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“The Name of the Lᴏʀᴅ”

Allen Dvorak
10/27/24 - Sun AM

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This morning scripture reading will be from Exodus 34 verses one through nine.

Exodus 34 1 through nine.

Mm. Now the Lord said to Moses cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones have right on the tablets, the words that were on the former tablets which you shouted.

So be ready by morning and come up in the morning to mount Sinai and present yourself there to me on top of that mountain.

No man is to come up with you.

Nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain.

Even the flocks and the herds may not graze in the front of the mountains.

So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones.

And Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him.

And he took two stone tablets in his in his hand.

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord.

Then the Lord set passed by in front of him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love and kindness and truth who keeps in loving kindness for thousands.

He has filled with them who have forgives inequity, transgression and sin.

But he will know by no means, leave the guilty unpunished.

Visiting the iniquity of fathers on the Children and on the g grandchildren to the 173rd and 4th generations.

Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.

He said, if now I have found favor in your sight.

Oh Lord, I pray, let the Lord go, let the Lord go along in your midst.

And even though the people are so obstinate and pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us as your own possession.

One of the watershed events in the history of Israel was when the nation was freed from the bondage of Egypt.

God had brought plagues upon the nation of Egypt had essentially destroyed the country.

And finally, Pharaoh lets the people go and they traveled to Mount Sinai where God had spoken to Moses sometime earlier.

And there at the mountain, they're going to receive the law, they're going to engage in a, enter into a covenant with the Lord who had delivered them with a high hand.

Israel hadn't really completely trusted God even though they had witnessed the plagues.

And, and so they murmured about God's provision about his protection.

They doubted him and things at the mountain didn't go very well either.

You may recall that at Mount Sinai, the Lord first spoke directly to the people and he gave them the decalogue.

But Exodus 19 and verse 16 tells us that as the Lord descended upon the mount, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast that got louder and louder and the people trembled.

And when the Lord had spoken to them, the decor, they begged Moses to not let the Lord not to have the Lord speak to them anymore, but rather to speak directly to Moses.

In Exodus, the 20th chapter verse 18 and 19, the people were afraid and they trembled and they stood afar off.

And so God then in verse, in chapters 21 and 22 and 23 gave other laws in addition to the decalogue to the people.

And he promised in Exodus chapter 343 verses 2021 that he would send an angel along with the people to guard them and to bring them to the place that had been promised to Abraham's descendants.

I'm gonna apologize at the beginning this morning.

I'm having some difficulty with sinus drainage.

And so my voice is a little bit more like Don t Truex's unfortunately this morning, uh because it's a false uh false change.

Um And so hopefully, it's not too grading on you.

But as God promises this angel, we find in chapter 24 that the covenant was ratified with blood and the people promised obedience to the covenant in chapter 24 in two different verses three and seven, the people said, we will obey the words of the Lord and God called Moses and Aaron and Naab and Abi Hu and 70 of the elders of the people to go up and to actually see God.

It says, although I think that has to be understood in context and they worshiped him from afar, then God called Moses up to the mount to receive the tablets of stone on which God himself had written the commandments uh that he had mentioned before in Exodus chapter 24.

And verse 17, we're told that as the Lord descended on the mountain, that the glory of the Lord was like a devouring, devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.

I'm stressing that there were lots of signs of God's presence there that the people could unmistakably know that God was speaking with them, that this was something unusual.

Moses was called up into the mound as I've mentioned and he stayed there for 40 days and 40 nights as the text tells us.

But meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain, the people have become restless.

Where is this Moses?

As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of Him.

They say in chapter 32 and verse one.

And so they asked Aaron to make a God to go up before them.

And so Aaron crafts a golden calf and the people worship that calf and they break the decalogue the commandment not to have any graven idols or images to worship them.

And so while Moses is up on the mount, receiving instructions concerning the building of the Tabernacle and additional walls, the people are busy at the foot of the mount disobeying the very covenant that they had promised to obey.

God tells Moses what's going on down at the foot of the mount Mount.

And so Moses goes down and he intercedes to begin with before even going down.

He intercedes with the Lord whose initial response is I'll destroy the nation.

And Moses intercedes on behalf of the people and God relents.

But when Moses descends from the mountain, he sees what's going on, the idolatry and apparently immoral behavior that a company did.

He broke the tablets of stone that God had written on and he destroyed the golden calf sprinkled it on water and made the people drink.

He counseled commanded the Levites to go among the nation.

And my assumption is that they were to kill those who had been foremost in this idolatrous behavior.

The Levites killed 343 people and then the Lord sent a plague among the people.

Chapter 33 begins with God commanding the people to leave Mount Sinai and to go on to the promised land.

But God said, I will not go among you.

I will not go with you.

My presence won't be with you because if I did for even an instant, I would destroy you.

You're a stiff neck, rebellious people.

And once again, Moses pleads on behalf of the people.

In verse 13 of that same chapter 33 Moses says now, therefore to God, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight, consider too that this nation is your people.

Moses wants God to relent and to continue to be with the people.

That's what made them distinct from all the other nations of the earth.

He says, and so the Lord's response in verse 14 is my presence will go with you and I will give you rest in response to Moses request to know God's ways to know Him.

The Lord in verse 19 says, I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name the Lord and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

And that brings us to the text that I want to look at this morning in the first few verses of Exodus 34 where the Lord proclaims his name before Moses.

You know, the Old Testament is not just an historical record.

Certainly, we know some things about what happened to the patriarchs and to the nation of Israel from the Old Testament.

But among other purposes, the Old Testament is intended to teach man about who God is.

And so this morning, I want to look at the name of the Lord as it was proclaimed to Moses there in Exodus chapter 34 verses six and seven, in particular.

Before we look at that text specifically, we need to say a little something about the significance of a name.

And I'm gonna share with you a quotation from the Erdmann dictionary of the Bible.

This particular writer said when Shakespeare asserted that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

He was emphatically not expressing an idea that had any warrant in the biblical world or anywhere else in the ancient, near east in the ancient world.

Generally, a name was not merely a convenient collation of sounds by which a person, place or thing could be identified, rather a name expressed something of the very essence of that which was being named hence, to know the name was to know something of the fundamental traits, nature, or destiny of that to which the name belonged.

We could spend a good bit of time this morning looking at some of the names that were given to individuals and places in the Old Testament and talk about the significance of those names because those names related to events or character traits, et cetera.

But I think you understand the the basic principle, I wanna share one other quotation before we move along, this is from Nelson's New Illustrated Bible dictionary.

And the writer says, but in the Bible, a name is much more than an identifier as it tends to be in our culture, personal names and even place names were formed from words that had their own meanings.

Thus, the people of the Bible were very conscious of the meaning of names.

They believe there was a vital connection between the name and the person it identified.

And this is what I want you to pay attention to a name.

Somehow represented the nature of the person.

The connection between a name and the reality it signified is nowhere more important than in the names referring to God.

And again, we could have spent a number of minutes just looking at some of the names that God was given as a result of his actions or his character, his attitude toward various individuals and events, the personal name of God revealed to Moses in the burning bush.

I am who I am conveyed something of his character according to Exodus 34 5 and six, which is what we'll be looking at this morning.

When the Lord proclaimed the name of the Lord, he added words that described his character.

The name of the Lord was virtually synonymous with his presence.

Quotation for your number, your new wondrous works declare that your name is near to know the name of God is thus to know God himself.

And so when God proclaims his name to Moses, he is describing himself, not just his personal name, as we'll see in just a few moments, but also to talk about his nature, his character who God is.

And so if we were to summarize those two quotes, quickly, we could say that name sometimes is a reference to all that a person is the the nature, the character, the position of a person.

Let me give you a couple of illustrations of that or maybe I should say one illustration from two verses in Hebrews, the first chapter and verses three and four.

The Hebrews writer says that Jesus was the radiance is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

And he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Name here does not refer to what Jesus was called by his mom and his dad as he was growing up, Jesus come in for supper.

It's talking about who Jesus is his position, his character, all that name implies.

And he inherited that name.

It was given to him this status as a result of his a redemptive work.

Uh Philippians the second chapter verse nine refers to the same idea.

Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

In other words, Jesus is superior to all others, all of the created beings in heaven, he is has a better name, a superior name uh that is above all other names.

And so those are a couple of verses that illustrate, I think pretty clearly that name often is not a question or does not refer to what you are called, but it refers to who you are in totality.

So let's take a look now at God's name as proclaimed to Moses by the Lord himself.

And these verses verses five through seven will be the key of our study.

This morning, the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him that is Moses there and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

But who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the Children and the children's Children to the 173rd and 4th generation.

There are several things said here in the proclaiming or proclamation of the name of God that I want to draw your attention to.

And what we'll do is having looked at what is said about God.

I want us to see how God's name relates to our relationship with God.

So let's begin by the very first phrase there.

The Lord, the Lord, the word there is the tetragram.

Uh recently, there was a bulletin article that described that there's a four letter word in the Hebrew language that is God's personal name, the word A God. God.

In the next phrase is the word L it's a generic word that can talk about uh various deities.

Sometimes even false gods were called L even the angels are referred to that or mighty ones is sometimes the translation.

But the Lord, the Lord, if you're reading in some versions, that word will have all caps, it'll have the initial large cap and then the small caps.

And that's to tell you that the Hebrew behind that translation is the tetragram, that's God's personal name.

But notice then the description of God's character that follows He's described as merciful and gracious.

The legacy standard Bible in that verse translates merciful as compassionate as do some other versions as well.

And that gives you a good idea or feel for the meaning there.

The word gracious is interesting.

Uh The theological word book of The Old Testament says that the cognate verb, this is an adjective in the text here.

But the cognate verb, the same stem from which this adjective is formed that it depicts a heartfelt response by someone who has something to give to one who has a need.

So if we, when we give in the collection, as Jonathan talked about this morning, when we give with the idea of supplying the needs of brethren who are less fortunate than we, we're being gracious in that sense.

That same source says that the verb that's associated with this adjective often has the sense of showing kindness to the poor and needy.

And so the idea of gracious is when someone is working to help someone who has need, unable to help themselves, that's the concept behind this particular Hebrew word.

He's slow to anger and we'll say more about that later.

I think that's pretty clear and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

That expression, steadfast love is found twice in this text in the ESV.

It is the Hebrew word Hes said, which some of you are probably familiar with.

It's variously translated uh in different versions as mercy or loving kindness, uh love or even covenant loyalty.

And it's interesting to me that whereas some of the word studies, they argue about whether it's covenant loyalty or whether it's mercy.

When you look at the translations of the Old Testament, you'll find both translations used for the same word.

I think it depends on context uh to some degree.

But that's the idea the idea of loving kindness or perhaps covenant loyalty, faithfulness.

The basic meaning of the root of that word is firmness or certainty.

We would probably say trustworthiness, certainty is the idea He is forgiving, iniquity, and transgression and sin, the word forgiveness there or forgiving.

The concept of the cognate verb means to lift up, to lift up.

And there are three words that are used to describe what it is that is forgiven.

But I would point out that the people of God have violated the covenant that was ratified back in chapter 24.

And now in chapter 34 God is willing to covenant again to reaffirm to rededicate this same covenant.

And I think that's the perfect illustration of God's willingness to forgive uh iniquity and transgression and sin.

Those three words have different meanings that they're not just repetitive.

The word iniquity is the idea of twisting or deviating.

We have a similar uh meaning of a word in the word in the Greek language.

This means an infraction or crooked behavior, perversion, transgression.

The word here means a breach of relationship.

It's the idea of casting off of allegiance.

It perfectly fits what happened at the foot of the mountain when the people who said, we will obey all the words that you've said, then turn right around and violate the command not to have any graven images or to worship them.

The word sin there in the text is similar to the meaning of uh the English or, or I should say the, the Greek word in the New Testament that's most frequently translated sin.

It's the idea of the missing of a mark or the missing of a way of getting off to the side.

But I want you to notice now that in the next phrases, we move away from the graciousness, the benevolence of God.

And instead we begin to look at the other side of the coin.

And that is God's justice.

He will by no means clear, hear the guilty sin will not be excused.

Sin is not ignored even though God is willing to forgive all kinds of sin.

And I think that's the reason there are three words there that God's forgiveness is broad in its scope.

But at the same time, God will not ignore sin.

He won't clear the guilty and then finally visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the Children.

That's a difficult phrase because we typically would say that sin is only attributed to the one who commits the sin that our descendants or others are not made guilty of our sins.

And you'll find a lot of difference in the various translations of this verse verse seven.

This is an idiom visiting the iniquity of the fathers to the Children even to the 3rd and 4th generation.

That's an idiom that appears several times in scripture.

You'll find it numbers 14 and verse 18.

Nehemiah 917.

It appears in at least three of the different Psalms parts of this same description of God Joel 213, Jonah for two and Nahum 173 we're not going to look at all those passages.

I just want you to know that this same expression is used elsewhere.

And in light of that fact, I want to look at two specific instances of the same phrase with just a little bit of a variation.

The first one is in Deuteronomy, the fifth chapter and verse nine where the text says, you shall not bow down to them or serve them for I the Lord, your God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the Children to the 3rd and 4th generation of those who hate me.

So there, it seems to me that God is saying that those who continue in the sins of the fathers, those who hate me, I'll visit the sin of the fathers onto them as well.

You see the same thing in Exodus, the 20th chapter verse five in the decalogue, you shall not bow to them or serve them.

God will visit the iniquity of the fathers uh on the Children to the 210rd and 213th generation of those who hate me.

And I think we need to understand that same concept here in Exodus, the 217th chapter and verse seven, whatever we think God is saying here, it needs to be harmonized with what Ezekiel says.

In chapter 234 verses four and 234 I really debated talking a good bit of this morning about the difference in translation between the ESV and the New King James version in Ezekiel 217 because they take two different routes in terms of what they understand the text to be saying.

But I think the new King James version is the better translation.

And for now I'm just going to say that what Ezekiel says, what God says through Ezekiel is the soul who sins, it shall die.

And there's an extended illustration there in which Ezekiel describes three generations of individuals, the first one righteous and then unrighteous and then uh righteous again.

And his comment is that each generation will be held accountable for their own behavior, not the behavior of the first generation, an earlier generation or a later generation.

And so he concludes in verse 34 the soul who sins shall die.

The son, son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son, the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself and wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

And I think that flies in the face of the idea that the fathers of sin and God just punishes several generations for the sins of the Father.

That's not to say that successive generations or even other people of the same generation do not suffer the consequences of some people's sins, but they don't bear the guilt of those sins.

They're not punished for those sins as though they were guilty of them.

In his commentary on Exodus Alan Cole makes this observation he says, in commenting on Exodus 226 he says, but as in Exodus 222 verse five, the other side of God's nature in punishing as well as forgiving, the sinner is also brought out in the context of a renewed covenant.

That's what's taking place here in chapter 216 uh 33 and 34 this whole self revelation has an even deeper meaning, showing the wonder of God's grace in relation to forgiven Israel.

To the 3rd and 4th generation comments, a common Semitic idiom to express continuance.

We who live in a world full of legacies of hate between colors and cultures.

Do you understand what he means by that?

He means that one generation teaches the next generation the same kind of conduct a legacy of hate.

That's how he calls it.

And if you don't understand what I'm talking about, think about what goes on in the Middle East where people are born and then taught to hate the enemies of their parents.

That's what he's talking about.

And he suggests that that's what's going on both in Exodus 20 verse five and here in chapter 34 we who live in a world full of legacies of hate between colors and cultures can see only too clearly how sin in one generation affects those who follow after.

It's not unusual for the next generation to follow in the sins of the previous generation.

I think that's the point that he's making.

So what I'd like to do for the rest of our two hour sermon is, I'd like to apply some of the same characteristics that we've identified here in Exodus 26 and look at them from the New Testament standpoint.

And I have to tell you, I try to be very selective in the verses that I'm going to quote because we could spend, we could literally spend another two hours easily looking at various verses that illustrate the same characteristics of God's character as they relate to the redemptive plan for mankind.

And more specifically, even for us as those who are his spiritual people.

But we see the traits or the characteristics of God demonstrated in our relationship to him, the very same qualities that he identified as his name to Moses.

We see them at work in the New Testament and particularly in our relationship.

And so I'm just gonna look at four, we actually uh outlined seven of them earlier, but I'm just gonna look at four.

And the first one is this characteristic of being merciful and gracious.

I've grouped them together, although they are two different ideas really.

And I'm gonna present three scriptures.

I think that illustrate that that characteristic Romans 56 says for a while, we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

And the word I want you to focus on is weak because if you remember the definition of gracious was the idea of someone who has something to give to another, who has need to help the poor and the needy.

And that's what we were.

If before we were converted, we were weak and God sent his son to die for us.

In Romans.

The third chapter verses 23 and 24 in that magnificent summary of God's redemptive plan.

Paul says, for all have sinned and Paul short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift.

Some versions say freely, the idea of grace.

It's not something that God owes us because of who we are or what we are able to do for him, but he willingly freely provides for us this salvation that we have in Christ Jesus.

This justification in Titus, the third chapter, Titus just says, but when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us and righteousness, but according to his own mercy.

God doesn't save us because we're such good people or that we're uh deserving of salvation.

But by His mercy, he provides that salvation.

The second phrase I want to look at is slow to anger.

And just one verse along this line in Romans chapter one, Paul of course, has indicated that gentile society had become totally corrupt.

No gentiles were saving themselves by their own merit or works.

But then in chapter two, he addresses the Jews in his audience and suggests that really, they haven't done any better.

They were quite willing to judge the gentiles.

Oh, God needs to destroy those people.

But Paul will go on and say, or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience?

In some versions?

I think the uh new King James version translates long suffering.

The idea of being long tempered, slow to anger.

What would it be like if God immediately punished us for our sins, how many of us would even be here today?

But God is gracious.

He's kind, he's patient.

And Paul says, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead to repentance, slow to anger.

And we see that in his dealings with mankind in general.

But us in specific, we could go and take a look at the old Testament.

God's patience with the people who constantly murmured were disobedient even after they came into the land, they didn't do what God had told them to do.

They became idolatrous.

The two kingdoms, the kingdom separated and eventually both kingdoms would be carried off, but God was patient and sent prophets and warned them again and again slow to anger.

Of course, at some point, God will not clear the guilty, but he will demand punishment.

And so both kingdoms go off into exile.

And we need to understand that even though God is slow to anger, he will not forever wait, faithfulness abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

In first Corinthians the 10th chapter and verse 13, there's a phrase there that's repeated several times in the New Testament.

God is faithful.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.

God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.

But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

You remember, we said that in that word, faithfulness, the concept is firmness or certainty.

The idea that you can depend on God's promises that God is trustworthy.

God is faithful to His word.

In Titus, the first chapter in verse two, in hope of eternal life.

Paul wrote which God who never lies promised before the ages began.

I think the new King James version says, who cannot lie.

God always tells the truth.

If God says something, you can depend that it's going to happen.

And we see that again and again in the Old Testament, there's testimony to the certainty of God's word.

And then finally, forgiving, iniquity, transgression and sin.

How many passages could we have put on this particular uh slide or this category in Ephesians?

17 in Him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace.

Ephesians, the second chapter verses four through six.

Do you remember that the word that's translated forgiving in the Old Testament there in Exodus 34 means to lift up isn't it interesting what Paul has to say here in Ephesians two when he says, but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us.

Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace, you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

He raised us up into the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

And then of course, first John one and verse nine, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Remember I said that, I think part of the reason there are three words given there iniquity, transgression and sin was to show that God would forgive any sin, that his forgiveness was broad in its scope in that regard.

And I think that's what John is saying that He is faithful.

You can depend on Him.

That's the faithfulness again and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I don't care what you've done.

If you're willing to repent of that sin, to seek God's forgiveness.

God's willing to forgive.

What a wonderful characteristic that we see in God, especially as we sometimes remember how unwilling men are willing to forgive, maybe perhaps even ourselves.

The description of God in Ezekiel or Ezekiel Exodus 34 seems to emphasize primarily the graciousness the benevolence of God.

But we also get the other side of God's character.

His justice and holiness are also affirmed.

Jesus said to his disciples, his apostles as he prayed with them.

On in John 17, on that last night of his life, he said in verse six of John 17, I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.

This is what he says to God.

I manifested your name.

He told them the name of God.

He illustrated the Father's characteristics.

He was the express imprint of the Father's glory.

Jesus showed mankind what God is like who God is.

He says the same thing essentially in verse 26 I've made known to them your name and I will continue to make it known that the love of which you have loved me may be in them and I in them, Jesus says, I've shown these people, these disciples your name so that the way we love they will love.

That's the objective of knowing God.

I'm gonna share with you one more quote from a source because the name represented the person of God.

The expression calling upon the name of the Lord was a means of entering into a personal relationship with Him.

I want you to think about that calling on the name of the Lord.

I know there are a lot of folks who think a lot of folks in the religious world who think calling on the name of the Lord is when we say Jesus Jesus and we, we call on the name that he was known by.

I don't think that's at all what that expression means in acts 22 and verse 16, I think it means that we are invoking the aid, the help of God who as the Old Testament text says, is slow to anger merciful and gracious and who forgives sin.

Ananias came to Paul as Paul relates his conversion story.

And now why do you wait, rise and be baptized and wash away your sins.

Calling on His name.

We call upon God his name.

We invoke his aid.

When we obey the gospel, we are asking God to be who He is and to forgive us of our sins.

Do you know Him?

Do you have a relationship with Him?

Because you've called on his name and you are trusting in his name for your salvation?

The apostles would say there's no other name given among men under heaven, whereby we must be saved.

We need to depend upon and call upon the name of Jesus, the name of God in order to be saved.

If you need to obey the gospel this morning, if you need to become a Christian based on the forgiveness that God offers through his son.

And we want to encourage you to think seriously as we encourage you in just a few moments about doing that this very morning.

Don't wait.

But instead take the opportunity that you have, respond in faith, confess that faith and be baptized for the remission of your sins.

And we'll assist you in that or if you need the prayers of the congregation.

Again, we want to encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity that you have.

We stand and sing to encourage you.