The Apostles’ Creed: God The FatherSample

God’s Name: Exodus 3:13-14

The God of Scripture is known by actual names. Most of them are descriptive, such as El Shaddai, which is often translated “Almighty God,” meaning the God who is all powerful; and El Elyon, which is usually translated “God Most High,” meaning the God who rules over all; and Adonai, which is generally translated “Lord,” and means master or ruler. 

But the name that most closely approximates what we might think of as God’s proper name is Yahweh. In older translations it appears as Jehovah. But in modern translations, it is generally rendered “Lord,” though its meaning is quite different from Adonai. 

God revealed himself by the name Yahweh extremely early in human history. For instance, human beings were using this name for God at least as early as the days of Seth, the son of Adam, as we learn in Genesis 4:26. Noah referred to God as Yahweh in Genesis 9:26. And Abraham called God by this name in Genesis 12:8.

Yahweh is also the name that God described to Moses in Exodus 3:13-14, where we read this account:

Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14).

The name Yahweh is related to the Hebrew word ’ehyeh, which is here translated “I AM.” It is the most intimate name that God revealed to his people, and the one that, more than any other name, distinguishes him from all the false gods.

In fact, of all the names by which the Lord is called in Scripture, “God” is the most generic. In our modern Old Testaments, the word God usually translates the Hebrew word el or elohim. And in the New Testament, it usually translates the Greek word theos. But in the days of the Bible, other religions used these same words to refer to their own gods. So, why did the Apostles’ Creed choose this generic name for God instead of a more distinctive name like Yahweh? Because by using the simple term “God” to identify the Lord, the Apostles’ Creed indicates that the God of Christianity is the only one who deserves to be called “God.” As we read in 1 Kings 8:60:

The Lord (or in Hebrew Yahweh) is God ... there is no other. (1 Kings 8:60)