The Name of God Proclaimed by Himself
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Then Moses said, "Now I beseech you, show me your glory."
And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." Exodus 33:18-19
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." Exodus 34:6-7
It is a very natural and proper inquiry for a creature, "Where is God my Maker?" And a heart that loves him must long to know more of him, and is ever ready to join with Moses in his petition, "Show me your glory;" or, "Reveal yourself to me." That God exist, I infer from my own existence, and from your numerous works all around me; and that God is glorious, I learn from the display of his perfections in his vast creation, and in the government of the world he has made. But, alas! how small a portion of God is known in the earth! How faintly does his glory shine in the feeble eyes of mortals.
My knowledge of things in the present state of flesh and blood depends in a great measure upon the senses; but God is a spirit—invisible to eyes of flesh, and imperceptible through the gross medium of sensation.
How and when shall I know you as you are, you great, you dear unknown? In what a strange situation am I! I am surrounded with your Omnipresence—yet I cannot perceive you! You are as near to me as I am to myself; "you know my down-sitting and my up-rising, you understand my thoughts afar off;" you penetrate my very essence, and know me altogether. Psalm 139:2, etc. But to me, you dwell in impervious darkness, or which is the same, in inaccessible light. "Oh that I knew where I might find him! Behold, I go forward—but he is not there; and backward—but I cannot perceive him: on the left hand, where he does work—but I cannot behold him: he hides himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him." Job 23:3, 8, 9.
I see his perfections beaming upon me from all his works, and his providence ever-active, ruling the vast universe, and diffusing life, motion, and vigor through the whole: the virtue of his wisdom, power, and goodness,
Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze;
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees;
Lives in all life, extends through all extent;
Spreads undivided, operates unspent;
Inspires our soul, informs our vital part.
But where is the great Agent himself? These are his works, and they are glorious: "in wisdom he has made them all," but where is the divine Artificer? From these displays of his glory, which strike my senses, I derive some ideas of him; but oh! how faint and glimmering! how unlike to the all-perfect Archetype and Original!
I have also heard of him by the hearing of the ear; I read his own descriptions of himself in his Word; I contemplate the representations he has given of himself in his ordinances; and these are truly glorious—but they are adapted to the dark and grovelling minds of mortals in this obscure region, and fall infinitely short of the original glory.
I can think of him; I can love him; I can converse and carry on a spiritual fellowship with him; I feel him working in my heart; I receive sensible communications of love and grace from him; I dwell at times with unknown delight in the contemplation of his glory, and am transported with the survey! But, alas! I cannot fully know him; I cannot dive deep into this mystery of glory; my senses cannot perceive him; and my intellectual powers in the present state are not qualified to converse with spiritual objects, and form a full acquaintance with them.
Oh! if it would please my God to show me his glory in its full luster! Oh that he would reveal himself to me so that my senses may assist my mind; if such a manner of revelation is possible!
Such thoughts as these may naturally rise in our minds; and probably some such thoughts possessed the mind of Moses, and were the occasion of his request, "I beseech you, show me your glory!" These chapters, whence we have taken our subject of discourse, present us with transactions that must seem very strange and incredible to a mind that knows nothing of communion with the Father of spirits, and that is furnished only with modern ideas.
Here is, not an angel—but a man; not a creature only—but a sinner, a sinner once depraved as ourselves, in intimate audience with the Deity. Jehovah speaks to him face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Moses uses his interest in favour of a rebellious people, and it was so great that he prevailed: nay, to show the force of his intercessions, and to give him an encouragement to use them, God condescends to represent himself as restrained by this importunate petitioner, and unable to punish the ungrateful Israelites, while Moses pleaded for them. "Let me alone," says he, "that my wrath may wax hot against them, that I may consume them." Exod. 32:10. Moses urges petition upon petition; and he obtains blessing upon blessing, as though God could deny nothing to such a favourite.
He first deprecates the divine wrath, that it might not immediately break out upon the Israelites, and cut them off, verses 11-14. When he has gained this point, he advances farther, and pleads that God would be their Conductor through the wilderness, as he had been until that time, and lead them into the promised land. In this article God seems to put him off, and to devolve the work of conducting them upon himself; but Moses, sensible that he was not equal to it, insists upon the request, and with a sacred dexterity urges the divine promises to enforce it. Jehovah at length appears, as it were, partly prevailed upon, and promises to send his angel before him as his guide. Chapter 32:34, and 33:2. But, alas! an angel cannot fill up his place; and Moses renews his petition to the Lord, and humbly tells him that he had rather stay, or even die where they were in the wilderness, than to go up to the promised land without him. "If your presence go not with me, carry us not up hence!" chapter 33:15. "Alas! the company of an angel, and the possession of a land flowing with milk and honey, will not satisfy us without yourself." His prayers prevail for this blessing also, and Jehovah will not deny him anything.
Oh the surprising prevalency of faith! Oh the efficacy of the fervent prayer of a righteous man! And now, when his people are restored unto the divine favour, and God has engaged to go with them, has Moses anything more to ask? Yes, he found he had indeed great interest with God, and oh! he loved him, and longed, and languished for a clearer knowledge of him; he found that after all his friendly interviews and conferences, he knew but little of his glory; and now, thought he, it is proper time to put in a petition for this manifestation; who knows but it may be granted! Accordingly he prays with a mixture of filial boldness andtrembling modesty, "I beseech you, show me your glory!" That is to say, "Now I am in converse with you, I perceive you are the most glorious of all beings; but it is but little of your glory I as yet know. Oh! is it possible for a guilty mortal to receive clearer discoveries of it? If so, I beseech you to favor me with a more full and bright view."
This petition is also granted, and the Lord promises him, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you." That you may the better understand this strange history, I would have you observe a few things:
1st. In the earliest ages of the world, it was a very common thing for God to assume some visible form, and in it to converse freely with his servants. Of this you frequently read in the history of the patriarchs, particularly of Adam, Abraham, Jacob, etc. It is also a tradition almost universally received in all ages, and among all nations, that God has sometimes appeared in a sensible form to mortals. You can hardly meet with one heathen writer but that you will find in him some traces of this tradition. Upon this, in particular, are founded the many extravagant stories of the poets concerning the appearances of their gods. Had there been no original truth in some appearances of the true God to men, there would have been no colour for such fables; for they would have evidently appeared groundless and unnatural to every reader. This tradition therefore was no doubt originally derived from the appearances of the Deity, in a corporeal form, in early ages.
Sometimes God assumed a human shape, and appeared as a man. Thus he appeared to Abraham, in company with two angels, Genesis 18, and that good patriarch entertained them with food as travellers; yet one of them is repeatedly styled the LORD, or Jehovah, the incommunicable name of God; see verses 13, 20, 22, 26, etc., and speaks in a language proper to him only, verses 14, 21, etc.
Sometimes he appeared as a visible brightness, or a body of light, or in some other sensible form of majesty and glory. Thus he was seen by Moses in the bush as a burning fire; thus he attended the Israelites through the wilderness, in the symbol of fire by night, and a cloud by day; and thus he often appeared in the tabernacle, and at the dedication of Solomon's temple, in some sensible form of glorious brightness, which the Jews called the Shechinah; and looked upon as a certain symbol of the divine presence.
2ndly. You are to observe that God, who is a spirit, cannot be perceived by the senses; nor were these sensible forms intended to represent the divine essence, which is wholly immaterial. You can no more see God—than you can see your own soul; and a bodily form can no more represent his nature—than shape or colour can represent a thought, or the affection of love. Yet,
3dly. It must be allowed that majestic and glorious emblems, or representations of God exhibited to the senses, may help to raise our ideas of him. When the senses and the imagination assist the power of pure understanding, its ideas are more lively and impressive: and though no sensible representations can bear any strict resemblance to the divine nature—yet they may strike our minds deeply, and fill them with images of grandeur and majesty.
When I see a magnificent palace—it naturally tends to give me a great idea of the owner or builder. The retinue and pomp of kings, their glittering crowns, scepters, and other regalia—tend to inspire us with ideas of majesty. In like manner those sensible representations of Deity, especially when attended with some rational descriptions of the divine nature—may help us to form higher conceptions of the glory of God; and the lack of such representations may occasion less reverence and awe.
For instance, had the description of the Deity, "The LORD God, merciful and gracious, etc.," been only suggested to the mind of Moses as an object of calm contemplation, it would not have struck him with such profound reverence, nor given him such clear or impressive ideas as when it was proclaimed with a loud majestic voice, and attended with a visible glory too bright for mortal eyes! Human nature is of such a make, that it cannot but be affected with things of this nature. Consider the matter well in the light in which I have set it, and you may see something of the propriety and good tendency of these appearances, and at the same time guard yourselves against mistakes.
Let me now give you what I apprehend the true history of this remarkable and illustrious appearance of God to Moses. Moses had enjoyed frequent interviews with God, and seen many symbols of his presence and representations of his glory; but he still finds his knowledge of him very defective, and apprehends that God might give him some representation of his glory more striking and illustrious than any he had seen. Therefore, finding that now he was in great favor with him, he humbly moves this petition, "I beseech you show me your glory!" That is, give me some more full and majestic representations of your glory than I have hitherto seen."
The Lord answers him, "I will cause all my goodness," that is a glorious, visible representation of my goodness, which is, "my glory, to pass before you," which may strike your senses, and make them the medium of conveying to your mind more illustrious and majestic ideas of my glory. And as no sensible forms can fully represent the spiritual essence and perfections of my nature, while I cause a visible representation of my glory to pass before you, I will at the same time proclaim the name of the LORD, and describe some of the principal perfections that constitute my glory and goodness. But so bright will be the lustre of that form which I shall assume, that you are not able to see my face, or the most splendid part of the representation; the glory is too bright to be beheld by any mortal, verse 20.
But there is a place in a rock where you may wait, and I will cast darkness over it until the brightest part of the form of glory in which I shall appear has passed by, and then I will open a medium of light, and you shall see my back parts; that is those parts of the representation which are less illustrious, and which pass by last: the glory of these you shall be enable to bear—but myface shall not be seen." verse 2-23.
Thus God condescended to promise; and when matters were duly prepared, he performs his engagement. The Lord assumed a visible form of glory, and passed by before him and proclaimed his name, which includes his perfections. Things are known by their names, and God is known by his attributes, therefore his name includes his attributes. The proclamation ran in this august style, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." Moses was struck with reverence and admiration, and bowed and worshipped!
My present design is to explain the several names and perfections here ascribed to God, and show that they all concur to constitute his goodness. For you must observe this is the connection. Moses prays for a view of God's glory. God promises him a view of his goodness, which intimates that his goodness is his glory; and when he describes his goodness, what is the description? It is "the LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping' mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin."
That these attributes belong to his goodness, we easily and naturally conceive. But what shall we think of his punitive justice, that solemn and tremendous attribute, the object of terror and aversion to sinners? Is that a part of his goodness too? Yes, when God causes his goodness to pass before Moses, he proclaims as one part of it, that "he will by no means clear the guilty; and that he visits the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation." This solemn attribute is an important part of his goodness, and without it he could not be good, amiable, or glorious.
I am now about to enter upon a subject—the most sublime, magnificent, and important, that can come within the compass of human or angelic minds—the name and perfections of the infinite and ever-glorious God! I attempt it with trembling and reverence, and I foresee I shall finish it with shame and confusion: for who by searching can find out God? who can find out the Almighty unto perfection? Job 11:7. The question of Agur, mortifies the pride of human knowledge. "What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know!" Proverbs 30:4. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it." Psalm 139:6. "It is as high as heaven; what can you do? deeper than hell; what can you know? the measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." Job 11:8, 9.
Lend me your skill, you angels, who have seen his face without intermission from the first moment of your happy existence; or you saints above, who "see him as he is," inspire me with your exalted ideas, and teach me your celestial language, while I attempt to bring heaven down to earth, and reveal its glories to the eyes of mortals! In vain I ask; their knowledge is incommunicable to the inhabitants of flesh, and none but immortals can learn the language of immortality. But why do I ask of them?
Oh Father of angels and of men, who "can perfect your praise even out of the mouths of babes and sucklings," and who can open all the avenues of knowledge, and pour your glory upon created minds—shine into my heart to me give the light of the knowledge of your glory; I beseech you, show me your glory! Cause it to shine upon my understanding, while I try to display it to your people, that they may behold, adore, and love!
As to you my brethren, I solicit your most solemn and reverential attention, while I would lead you into the knowledge of the Lord your maker. One would think a kind of filial curiosity would inspire you with eager desires to be acquainted with your divine Parent and Creator. You would not be willing to worship, you know not what; or with the Athenians, adore an unknown God. Do you not long to know the greatest and best of beings, the glimmerings of whose glory shine upon you from heaven and earth? Would you not know him in whose presence you hope to dwell and be happy forever and forever? Come then, be all awe and attention, while I proclaim to you his name and perfections, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin."
We may be sure God has assumed to himself such names as are best adapted to describe his nature, as far as mortal language can reach. And everything belonging to him is so dear and important, that his very name deserves a particular consideration.
The first name in the order of the text, and in its own dignity, is, the LORD, or JEHOVAH; a name here twice repeated, to show its importance, "the LORD the LORD," or "Jehovah, Jehovah". This is a name peculiar to God, and incommunicable to the most exalted creature. Magistrates in particular are called 'lords', because their authority is some shadow of the divine authority. But the name Jehovah, which is rendered LORD in my text, and in all those places in the Bible, where it is written in capitals, I say, this name Jehovah is appropriated to the Supreme Being, and never applied to any other. He claims it to himself, as his peculiar glory. Thus in Psalm 83:18, "You, whose name alone is Jehovah, are the Most High over all the earth."
And in Isaiah 42:8, "I am the LORD, or (as it is in the original) Jehovah; that is my name, my proper incommunicable name, and my glory will I not give to another; that is, I will not allow another to share with me in the glory of wearing this name."
Thus also in Amos 4:13. "He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth—the LORD God Almighty is his name!" That is—his distinguishing, appropriated name. There must therefore be something peculiarly sacred and significant in this name, since it is thus in communicably appropriated to the only one God. The Jews had such a prodigious veneration for this name as amounted to a superstitious excess. They call it "that name," by way of distinction, "The great name, the glorious name, the appropriated name, the unutterable name, the expounded name," because they never pronounced it, except in one instance, which I shall mention presently—but always expounded it by some other. Thus when the name Jehovah occurred in the Old Testament, they always read it Adonai or Elohim, the usual and less sacred names, which we translate Lord God. It was never pronounced by the Jews in reading, prayer, or the most solemn act of worship, much less in common conversation, except once a year, on the great day of atonement, and then only by the high priest in the sanctuary, in pronouncing the benediction. But at all other times, places, and occasions, and to all other people—the pronunciation of this sacred name was deemed unlawful.
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