Sermon March 15, 1998 The Name of an Almighty God based on Exodus 3:1-15

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The sound of our names can be one of the most recognizable sounds for us. Even among a crowd and other distracting noises, we often hear if our name is called. Our name rings in our ears.

In our text, Moses heard his name called from the burning bush. He saw this bush burning in the desert and walked over to see what it was all about. The angel of the Lord was appearing as a flame of fire and the fire did not burn up the bush. So Moses walked up to it, filled with curiosity.

Then Moses heard that familiar sound of his own name from the bush, "Moses, Moses!" God then explained to Moses the appropriate behavior when he was in God's presence. This fits in with the Middle Eastern custom of removing the shoes when entering a holy place. The shoes were intended to protect the feet from dirt. Wearing them into the holy place would defile the holy place with the dirt the shoes or sandals carried. God asks Moses to show Him respect. The place of the burning bush was holy because God was there. So Moses showed respect to the Lord by removing his shoes. We too have the opportunity to show respect to God when we come to this place where God comes to be with us for Divine Service. It is also clear from the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit lives in all who believe in Jesus Christ and that our bodies are therefore each temples of God. How we treat our bodies can show respect for the holy place they are also.

After Moses removes his sandals, God identifies Himself. He is the same God which Moses' father, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob worshiped. In the presence of this almighty God, Moses fearfully hides his face. Then God explains the situation to Moses:

The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

God sees the problem and He has a solution. Moses is the solution. He says to Moses: So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.

Again, Moses is afraid. He does not think he should be assigned this task because he is not up to it. Certainly he is right in that by himself he cannot do what the Lord commanded. This is why the Lord comforts him with the promise, I will be with you. What wonderful words. The Lord is sending him on a task and the Lord will be with him. When we follow the Lord's commands, we too can be sure He is with us, strengthening us and getting us through the tasks we must do.

This is what Jesus promises at the end of Matthew, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." When we follow God's commands, He is with us.

God also gives Moses another assurance. He says, "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." This is God assuring Moses of the outcome. "You will return to this place to worship me," He is saying. Indeed, Moses and the people did return, and on this mountain, Sinai, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and had many other things to say. God is promising Moses that he will make it out of Egypt alive and will be successful. He is not sending him on a suicide mission.

Of course, trusting in this promise only comes by faith. Moses had to have faith that God could bring about what He promised. You and I also approach God with that same faith today. In faith, we trust in the things we cannot see, but which God has promised.

Now Moses realizes he is going to be sent to these Israelites by a god they will not see. What if they ask Moses to identify this God? What name shall He be called by? In reply, God speaks a phrase which we struggle to express in English. In our NIV translation, we have "I AM WHO I AM." It means much more than this, as there is no given time sense for this phrase. We would have to say something like: "I am, I was, and I will be who I am, I was, and I will be." And this phrase is not to be taken as an answer to a question, such as "Who is going for a walk?" "I am." No, this statement "I am" means "I exist, I am part of reality, I am here, I am happening."

Can you imagine someone making such a statement? They walk up to you and say "I am." This sort of statement is really only one which God can make. Only God has existed forever. Only God is powerful enough to make this statement. It is a statement which only the ruler of the universe could make. He said, "I am who I am."

God tells Moses to say to the Israelites, "I AM has sent me to you." Here God gives the name Moses should call Him. "I AM" is our crude English translation. The Hebrew is Eth-yeh. Here God gives us a personal name. This is what we can call Him. This name is not some kind of title, but a real personal name. Eth-yeh.

Titles are very formal. If you are trying to get someone's attention in a crowd, but you don't know their name, you may say: "Sir!" or "Madame!" Have you noticed how that often fails to get someone's attention. It is just a title. It is not a personal name.

How blessed we are that God has given us His personal name to call on Him with. Eth-yeh. We can use this name to pray, instead of a title like "God," "Lord," or "Father." These titles are all fine to use, but what a special priviledge to be able to call God by His first name.

Our God is even more gracious, for He gives us a second name to call Him. In the text He says: "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." It is unfortunate that we miss this name in every English translation of the Old Testament. The name of God is translated as "Lord." Often it will be printed in all capitals to set it apart from the other words. Perhaps it would be better to keep it in the original Hebrew. There it is Yahweh. Moses was to tell the people that Yahweh sent him to them. He wasn't given some generic title, but the actual name of God to give to the people.

The name Yahweh means almost the same thing as the other name Ethyeh. "I am, I was, I will be." This name Yahweh carries more power yet. It maybe translated as, "I caused to be, I cause to be, and I will cause to be."

The name Yahweh used to be pronounced Jehovah. However, this was discovered to be a mistake. It was a pronounciation resulting from the Jews changing the Bible so they would not speak God's name. See, they misunderstood the second commandment. They went so far as to distort God's name so that they avoided using it all together.

This is not was God wanted. Thus He says at the end of our text: "This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation." Here you see that Yahweh wants us to use His name. He wants us to remember Him and call upon Him. As our Small Catechism says about the Second Commandment, we are to call upon God's name in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks. For all this we can use God's name. And we are His special children who He has given His name to us to use to call upon Him.

Both of these names that Yahweh gave to Moses were names that meant something special in the situation that Moses was facing. Moses was fearful of facing Pharaoh. But God reassured Moses by telling him who was with him-the powerful one, the almighty one, the one called "I AM." With God for him, he was bound to succeed. So these names tell something about God. We know Him by His strength. We can call Him by a name which explains that He has the power to create and sustain the world and therefore also the power to keep all His promises to us.

We also heard in our text what kind of God we have. We read how He heard the cries of the people in misery in Egypt. Yahweh rescued His people from the slavery and brought them into the land of milk and honey. Here is Yahweh's reputation for all to see. He is a rescuing type of God. He likes to save people. He hears their cries. He is merciful and gracious.

Like the Israelites, we too are slaves. Our own slavery is a much more grave situation than the Israelites in Egypt. Our own slavery involves being a slave to sin. Sin means turning away from Yahweh, disobeying Yahweh, and turning-in on ourselves. Sin makes us enemies to God. This is worse that slavery to another nation. We are slaves against God. And slaves cannot free themselves. They are stuck.

Being slaves against God makes it even more surprising that God would want to rescue us from this slavery. Why help us, when we are His enemies? Yahweh's power extends even to His mercy. What powerful mercy which reaches out to His enemies.

Now God promised to raise a prophet up like Moses. Yes, even back in Deuteronomy 18, Yahweh promised one who would deliver us from slavery. As Moses delivered the Israelites from Egypt, we too would be delivered from slavery to sin. They were delivered into the land of milk and honey, we are delivered into the land of forgiveness for our sins and everlasting life.

The prophet raised up by Yahweh is Jesus Christ. Indeed this prophet is the same God. His work of deliverance for all people from their slavery to sin was a more difficult task than Moses had. Jesus had to give up His life on the cross for this deliverance. He had to become our substitute for the punishment we were due.

Now, Christ did not remain dead. Moses had the promise from Yahweh that he would worship on the mountain with the people after leaving Egypt. Jesus promised us that He would rise again. This He did. This resurrection of Jesus showed that the deliverance was achieved. We were set free from slavery to sin. We were taken to the land of forgiveness and everlasting life.

Yet, we wait today for it to be finalized. It will all be made clear at the coming of our Lord, who will judge the living and the dead. At that glorious completion all that we take on faith today will become visible. Until that day, we trust in the power of the One who calls Himself Ethyeh and Yahweh. The one who is powerful enough to say "I was, I am, and I will be." His power can certainly bring all He has promised to pass. His promise to be with us can bring us strength to face each day's challenges. We can live our lives in a land of milk and honey, because of the powerful grace of Yahweh demonstrated through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.