God did not leave us to guess who He is. When He revealed His Name to Moses, He also identified Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and promised to deliver Israel. His promise gave Moses reason to trust Him, and the deliverance that followed showed Israel His faithfulness. I understand His Name in light of that relationship between what He says and what He does.
What God Reveals Through His Name
The Hebrew Old Testament records God’s personal covenant Name in four consonants, commonly represented in English as YHWH. Many English Bibles, including the NKJV, print it as LORD in small capitals. I also use Jehovah, an established English rendering of this Name.
The passages in which God reveals His Name tell us about His eternal existence, His faithfulness to His covenant, and His mercy and holiness. He makes Himself known so His people can trust and worship Him. If I learn what to call Him but ignore what He says about Himself, I have missed the purpose of that revelation.
At the burning bush, Moses asked what he should say if Israel wanted to know the Name of the God who sent him. God answered with “I AM WHO I AM” and identified Himself as “the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD 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 to all generations.'”
I understand this declaration as revealing God’s self-existence: no one made Him, and He depends on nothing outside Himself for life. He has always been God; creation did not bring Him into existence. This eternal God had heard Israel’s groaning and remembered His covenant. He was speaking to Moses because He intended to deliver the people suffering in Egypt.
The Name identified the God who was sending Moses and gave Israel reason to believe His promise. Moses could not free the people by his own authority. He had to depend on the LORD who had promised to be with him. The Name of God Jehovah, I AM WHO I AM examines that declaration at the bush more fully.
Knowing the Name Through Covenant and Character
Exodus 6 raises a question because Genesis already uses the LORD’s Name in connection with the patriarchs. God spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob before He called Moses, yet now He says:
And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them.”
I understand God to be promising a fuller knowledge of His Name through the fulfillment of His covenant. He was not saying the patriarchs had never heard it. In the verses that follow, He recalls His promise of Canaan and says He has heard Israel’s groaning and will redeem them. He would bring them out of bondage, take them as His people, and bring them into the land He had sworn to give their fathers. Israel would come to know the LORD through the deliverance He had promised.
The chapters that follow record how God judged Egypt and its gods, preserved His people through the blood of Passover, and brought them through the sea. He gave them His law and dwelt among them in the tabernacle. The patriarchs had trusted His promise, but their descendants experienced the deliverance He had foretold. Israel learned His faithfulness through what He did for them.
Israel’s response to that deliverance makes the proclamation in Exodus 34 especially striking. Before the tabernacle was built, they rebelled at Sinai by worshiping the golden calf. After that sin, Moses pleaded for God’s presence and asked to see His glory. The LORD answered by proclaiming His Name and explaining His character.
Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty…”
Mercy and judgment both belong to the God speaking here. Longsuffering means He is patient, and His goodness and truth govern how He deals with His people. He forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, yet He does not treat guilt as innocence. I cannot describe Him truthfully by retaining the mercy I welcome and discarding the holiness that exposes my sin.
Israel had witnessed His deliverance and still made an idol. Their conduct warns me against confusing familiarity with God with faithfulness to Him. If I claim to honor His Name while teaching falsely about His character or excusing disobedience, I am dishonoring the God I claim to worship.
Jehovah, YHWH, LORD, and YAH
That concern for truthful teaching also guides how I discuss the different forms of the Name. I use the received Hebrew Masoretic tradition as the Old Testament basis for language study here at Unforsaken. It preserves the consonants represented by YHWH, while LORD in small capitals is the convention many English translations use. Jehovah has an established place in English theology, hymns, and preaching, which is why I use it too.
I do not claim that Jehovah perfectly reproduces the ancient Hebrew pronunciation. Yahweh is a scholarly reconstruction, and I see no reason to replace Jehovah in English teaching or depart from the received Hebrew text. A choice about English usage is different from a claim about ancient pronunciation. We can discuss those questions carefully without treating a particular pronunciation as a condition of salvation.
The shorter form YAH appears in Scripture too. Psalm 68:4 says, “Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name YAH, And rejoice before Him.” Hallelujah means “Praise YAH.” LORD, YHWH, Jehovah, and YAH direct our attention to the covenant God Scripture reveals; they do not identify different gods.
Several passages also combine the Name with a statement about what the LORD does or who He is. We often call these the compound Names of Jehovah. Some commemorate what He did by naming an altar or place; others describe Him directly.
In Genesis 22:14, Abraham called the place Jehovah-Jireh, “The LORD Will Provide,” after God supplied a ram in Isaac’s place. In Exodus 15:26, the LORD identified Himself as the One who heals Israel, the declaration commonly called Jehovah-Rapha, “The LORD Who Heals.” His words came with a call to listen to Him and walk in His ways.
After Israel’s victory over Amalek, Moses built an altar and named it Jehovah-Nissi, “The LORD Is My Banner” (Exodus 17:15). The memorial credited the LORD for the victory. Gideon likewise built an altar called Jehovah-Shalom, “The LORD Is Peace,” after the LORD reassured him that he would not die (Judges 6:24). These names recalled particular encounters with God’s provision and care.
Jeremiah 23:6 looks ahead to the righteous Branch called Jehovah-Tsidkenu, “The LORD Our Righteousness.” In the vision of the restored land, Ezekiel 48:35 names the city Jehovah-Shammah, “The LORD Is There.” The LORD who provides and gives peace is also His people’s righteousness, and His presence is their hope. The Names of Jehovah develops these declarations in their respective passages.
Calling on the LORD and Confessing Jesus
Joel 2:32 promises, “And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.” Peter quoted that promise in Acts 2 as he preached Jesus’ death, bodily resurrection, exaltation, and lordship. Paul quoted it in Romans 10 while explaining salvation through faith in Jesus.
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved… For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
By applying Joel’s promise to faith in Jesus, Paul shows that the salvation promised in the Name of the LORD is received through the Son. Calling on Jesus therefore honors the God who made that promise. Jesus is fully God and fully man, the eternal Son who came to save sinners. We approach the Father through Him by the Spirit.
Wicked men tortured and crucified Jesus, and He willingly gave His sinless life for us. He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice, shedding His blood and dying for our sins. His saving sacrifice was complete before He was buried and rose bodily. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit acted together in this saving work. Whoever believes in Christ receives the salvation God provides by grace, without earning it through the law, ancestry, or religious effort.
Jesus also made the Father known through His words and works. He prayed, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world” (John 17). In John 8:58 He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” I understand His words as a declaration that He is eternally God, not merely that He existed before Abraham. His hearers responded by taking up stones to throw at Him.
Philippians 2 applies to Jesus the language of Isaiah 45, where the LORD says every knee will bow to Him. Paul says every knee will bow at Jesus’ Name and every tongue confess Him as Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The honor given to the Son glorifies the Father because Jesus shares the divine identity and honor of the one LORD. He is not a creature competing with God for worship.
This does not make the Son the same Person as the Father. Jesus commands baptism “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). He speaks of one Name while identifying three distinct Persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the one God, co-equal and co-eternal. None is a lesser god or a created being, and the Spirit is a divine Person who speaks and acts. The Trinity examines the biblical grounds for confessing one God in three Persons.
We distort that revelation if we divide God into three gods or treat Father, Son, and Spirit as one Person appearing in different forms. The Son truly makes the Father known without becoming the Father, and the Spirit is distinct from both. The studies on The Word Logos and The Word of the LORD in the Old Testament follow the passages concerning the Son’s revelation of the Father.
Bearing His Name With Reverence and Hope
God declares, “I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another” (Isaiah 42:8). Malachi 1:11 anticipates His honor among the nations: “From the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles.” The glory belongs to Him whether people acknowledge it or refuse Him. When we praise His Name, we recognize who He is and the honor He deserves.
Psalm 103 begins, “Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!” Proverbs 18:10 describes His Name as a strong tower in which the righteous find safety. We find refuge in the God who has made Himself known. Repeating His Name as a protective charm puts confidence in a technique when we should be trusting Him. His care is real, but it does not promise that believers will avoid suffering.
The third commandment warns, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). Taking it in vain includes treating it as empty, invoking it falsely, or using it irreverently. Profanity is one offense, but the command also exposes religious speech that appears respectable while misrepresenting God.
If I swear falsely in His Name, claim He said something He did not say, or use His authority to manipulate someone, I am dishonoring Him. Correct words cannot make worship reverent if my heart is far from Him. The way His people live can also bring dishonor on Him before others. Ezekiel 36:20 describes how Israel’s exile brought dishonor on the LORD’s Name among the nations. People knew Israel belonged to Him, yet saw them driven from His land because of their sin.
Jesus teaches us to pray, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9). To hallow His Name is to treat Him as holy. If I pray for His Name to be honored while refusing to abandon conduct He condemns, I am contradicting my own prayer. Everyone who names Christ is called to depart from iniquity. Obedience does not earn or keep salvation; it is evidence of the new life He gives those who turn to Him in repentance and faith.
In Revelation 19, John sees Jesus returning in glory. He is called The Word of God, and His robe and thigh bear the words KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. John also records a Name that no one knows except Himself.
His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.
That undisclosed Name does not contradict the revelation already given. We can know Christ truly without knowing everything about Him. What He has told us is sufficient for faith and worship, but it does not exhaust His glory. His greatness will give us reason to praise Him throughout eternity.
Revelation 3 promises that Christ will write His new Name on the overcomer, and Revelation 22:4 says His servants will see His face and bear His Name on their foreheads. I look forward to seeing Him and bearing His Name with nothing left to mar that fellowship. His people will stand before Him without shame, hypocrisy, or fear, and will love and praise Him forever.
Until then, calling on His Name means trusting the God who has revealed Himself through Jesus Christ. Salvation does not depend on a preferred pronunciation, family background, or success in keeping the law. We confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead. Because we belong to Him, we have reason to speak carefully of Him, reject false claims made in His authority, and obey what He has taught us.
My Final Thoughts
The LORD gave His Name while revealing His character and acting on His promises. He is self-existent and eternal, merciful and holy, and He has made Himself known so we can trust Him. I want to honor that revelation in how I speak, teach, worship, and live, coming to the Father through Jesus Christ. The hope before us is personal: His servants will see His face and bear His Name, belonging to Him forever.