Exodus 34:1-9, The “Manifold” Name of God (1)

The “manifold” name of God is unique among God’s names, but it is said by God to be His name.  In Ex. 33, as Moses and God conversed concerning God’s continued relationship with Israel after the golden calf incident, Moses made a truly wonderful request of the LORD: Please, show me Your glory (33:18).  God’s answer was: I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you.  In Ex. 34:5 we read again that God proclaimed the name of the LORD.  What God proclaimed (v6-7) is not a single name, but is a manifold description of attributes of God.  That is why I refer to it in this way.

This is an extremely important “name” of God.  It was given early in Israel history as a nation, and in the context of recent idolatry.  It should be easy to see the connection.  God declares His mercy and grace, His abundant goodness and truth (Heb. checed and emeth, two terms many times seen together in the OT), His forgiveness, and then His holy promise to not overlook sin.  In a sense, God is setting the record straight as to His attitude toward His people when they sin.  He is and will be extremely good and gracious; but He cannot and will not ignore sin.  This is so important for Israel and Moses to hear at this time; there will be no shortage of iniquity over the course of Israel’s history.

That leads to a second reason why we know this name is important: this is the most frequently quoted passage in the OT.  Time and time again we see references in the Psalms and prophets to this description of God made by God Himself.  It seems to embolden Moses, who immediately asks, If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance (v9). 

This demonstrates the value there is in studying and knowing the names of God.  They are strong and specific encouragements to faith, so that when we come into God’s presence, as Moses was here, we can be assured of God’s favor.  Jesus, when He taught His disciples (and us) to pray, remember how He taught us to approach God: Our Father in heaven, hallowed by Your name.  We are blessed to approach God as Father; that thought encourages us to ask of God and to expect a Fatherly response.  The same is true when we acknowledge His name as holy, if we revere what we know of Him through these self-revelations He has made for us.

We commend to you the “manifold name of God.”  As you read Scripture keep your eyes open for the many saints who found comfort in speaking that name back to God.  To encourage you in this, in our next post we will look at just a few of the many illustrations of this.  Learn all the names, and their meaning, by memory, including this one.  What a marvelous, awesome God we have.