Exodus 34:6-7 is what the majority of biblical authors are referring to when they mention "the Name of YHWH". Stated more simply, Exodus 34:6-7 is the Name of YHWH.
"The Name" as it is given in Exodus 34:6-7 is a formulaic codification, similar to a creed, of the attributes of YHWH that a believer should invoke continually in their spiritual journey. Biblical authors continue to meditate upon, allude to, reference, and repurpose "the Name" throughout their writings. It is the cornerstone of Old Testament theology and it is integral to the New Testament's depiction of the coming of the Messiah, who is regarded as "the Name" made flesh. "The Name" is what Paul has in mind when he refers to God's "righteousness", with righteousness being a term that could be defined as God's fidelity to his Name as revealed in Exodus 34:6-7.
God's Name, formulaically stated, consists of the following attributes:
- Compassion
- Favor
- Grace [lovingkindness / steadfast love]
- Truth [faith / faithfulness]
- Forgiveness
- of Iniquity
- of Sin
- of Transgression
- Punishment of the guilty
Note that the bolded words above (Grace, Truth) should be given greater weight and can be considered as shorthand for "the Name" as a whole. Whenever any of the elements in the list above are invoked, the author intends the reader to simultaneously think of "the Name," and this is especially true of Grace and Truth (lovingkindness and faithfulness, steadfast love and faith, or however your favorite version translates these words).
In the posts that follow, I'll attempt to make this premise clear by induction, citing the ways that biblical authors continually "call upon the Name" in accordance with the way it has been defined above. In doing so, it will quickly become clear that perhaps the primary theological message of the Bible has been obscured by translation and, as of the second century, fell into disuse as a result of a shift in focus from a Hebraic tradition to a Greco-Roman appropriation of philosophical categories. The Dead Sea Scrolls in particular provide ample evidence that inter-testamental and first century Judaism was saturated with this understanding of "the Name" as the quintessential revelation of God. As a result of early anti-heretical foci and christological controversies that tended to draw upon hellenistic philosophical concepts rather than biblical theological ones, the church gradually lost "the Name" and the interpretive framework that it provided. As the reader begins to absorb the evidence for this understanding of "the Name", the fact that so many generations have come and gone without this understanding of the Bible will become increasingly shocking.
Imagine if the authors of the Bible had left a key for succeeding generations to unlock the riches of the theological tradition they had deposited in the pages of scripture? Would we not all be interested in discovering and making use of this key? This work intends to show the reader that such a key is indeed available and is easily discernible. This is not a "Bible Code" or some newfangled, esoteric hoax intended to generate interest or book sales. It is simply reading the Bible as the biblical authors intended it to be read, following the trail of breadcrumbs that they intentionally left behind.
See for yourself if "the Name" doesn't unlock layers of meaning in the Bible--fundamental meaning--that have been hidden from view your entire life. Once you see "the Name" for what it is, you will find it impossible to unsee it, and you will begin to see it almost everywhere, in almost every book, sometimes of every page, of the Bible.
________________________________
Notes:
1. God's Self-Revelation in Exodus 34:6-8; J. Carl Laney, BIBLIOTHECA SACRA 158 (January-March 2001): 36-51. Link: http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/otesources/02-exodus/text/articles/laney-ex34-bsac.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment