The Significant Name of God (32)
- You shall know that I AM YaHUaH !
André H. Roosma
17 May 2026
This time I want to talk about something that God YaHUaH1
says more than 70 times in several variations in the Bible. It is something
that aligns perfectly with what I said in the previous
episode of this series. It is also applicable in the time when I first
wrote this, leading up to Passover / Good Friday and Easter. What God says
so often is:
He/she/you will know that I AM
YaHUaH !
For example, to the Mizraim2 [tat
is, Egyptians] and their pharaoh (Hebr.:
phar‘oh), He said:
5 And the Mitsraïm
[Egyptians] will know that I AM YaHUaH,
when I stretch out My hand against Mizraim [Egypt] and lead the descendants of Isra’el away from their midst
14 And YaHUaH
said to Mosheh: The heart of the phar‘oh is unyielding; he refuses to let
the people go. 15 Go in the morning to the
phar‘oh; behold, he is accustomed to going to the water, you shall wait for
him on the bank of the Nile and take the staff, which has been turned into a
snake, in your hand. 16 And you shall say to him:
YaHUaH, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you with the message:
Let My people go, to serve Me in the wilderness; but behold, until now you
have been unwilling to listen. 17 This is what
YaHUaH says: By this you shall know that I am YaHUaH: behold,
I will strike the water in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand; it
shall turn into blood, 18 and the fish in the
Nile shall die, so that the Nile shall stink; then the Mitsraïm [Egyptians] shall not be able to drink the water
from the Nile.
Exodus 7: 5, 14-18
1 And YaHUaH
said to Mosheh: Go to the phar‘oh, for I have made his heart and that of his
servants hardened, so that I may show these My signs among them, 2 and you may tell your child and grandchild what I
have done to the Mitsraïm [the Egyptians]
and what signs I have performed among them, so that you may know that
I am YaHUaH.
Exodus 10: 1-2
But also to the descendants of Isra’el themselves:
1 YaHUaH
spoke to Mosheh: 2 Say to the descendants of
Isra’el, that they go back and encamp before Pi-Hachirot, between Migdol and
the sea; right opposite Ba‘al-Tsephon you shall
encamp, by the sea. 3 Then the phar‘oh will think
of the descendants of Isra’el: they are lost in the land, the wilderness has
blocked their way. 4 And I will harden the heart
of the phar‘oh, so that he pursues them. Then I will glorify Myself before
the phar‘oh and before his whole host, and the Mizraïm [Egyptians] will know that I am YaHUaH.
And they did that.
18 And the Mizraïm
[Egyptians] will know that I am YaHUaH,
because I will glorify Myself before the phar‘oh, before his chariots and
before his horsemen.
Exodus 14: 1-4; 18
You then ask yourself: why is it so important that people know that God
is YaHUaH? In this day and age, many — theologians and 'ordinary'
Christians alike — seem to no longer consider it important at all. Yet God
Himself does consider it important; otherwise, why would it be mentioned
more than 60 times in the Bible?3 It is said especially to
people who had risen up against God YaHUaH, who rebelled against
Him, or who were stubborn toward Him.
What would it imply if they were to eventually know that He is
YaHUaH? What would it imply if we were to know that He is
YaHUaH? Based on extensive Bible study, I think the key lies in the
meaning of this special Name. From His revelation to Mosheh (Moses), we know
that His Name stands for the fact that He is present and will be present.
And He is not merely present, not in the background or anything like that.
He acts proactively. He stands up for right and justice. That Pharaoh — who
was honored as the son of the Egyptian 'supreme god' Ra and thought that he
determined everything — knew, when he lay drowning deep underwater in the
Red Sea, that YaHUaH was stronger than he and all the 'gods' of Egypt
put together. The Egyptians who remained also knew that He was YaHUaH
— that this God of Isra’el was not to be mocked! This led, among other
things, to them giving the Isra’eli many precious things.
The Isra’eli, too, knew then that their God, YaHUaH, was stronger,
and that He was moved with compassion for them in their oppression in Egypt,
and delivered them from it with a strong arm and led them to a good land.
Knowing that He is YaHUaH therefore has to do with having lots of
awe for Him, because of His immeasurable greatness, glory, power, and Love!
That is what God desires! That leaves no room for stubbornness. Rebellion
against Him is then totally pointless. When we know that He is YaHUaH,
we marvel, surrender ourselves to Him, and begin to worship Him.
Hallelu YaHUaH !
To YaHUaH alone be all honor!
Notes
| 1 |
I reproduce the glorious Name of God, YaHUaH,
here as accurately as possible from the oldest Hebrew original.
For more background information on this glorious Name of God, see:
André H. Roosma, ‘The
wonderful and lovely Name of the God Who was there, Who is there, and Who
will be there’  , extensive Accede! / Hallelu-YaH! study, July 2009.
See also the other articles on the
significant Name of God, on the articles page here. |
| 2 |
Mitsraïm is the name the Hebrew original text gives to
this land, which we know better as Egypt. In Arabic, it is still called Mitsr
(in the Egyptian dialect of Arabic: Matsr). The name Egypt comes from Greek
and has an idolatrous origin. Therefore, I prefer to simply use the Biblical
name Mitsraïm. The phar‘oh was a kind of king; it is a title, not a name;
the name of this phar‘oh is not known with 100% certainty, because the Bible
did not consider him important enough to mention (!).
In general, in my Dutch Bible translation, I prefer to use an accurate
transliteration of the names from the original text. For the rules I apply
in this regard, I refer to the introductory article on names: ‘Names in the Bible (1)
Introduction and transliteraton’, 30 Aug. 2025. |
| 3 |
Especially in the strict prophetic book Yechezq’el (Ezekiel), this statement occurs frequently,
in the context of an announcement of God’s judgment on the apostasy of
Isra’el and a call to repentance and return to YaHUaH. Some examples:
1 The word of
YaHUaH came to me: 2 Son of man, set your
face unto the mountains of Isra’el. 3 Prophesy
against them and say: Mountains of Isra’el, hear the word of the Lord
YaHUaH: This is what the Lord YaHUaH says to the mountains and
the hills, to the streambeds and the valleys: Behold, I will bring a sword
upon you, and I will destroy your high places. 4
Your altars shall be destroyed, and your incense altars broken, and I will
cast down your dead before your idols. 5 I
will cast the corpses of the descendants of Isra’el before their idols, and
scatter your bones around your altars. 6 Wherever
you dwell, the cities shall be destroyed, and the high places shall become a
wilderness, so that your altars may be destroyed and forsaken, your idols
broken and destroyed, your incense altars cut down, and your creations
annihilated. 7 The dead will lie in your midst,
and you will know that I am YaHUaH. 8 But
I will leave a remnant, because some of you, having escaped the sword, will
dwell among the nations when you are scattered in the lands.
13 You will know
that I am YaHUaH when their dead lie among their idols around their
altars on every high hill, on all mountaintops, under every green tree and
under every leafy terebinth, in the place where they have prepared a
pleasing aroma for all their idols. 14 I will
stretch out My hand against them and make the land a desolation and ruin,
from the wilderness to Riblah, wherever they dwell, and they will know
that I am YaHUaH.
From Yechezq’el (Ezekiel) 6
38 I will weed out the
rebellious from among you and those who have transgressed against Me; indeed,
I will lead them out of the land where they dwell as strangers, but they
shall not come into the land of Isra’el. And you shall know that I am
YaHUaH. 39 And you, house of Isra’el, this
is what the Lord YaHUaH says: come, let everyone serve his idols!
But later, then you shall listen to Me and no longer profane My holy Name
with your offerings and your idols. 40 For on My
holy mountain, on the high mountain of Isra’el, says the word of the Lord
YaHUaH, there the whole house of Isra’el shall serve Me in its
entirety in the land. There I shall take pleasure in them and there I shall
demand contributions from you and the best of your gifts, in all that you
sanctify. 41 I will delight in you as in a
pleasing aroma, when I bring you out from among the nations. Then I will
gather you from the lands where you are scattered, and show Myself to you
as Holy in the sight of the nations. 42 And you
shall know that I am YaHUaH, when I bring you into the land of Isra’el,
into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. 43 There you shall remember all your conduct and ways with which you
have defiled yourselves, and loathe yourselves for all the evil deeds you
have committed. 44 And you shall know that I am
YaHUaH, when for the sake of My Name I shall not deal with you according
to your wrong conduct and according to your corrupt conduct, O house of
Isra’el, says the Lord YaHUaH.
From Yechezq’el (Ezechiël) 20
See also: Yechezq’el 11:10,12; 12:15; 13:9,14,21,23;
14:8,23; 15:7; 16:62; 17:21,24; 20:26; 22:16; 24:27; 25:5,11,17; 26:6; 29:9,21;
30:8,19,25,26; 33:29; 34:27,30; 35:9,12,15; 36:11,23,38; 37:6,13; 38:23;
39:6,7,22,28; 1 Kings 18:37; 20:13,28; Yₑsha‘-Yahu 37:20; 49:23; 52:6; 60:16;
Jer.16:21; Ex.11:10,12; 12:15,16,20; 13:14,21,23; 16:12; Deut.29:6;
Psalm 83:18; Joel 2:27; 3:17. |
Your reactions (questions, notes, suggestions) are welcome via e-mail !
Here you find all previous parts in this series The
significant Name of God.
|
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