The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 1 — Section 89

a memorial of the revelation; (2) As an exponent of its significance; (3) As a clue to God's purpose in it.; and (4) As a name by ,vhich God might suitably be invoked in tbe ne_w crisi~ of the!r. n~tion's history. ~ud 3. It w_as certain that tll.e people would ask tb1s quest10n, fam1liansed as they were m Egypt with the practice of invoking the gods by the one or other of their many names which bore particularly on the waute and circumstances of the worshippers. 'I'o Moses, however, this request for the Name had a much deeper significance. Jt originated, we may believe, in the felt inadequacy of all existing names of God to syllable the deep and powerful impression made on him by this actual contact with the Divine. Cf. Jacob at Peniel (Gen. xx.xii. 24---30). God in that hour was nameless to the spirit of Moses-his experience of God went l>eyond :my name he knew for him. A multitude of ideas crowded on him, and he could not fu: or express them. Language thus fails us in moments of extraordinary experience, not always because none of the words we know would suit our purpose, but liecause language tends to become conventional, and the profounder meanina which lies in words gets rubbed off them. 'I'he name which God gave was after all not a new one but an old name with new life put mto it. ' II. THE NAME GIVEN (vers. 14, 15). God grants his servant's request. 'l'he name is given first e:r;plicatively,-" I am that I am" (ver. 14), then as a denominative--- "Jeho'<'ah" (ver._ 15); while he who gives it expressly claims for himself, as formerly (ver. 6), that he 1s the God of the old covenants-the" Jehovah God" of the fathers ('<'ers. 15, 16). 1. The name, as above remarked, while new in this relation, is itselj an old one. This is already implied in the expression-" Jehovah God of your fathers" (ver. lG); and is proved by its occurrence in the earlier history, and by the name of Moses' own mother-Jochebed (eh. vi 20), "she whose glory is Jehovah." This old and half-obsolete name God revives, and makes it the key-word of e. new era 'of revela- tion. 2. He who assumes the name is the ".Angel of Jehovah" of ver. 1. The Angel- " a self-presentation of J ehove.h entering into the sphere of the creature, which is one in essence with Jehovah; and is yet again different from him" (Oehler). The soundest view is that which regards the " Angel" as the Pre-incarnate Logos-the Divine Son, 3. The name was eminently suitable and significant. 'l'he ideas awakened in Moses by the revelation he had received would be such as these-God's living Personality; his enduring Existence (the same God that spoke to the fathers of old, speaking to him e.t Horeb); his covenant-keeping Faithfulness; his Self-identity in will and purpose; his unfailing Power (the bush burning unconsumed); his Mercy and Compassion. All these ideas a.re expressed in the name Jehovah, which represents the highest reach of Old Testament revelation. That name denotes God as-1. Personal. 2. Self-existent. 3. Eternal. 4. Independent of his creatures. 5. Self-identical: 6. Self-revealing and gracious. Hence---1. Changeless in his purpose. 2. Faithful to his promises. 8. Able to fulfil them. 4. Certain to do so.-J. 0. Vers. 16--22.-Tlie two messages. I. THE MESSAGE TO THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL (vers. 16-18). Moses was to go first to the elders of the people. First-before he went to Pharaoh ; and first-before communicating with any of the people. This arrangement was-1. Necessary. The people's consent must be obtained to their own deliverance. God would have them co-operate with him-{1) Freely. (2) Intelligently; would carry them with him as free a.gents in all he did. This applies to the higher Redemption. Men cannot be saved without their own consent. We must, in the sense of Phil. ii. 12, work out our own salvation-must co-operate with God, by freely adopting and falling in with his method of grace. There must be free choice of Christ e.s our Saviour, free compliance with the directions of the Gospel, free co-operation with the Spirit in the work of our sanctification. 2. Wise. 'l'he elders ,vere the representatives of the people. They had a claim to be approached first. They were men of experience, and were better able to judge deliberately of the proposal11 laid before them. They had exceptional facilities for diffusing information, while communication with them would have the additional advantage of greater privacy. If Moses could satisfy the elders of his Divine commission, and could gain their intelligent cc.nsent to his proposals, the consent of the people would readily be forthcoming. So Paul, in going up to Jerusalem, communicated the Gospel he had received "privately ,,; them which were of reputation,"-to "James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to bo Oil. III. 18-22.) 'filE BOOK OF EXODUS. 71