What is in a Name?

What is in a name? In Judges 6:11-24, we will be introduced to a new expression for Yahweh. Its use in several passages makes it clear that the biblical writers conceived of two Yahwehs—one invisible and always present in the spiritual realm (“the heavens”). The other is brought forth to interact with humanity on earth, most typically as a man. That there must be two is indicated by their simultaneous presence in some familiar stories.

The Burning Bush

What is in a name like Yahweh. Exodus 3:7, 14 give us the answer. In verse 14, we find the I AM expression. This is a future incomplete verb in Hebrew. It means Yahweh’s actions are incomplete. The best translation is I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE. Yahweh is revealed by future actions. What future actions? Exodus 3:7 shows us: Yahweh will deliver the children of Israel from the hands of Egyptian bondage, bring them to a good land, and conquer the nations. These actions during Moses’ confrontation at burning bush yet had not been completed. The final completion of these actions will not happen until Jesus comes again. All people of God are still in exile waiting to be delivered into a land of rest.

After the Burning the Bush

What is in a name like Yahweh after the burning bush? We know what happens after the burning bush. Yahweh, through Moses, delivers Israel from Egypt. Moses leads the people to Sinai to meet their God, receive the law, and prepare for the journey to the promised land. There is a short conversation between God and Moses about that task that is habitually overlooked by Bible readers. In Exodus 23:20-22 God says:

20 “ ‘Look, I am about to send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, because he will not forgive your transgression, for my name is in him. 22 But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes” (Exodus 23:20–22).

There is something strange about God’s description to Moses that tells us that this is no ordinary angel. This angel has the authority to pardon sins or not, a status that belongs to God. More specifically, God tells Moses that the reason this angel has this authority is “my name is in him” (v. 21). What does this curious phrase mean? Moses knew instantly. Anyone thinking of the burning bush account does as well.

When God told Moses that his name was in this angel, he was saying that he was in this angel—his very presence or essence. The I AM of the burning bush would accompany Moses and the Israelites to the promised land and fight for them. Only he could defeat the gods of the nations and the descendants of the Nephilim whom Moses and Joshua would find there. Other passages confirm that this reading is correct. This angel is Yahweh. Perhaps the easiest way to demonstrate this is to compare Old Testament passages about who it was that brought Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land (Compare Leviticus 11:45; Deuteronomy 4:35-38; Joshua 24:17-18; Judges 2:1). What is in a name? These passages interchange Yahweh, the Angel of Yahweh, and the “presence” (panim) of God as the identity of the divine deliverer of Israel from Egypt. There were not three different deliverers. They are all the same. One of them, the angel, takes human form. If Deuteronomy 4:37 is read considering Exodus 23:20–23, then the presence and the Angel are co-identified. This makes good sense in view of the meaning of the “Name” which was in the Angel. What is in a name like Yahweh? A lot.