Bush

exodus 3 15

After Moses fled Egypt and saved the Midianite women from the jerks at the well he settled down and had children and lived a simple life as a farmer.  Meanwhile the rest of the Israelites were groaning in their captivity in Egypt and their cry rose up to God and he took pity on them (Exodus 2:23-25).  God was then ready to call up Moses out of the wilderness so that he can carry out God’s plan.

 

Exodus 3:10-15

10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 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.”

13 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?”

14 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.’”

15 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.”

 

It is very interesting that Moses had to ask God about his name.  In the eyes of the Israelites God had abandoned them when they were enslaved in Egypt, and they had mostly wandered away from God since then and had taken on the gods of the Egyptians.  It was the mindset of the Israelites that God had forsaken his promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Moses was basically asking if God was wanting to start over in his relationship with the Israelites and form new covenants.  God emphatically states that he is to be known to his people as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, to remind them that those promises still stand, and will stand for eternity. It is helpful to remember God in terms of what he has done for you or your loved ones, which is why God instructs the people to remember him as the God of Abraham so they will remember the stories that have been passed down of God’s faithfulness to their ancestors.

 

We need to be reminded of the fact that God does not change his mind like we do.  God does not forget a promise. Just because things have changed in our lives and we are having doubts doesn’t mean that God is no longer the one who created the foundations of the earth.  If we have sinned, or walked away from God for a time, or had a traumatic event in our lives it doesn’t change the fact that God IS, and that the blood of Jesus can still cover our sins.

-Chris Mattison

The Priestly Blessing (Numbers 5-6)

Thursday, September 1  – By Rebecca Dauksas

 

The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons,

‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

“‘“The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’

“So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Numbers 6:22-27

 

This is a beautiful and comforting blessing from our reading today. A blessing was one way of asking God’s divine favor to rest upon others. This ancient blessing was supposed to convey hope that God would (1) bless and protect  (2) smile on them (be pleased), (3) be gracious (merciful and compassionate), (4) show his favor toward them (give His approval), and (5) give peace. (Life Application Study Bible, Tyndale).

I noticed that the priests put the LORD’s Name on the Israelites.  This has also been suggested as a way to designate the Israelites as the LORD’s people. The LORD’s Name is so important, so holy, so precious, but it seems that I see it misused more than ever.  I hear children scream out the name of God when they are upset, youth yell the name of God because they are happy, or couples saying it over and over after having their newly remodeled house revealed on the latest HGTV show.  I asked a teen girl why they misuse the name of God; after all, she has known the Ten Commandments since she was a child. She said I just didn’t understand because that is not a big deal to anyone anymore. Just this week, I had a cold and was watching a late show that I usually do not watch. I was shocked when a comic skit had a Muppet curse with God’s Name. Blasphemy is committed for the sake of a laugh. I was not amused and I won’t be tuning in to that show again.

Each line of the Priestly Blessing begins with the name Yahweh.  The ancient Hebrew authors revered Him so much that they would not write His full name. In Hebrew it was written as YHWH, the symbol meaning Yahweh. It is built on the word for “I AM” (Exodus 3:14).

It is my prayer that we will experience this blessing today.  That we will receive the LORD in every way.  That it will be evident to everyone that we are the LORD’s people who are called by His Name.

 

 

 

— We are so pleased to have Rebecca writing devotions for us this week.  Rebecca Dauksas has been a Youth Worker her entire adult life.  She serves on the Youth Advisory Committee, has been a regional Youth Director, and is serving as the Youth Director at her local congregation of Guthrie Grove Church in South Carolina. She enjoys working with all ages of youth, interns and service-learning students and encouraging Youth Workers in their ministry and is looking forward to teaching a Youth Ministry class at ABC this fall.  She has a passion for the scriptures and loves exploring them with Youth. She volunteers in her community including a Christian crisis center. Rebecca and Dave, her husband of 26 years, enjoy living on a farm near the church.