I AM WHO AM
YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson
31
Ave Maria Series
31. Why does God give himself a name?
God gives himself a name so as to make it possible to
address him. [203-213, 230-231]
God does not wish to remain incognito. He does not want to be revered as a “higher
being” that is merely sensed or surmised.
God wishes to be known and to be called upon as someone real and
active. In the burning bush God reveals
to Moses his name: Yhwh (Exodus:
3:14). God make it possible for his people to
address him, but he still remains a hidden God, the present mystery. Out of reverence for God, the name of God was
not (and is not) spoken in Israel; the title Adonai (Lord) is substituted. This same word is used by the New Testament
when it glorifies Jesus as true God: “Jesus is Lord!” (Romans
10:19).
Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the sons of Israel and
say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me,
‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”
And he said, “Say this to the sons of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to
you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this
to the sons of Israel, ‘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, and this I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” Exodus
3:13-15
YHWH/YAHWEH The most
important name of God in the Old Testament (Exodus
3:14). It can be translated “I am who I am.” For Jews as well as for Christians, it
designates the one God of the whole world, their creator, preserver, covenant
partner, liberator from slavery in Egypt, judge, and savior.
GOD
REVEALS HIS NAME
203 God revealed himself to his people Israel by
making his name known to them. A name expresses a person's essence and identity
and the meaning of this person's life. God has a name; he is not an anonymous
force. To disclose one's name is to make oneself known to others; in a way it
is to hand oneself over by becoming accessible, capable of being known more intimately
and addressed personal. –Catechism of
the Catholic Church, Second Edition
204 God revealed himself progressively and under
different names to his people, but the revelation that proved to be the
fundamental one for both the Old and the New Covenants was the revelation of
the divine name to Moses in the theophany of the burning bush, on the threshold
of the Exodus and of the covenant on Sinai. –CCC
205 God
calls Moses from the midst of a bush that burns without being consumed: "I
am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob."(Exodus 3:6.)9 God is the God of the fathers, the One who
had called and guided the patriarchs in their wanderings. He is the faithful
and compassionate God who remembers them and his promises; he comes to free
their descendants from slavery. He is the God who, from beyond space and time,
can do this and wills to do it, the God who will put his almighty power to work
for this plan. –CCC
"I
Am who I Am"
Moses said to God,
"If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your
fathers has sent me to you', and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I
say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say
this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you'. . . this is
my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all
generations."(Exodus 3:13-15.)10
206 In revealing his mysterious name, YHWH
("I AM HE WHO IS", "I AM WHO AM" or "I AM WHO I
AM"), God says who he is and by what name he is to be called. This divine
name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is at once a name revealed and
something like the refusal of a name, and hence it better expresses God as what
he is - infinitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the
"hidden God", his name is ineffable, and he is
the God who makes himself close to men.(Compare Isaiah 45:15; Judges 13:18)11 –CCC
207 By revealing his name God at the same time
reveals his faithfulness which is from everlasting to everlasting, valid for
the past ("I am the God of your father"), as for the future ("I
will be with you").(Exodus 3:6,12.)12 God, who reveals his name as "I
AM", reveals himself as the God who is always there, present to his people
in order to save them.
208 Faced
with God's fascinating and mysterious presence, man discovers his own
insignificance. Before the burning bush, Moses takes off his sandals and veils
his face in the presence of God's holiness.( Compare Exodus 3:5-6.)13 Before the glory of the
thrice-holy God, Isaiah cries out: "Woe is me! I am lost; for I am a man
of unclean lips."( Isaiah 6:5.)14 Before the divine signs wrought
by Jesus, Peter exclaims: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O
Lord."( Luke 5:8.)15 But
because God is holy, he can forgive the man who realizes that he is a sinner
before him: "I will not execute my fierce anger. . . for I am
God and not man, the Holy One in your midst."( Hosea 11:9.)16 The apostle
John says likewise: "We shall. . . reassure our hearts before
him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he
knows everything."( 1
John 3:19-20.)17
–CCC
209 Out of respect for the holiness of
God, the people of Israel do not pronounce his name. In the reading of Sacred Scripture,
the revealed name (YHWH) is replaced by the divine title "LORD" (in
Hebrew Adonai, in Greek Kyrios). It is under this title
that the divinity of Jesus will be acclaimed: "Jesus is LORD."
210 After Israel's sin, when the people had
turned away from God to worship the golden calf, God hears Moses' prayer of
intercession and agrees to walk in the midst of an unfaithful people, thus
demonstrating his love.( Compare Exodus 32; Ex 33:12-17.)18 When Moses
asks to see his glory, God responds "I will make all my goodness pass
before you, and will proclaim before you my name 'the LORD' [YHWH]."( Exodus 33:18-19.)19 Then
the LORD passes before Moses and proclaims, "YHWH, YHWH, a God merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness"; Moses then confesses that the LORD is a forgiving God.( Exodus 34:5-6; compare Ex 34:9.)20
–CCC
211 The divine name, "I Am" or "He
Is", expresses God's faithfulness: despite the faithlessness of men's sin
and the punishment it deserves, he keeps "steadfast love for
thousands".(Exodus 34:7.)21 By going so far as to give up his own Son
for us, God reveals that he is "rich in mercy".(Ephesians 2:4.)22 By
giving his life to free us from sin, Jesus reveals that he himself bears the
divine name: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will
realize that "I AM"."(John 8:28
(Gk.).)23 –CCC
212 Over
the centuries, Israel's faith was able to manifest and deepen realization of
the riches contained in the revelation of the divine name. God is unique; there
are no other gods besides him.( Compare Isaiah 44:6.)24 He
transcends the world and history. He made heaven and earth: "They will
perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment.
. . .but you are the same, and your years have no end."( Psalm 102:26-27.)25 In God "there is no variation or shadow
due to change."( James 1:17.)26 God
is "HE WHO IS", from everlasting to everlasting, and as such remains
ever faithful to himself and to his promises. –CCC
213 The revelation of the ineffable name "I
AM WHO AM" contains then the truth that God alone IS. The Greek Septuagint
translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and following it the Church's Tradition,
understood the divine name in this sense: God is the fullness of Being and of
every perfection, without origin and without end. All creatures receive all
that they are and have from him; but he alone is his very being, and he is of
himself everything that he is. --CCC
IN
BRIEF
230 Even when he reveals himself, God remains a mystery beyond
words: "If you understood him, it would not be God" (St. Augustine,
Sermo 52, 6, 16: Patrolgia Latina 38, 360 and Sermo 117, 3, 5:
PL 38, 663). –CCC
231 The God of our faith has revealed himself as HE WHO IS;
and he has made himself known as "abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness" (Exodus 34:6).
God's very being is Truth and Love. --CCC
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