Bearing God's Name

by Carmen Joy Imes

  Perhaps this bothers you. If so, consider occupations in our world today that require strict adherence to policy, such as tax preparation or pharmaceuticals or nursing or aviation. Deviance from policy could be fraudulent or downright dangerous.

  Just ask Nadab and Abihu.

  DIGGING DEEPER

  Michael J. Chan and Brent A. Strawn, eds. What Kind of God?: Collected Essays of Terence E. Fretheim. Siphrut 14. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015. Part 2.

  *Peter Enns. Exodus. NIVAC. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.

  *Terence E. Fretheim. Exodus. Interpretation. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2010.

  Carmen Joy Imes. Bearing YHWH’s Name at Sinai: A Reexamination of the Name Command of the Decalogue. BBRSup 19. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns, 2018.

  Related videos from The Bible Project: “Covenants,” “Exodus, part 1,” “Exodus, part 2,” “Holiness,” and “Torah: Leviticus.”

  5

  READY TO ROLL

  Prepared for the Promised Land

  GOD WITH US

  The Israelites had camped at Sinai for some time. It was a season filled with surprises. They discovered who they were—a federation of twelve tribes appointed as Yahweh’s unique representatives. They also discovered what Yahweh expected of them in this role: a way of life that protected the rights of each neighbor and worshiped Yahweh exclusively. They learned how to deal with their moral failures as well as how to maintain ritual purity so they could enter God’s presence. These lessons were crucial in their formation as God’s people. However, Moses had another surprise at Sinai, something infinitely more important this. He met Yahweh face to face.

  A. W. Tozer once wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”1 A study of cross-cultural Christian workers by Duncan P. Westwood demonstrates a strong correlation between the picture one holds of God and one’s resilience in the face of difficulty.2

  What picture comes to your mind when you think about God? Westwood developed an exercise in which participants drew images of God in four window panes, depicting how their picture of God had developed over major life stages. His research indicates that the three healthy signs of a God image are:

  1.The presence of intimacy

  2.Movement or growth through the various stages of life

  3.A capacity to embrace the mystery and expansiveness of God3

  If our picture of God includes these things, we’re far less likely to struggle with anxiety and depression and we’ll be more resilient in the face of difficulty. Life presents us with a wide range of experiences. If we see God as distant and full of wrath, we will imagine he is against us, which will make us susceptible to a crippling sense of failure or a drivenness to earn his favor. If we see God as exclusively compassionate, we may struggle with him if we experience injustice. How could a compassionate God allow this? Or how could he let the perpetrators of oppression go free? If we instead conceive of God more holistically, we’ll be able to release our grip on understanding his ways, and we will be able to trust him to ultimately bring justice. This hope makes us resilient.

  How has Sinai changed the Hebrews’ picture of God? Their picture began taking shape in Egypt. Each of the plagues demonstrated to Egypt and Israel alike who Yahweh was—a deity more powerful than the gods of Egypt, who holds people accountable for mistreating fellow human beings. Already in Egypt, God’s justice and mercy are demonstrated side-by-side.

  At Sinai, they encounter Yahweh’s glory in an awe-inspiring storm. Moses hears from God on the mountain and then regularly in a tent outside camp. But something is still missing. Moses fervently expresses his desire to know Yahweh more fully: “Teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you” (Exodus 33:13). When God promises to go with them as they leave Sinai, Moses insists, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here! How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:15-16). For Moses, Yahweh’s personal presence with them was non-negotiable. Without him, they were nothing. Everything they were was because of who he was.

  The same is true of you and me. What matters most about us is to whom we belong.

  What matters most about us is to whom we belong.

  And what sort of God is he? Moses has a once-in-a-millennium opportunity to see God’s glory up close in Exodus 33–34. He ascends the mountain with a second set of blank stone tablets so the covenant stipulations can be reinscribed. During this mountaintop experience, Yahweh answers Moses’ earnest request to know him. He shows himself visibly to Moses and unpacks for him what it means to be Yahweh, choosing these words to define his name and convey his character:

  The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation. (Exodus 34:6-7)

  Yahweh demonstrates grace for those who sin, yet he takes sin very seriously. God’s grace coexists with his justice. They are both integral to his character. If holding in tension various aspects of God’s character reduces anxiety and depression, then it would be worth our time to ponder this. Would God be loving if he let people get away with murder? Of course not. Yes, he forgives, but the implication is that forgiveness is available through prescribed channels—sacrifice at the tabernacle—to those who approach him with contrition. A murderer who repents is restored to a right relationship with him and with the community. On the other hand, those who disregard his means of grace merit punishment, as we saw with Nadab and Abihu. At Sinai, Moses’ picture of who Yahweh is gets a thorough upgrade.

  YAHWEH’S LONG NOSE

  One of my favorite parts of Exodus 34:6-7 comes in the second line: “slow to anger” is literally “long of nose” in Hebrew. Imagine the inflamed nostrils of someone hot with anger. Their face is red, they snort with outrage. Not so with Yahweh. His nose is long enough that the heat of his anger has time to cool before he acts rashly.

  My other favorite phrase is “abounding in love and faithfulness.” These two words in Hebrew are hesed and emet. Hesed indicates Yahweh’s covenant faithfulness, his loyal love expressed in action. Similarly, emet indicates that he is true to his word. This God who has descended to engage with the nation of Israel is by nature someone who keeps his word.4 We can rely on him.

  Moses makes the most of this momentous occasion. He expresses his deepest desire, requesting Yahweh’s presence to travel with them. Moses wants more than a mountaintop experience. He wants the transforming presence of God in their midst wherever they go. For Moses, it has become the only thing that matters. Yahweh agrees. He has in mind “wonders never before done in any nation in all the world” that will show the nations how awesome he is (Exodus 34:10). Yahweh is jealous, with the jealousy of a husband for his wife who is in danger (Exodus 34:14). Israel’s most important task is cultivating the memory of who he is and what he has done for them.

  When Moses comes down, his face is luminous. Literally.

  And so are you. When you spend time in the presence of God, seeing him as he really is, you begin to see who you are as well—rather, whose you are. Knowing that you belong to him makes all the difference in the world.

  As soon as the tabernacle is built, this same glory shown to Moses on top of the mountain descends and fills the sanctuary (Exodus 40:35). It’s the moment they’ve been hoping for, the sign that Yahweh will travel with them to the promised land. “The glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. . . . And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown” (Leviticus 9:23-24). As well they should.

  GROUP PROJECT: CENSUS OF FIGHTING MEN

  Israel’s sojourn at Sinai is just about over. They hav
e met Yahweh. They have learned what it takes to be successful. They have become who they need to be. The book of Numbers describes their final preparations to march out.

  We might as well be honest. These are not familiar chapters. Hardly anybody reads the book of Numbers. The multitudes who start out on a Bible read-through in January typically get through Genesis and maybe Exodus, but by Leviticus they throw in the towel, which means they never even reach Numbers. In fact, if by some great cosmic fluke, the book of Numbers disappeared from all of our Bibles, most of us would neither notice nor care that it was missing. We can do without it, right? Or can we?

  There are surprises in store even in Numbers, if we have eyes to see.

  The book begins with a census of fighting men (hence the name “Numbers”). We don’t tend to find lists of names very exciting, but perhaps those of you in leadership positions can at least appreciate that God is well-organized. He takes a rag-tag bunch of slaves and whips them into shape at Sinai, leading them every step of their journey through the wilderness, even laying out exactly how to set up camp. Then he assigns jobs to various clans to make sure the whole operation works smoothly. Freedom is no castle in the sky, no philosophical concept. God’s vision takes shape concretely on the pages of Numbers. It’s practical. For people who have only known life as slaves and have had little practice at self-determination, God meets them where they are and makes their task straightforward. Follow me. Camp here. Eat this. Line up in this order.

  But God’s concrete instructions are only the first surprise. Just below the surface of these endless lists of names and numbers—lists that make our eyes glaze over—precisely here is hidden one of the most profound truths of the book. These lists are good news.

  Imagine for a moment that you were one of those Hebrew slaves trapped in Egypt. The faint echoes of God’s promises to Abraham—that his descendants would be a great nation with a great name, able to bless all nations—have all but died. The opposite is in fact true. You have become powerless and oppressed. Those who curse you are getting stronger by the day. Then, when you least expect it, help arrives. Moses ushers you out from under the strong arm of Pharaoh and you are free. You experience firsthand Yahweh’s great power at Sinai and his caring provision in the wilderness. God’s promises to Abraham—land, blessings, and as many offspring as the stars in the sky—are renewed for your generation and you can nearly taste their fulfillment. Gradually you learn that you can trust him. One year later—one year after the great escape—it is time to count the stars. The census lists prove that God has fulfilled the first of his great promises: you are indeed a great nation.

  One man from each tribe is selected to count the eligible fighting men in his tribe. As each tribal head is named, imagine the effect on his family members—wife, siblings, children—and on the extended family that makes up his tribe:

  From Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur,

  From Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai,

  From Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab . . .

  (Numbers 1:5-7)

  Each man stands tall, arms crossed, nodding solemnly as his name is read. Children tug at Momma’s skirts, their wide eyes seeking hers as they recognize their grandpa’s name. The parade of names culminates in a parade of numbers after the counting is complete:

  From the descendants of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families. The number from the tribe of Reuben was 46,500. (Numbers 1:20-21)

  It’s as if God whispers in each ear, You no longer belong to Pharaoh. You belong to me. I know your name. You are mine. You matter. You’ve spent your entire life making bricks to build someone else’s kingdom, making their vision a reality. But everything’s different now. Your story is much older than Egypt. It stretches all the way back to a promise, and your future is bursting with possibility. Your family’s name is on the roster of a new nation. You belong. You count. I will give you your own land, and you will govern yourselves.

  In Numbers 7 we’re treated to another parade. This time each tribal leader gets a day to shine as he presents Moses with an identical offering for the tabernacle—a silver plate and a silver bowl filled with fine flour and olive oil (grain offering), a gold dish of incense, a bull, a ram, and a male lamb (burnt offering), a male goat (sin offering), two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs (fellowship offering). The parade of gifts would have been each tribe’s pride and joy.

  We usually skip over these lists. But if our grandpa’s name were listed, or if our uncle carried the silver bowl laden with fine flour, this would be our favorite part! We, too, would be participants in the worship of Yahweh!

  Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit Yad Va-shem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. One room contains an archive of “righteous Gentiles”—non-Jews who worked to resist the Nazi regime during World War II and rescue Jewish neighbors. I spent a few minutes in that room hunting for my grandmother’s name. Oma had worked as part of the Dutch Resistance, delivering messages to Allied soldiers by rolling them up in the handlebars of her bicycle. But she didn’t hide any Jews, only an American soldier who had parachuted onto their backfield after his plane was shot, so her name wasn’t listed. Imagine if I had found her name listed there! These lists of archived names may seem “boring” to some, but not to those whose ancestors are honored.

  For the people assembled at Sinai, these lists must have been downright exhilarating. Proof of divine election. Proof of belonging. Proof of participation in the covenant community.

  The Israelites are not the same people who arrived at the mountain nearly a year before. Their dislocation and uncertainty have been replaced by clear instructions from strong leaders. Their camp is organized around the tabernacle, the concentration of God’s presence in their midst. They are who they are because they belong to Yahweh. Each individual has a place in this community and a job to do, down to who carries what when it’s time to move. They left Egypt as families, but they’re leaving Sinai as tribes.

  I have no personal military experience, but I imagine that Israel’s transformation at Sinai is similar to the making of a squadron of soldiers at boot camp. Recruits arrive from various locations with diverse backgrounds and personalities. They come as individuals wanting to prove themselves. Some are too stubborn to submit to their leaders willingly at first. But by the end of their training they have become a team ready to take orders, ready to face anything together.

  The Israelites are a nation now. And Yahweh has a special blessing in store for them.

  #BLESSED: THE PRIESTLY BLESSING

  It is here, in the midst of the census, the instructions for setting up camp, the outline of duties for the Levites and the other priestly clans, the guidelines for keeping the camp pure and fulfilling vows—here, in this unlikely place God has another surprise in store. He entrusts it first to Moses, who tells Aaron and his sons, who announce it to the entire nation. It’s known as the priestly blessing—the tiny part of Numbers we’ve incorporated into our church services because it is beautiful. We may have heard this gospel blessing time and again. But it is more profound if we read it with Israel, against the curse of their long years of thankless toil in Egypt, in light of the freedom so newly given, as the culmination of their new vocation as Yahweh’s representatives. God is so determined to bless his people that he includes it in Aaron’s job description. Here is the good news:

  The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

  “ ‘ “The LORD bless you

  and keep you;

  the LORD make his face shine on you

  and be gracious to you;

  the LORD turn his face toward you

  and give you peace.” ’

  (Numbers 6:22-26)

  And the wonder of it all is that they’ve done so little to deserve it. They
have whined, complained, doubted, rebelled, and cowered in fear when they should have trusted. But God is unwilling to drop the promises he made to Abraham. He is committed to his plan to bless.

  In the following verse, Yahweh concludes his instructions: “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:27). In blessing by his name, he is essentially placing his name upon his people. Yahweh had already claimed them as his own at Sinai. Now he institutes an official blessing to serve as a regular reminder. From this moment on they are identified as his.

  This blessing recalls the command not to bear Yahweh’s name in vain (Exodus 20:7). It is the clearest indication in Scripture of Yahweh actually putting his name on his people. In the ancient world, slaves were often tattooed with their owner’s name—either on their forehead or on their hand or forearm. Temple servants were even branded with the name or symbol of the god to whom they belonged.5 The Israelites had just been freed from forced slavery, but they had entered into another arrangement where they were not free to do anything and everything they wanted. Now they willingly belong to Yahweh. They bear his name, dedicating their lives to his service. Their new master is determined to bless. They wear his invisible tattoo.

  Deuteronomy 28:9-10 reflects on this reality in reference to the next generation. It says, “Yahweh will establish you as his holy people, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and walk in his ways. All the people of the earth shall see that the name of Yahweh was invoked over you and they shall be afraid of you” (author’s translation).