The God Who Communes and Communicates
And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. Exodus 6:2-3 (KJV)*
The first name for God in Scripture is Elohim, translated God: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This generic form of the word is used throughout this first chapter. But in Genesis 2, with the detailed creation of the first man and woman, a combined name is added: Jehovah Elohim, translated LORD God. God communed and communicated, walking in the garden in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve before they sinned (Genesis 3:8).
Later, when God was sending Moses to lead the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, Moses asked God his name. And God said, “I 
AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ … Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation” (Exodus 3:14-15).
The name Jehovah is derived from the Hebrew word Y’hova (or Yahweh) which means “to be” or “being.” Jehovah is “absolutely the self-existent One, who in himself possesses life and permanent existence.” He and Moses communed and communicated “face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (Exodus 33:11).
Such was the relationship that Moses spoke with boldness when God threatened to send an angel with the Israelites rather than go with them. God said of Israel, “You are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way” (Exodus 33:3).
Moses said, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:15-16). God promised to go with them.
Do you know God as Jehovah, living in his presence, communing and communicating with him?
DIG DEEPER
Read Genesis 3. Which form of God’s name is used by the serpent, Eve, and the narrator: God (Elohim) or LORD (Jehovah)? Why do you think each used what they did?
In Genesis 9:24-27, which word is used (or not used) to describe the God of each of Noah’s three sons?
Read Exodus 33:18-34:8. When Moses asked God to show him his glory, God said he’d proclaim the name of the LORD before Moses. What did the LORD declare of his character and nature to Moses? What do you want from God? Blessings? To know him better? To draw closer to him?
Nancy J. Baker
*Most Bibles use small-caps (LORD or GOD) to signify the Hebrew word, Y’hova (Jehovah). When small-caps are not used (Lord), the Hebrew word is Adonai. When God is used, it represents the Hebrew word Elohim.
This devotion is the first in a series on the names of God. You may also want to read the introduction to the series, Dig into the Names of God.