“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 Holy
After the tenth plague and the death of his own son, Pharaoh finally agreed to let Moses take the Children of Israel out of Egypt along with all their animals. He must have been confused or in a state of shock because he asked Moses to bless him before leaving.[i] Even though it appeared as if Pharaoh had finally come to his senses, he was destined to change his mind again and pay the ultimate price.
Yahweh had promised Moses that the Hebrew people would not depart empty-handed so they asked the Egyptians for gold, silver, and garments. After experiencing Yahweh’s devastating wrath, including the loss of at least one member in each family, the surviving Egyptians must have been thrilled that the Children of Israel were finally leaving because they complied with their request.
At the time of the Exodus, there were at least 2 or 3 million men, women, and children traveling with Moses. They had spent 430 years to the day in Egypt,[ii] and they were leaving as a very rich people. One day earlier, they had been poor slaves. Some people mistakenly believe that Yahweh has no sense of humor, but He certainly does.
The shortest way to the Promised Land was along the coast of Egypt. At most, the journey should have taken two weeks, but Yahweh was concerned that they would encounter hostility along that route and return to Egypt.[iii] Thus, He instructed Moses to take them out by way of the wilderness which is the Sinai Peninsula. Yahweh accompanied the Children of Israel on their journey. By day He appeared as a pillar of smoke and by night as a pillar of fire to give them light. Thus, they could travel day and night without difficulty.[iv]
The Trip to Mount Sinai
Yahweh warned Moses that He would cause Pharaoh to change his mind and pursue his former slaves, but He also told him,
“I will be glorified through Pharaoh and his entire army, and Egypt will know that I am Yahweh.”[v]
Within a few days, Pharaoh and his servants regretted letting the Israelites go. Pharaoh decided to rally his troops, hunt the Jews down, and bring them back.
The chase was on. Pharaoh and his entire army were in hot pursuit while Moses and the Children of Israel, unaware that Pharaoh was following them, marched to Mount Sinai to meet Yahweh. Finally, after traveling miraculously for several days, both day and night, through the barren Sinai Peninsula, they reached the Red Sea. No sooner had they arrived than they saw Pharaoh and his army.
The Children of Israel were terrified when they saw the Egyptians approaching, and they blamed Moses for their predicament. They screamed at him in horror:
“Were there no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the Wilderness? What is this that you have done to us to take us out of Egypt? Is this not the statement that we made to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us be and we will serve Egypt’?—for it is better that we should serve Egypt than that we should die in the Wilderness!”[vi]
For several days, Yahweh had led them through a desert wilderness. He was a column of smoke by day and a column of fire by night. This was not normal, and they knew Yahweh was traveling with them personally. Even more, they knew what He had done in Egypt. They had witnessed first-hand some of the most remarkable events in the history of mankind as Yahweh inflicted ten plagues on Egypt in rapid-fire succession.
They should have felt secure and confident because of Yahweh’s presence and a great sense of anticipation as they traveled to meet Him. Instead, they were angry with Moses for endangering their lives. Yahweh had a lot of work to do teaching them to trust Him, and the story of Israel told in the Bible is the story of God teaching His children who He is and that we can trust Him.
Trapped Between Pharaoh and the Deep Red Sea
Moses was in a real bind. Pharaoh was pressing in on him from the rear, and the Red Sea prevented him from moving forward. On either side of him, mountains blocked any escape route, and to make matters worse, he had several million frightened men, women, and children screaming at him. Under these conditions, what could he do?
It was time to call on Yahweh, and that is exactly what Moses did. Yahweh’s response was intriguing. He said, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.”[vii] By posing a question, Yahweh was actually telling Moses that there was no need to ask for His help. Did God care about Moses and the Children of Israel? Of course He did. Then why did He not do something dramatic and save the day?
He would, in the end, but first God wanted Moses to understand that He had already given him all the power and authority he needed to take care of the situation himself. To Yahweh, it was as if Moses were asking Him if he should provide assistance to an injured person. The answer was obvious. Yahweh expected Moses to exercise His power because He had delegated it to him.
Now that is worth knowing. Yahweh grants us His power and authority when we understand who gets the glory when we put them into effect. All He expects from us are faith in Him and obedience to His Word. Yahweh had done His part already, and it was Moses’ turn to do his. Even in the face of tremendous adversity, Moses could be bold and confident because Yahweh was with him.
God said, “Tell the sons of Israel to go forward,” and that is exactly what Moses did. Moses looked at the obstacle in front of him, raised his hands high in the air, and the Red Sea parted.
That must have been an amazing sight. The night was black as coal, and the only light came from the glow of Yahweh’s Shekinah in the pillar of fire. Then suddenly a strong wind blew, and walls of water formed on either side of an underwater land bridge. The parting water revealed a gentle slope that everyone traveling with Moses could traverse. At that moment, the pillar of fire moved from in front of the Children of Israel to the rear blocking the path of the pursuing Egyptian army, and the Children of Israel strolled across the Red Sea on dry ground.
After they were safe on the other side, Yahweh inspired Pharaoh and his army to follow them into the depths of the sea. This is the way God explained it to Moses:
“As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh….”[viii]
When Pharaoh and his army were at the bottom of the sea, Yahweh told Moses to stretch out his hands over the sea again, and the waters came crashing down on them. They did not have Yahweh’s protection, so all of them died—every single one of them.
That day, Yahweh saved the Children of Israel. They witnessed God performing a miraculous work, and they had faith in Him and in Moses, His servant.[ix] They were ecstatic so they sang Yahweh a song. Below are a few lines from that song:
“I will sing to Yahweh, for He is highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. Yahweh is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will extol Him. Yahweh is a warrior; Yahweh is His Name[x]….In your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed[xi]….Yahweh shall reign forever and ever.”[xii]
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] Exodus 12: 32.
[ii] Exodus 12: 41.
[iii] Exodus 13: 17.
[iv] Exodus 13: 21.
[v] Exodus 14: 4.
[vi] Exodus 14: 11-12.
[vii] Exodus 14: 15.
[viii] Exodus 14: 17-18.
[ix] Exodus 14: 30-31.
[x] Exodus 15: 1-3.
[xi] Exodus 15: 13.
[xii] Exodus 15: 18.
