The Actual Name Of God

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Exodus 3:13-14

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.’”

 
 

“God” is just the generic name for “Spiritual Being.” Moses quite reasonably wants to know the specific identity of this spiritual being with whom he is speaking. Presumably he is familiar with the names of the Egyptian gods—who is this god in the wilderness?

God’s reply is one of the most profound sentences in the Bible, or out of it:

“I AM.”

God’s name—often transliterated in English as Yahweh—means “I am” or “I am who I am” or just being itself.

God is. And that’s his name.

P.S. In most English Bibles today, when you see Lord printed in all capital letters, that’s the editors' way of indicating that it’s the actual Hebrew name of God in the text, i.e., “Yahweh.” Be on the lookout for that—it will change how you read the Bible.