Mensa Otabil - Moses' Question

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Exodus 3:13 Then Moses said to God, «Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you, ' and they say to me, 'What is His name? ' what shall I say to them?» That seems like an unusual question coming from Moses. We think that he should not be asking such a question, but he did ask it.

When I go back and the people say, «What is the name of the God who sent you?» what am I going to say? Why did Moses have to ask that question? Because Israel had been in Egypt for about 400 years, which is a long, long time since the time of Abraham-over 600 years since the time of Abraham. After 400 years in Egypt, they had really forgotten about the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and they were now worshiping the gods of the Egyptians. They remembered that their fathers had a God through a man called Abraham, but they had lost contact with this God.

So Moses is asking this question for several reasons. First, Moses needed to assure himself that he was talking to the right deity. He was very much aware, having lived in the house of Pharaoh, that there are many gods, and there are many gods who do supernatural things. Just because there was a burning bush and a supernatural act doesn’t mean this is the true God he is talking to. Therefore, Moses needed to be sure: Which God am I talking to who is doing these acts? That is a sign for us that just because there is a supernatural act does not mean this is Jehovah God doing it. We need to test the spirits, and that is what Moses is doing: Which God am I talking to who is doing these wonderful works?

For Moses’s own information, he needed to know which God or deity he was relating to. Moses also needed to go back to the Hebrews and show them the difference between this God who wanted to deliver them and the gods of the Egyptians. The gods of the Egyptians were many; there were gods that covered so many areas of life: the heavenly bodies, river bodies, gods that covered metals, gods that covered fire, gods that covered activities like farming, love, and so on. The name of a god determined the jurisdiction of that god, the power of that god.

So if this God that Moses is talking to wants to deliver the people of Israel, what is His name? Because His name will then determine His power: how much scope, how far can He go? If He goes to meet the many gods of Egypt, will He have what it takes to confront all of them and win? Moses says, «Tell me Your name so I can assure the children of Israel that this God that You’re dealing with is strong enough to deliver you from whether it’s the god of the Nile, the god of flies, the god of frogs, the god of thunder, the god of hail, or the god of darkness. Is this God strong enough to deal with all of them?»

So as God’s messenger, Moses needed to go back with a clear message that the delivering God was superior to the other gods of the Egyptians. So basically, «What’s Your name?» is asking, «What kind of God are You? What’s Your power? What’s Your scope? Where are Your limits?» And God told him something remarkable. We will hear God’s name tomorrow because it tells you the scope of His power.

Let us pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, magnify Your name in my situation. Let all the world know that You are God Most High. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»