Skylar's Blog & Podcast

Exodus 3:13-14

Quick english question: can you guess where the title of this blog came from?...If you said Romeo and Juliet you are correct! You have won...the satisfaction of winning! What is in a name though? Let's look at it this way: are there certain names that you when you hear them certain memories or faces pop immediately into you head? We have many experiences with different names. However, it isn't the name that effects us, it's the face or the experience behind the name. This isn't how it's always been. Names weren't always so insignificant. When you read the Old Testament you'll see a person's name is a HUGE deal. Look at the story of Jacob. Jacob is wandering around and while he is doing that he encounters God. He tells God to bless him, and God does. How? He ends up having his name changed by God to Israel, which happens to be the nation God would use to change the world. There are several stories of God changing the name of one of his servants to represent a new stage in their life. There are also tons of mothers in the Old Testament who name their children based on the circumstances they're born into (see the story of Jacob and his wives). Have you ever thought of your name as a representation of you? Maybe you haven't, but let's look back to the beginning of this conversation: there are certain names that have certain effects on us, which means your name has a certain effect on other people. Names, whether we realize it or not, are a representation of a person. The starting point for all friendships is learning the other person's name. They are also what help us categorize the people we know. However, let's say you meet someone and you don't get their name, well you can't say you too are that close because knowing their name is that first step.

Now, look at the verses I laid out for you at the beginning of this. What's happening here is Moses is talking to God, who is being represented in a burning bush. God tells Moses to go to Egypt and lead his children (Israel) out of slavery. Moses is scared and unsure, how can he trust this God, so he asks for God's name. This is what we call bartering. Moses is saying, "Ok, I'll go, but first I need your name so these people don't think I'm off my rocker (this is my interpretation)." You have to imagine he also wants the name of this God because he wants some sort of security that He will stay with Him when he goes off, he wants someone to call out to. So, what does God share with him? He says, "I am who I am." What does this mean? I'll tell you what it is not, it is not His name. It is a description of Him. Have you ever thought about God's name? Is God His name? Or is that a title? I tend to lean towards the latter. What does this mean? It means we don't know God's real name. Well then what relationship do we have with Him? How can we be friends if we don't even know His name? Simple, He knows our name and has actually done what we couldn't do: He brought us into relationship with Him (Romans 5). I say all of this to make this point: how can we get bored with a God whose name we don't even know? How do we figure out how to fit him in a box when we don't even know what to call Him? Jesus told the Pharisees and the religious leaders that their attempts to try and figure out his ministry was like putting new wine into old wineskins, or, for a more modern example, it's like putting a square block into a round hole. God is so much bigger, and so much more complex than we can even imagine. He says, in summary, as the heavens (the universe) are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). However, this is the same God who humbled Himself to the point of making Himself human. Who not only gave us a name but a face in Jesus. I want you to think about that today, and know that the God who is so much grander than us, who refused to share His name, who we can't corner or box in, is the God who came as a human to love, hurt, and die so His children could relate with Him. What a magnificently complex God!