When we give ourselves to God, the Creator of everything, and come into His family through His son Jesus Christ, we become sons of God. Then to us, the Almighty’s name is Abba or Daddy or Father as Jesus taught us to pray.
God identifies Himself with the name: YHWH and is rendered as “LORD” (all capital letters) in English Bibles. The Hebrew does not have vowels, so YHWH are the exact four Hebrew letters. English speakers have added vowels in order to be able to pronounce it. Therefore YAHWEH and JEHOVAH are the English versions of YHWH. In English Bibles, YHWH appears as “LORD” to distinguish it from the common Hebrew word “Adonai” or “Lord.”
In Exodus 3:13-14, God again introduced Himself to Moses as YHWH, but in this scripture, a concept is given to those four letters. “And Moses said to God, Behold, I shall come to the sons of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you; and they will say to me, What is His name? What shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM; and He said, You shall say this to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.”
The noted Bible scholar, Joseph Bryant Rotherham, explains there is a great deal of difficulty surrounding the concept translation, “I AM THAT I AM”. Rotherham suggests a more accurate translation would be “I WILL BECOME WHATSOEVER I MAY BECOME.” In other words, God is much greater than we can ever comprehend and He reveals different aspects of Himself to us according to the need and the situation. But please remember “…He (God) cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13), therefore God never denies or violates one aspect of Himself to reveal another characteristic of Himself. God is always just and loving – not just or loving.
Some of God’s attributes are specified in the following scriptures:
James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation…”
Daniel 9:14 (LITV), “For Jehovah our God is righteous in all His works which He does. For we did not obey His voice.
1 John 4:16, “…God is love…”
Job 9:4, “God is wise…”
Additional Resources:
Christian Questions Podcast
Episode #1297: “Who is God? (Part I)”
Piecing together an understanding of the unfathomable character of God
Preview Video
CQ Rewind Show Notes
Episode #1298: “Who is God? (Part II)”
Honoring God’s name, and how He was described in the Old Testament