July 1, 2026
Wednesday, July 1
Of all the ten commandments, the third seems most confusing to us. Why is it so bad to take the name of the Lord in vain? After all, if today you hit your thumb with a hammer and cry out, “Jeff Berger!” I am far more likely to be amused (or confused) than offended.
But what if God’s name is more than the words G-O-D?
In Exodus 3, God has commanded Moses to go back to Egypt and request from Pharoah a three-day break from the Israelites’ labors, so they can go into the desert and sacrifice to Him. Moses has already tried begging off because of his own personal inadequacy. When that doesn’t work, he tries another tack:
13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
Moses’s Second objection: I don’t know your name! God responds by sharing with him the covenant name, Yahweh. It’s worth spending a little time on the details of that name. In the Hebrew text it is written YHWH, with no vowels. Scholars refer to it as the Tetragrammaton, which means, “the four letters.” It is a form of the verb “to be,” so it literally means, “the One who is,” or “I AM.” The scribes who copied the Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament left the vowels out, to make it unpronounceable. Instead, they called Him Adonai, which means “Lord.” Whenever you find the word LORD in all caps in your English Bible, that is where the Hebrew text has the Tetragrammaton, YHWH. Modern scholars feel confident, because of the structure of the Hebrew language, that the name was pronounced “Yahweh.” Later Hebrew scribes starting adding the vowels from Adonai into the four consonants YHWH when they copied manuscripts. So centuries later when the Bible was translated into Latin, that word came out “Jehovah.”
Confused yet? Back to Moses’ objection: I don’t believe Moses was unfamiliar with the name Yahweh. It had appeared several times in the book of Genesis. But in the ancient world, one’s name was an indication of their character. Look again at Moses’ first excuse: He said, “Who am I?” He didn’t mean, “I have amnesia and can’t remember my name.” He meant, “What is there in my character that makes me able to complete this mission?” So here, when he says, “Who are you?” he is really asking, “What can you do about this?” He knows the Jews will ask him this question because they have been in slavery for centuries. The Egyptians, who worshipped an entire pantheon of gods, and whose leader Pharaoh considered himself a god, had probably convinced them their own God was too weak. “After all, if He’s strong, why has He let you suffer like this?” So Moses asks, “Lord, what should I tell them?”
By reminding Moses of the name, Yahweh, God is saying, “Tell them I am what I am. Tell them I haven’t changed. I am still the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” And then God reveals that not only will He free them from slavery, but in the process He will humiliate the Egyptians. He will bring the world’s dominant power to its knees. He will also leave the Jews richly resourced for their trip to the Promised Land. God already knows that Pharaoh will say no to this reasonable request of three days leave. He is stage-managing this entire event. If we have eyes to see it, I believe God directs certain events in our lives today, as well. He is truly I AM!
“Father, I confess that sometimes I doubt you. My circumstances are all I can see, and they discourage me. Please teach me to trust you more, to expect great things, and to rejoice no matter what, knowing that you are undefeated. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
