“Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My Name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
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Katie and I are traveling in Israel and gathering information for SnyderTalk. While we are there, I am posting excerpts from His Name is Yahweh in SnyderTalk.
The message in the book is important. Please take the time to read it.
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Yahweh is Sovereign
Pharaoh ignored God again and again, and finally God had enough of his rebellion and disobedience. He came down from heaven and went through the land of Egypt killing the first-born of men and animals in homes that were not covered by the blood of the Passover lamb.
As I said at the beginning of this chapter, the Exodus tells about Yahweh revealing His sovereignty and His salvation to the world. His Name is the Name that is above every name and in His Name alone there are redemption and salvation. That is exactly what Isaiah meant when he said,
“Give thanks to Yahweh, declare His Name, make His acts known among the peoples; declare that His Name is exalted. Make music to Yahweh, for He has acted with grandeur; make this known throughout the world. Exult and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel is great in your midst!”[i]
An Ancient Egyptian Document May Describe the Exodus
An Egyptian who lived during the time of the Exodus may have preserved a record of the Exodus for us. A document called The Ipuwer Papyrus describes a time in Egypt when the country was in total chaos. It was written shortly after the Exodus as a poem, and many people believe it is a work of fiction, and it may be. However, it reads as though it were an eyewitness account of the Exodus, and it describes what life in Egypt must have been like after Yahweh finished demonstrating His awesome power to the Egyptians. For example,
- It mentions a large group of “foreigners” who lived and worked in the delta region of Egypt, or Goshen. The Children of Israel were foreigners, and they lived in Goshen.
- It says that the Nile River turned into blood and that many Egyptians died as a result.
- It laments the destruction of the land, including all the timber and grain in Egypt, and it grieves about a severe shortage of building material and food.
- It talks about the sudden and unexpected death of the king and a large number of noblemen, a possible reference to the destruction of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea.
- It talks about Egypt being a leaderless society and about crime being out of control throughout the country. If Pharaoh and his army had been destroyed, we would expect criminal activity in Egypt to increase because the army, which was also the police force, was not around to prevent it.
- It says, “What the ancestors foretold has happened.”[ii] Joseph foretold the Exodus hundreds of years in advance, and he instructed his brothers to take his bones with them when they left Egypt. It is reasonable to assume that the Egyptians were familiar with Joseph’s prophecy and his instructions to his brothers.
Probably the most interesting statement in The Ipuwer Papyrus is this chilling refrain: “If I knew where god is I would serve him.” This line is remarkable because the Egyptians did not believe in a god. They believed in many gods. Only Joseph and the Children of Israel believed in One God.
It is reasonable to assume that the people in Egypt were thoroughly familiar with Yahweh by the time the Children of Israel departed, because He had destroyed their land and their leaders. He had upset their world in ways we can’t imagine, and everyone alive in Egypt, Hebrew or Egyptian, knew that the God of Israel is sovereign. Thus, it should come as no surprise to anyone that after the Exodus some of the Egyptians who survived the onslaught from Yahweh longed to know more about Him.[iii]
Yahweh’s Message is Crystal Clear
After examining Yahweh’s message in the book of Exodus, it’s impossible for me to understand the logic of those who took it upon themselves to remove His Name from the Scriptures. The rabbis who built a wall around the Torah in the mid-2nd century B.C. must have thought they were doing a good thing when they forbade the use of God’s Name, but in reality, they prevented His people from obeying Him. Likewise, the editors of the King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, the New International Version, and most other English Bible translations must have believed they were following a good precedent, but they were not. At this moment, most Christians don’t even know the Name of their God. This is not just unfortunate. It is wrong.
The excerpts from the book of Exodus that I’ve discussed in this chapter make it clear that Yahweh never intended for us to take His Name out of circulation or to substitute titles where it belongs in the Bible. He always wanted us to know Him by Name as our Savior, our Redeemer, and our God. Based on what the Bible says, arguing against these facts makes no sense at all. It’s time for us to tell the world who God is by Name.
Tradition is a powerful force, but Yahweh’s commands pertaining to His Name are as plain as day. So the question is this. Will we obey Yahweh or hold fast to tradition despite what He says? I know my answer. Do you know yours?
His Name is Yahweh: It explains why God’s Name is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback. It’s also available for free in PDF format.
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His Name is Yahweh, the website, is a companion of the book His Name is Yahweh.
To see videos that explain the importance of God’s Name, click here.
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“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 22-24)
See “His Name is Yahweh”.
[i] Isaiah 12: 4-6.
[ii] Möller, Lennart. The Exodus Case: A Scientific Examination of the Exodus Story—and a Deep Look Into the Red Sea, Scandinavia Publishing House, Copenhagen NV, Denmark, 2000, pp. 145.
[iii] For more details about the Ipuwer Papyrus, read Möller’s book The Exodus Case: A Scientific Examination of the Exodus Story—and a Deep Look Into the Red Sea, Scandinavia Publishing House, Copenhagen NV, Denmark, 2000, pp. 143-149.
