God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” … ‘The LORD … has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.” (Exodus 3:14)

“God” is not God’s name. Neither is “Lord.” His name is “The LORD.” Notice the way that looks in print, in what we call small caps. That signals to English readers something is going on in the original language. This is because the Hebrew text in which the OT was written conveys an anomaly concerning this name. Some refer to it as “The Divine Name” or the Tetragrammaton (referring to the four consonantal letters making up the Hebrew name). It is variously translated as Yahweh or Jehovah, in attempt to reconstruct the sound of the name. What is going on here?

The original Hebrew was written with consonant letters only, with no vowels. It was meant to be spoken aloud as it was being read, so the vocalization would be passed down audibly from generation to generation. However, when the Jews read the Scripture, they would not vocalize the name for God, where we see the English word LORD. Thus the vocalization of the word was not passed along. Whether this was due to reverence for the name of God or to superstition, the unfortunate event is that the sound, and therefore the vowels, have been lost to us.

After the time of Christ, Jews began to record the vocalization of the words of Scripture by adding what is called “vowel points,” to preserve the vocalizations (and thus the vowels, which were inherently known through the oral readings). These points are small little marks (what the NT calls jots and tittles). However, since the Divine Name was never actually pronounced, scribes borrowed the vowel points that naturally went with the Hebrew word for Adonai. The vocalization came to be rendered as Jehovah. But many scholars today, taking its association with the words “I am,” render the word to sound more like Yahweh (pronounced “yah-way”).

Clearly to the Hebrew ear, God is using a play on words, associating Yahweh with “I AM.” He is Yahweh because He is “I AM.” This is the pattern often used with derivative names of God. For example, He provides, therefore, He is called “Jehovah Jireh,” the God who provides. He is characterized by what He does. He does not just exist in and of Himself (though He does exist independently without any cause that brought Him into existence). His name means He is a living, acting presence in the universe, not a stagnant concept.

Lord, I am looking forward to knowing what You are like in action.