The name of God on the thorn bush
Series: Holy – Holy – Holy | Bible text: Exodus 3:7–14
Moses» encounter with the holy God at the thorn bush completely turned his life around. As the basis for his maximally challenging mission – to lead a people of millions out of captivity into an unknown land – the LORD introduces himself by name. «I am who I will turn out to be.«The holy God is not comprehensible for us humans, but HE is also not arbitrary. His holiness guaranteed purest goodness, mercy, love and empathy.
The quality of a Christian grouping depends primarily on how seriously they take the holy God. We want to become a church that marvels at God’s majesty, beauty and unavailability and does not degrade Him to an avuncular über-good-man. From the burning bush it sounded: «Mose, Mose!» (Exodus 3:4). The holy God knew the name of Moses before Moses knew the name of God. But the question follows: «If I go to the Israelites and tell them, «The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,» and then they ask me, «What is his name?» what shall I answer them?» (Exodus 3:13 NLB). In the Jewish context, the name has even greater significance than in ours. It is the programme that belongs to a person. Therefore it is understandable that Moses wants to know the name of his employer.
New name
«God replied: «I am who I always am. Just tell them: «I am» has sent me to you.»(Exodus 3:14 NLB). Luther translates: «I will be who I will be.«In the Hebrew Bible, the letters J‑H-W‑H stand for the name of God (6828 times in the Tanakh).. So the holy God does not present himself with a «Nameword», but with the «Tunword» its before. One could also translate: I am who I will turn out to be. There is no name that could capture the greatness and majesty of God. A noun would be far too static, too self-contained.
Later, God will give Moses two tablets with God’s instructions. One of them says that man should not make an image of God (cf. Ex 20:4). Every image we make of God falls short and cuts Him down in His unimaginable greatness. No image – neither mental nor material – can even come close to grasping God. It is part of God’s holiness that He remains unavailable to us. We don’t have a grip on Him. He is not a mascot that we can put in our pocket. For the Jews, the name of God YHWH is so sacred that they never use it. That’s why later, when the Hebrew Bible was vocalised, they didn’t even know how to pronounce the name. That is why there are churches that Jehovah say, others prefer Yahweh.
Does the name of God (I am who I will turn out to be) that Yahweh is capricious, unpredictable and arbitrary? Capricious and arbitrary – no. Unpredictable – yes! Yahweh is holy, so pure, full of love, mercy and goodness that we can never calculate this. God is absolutely pure and beautiful, in Him there are no shadows, therefore we can only be positively surprised by His unpredictability. Before Yahweh gives His name, He says to Moses: «I have seen my people oppressed in Egypt. And I have heard their cries. I know how much they are suffering. I have come to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to lead them out of Egypt into a beautiful, vast land, a land flowing with milk and honey […] I have heard the cry of the Israelites and I have seen how they are oppressed by the Egyptians»(Exodus 3:7–9 NLB). Last Sunday, a woman told me that God must have forgotten her. Probably the people of Israel felt the same way during their 400 years of captivity. Yahweh has seen, heard, He knows about the need, the suffering and has come.
Yahweh has such a pure and excellent character precisely on the ground of His holiness that His name can only arouse positive expectations.
New fear of God
Man’s adequate response to God’s holiness is awe, respect and worship. The Jews wear a kippah out of reverence for God so that they do not come into direct contact with God’s holiness. Moses took off his shoes and kept his distance from the burning bush.
This week people have asked me about the relationship between distance and closeness to God. Are we supposed to love or fear Yahweh? Yahweh demands both at the same time: «Now, O Israel, what more doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but that thou shouldest praise the LORD thy God? fearthat you will walk in all his ways and love him And serve the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee?»(Deut 10:12f LUT). Those who fear God express that they are amazed at God’s beauty, majesty and holiness. Yahweh is the Creator, I am a creature, He is the LORD, I am His servant. From this attitude of wonder and humility, love gets on the right track and prepares the way for service and obedience. Fear of God and love do not contradict each other.
Respect, reverence and taking God seriously is the basis for friendship. David writes: «Friendship with the Lord is due to those who take Him seriously (fear Him).»(Psalm 25:14 NGÜ). What we cannot put together in our world of experience belongs together with God. Moses experienced the holiness of God several times, which fostered his fear of God and made friendship with Yahweh possible in the first place: «The LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as one who speaks to his friend […].» (Exodus 33:11 NLB). God’s holiness and friendship with God is not a contradiction.
When Jesus prayed for his followers before his death, he said: «[…] Holy Father, keep them in your name which you have given me, that they may be one as we are one»(John 17:11 NLB). He thus brings together the fatherhood of God and his holiness. That is why I like the sentence: I talk to my loving Father and fall silent before the holy God. The addressee is the same. For us it may seem ambivalent, but with God, fatherhood grows out of His holiness. That which is born out of holiness is absolutely pure and good.
New chapter in life
Moses received a commission from Yahweh that – humanly speaking – simply frightened him. The life-threatening calling is: «Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You shall lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.»(Exodus 3:10 NLB).
Four characteristics stand out that Moses did not have before the encounter with God’s holiness:
- Moses was fearlessLet us not forget that Moses fled Egypt because he feared for his life. And now he is supposed to lead a people of millions out of captivity. A quote from Arno Backhaus reveals the secret: «The more fear of God, the less fear of pagans.» The best recipe against the fears in our everyday life – be it of situations or of people – is the fear of the Lord. He who can kneel before God can stand before men. «Moses left the land of Egypt through faith. He was not afraid of the king, but went on steadfastly because he fixed his gaze on the One who is invisible»(Hebrews 11:27 NLB).
- Moses was obedientFrom Moses we can also learn to keep God’s word even when we do not understand it. Jesus repeatedly draws attention to the connection between loving God and keeping His commandments (e.g. John 14:21). A love that does not take God’s holiness seriously is in danger of revolving around itself after all.
- Moses did not seek his own comfortThose who take God seriously take His Word seriously, even if the implementation is uncomfortable. After the thorn bush, Moses first asked: What does God want? And not: What is most comfortable for me? From the perspective of the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, it sounds like this: «By faith, Moses, when he was an adult, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He preferred to suffer with the people rather than indulge in the fleeting pleasures of sin» (Hebrews 11:24f NLB). Moses could have arranged his life comfortably. At Pharaoh’s court, a life of luxury and at the centre of world politics beckoned. Later, after his escape from Egypt, he married Zipporah in Midian. Now a tranquil life as a young family was within reach with children who could grow up in a safe environment. But Moses was ready to give up his own comfort. Jesus also challenges us to take up the cross and follow Him. The condition for this is the encounter with the holiness of God.
- Moses was humble: The encounter with God at the thorn bush raised Moses» life to a previously unknown level. From now on, he was no longer tending his father-in-law’s sheep, but leading a nation of millions into a completely unknown, still occupied land. There could hardly be a more demanding task. Despite the huge responsibility and witnessing many miracles, Moses remained humble. «Moses was very humble, there was no one on earth more humble than him» (Exodus 12:13 NLB). He who fears God remains simple and modest – even in the greatest success.
Looking at Moses» life around the thorn bush experience triggers a new longing in me. Could it be that discovering and experiencing God’s holiness more deeply could satisfy my hunger for more of God? One thing is certain: the more we understand about God’s holiness, the more valuable the redemptive act of Jesus Christ becomes to us. He has filled up the gap between us and Yahweh. What He has not filled up, however, is the holiness of God. Thanks to Jesus, we may confidently come before the throne of our gracious God. Let us do so and marvel at the beauty, majesty and pure love in which He is pleased to show Himself in your life too!
Possible questions for the small group
Reading the Bible text: Exodus 3:7–14
- What does it take for dealing with the mystery of God’s holiness to become a quality feature of seetal chile?
- Why does the Lord introduce Himself not with a noun but with a verb? What does this have to do with the fact that we are not supposed to form an image of God?
- The Lord will prove Himself. What gives us the certainty that He does not act arbitrarily?
- Where is the connection between Moses» fear of God and his courage to accept the commission and the humility in which he lives it?
- What has changed in the context of God’s holiness through Jesus Christ? What has remained the same?
