In the Exodus account, God revealed important aspects of His name. In the previous section, we discussed the importance of the name “I will be that which I will be”. God declared that He was not only self-existent but also that He could not be defined. Obviously, the human mind desperately wants to define who and what God is. God simply declared that we cannot. He has chosen to reveal a great deal about Himself through the Bible. This is sufficient for us to serve Him and His purpose. The process of “knowing” His name will, I believe, be an infinite task lasting throughout eternity.

There are two aspects of the concept of “name” that we must consider from a Biblical perspective. Name can mean “an identifier”. God declared this name also in the previous section. He is the “God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”. This is the name by which God chooses to be known as throughout all generations. This is the God revealed in the Bible. We should always be careful to insure that we clearly utilize this name when we are speaking of God. It is our responsibility to insure that there is no misunderstanding here. There are many “gods” in this world. There is only one who is revealed in the Bible.

Another aspect of the concept of “name” used in the Bible is a description of a characteristic or function. The name “I will be that which I will be” fits into this category. The name “El Shaddai” also describes a characteristic of God.

“God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My Name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them.” (Exodus 6:2-3)

The Hebrew expression “El Shaddai” is translated here as “God Almighty”. I like to consider the construction of the word “Shaddai” as “that is enough”. The God revealed in the Bible is the “God that is enough for_______”, for whatever troubles you, you can fill in the blank.

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It is always interesting to consider what the Bible tells us and what it does not. The end of Genesis focused on the life of Joseph after the death of Jacob. The beginning of Exodus focuses on the people of Israel almost 400 years later. No account is given of events between these points. Even though extremely interesting, these events are evidently not necessary for us to understand God’s redemption process, therefore, the Bible is silent on this era.

When the time was right, God chose Moses to be His instrument of deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. He was supernaturally protected from death at birth. He was rescued by the daughter of Pharaoh and raised and educated in Pharaoh’s house. He must have been aware of his heritage. This is evident from the fact that he intervened to save another Hebrew from the hand of an Egyptian. This, of course, led to his exile into the Sinai peninsular. These events occurred in the first 1/3rd of Moses’ life. Afterward, he would spend the second 1/3rd of his life as a shepherd in the desert as the son-in-law of Jethro. The final 1/3rd of his life was spent leading Israel from Egypt to Mt. Nebo.

God’s call of Moses happened when he was 80 years old. Moses was on the mountain herding the flock when he noticed the phenomenon that we know as the “Burning Bush”. The Bible declares,

“And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.” (Exodus 3:2)

This was not an ordinary fire but was the “Glory of God” being manifested to Moses. This same “Glory” was seen throughout the Biblical account. It passed between the halves of the sacrifices made by Abraham (Genesis 15:17). This “Glory” stood between Israel and the Egyptian army as Israel escaped through the “Sea of Reeds” (Exodus 14:19-20). When the tabernacle was completed, the “Glory” descended upon and dwelled within the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34). The same was true when Solomon dedicated the First Temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 7:1-3).

The Bible is very clear that this phenomenon will occur in the future. Jesus declared:

“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels….” (Matthew 16:27a).

And,

“And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY”. (Matthew 24:30).

This theme reveals a concept almost lost to Christianity. The Holy One of Israel intends to come to planet earth and dwell in the midst of the human community. Everyone talks about going to heaven but the truth is that God is in the process of “coming to earth”. Many Christians are dreaming of escaping earth to fly off to some heavenly abode. What a surprise it will be when they return to “old planet earth”!

Finally, in this section God revealed some very important aspects of His name. He declared to Moses,

“And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:14)

This is almost universally translated incorrectly as “I am who I am”. The verbs are future tense. It should be translated as “I will be that which I will be”. The important difference here is that the present tense translation implies self-existence. The future tense expression implies not only self-existence but also that God cannot be defined. This will become a crucial issue in the 4th and 5th centuries (AD/CE) because the Church Fathers will violate this name by attempting to define God as the “mystical Holy Trinity”.

Furthermore, God declared the name by which all Bible believing people should refer to Him. He is,

“And God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 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. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.” (Exodus 3:15)

So God should never be confused with the gods of the peoples. He has a very specific name which we are to use. This name is obviously identified with Israel. As we utilize this name we identify not only with the God of the Bible but also with His people.  As we advance toward the time of His coming, real Christian believers will be challenged to assume a common identity with Israel. People worry about “taking” the “mark of the beast” (Revelation 13:16-17) on their forehead and their right hand. Sons of Israel already have marks on their forehead and on their hand. They are called “tefillin”. If we put on “tefillin” either symbolically or in reality, we will not take the “mark of the beast”. Actually, the “beast” will reject you as he will all of Israel.

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning” – Winston Churchill – 1942
These are the words of Winston Churchill in the early days of WWII. As we complete our study of the book of Genesis, I feel the same way. Genesis (Hebrew – Bereshit) means “in the beginning”. This book provides the foundation for the rest of the Bible. In it we have the creation account, the fall and the early judgment of mankind. I have called these judgments “God’s acts to limit the expression of evil through mankind”. Following these judgments, we have the revelation of the beginning of the redemption process which has now been working out in the human community for 4000 years. Again, Genesis gives us the basic foundation for what will follow. God made a covenant with three successive generations of his elect family: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He brought the infant nation (at this point an extended family) into Egypt which served as an incubator for Israel. Finally, God revealed how the two leading tribes, Judah and Joseph, came to be in leadership positions and that ultimate redemption would be accomplished through Judah.

Jacob was approaching death. He was 147 years old and had spent the last 17 years in Egypt. Now Jacob passed on both tribal leadership and the double blessing. Tribal leadership was bestowed upon Judah who had already demonstrated his selfless leadership. He willingly laid down his life for his brother. The double portion was given to Joseph. In order to accomplish this in a meaningful way, Jacob adopted the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, as his own sons. This is prophetic because the practical implications of it would not be fully realized until Israel conquered its land 400 years later. When the land was allocated to the various tribes, the Biblically meaningful heartland was given to Judah and Joseph. This is the area called today “the west bank”. It is the most highly contested real estate in the world today (see my book “Israel, God’s Interdimensional Portal”, available at Amazon).

One of my favorite Scriptural quotations is found in the section. Jacob declared to Joseph,

“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads….. (Genesis 48:15-16a)

I feel a kinship with Jacob because his confession is also true in my life. As I look back over the years, I realize that the Lord has guided me each step of the way and that he has delivered me from evil along the way.

When Jacob died, he was taken to Hebron and buried in the cave of Machpela. He was the last to be buried in the cave following Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca and, finally, his wife Leah. Can you imagine the significance of this site to the remnant of Israel who have returned and possessed the land in our day? My favorite rabbi and friend, Rabbi Eliezer Waldman, led one of two families to return to Hebron in 1968, following the Six-Day war, to establish a Jewish presence there. The ancient Jewish community of Hebron had been annihilated by Moslem Palestinians in 1929. I have had the awesome experience of visiting this site on several occasions.

Finally, Genesis ends with a bold faith expression made by Joseph. Joseph’s was confident that God would deliver Israel from Egypt. He did not know when. He made the sons of Israel promise that when God delivered Israel from Egypt and they returned to the land of Israel, that his bones be taken with them and buried in the land. Four hundred years later in the Exodus from Egypt, this was fulfilled. Joseph body was carried along the way and buried in Shechem near the border between Ephraim and Manasseh. There is a synagogue in Shechem at Joseph’s tomb today. This is also the site of Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerazim and the community of Kedumim. Fellowship Church, the congregation that the Lord used me to pioneer, has an ongoing project in Kedumim. It is awesome to sit at this site and drink in the historical as well as the future significance of this area.

Between the death of Joseph (Genesis 50) and the birth of Moses (Exodus 1) there is a gap of approximately 280 years. During this period, Egypt was conquered by Semitic invaders known as the Hyksos. Eventually the Egyptians rose up and expelled the Hyksos and established Egyptian rule again. This would be the Pharaoh that did not “know” Joseph and was responsible for enslaving the Hebrews. This is the beginning point for the book of Exodus.

As noted in previous studies, the latter section of the book of Genesis is prophetic in nature (chapters 37-50). The future leadership of the nation of Israel is described hundreds of years before the fact. Joseph is a unique type of Messiah. His descendants, Ephraim and Manasseh will become leaders of the northern tribes of Israel. Judah, on the other hand, will be the dominant tribe in the south. Through Judah, God will preserve a remnant to complete His purpose of redemption. Messiah will come from the tribe of Judah. Even though the division of Israel between Judah and Joseph is only temporarily healed from time to time during the first kingdom era (1447 – 586 BC/BCE), the unification of the whole house of Israel will be accomplished in the diaspora. Ezekiel prophesied of this unification (Ezekiel 37:15-23).

Judah was faced with the ultimate test of leadership. Benjamin had been found guilty of stealing Joseph’s cup and was destined to be thrown into prison for the rest of his life. Judah approached Joseph and proposed that he be imprisoned in the place of Benjamin. Judah laid down his life for the sake of his father and his brothers. In the words of Messiah Jesus, Judah took up his cross. This was the ultimate test of leadership. As a result, Judah became the unquestioned leader of the clan. Jacob, as a prophet, would recognize this through his prophecy concerning Judah.

“Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you, Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up, he couches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” (Genesis 49:8-10)

God revealed Himself to Jacob one last time (at least this is the last recorded revelation to him). On the way to Egypt, God met Jacob at Beersheba and exhorted him not to fear moving the clan to Egypt. Here God revealed His purpose in moving Israel to Egypt.

“And He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes”. (Genesis 46:3-4)

God was in the “nation building” business. God did not reveal the fact that it would take about 400 years for the nation to be built.

We may ask the question, why was it necessary for God to do this nation building in Egypt. Couldn’t God accomplish the same thing in the land of Canaan? Even though the Bible does not clearly answer this question, it does give us sufficient information to infer an answer. We believe that Judah’s interactions with the Canaanites (chapter 38) show that Israel was assimilating into the Canaanite population. Israel was in danger of becoming indistinguishable from the Canaanites. Israel would not become assimilated in Egypt. The Israelis were shepherds, and Egyptians despised shepherds. Israel would not be allowed to assimilate into the Egyptian population.

“for every shepherd is loathsome to the Egyptians.” (Genesis 46:34b)

Thus Egypt served as an “incubator” for the infant nation of Israel. Israel maintained their distinct identity for the 400 years spent in Egypt. They grew from 70 souls (without counting Joseph Exodus 1:5) to something like 2 to 3 million people in that time.

It is awesome to consider the wisdom of God and His revelation to man.