Was the Sacred Name of יהוה (YHWH or Yahweh) known before Moses. I keep hearing from many church leaders that Moses was the first person in the Bible to hear the name YHWH. Is this true? Why would they say that if it wasn't true? I will share my opinion on the matter.
The first instance in the Bible of someone speaking the name Yahweh was Eve in Genesis 4:1. If you put the name back in as I discussed in The Sacred Name, Part-1, you can see that Eve knew and used His name.
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from Yahweh.
- Genesis 4:1 [KJV]
In Seth's day men called on the name of YHWH.
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of Yahweh.
- Genesis 4:26 [KJV]
Lamech, the father of Noah
And he called his name Noah, saying, This [same] shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which Yahweh hath cursed.
- Genesis 5:29 [KJV]
Noah
And he (Noah) said, Blessed [be] Yahweh God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
- Genesis 9:26 [KJV]
Abram (Abraham)
And Yahweh appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto Yahweh, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, [having] Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto Yahweh, and called upon the name of Yahweh.
- Genesis 12:7-8 [KJV]
So you can see that the name of Yahweh was known from the very beginning.
Moses asked for a name. He was told to tell them that Yahweh had sent him. If Moses was to go to the Israelites and say "Yahweh has sent me" and they didn't know His name, would they recognize it?
And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Yahweh God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this [is] my name for ever, and this [is] my memorial unto all generations.
- Exodus 3:15 [KJV]
Then my question is... why do people claim that no one knew the name of Yahweh before Moses. I have concluded that the reason for this claim is a verse found in Exodus.
And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, in God Almighty, but by my name Yahweh was I not known to them.
- Exodus 6:3
Why would Yahweh say that they did not know His name? He would not contradict Himself, so there must be something that is meant other than what it appears to mean on the surface. Sometimes this is because of a difficult translation.
The theory that seems plausible to me is that Yahweh did not tell them what His name meant before this time. He had personally revealed to them his name/character of being an El Shaddai (literally "God of Breast" meaning a "God of Provision"). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob personally experienced the Provision of Yahweh.
I found nowhere prior to Moses that explained the meaning of His Sacred Name. But as you have seen there are many instances where His name was used. This revelation of the memorial name "Yahweh" (meaning "He will be") came from "I am" which came from "I am Who I am". This means that Yahweh is not only a God of Provision, but so much more...
Next in the series we will look at other descriptions found in the Bible. Thank you for reading, and my Yahweh bless you abundantly.
Link to the previous articles of this series:
The Sacred Name, Part 1 - Name Replacement
The Sacred Name, Part 2 - Name in Vain
The Sacred Name, Part 3 - Non-Usage Punishment
The Sacred Name, Part 4 - Jesus and Jehovah
The Sacred Name, Part 5 - Who is "The Lord"
(The images are public domain from pixabay.com.)
