WHAT IS GOD’S NAME (CHARACTER)?
Now that we know that God’s name refers to his character, it is important that we discuss his character. While complex and multifaceted, God’s character is relatively easy to document in terms of scripture. In the page above we cited many scriptures that reveal God in terms of his love, compassion, mercy, and concern for the best interests of all people in view at all times. Next we will learn how Moses came to learn about God’s character. To do that we will look at these verses:

Exodus 33:12-23: Moses said to the LORD, “See, thou sayest to me, ‘Bring up this people’; but thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thy sight, show me now thy ways, that I may know thee and find favor in thy sight. Consider too that this nation is thy people.” 14 And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And he said to him, “If thy presence will not go with me, do not carry us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in thy sight, I and thy people? Is it not in thy going with us, so that we are distinct, I and thy people, from all other people that are upon the face of the earth?” 17 And the LORD said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18 Moses said, “I pray thee, show me thy glory.” 19 And he said, “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. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand upon the rock; 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23 then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”

Exodus 34:1-7: The LORD said to Moses, “Cut two tables of stone like the first; and I will write upon the tables the words that were on the first tables, which you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3 No man shall come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain; let no flocks or herds feed before that mountain.” 4 So Moses cut two tables of stone like the first; and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tables of stone. 5 And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 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, 7 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 upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

COMMENTARY: Moses and God had a lot of history up to this point. But now that the deliverance from Egypt has been accomplished, they will move into a new phase that will challenge Moses and Israel even more. Moses acknowledges this fact by asking for some kind of guarantee that God will go with them on the rest of the journey. God gives him verbal assurance that he will go with Israel. But that is not enough for Moses. He wants to know God’s ways, and to see God’s glory. In this simple request, Moses says that all his questions and concerns about the journey ahead will be answered if God will reveal his character, or those qualities for which he is to be known (i.e. reputation). In other words, God’s name is his guarantee for success.

God tells Moses to stand on a rock and wait for his glory to pass by. He says he will shield Moses from seeing his face, but that Moses will see his back. This all happens before God proclaims the terms of his glory in verses 6-7 where glory refers to his character:

This all happens in the context of Moses’ request for God to reveal his ways so that Moses could know God and find favor in God’s sight. If it is our desire to know God as Moses desired to know God, and if the above points are God’s response to Moses request, it is also God’s response to our request to know God. But it is only a partial, or summary answer. The details about how God represents his character in relationship to his people are played out in the rest of First Covenant scriptures, and explained further in the life of Jesus.