Take your shoes off.

Let’s revisit the burning bush. Our quest to newly understand the name of God begins on this holiest of grounds. Here, Moses was given the eternal name of God . . . Yahweh. This name holds and reveals a great mystery about God.

Exodus 3 tells the story. Moses, while tending his sheep at Mount Horeb, beheld a burning bush which was not being consumed by the flames. Out of this bush, the voice of God commanded Moses to take off his shoes, “for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (Ex. 3:5). This tells us the name of God is holy ground and that we must humbly shed our soles AND souls of all man-made barriers to truly prepare ourselves to receive His name.

The Lord then reveals His name to Moses as “I AM THAT I AM,” literallyYahweh, and that this will be, “My name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations” (Ex. 3:14-15). All generations are to remember, recognize and realize that Yahweh is the name of God. For the Hebrews, the name was not an arbitrary title but represented the essential essence, character, and authority of a Person.

So, what does the name Yahweh represent? Translations range from “I AM THAT I AM” to “I AM AND CONTINUE TO BE PRESENT.” But, we must remember to add the concept of forever to this name as the Lord commanded in verse 15. Thus, Yahweh means “forever already present,” or as I like to say “Always Already.” God is “always already” aware, “always already” prepared, “always already” empowered, “always already” merciful, “always already” willing, and “always already” available to save, heal and deliver us.

German theologians note that the Hebrew word “Yah or Jah” (I am) is linguistically related to the German word Ja, which means “yes.” From this angle, God essentially says to Moses, “I AM YES, I AM THE ETERNAL YES, I AM THE EVER-PRESENT ALWAYS ALREADY YES AND AMEN!”

Isn’t this glorious? Does the Bible support the Eternal “Yes-ness” of God’s nature? Oh, yes!

“For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was NOT yes and no, but in him was YES. For ALL the promises of God in him are YES, and in him AMEN, unto the glory of God by us.” (2 Cor. 1:19-20).

Yes, Yes, Yes! Always only IN Christ, but IN Him “ALWAYS ALREADY YES!”

Martin Buber, author of the classic book “I and Thou,” adds another beautiful insight into interpreting the name Yahweh. Buber traces the word back to Yah, Yahu or Yahuvah and paraphrases it as: “He, this one, this is it, oh he!”

Thus, the name Yahweh is an exclamation of joyful recognition uttered in a moment of religious ecstasy. “God cannot be properly named, only exclaimed.” Buber abbreviates the definition of Yahweh to be “the one.” Yahweh, then, is an EXPERIENTIAL response to God revealing His presence to man. If Buber would allow me the latitude, I think a more contemporary expression of Yahweh would be:

“Oh, You are the one I’ve been waiting for . . . the one I never knew I always wanted. You are the Yes to my heart’s question . . . my eternal Yes!”

When Peter pleased Jesus with his confession that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus said this would be “the rock” upon which the Church would be built (Matt. 16:15-19). The rock here was NOT the confession itself, but rather Peter’s experiential exclamation of God’s presence IN Jesus as revealed BY the Father. Without the experience of God’s presence, Peter’s confession would be meaningless. Our proper use of Jesus’s name will always be based on a “who” interaction WITH Him…not a “what” interaction with some idea or opinion ABOUT Him.

So, what’s the conclusion of the matter? When we approach the Lord’s name (His nature and presence) with our shoes removed (all man-made opinions, pride, and self-reliance), THEN we will behold the ETERNAL ALWAYS ALREADY “YES” OF GOD!

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