The Name: Ha Shem and Divine Identity

The House of David Article 4

The Name of God: Ha Shem in The House of David

The Divine Identity: Glory and Presence

As you watch The House of David, you may notice that they refer to God in different ways. One of the things that I really appreciate about HOD is that they bring in Hebraic phrases and words to introduce us to the history and culture of the time. One of the ways they do this is through the phrase ha shem, meaning "the name." This is often how they refer to God, and it is deeply rooted in the tradition of the Israelites and even developed into something called "Name Theology."

For the ancient Israelites, there were two aspects of God that dominated their thinking. First, the immense weight and glory of God. The Hebrew word kābôd really captures this—it can literally be understood as "weighty" and has connotations of the "otherness" of God. The kābôd of God was unapproachable as it put on display the awe and grandeur of God.

The second aspect was the presence of God. Now, there is a bit of a crossover in idea here. The glory of God put the presence of God on display, but the full extent of glory made intimacy and "knowing" almost impossible. Therefore, the other aspect of God's presence that captured the desire of God to be known was through His "name" or ha shem.

The Tension Between Glory and Name

One scholar summarizes all of this by saying:

"God's glory is representative of God's presence as 'holy, awesome and unapproachable' where 'sinners must be shielded from exposure' (Exod 33:22). In contrast, God's name is knowable and 'Moses could experience the name and goodness of God which expresses the disposition of the divine nature to show mercy.'"¹

We can see all of this on display when the glory of God protects the people of God in the wilderness as a protective cover. This has dual intent. The manifestation of the cloud served to shield the people from the blazing heat of the sun, but also was a "protective barrier" between the people and God's full glory. In contrast to this, we find that the Psalmists often cry out to the "name of God," showing the personal and knowable God they put their trust in.

The Revelation of God's Name to Moses

In a pivotal moment in the history of Israel, God discloses His name to the Israelites through Moses. Moses encounters the presence of the Lord in the burning bush. There are a couple details in the story that are often missed. First, the voice of God comes out of the burning bush (Exod 3:4). But the text also says that the Angel of the Lord is in the burning bush (Exod 3:2). So who speaks to Moses? The Angel of the Lord or God? The answer is, yes!²

There is an intentionality here to put both figures (Angel of the Lord and God) in connection with each other.

It's interesting that Moses asks God for His name so he can tell the Israelites who it is that will rescue them. This is once again an indication that we have a Deuteronomy 32 worldview scenario. The gods of the nations were real beings (elohim) and they had names (Dagon, Baal, Molech, etc.), and I think Moses wants to be sure that this is the one true God of heaven and earth—the uncreated creator. Here is the response:

"God replied to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.' God also said to Moses, 'Say this to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.'" (Exodus 3:14–15, CSB)

The Significance of "I AM" - Yahweh

The Hebrew here is important. The phrase "I am" is "ehyeh" - And it means the one who was, who is, and will always be. This God who always was, is also personal because this is the God of the forefathers—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is not a new "god"; this is the one true God that has always been with His people.

When Moses goes and tells the people, he has to grammatically change the name. He can't say ehyeh/"I am" because Moses is not that person. So instead he says yahweh/"He is." This is where we get the intimate name of God, Yahweh—He is the one who was, who is, and who will always be. So, when you see LORD in all caps in English, you know this is a reference to the intimate name of God, Yahweh.

The Name Throughout Scripture

There are over 7,000 references to Yahweh in the Old Testament. The biblical authors of the Old Testament also use ha shem/The Name as an alternative way to refer to the intimate name of God. All of this is actually pretty important. In Hebrew, Yahweh is translated into Greek as Kurios, which is the term used to reference Jesus. So when the Israelites begin to associate ha shem/The Name with Yahweh, they are actually setting the stage for something spectacular. They will in fact connect "The Name" with a person, who is in fact Christ.

Here is a little video that shows all of this grammatically and exegetically from a message I preached on the name of God - Yahweh.

Jesus as the Revelation of God's Name

In John 17, we find Jesus making all of these connections explicit. In John 17:6, Jesus has revealed the name of God through the Incarnation:

"I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled." (John 17:11–12, CSB)

Notice that Jesus was given the name by the Father, Jesus protects the people in the name of the Father, and Jesus is the Father because they are one (recall Deut 6:4). Thus, Jesus does both what the glory of God did in the Old Testament and bridges the gap into the personal presence of God.

The Brilliance of HOD's Use of Ha Shem

This is why when HOD uses the term ha shem, they are doing something that is theologically brilliant. They are pointing out the seed planted in the Old Testament that anticipates Jesus. Additionally, they do this while unpacking the story of David, the great King of Israel. It is from the line of King David that we get King Jesus. Mind blown? Yeah, same!

More Resources:

1. Watch my full sermon on the name Yahweh

1. John J. Yeo, “Name Theology,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

2. The reason why this is important is because of the connection between the Angel of the Lord and Jesus. I don’t have the time/space to get into it here, but it is my view/position that the Angel of the Lord is in fact the pre-incarnate Christ in the Old Testament. For more on this you can refer to the Bible Study I co-authored with Lysa TerKeurst called “30 Days With Jesus”