The Name

Are you wondering when YaHVaH revealed His Name to people on earth? I have heard preachers say that it was first to Moses, and still others say that YaHVaH told Moses His Name was “I AM.”

Although it may be true that a lot of people only knew YaHVaH as Elohiym before Moses; and it is true that YaHVaH told Moses, ” . . . I AM hath sent me to you.” Ex. 3:14, INH-EOT; yet look deeper at the Scriptures.

In Ge. 4:26, starting with Enosh, you read people called on the Name of YaHVaH. Well, that is long before Moses and even before Noah & the flood. It only stands to reason that in order for them to call on His Name, YaHVaH, they had to know it from some revelation. The next mention is with Noah after the flood. Although Noah builds an altar to YaHVaH, Ge. 8:20, His Name isn’t mentioned as being known by Noah until Ge. 9:26, when Noah says, ” . . . Blessed be YaHVaH, Elohiym of Shem . . . ” ROSNV.

In Ge. 12:8, 13:4, 14:22, & 15:2 (as well as later Scriptures), you read Abram (later Abraham) called on the Name of YaHVaH. However, it isn’t until Ge. 15:7 that you find YaHVaH revealing His Name to Abram for the first time, ” . . . I am YaHVaH who brought thee forth out of the Ur of Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it.” ROSNV. We can only assume that by the previous Scriptures that His Name was already known to some.

In Ge. 16, you can find Sarai (Sarah) saying the Name of YaHVaH twice and angel saying His Name once. Again, YaHVaH speaks His Name as YaHVaH to Abraham in ch. 18:14 and 22:16, “And He said, by Myself I swear, declares [YaHVaH] . . . ” INH-EOT. In Ge. 29:13, He speaks His Name to Jacob.

Throughout the rest of the Book of Genesis, you can find the Name of YaHVaH used by Abraham, Abraham’s servant, Laban, Bethuel, Isaac, Abimelech and Ahuzzath, Phicol, Rebechah, Jacob (later called Israel), Leah, and Rachel. YaHVaH also revealed Himself as ” . . . I am El-Shaddai . . . ” to Abraham and Jacob, as well as “I am El Himself, the Elohiym of thy father . . .” to Jacob. Genesis 17:1, 35:11, & 46:3, ROSNV.

So what about Ex. 3:14? Well, I actually believe Ex. 3:14 to be sort of a rebuke to Moses for his questioning of YaHVaH for His Name in v. 13. If you read v. 15, you will see it is the answer Moses sought, “And Elohiym said further unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, YaHVaH, Elohiym of your fathers, Elohiym of Abraham, Elohiym of Isaac, and Elohiym of Jacob hath sent me unto you. This is My Name to times forever, and this is My memorial to generation after generation.” (emphasis mine) ROSNV. In v. 14 He never says that “I AM” is His Name, but He does say that YaHVaH is His Name in v. 15.

In Ex. ch. 15, you can really see that Moses understood this as he sings, “YaHVaH is a warlike one, YaHVaH is His Name” in v. 3, ROSNV. In Ex. 20:2, YaHVaH says, “I am YaHVaH thy Elohiym . . . ” to all the Israelites, and to Moses alone on Mt. Sinai in Ex. 34:5-6, both in ROSNV.

If you missed it above, Enosh is Adam’s grandson. This means that every generation on this earth should have known that YaHVaH is His Name. In Ge. ch. 5, you will see that Adam was still alive, age 235, when Enosh was born to Seth. In fact, Adam lived another 690 years after Enosh’s birth. So it stands to reason that if at the time of Enosh, people called on the Name of YaHVaH, then also Adam (his grandfather) and Seth (his father) knew His Name, YaHVaH.

First published 1-2004, © 2003, 2017

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