“God also said to Moses, ‘I am Yahweh. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as El Shaddai, but by my name Yahweh I did not make myself known to them.’” Exodus 6:2-3
If you were attending an evangelical Christian church in the eighties, there is a good chance that the words El Shaddai bring to mind the song by the same name. El Shaddai was a #1 hit on the Christian Billboards and resulted in Michael Card winning songwriter of the year at the 1983 Dove Awards.
The song begins with these lyrics, “El Shaddai, El Shaddai, El-Elyon na Adonai, Age to age You're still the same, By the power of The Name.” The title El Shaddai means “God Almighty.” El-Elyon means “God Most High.” And Adonai means “Lord.” Michael Card richly strings together these Hebrew words used as titles for God in the Bible.
However, there is also explanation needed for the rest of the lyric. For although it is in English, it is very easy to miss it’s meaning. Age to age, of course, speaks of God’s agelessness or His eternality. However, it is also a reference to God’s covenant name, Yahweh. In fact, when Card says, “by the power of The Name,” he is very clearly intending us to understand that The Name is Yahweh.
The Name is often used by orthodox Jews instead of Yahweh. Why? Because of the third commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name” Exodus 20:7. By refusing to speak or write the word Yahweh, it was believed that this sin could be avoided. And so, orthodox Jews substituted The Name whenever they came to Yahweh.
In most of our Bible translations, however, instead of The Name we most often see God’s covenant name as LORD, in all capitals. Whenever we see LORD, it is an indicator that God’s covenant name, Yahweh, is actually what is written in the Hebrew.
Michael Card does an excellent job of capturing the meaning of Yahweh when he says, “age to age your still the same.” For the word Yahweh actually means, “I am” or “the God who is.” Our God is the God who is. In other words, He is the unchanging God. And that is His point to Moses. He identifies Himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In other words, He is the same God in Exodus leading the people out of Egypt as the God who, in Genesis 12, led Abram to the promised land five centuries before. And He is the same God who created the cosmos and prepared the land for His finest creation—man!
But more than just the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses—He wants the people to know Him as Yahweh, the God who is, the eternal one. Why does God feel compelled to make this statement to Moses at the beginning of Exodus 6? It is in response to Moses doubting God. For when Moses asks Pharaoh to “let my people go” in Exodus 5, instead of releasing Israel from slavery, Pharaoh makes them work even harder in that they not only have to make bricks, they have to find the straw with which to make them. As a result, the people complain to Moses…and Moses complains to God.
God’s point, then, at the beginning of Exodus 6, is that Moses can trust Him. Why? Because His very name, Yahweh, indicates that He is not some flash in the pan, fly by night deity among many. He is the one true God—the God who is!
A significant part of growing as a Christian is learning to trust in God. What foolishness drives us to doubt or question the Almighty? What hubris! How limited is our perspective. How dim our vision. We see only a sliver of reality, but God knows the beginning from the end. Nothing is outside of His rule. And though we do not always recognize His reign, yet He is on the throne. And He will bring to pass all that He has promised.
O that we would have eyes to see and ears to hear. O that we could grasp reality according to His eternal kingdom. May we learn to live our lives in view of the big picture of God’s Word. May we learn to trust in the eternal, unchanging God Almighty. May we put our hope in the God who is!
In Him, Pastor Dan