By My Name JEHOVAH (Exodus 6:2-3)

2022-02-25

And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. (Exodus 6:2-3)

What does it mean that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not know the Lord by the name of Jehovah? The name Jehovah, normally rendered “LORD” in all capital letters in English Bibles, indicates His eternality (“He is”). Every time you see “LORD” in the Old Testament, it is this name Jehovah. If the patriarchs did not know the Lord by this name, what do we make of this:

And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth (Genesis 14:22)

Abraham clearly knew Him by that name. The problem is the way we use the word “know.”

The patriarchs did not know the salvation of the Lord like the Exodus generation did. They did not possess the promised land as this generation was going to (at least potentially, since only Joshua and Caleb made it!). They saw an aspect of God that the patriarchs did not experientially know in this respect. This name will be linked to the covenant that the Lord would make with that generation at Horeb. Jehovah is that covenantal name they would know Him by.

Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD. (Exodus 6:6-8)

In the New Testament, the name Jehovah is not used one time, not even in the Old Testament quotations where it is warranted. In the new covenant, it is “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Philippians 2:10). This Jesus is Jehovah of the Old Testament (Isaiah 45:23).