Jill had serious health problems. She had visited multiple doctors, but none had been able to help her. There was one doctor whose name kept coming in all the discussions (let’s call him Dr. Graham). He was a world expert in her condition, but he had a two-year wait list.
One evening as she was walking her dog in the neighborhood, she started chatting to a neighbor a few doors up who was planting some beautiful shrubs. As they talked, Jill started sharing about her deteriorating health. Eventually the neighbor interrupted, “Wait, my husband could help you. This is the area he’s specialized in. Has no one ever referred you to him?”
Yes, you’ve guessed it, Mr. Graham! Healing was just a few houses away but because Jill didn’t know her neighbors’ names that well, she didn’t know and continued to suffer.”
Something similar happened to Israel, enslaved in Egypt and dying. But after 400 years in Egypt and many decades of slavery, Israel didn’t know God’s name and therefore didn’t know that help was so close and so possible.
In Exodus 3:11-15, when God sent Moses to deliver Israel, he anticipated the Israelites asking Moses, “What’s his name? You say God sent you, but who is this God, what’s his name?” God gave Moses powerful and memorable words to reply.
GOD’S NAME IS POWERFUL
- Powerful theology (14): “I AM” means God always is. There’s no past or future to God, he simply is. He exists at every point of time and space. It will one day be said of us, “He was” (past tense). But God always is.
- Powerful relationship (14): God’s covenant name “Yahweh” or “Jehovah” comes from this expression, “I AM.” That’s why he elaborates by saying, “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.”
What a powerful name it is!
Our names are frail, but God’s name is firm.
God’s name is powerful, but will it last?
GOD’S NAME IS PERMANENT
- Remember the past: He reminds Israel that he is the God of their past. “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
- Remember in the future: “This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” God assures Israel that they have a future because their future is bound up with him.
What a memorable name it is!
Our names are passing, but God’s name is permanent.
LIVING THE BIBLE
God’s name is powerful and God’s name is permanent.
So, remember God’s powerful and permanent name for a powerful and permanent future. Some names we can’t remember, God’s name we can’t forget.
“And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you” (Ps. 9:10).
This episode of Living the Bible lines up with Expedition 6: Day 3 in Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan and Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. You can catch up with previous episodes of the Living the Bible podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcast.