Old Testament

When God made the different parts of His creation, He gave them names - day night, heaven, earth, seas, Gen. 1. 5, 8, 10. God also named the rivers that flowed out of Eden, 2. 10-14; and Psalm 147 verse 4 tells us that ‘He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names’. But He gave to Adam the responsibility of naming every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, Gen. 2. 19. Then, after the Fall, ‘Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living’, 3. 20.

The name of Jehovah revealed

At Horeb, God reveals the wonder of His own name to Moses, whose attention was arrested by the sight of a bush that burned with fire, but was not consumed, Exod. 3. 2. When God called to Moses out of the bush, He announced Himself as ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’, v. 6. The children of Israel had been in bondage in Egypt for 400 years, and now God says to Moses, ‘I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt’, v. 10. Moses’ first reaction was to say, ‘Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh?’ v. 11, but he was soon to learn that it was unimportant who he was and all-important who God is.

Moses’ next question was, ‘When I come unto the children of Israel … and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, ‘I AM THAT I AM … Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you … this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations’, vv. 13-15. His name is I AM - Jehovah (Yahweh), derived from the Hebrew of the verb ‘to be’.

In chapter 6, the Lord tells Moses, ‘I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them’, v. 3. While the name Jehovah is found many times in the Old Testament, its meaning was never really known until it was revealed to Moses at the burning bush concerning God’s plan to redeem His people from Egypt. Indeed, God did not fully reveal Himself to the world until His Son came to be our Redeemer, Heb. 1. 1, 2.

The name I AM THAT I AM reveals something of the character of Jehovah: He is holy, eternal, immutable, self-sufficient, and compassionate.

His holiness

In the King James Version, the first mention of the word ‘holy’ is in Exodus chapter 3 verse 5. Jehovah revealed Himself as a God who is separated by an infinite distance from evil and defilement, and, in both the Old Testament and the New, He commands His people, ‘Be ye holy; for I am holy’, 1 Pet. 1. 16; cp. Lev. 11. 44.

His eternality

‘I AM THAT I AM’, Exod. 3. 14. The Newberry Bible gives the meaning of this as, ‘I continue to be, and will be, what I continue to be, and will be’. The same verb is employed in verse 12, and the God who is eternal has an eternal name, v. 15. This name contains each tense of the verb ‘to be’; so it could be translated, ‘I was, I am and I shall always continue to be’. Three times in scripture, God is spoken of as ‘the everlasting God’.¹

His immutability

What Jehovah is now at this the latest moment of time, He ever was; and what He ever was, He ever will be.

In the days of Malachi, Israel was at a low ebb spiritually. Yet, in spite of the failure of His people, the Lord said, ‘For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed’, 3. 6. In the New Testament, James writes of ‘the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning’, Jas. 1. 17.

In Hebrews chapter 1 verses 11 and 12, there are three statements that affirm this truth: ‘thou remainest’; ‘thou art the same’; ‘thy years shall not fail’. He remains; He remains the same; He remains the same for ever. There are no furrows on the brow of the Almighty; His powers do not diminish with time and His glory will never fade in time or eternity.

His self-sufficiency

He is the bountiful Creator, who opens His hand, and satisfies the desire of every living thing, Ps. 145. 16. In his sermon at Mars’ Hill, Paul said, ‘Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things’, Acts 17. 25. In return He requires nothing from His creatures to sustain Him. He said, ‘If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof’, Ps. 50. 12. He never needs to take counsel from men, Isa. 40. 14. Job’s conclusion was, ‘I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee’, Job 42. 2. He can bring His thoughts and plans to pass unaided, ‘thou canst be hindered in no thought of thine’, JND.

His compassion

In the context of revealing Himself as Jehovah, His compassion for His people shines through. ‘Then Jehovah said: Seeing I have seen the distress of My people … and I have heard their cry … surely I am acquainted with their griefs: and I am come down to deliver them’, Exod. 3. 7, 8 Spurrell.²

Some composite names of Jehovah

Jehovah Jireh - the Lord will provide, Gen. 22. 14

He provided a lamb for the burnt offering, v. 8; ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world’, John 1. 29. He provides for His people’s every need, Phil. 4. 19. Our God has unlimited resources; in the superlative gift of His Son, ‘how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?’ Rom. 8. 32.

Jehovah Nissi - the Lord my banner, Exod. 17. 15

When Amalek came to fight with Israel at Rephidim, Moses told Joshua to choose out men and engage with them in the valley, while Moses, with the ‘rod of God’ in his hand, climbed to the top of the hill. When he held up his hand, Israel prevailed; when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed, vv. 9-11. So Aaron and Hur helped to steady Moses’ hands until the battle was won. The Lord told Moses to record it for a memorial in a book, and he built an altar there, which he called Jehovah Nissi. Amalek remained a constant enemy of Israel, and Christians have a persistent battle with the enemy, the flesh. Our sinful nature, ‘the old man’, has neither been removed nor improved, Eph 4. 22. Moses’ uplifted hands remind us that prayer is a vital part of our armour, Eph. 6. 18.

Jehovah Shalom - the Lord our peace, Judg. 6. 24

Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would bear the name ‘Prince of Peace’, Isa. 9. 6. Peace with God was purchased at the cross, Col. 1. 20. The ‘peace of God’ is the experience of all God’s children as they progress in their knowledge of ‘the God of peace’, Phil. 4. 7; Rom. 15. 33.

Jehovah-Tsidkenu - the Lord our righteousness, Jer. 23. 6; 33. 16 God is ‘a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he’, Deut. 32. 4. Jehovah acts in grace towards men, but always in accordance with His righteousness. Speaking of the cross, Paul writes, ‘he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him’, 2 Cor. 5. 21. ‘Righteousness and peace have kissed each other’, Ps. 85. 10. There is perfect harmony and equity in all God’s ways.

‘The love of God is righteous love,
inscribed upon Golgotha’s tree;
Love that exacts the sinner’s debt,
yet, in exacting, sets him free’.

Horatius Bonar

Jehovah Shammah - the Lord is there, Ezek. 48. 35

The prophet Ezekiel was sent to the rebellious nation of Israel, Ezek. 2. 3. In his first vision of God, he was with the captives by the river of Chebar, and the heavens were opened, 1. 1. When he went into the plain, again he saw the glory of the Lord standing there, 3. 23. Then he saw the glory rising up, 10. 4; the glory departing, v. 18; the glory above the cherubim as they stood at the east gate of the Lord’s house, v. 19; and the glory coming into the house, 43. 4. At the end of his vision of the new temple, Ezekiel is told about the gates of the city, and that ‘the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there’, 48. 35 - Jehovah Shammah.

The promises of Jehovah

In the book of Isaiah, from chapter 40 onwards, there is a definite link between the ‘I AM’ statements of Jehovah and the ‘I will’ promises that follow; the ‘I AM’ statements add great weight to the promises. Scripture warns us against putting too much dependence on the promises of men, Isa. 2. 22. A promise may be made with good intentions, but because the person making it is mortal there can be no certainty of it being kept. How trustworthy, then, are the promises of Jehovah? He who says ‘I AM’ can confidently say ‘I will’.³

The promises of Jehovah are made by the One who cannot lie and who cannot die. Peter describes them as ‘exceeding great and precious promises’, 2 Pet. 1. 4.