Meeting YHWH - Exodus 3-4

I love stories of when people meet God for the first time. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Abraham, Jesus’ Disciples… But Moses is a special case.

You’ll remember that it took some convincing to get Moses to do what God said. Most of the reverence that Moses showed was also at the command of God, and not due to his own wise council within his “humble” state.

But something I want to note is that in the cases I mentioned earlier, it is the LORD (YHWH) that they first encounter. In this case God (Elohim) is seen by Moses first.

It actually takes him a whole chapter before he finally starts speaking to YHWH rather than Elohim.

Now, some background: Elohim simply means God, Creator, and so forth. YHWH is considered the Holy Name of God, it is the Covenant Name, some say it is referring to Jesus specifically.

Anyway, if you look at Abraham, when he saw YHWH in Genesis 18, he ran to them and bowed to the ground. Isaiah was so in awe that he thought he would be killed (Isaiah 6). Jeremiah took some convincing as well, but after one touch from YHWH, he was ready for a lifetime of seemingly fruitless service. Jesus’ disciples simply dropped everything when He said “follow me.” with no explanation.

Moses made 4 excuses and then flat out rejected God’s command.

The point I want to make is this. A lot of people know who Elohim is. Many will say they believe in God, but the separating factor is that we believe in Jesus. We believe in YHWH.

The reason it took Moses so long to worship and obey is not because he didn’t see God’s power, hear His voice, remember His promises, but because he didn’t see YHWH.

A lot of people may not say this out loud, but if they are like me, they have trouble worshiping a lot of the time; they have trouble obeying. But the key to this story is that when you remember the Covenant God (Jesus).

Do you have trouble obeying?

Look to Jesus.

You will find yourself running to Him, falling at His feet, worshiping Him, ready to whatever He calls you into!