The Sean McDowell Show - How God’s NAME Shapes You (Exodus 3:11-15)

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

I recently gave a sermon at a local church about Moses and lessons we can take away from that story when he first meets God. READ: 12 Crucial Truths of the Christian Faith (https://amzn.to/4h6MapZ)*Get a MASTERS IN APOLOGETICS or SCIENCE AND RELIGION at BIOLA (https://bit.ly/3LdNqKf)*USE Discount Code [SMDCERTDISC] for 25% off the BIOLA APOLOGETICS CERTIFICATE program (https://bit.ly/3AzfPFM)*See our fully online UNDERGRAD DEGREE in Bible, Theology, and Apologetics: (https://bit.ly/448STKK)FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter: https://x.com/Sean_McDowellTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sean_mcdowell?lang=enInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmcdowell/Website: https://seanmcdowell.org

Good morning. Question for you as we start. Who are you? If we haven't met and you came up and said hi after the service and I said, who are you? How would you respond? Chances are you would say, my name is and extend your hand only if you didn't get the memo from COVID that we don't shake hands, but you would actually reveal yourself by your name, wouldn't you? What is it about a name that reveals to others who we are? Preparing this message, I was sitting down with my wife and some friends of ours, and I said, hey, I'm curious. Tell me your full name and the story behind it, what it reveals about you. Two hours later, we were still talking.

If we had a chance to go around the room, I'm guessing every single one of you has some story about where you got your name and what it reveals about you. So I'm actually curious, how many of you are named after a family member? Show hands, middle or last name, family member. Okay. How about named from someone famous, like maybe someone in history, show hands. How about a Bible character, show hands? How about a pet, show hands?

I'm just kidding. I was actually doing some research and there's some unspoken no-nos about where you're not supposed to get names from. For example, you're not supposed to name your kids after an ex boyfriend or girlfriend. I'm going to go out on a limb here and just say that none of you have a kid named Adolf or Judas. Do you know in Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, and New Zealand, it's illegal to name your kid Adolf. Apparently, based on the article I read, so I qualify that with apparently, it's illegal to name your kid Bonghead or IMAQ in Australia, Cyanide in the UK, Enrique

in Iceland, Linda in Saudi Arabia, or Monkey in Denmark. Now why? Because names mean something, don't they? I was on a flight some time ago and I started this conversation with a guy sitting next to me. So I introduced myself, reached out my hand and I said, Hey, I'm Sean McDowell. With no hesitation, he looked at me and said, No, you're not. Now how would you respond if you introduce yourself to somebody?

And they said, you're not who you think you are. Now with a Scottish accent, he responded. He said, actually, you're Sean McDool. I was like, oh, okay, I get it. And then he proceeded to explain to me how Mick and Mack are different tribes and what they mean in Scotland. I was like, okay, that's a part of my story. Now you probably don't know my middle name. My middle name is Jocelyn. I know you're thinking, that's a girl's name. Trust me, I know. It actually never occurred to me that it was a girl's name until about three years ago,

someone asked me my full name and I said, well, it's Sean Jocelyn McDowell. And as I heard myself saying, I thought, huh, how would this land for somebody hearing me describe my middle name as Jocelyn? It never occurred to me that it's a girl's name, which is probably good, or I might've ended up like the boy named Sue, which is a story about the power of a name. Now, actually it's spelled J-O-S-L-I-N, which is my dad's first real name, Jocelyn McDowell, but he goes by Josh, but that's a part of my story, my identity. Now our stories tell us something, where we're from, who we are, someone important to our family, but in the ancient world, names meant even more. Names got to the heart of who we were. In a sense, they

captured our essence. So if that's the case, then who has the right to name someone else? I mean, how would you feel if you brought your kids back afterwards and said, Hey, Pastor Sean, I just want my kids to meet you. And I said, you know what? I'm going to rename your kids. You would rightly think this guy has lost his mind and didn't get the memo that we're the parents. We get to name our kids. It's actually someone inappropriate authority that gets to name somebody else. My wife's favorite movie, which I love as well, comes from the book, The Count of Monte Cristo. If you haven't seen that movie, it's incredible.

But there's a scene where Edmond Dantas escapes from jail. And by the way, yes, I told you what happens in the movie. You've had a long time to read the book and see the movie, like decades. Well, he escapes from this terrible prison, washes up on shore, realizes he's free. So he's running around like celebrating his freedom. And there's a group of smugglers watching him. And they bring him and they say, tell you what, you got to have a knife fight if we're going to let you live.

Well, he ends up winning the knife fight, sparing the other fellow, impressing the head of the smugglers named Luigi Vampa. And he goes, you know what? I'm going to let you be a part of our crew and I'm going to name you Za-Tara. And Edmond Dantas is like, that's a great name. It sounds fierce. And he goes, it actually means driftwood. Now why did he get to rename him? Because he was the authority and he's being brought in as a subject, so to speak.

It's only someone with authority who gets to name somebody else. So who can name and rename God? The answer, of course, is who? No one. We don't get to name God. What we get to do if we're humble enough is recognize the name of God and call God according to who he reveals himself to be. Now in this passage, we're going to look at Exodus 3, 11 through 15 is the key passage, in some ways the only passage,

where God gives his name and explains it. But before we do so, why is it important that you and I understand the name of God? Why does that even matter? In his Institutes, John Calvin starts by saying this. He says, we can never know who we are until we first know who he is. In other words, God is primary and we are secondary. Our identities are derivative from God. And let's face it. we live in an age of identity crisis, don't we? It's a crisis in the church and outside of the church. A book I read in college that had a profound impact on me was from a late Roman Catholic author by the name of Henry Nowen. Some of you might recognize his name, just deep, brilliant thinker,

and it was called In the Name of Jesus. And he said, we tend to find our identities in three things. What we have are possessions, what we do, accomplishments, and what other people say about us, our reputation. We could add to that, couldn't we? Our political identities. In fact, our feelings, our culture says, don't look without for your identity, look within for your identity. Our social media platforms and probably for a lot of us in this room, names other people have given us and hurts that we have experienced.

Shape who we are. The biographer of Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple said, he suspects that Steve Jobs was so driven and ruthless because he was trying to prove to the world that his parents should not have given him up for adoption. In other words, he had adopted a name of one who was abandoned. Just recently I had a debate with a quote gay Christian who says the Bible's fine with same sex relationships and Jesus and Paul were fine with it. And I disagree firmly.

When I was reading his book, he said in second grade, in second grade, people started saying you're gay, you're a sissy and gave him names that profoundly and understandably hurt him. All of us have our identity in something and every single one of us in this room in some ways are trying to work out what that means. The only way we get clarity on who we are is when we first understand who God is and what his name is. And that's what God does in Exodus three. Now the quick context is, you know the story, the Israelites end up in Egypt saved by the family of Joseph. After 400 years, the Pharaoh forgets the name of Joseph. The Hebrew people have grown and they're enslaved.

So they're crying out to God. God hears their cries and he appears in a burning bush to Moses and tells Moses, I am calling you to go free the people. That's the backdrop as we turn to Exodus chapter three verse 11. But Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? Verse 11. Now this is a response of humility. He doesn't say, I got this God, let's go. I'm your man. I'm going to be famous. No, he's like, who am I? It's a response of humility. In fact, in the American Revolution, there was a phrase that was used when they were looking for a president. since the American Revolution.

Now Moses was meek, but the downside to that is you can lack self-confidence. So while confidence can lead to arrogance, humility can lead to self-doubt. While confidence can lead to arrogance, humility can lead to self-doubt. Well, confidence can lead to arrogance. Humility can lead to self-doubt. I think every one of us in this room have one or two tendencies that we lean towards. Maybe you have a good name. Maybe that comes from your family. Maybe that comes from your work, your relationships, and you lean into that understandably, but the temptation is towards arrogance to find your confidence in your good name. On the flip side, some of you more like my dad and the family he grew up in and like

Moses is like, I'm trying to escape that name, whether it's my family or my failures and my hurts. Both of those in a sense can be a mistake. What we're all called to do is to find our identity and our name in first who God has revealed himself to be. A proper confidence is grounded in God's identity and how he reveals himself. Now to me, this raises a really interesting question. If Moses lacked self-confidence and he wasn't eloquent, why did God pick Moses? Why not pick someone who was confident and eloquent? I think there's three

reasons. Number one is Moses stands up to tyrants. So you remember the story when Moses was younger, he sees this Egyptian kind of slave owner beating a slave and he stands up, kills the Egyptian, buries him and saves the Israelite slave. Now whether you think that was right or wrong, he has an inclination to stand up against tyrants. In the movie in 2013, the Academy Award winning movie for best picture 12 years of slave, there's a harrowing scene I won't show in which a female slave is being beat by a slave owner. And you watch this and just wish there was someone like Moses to stand up against that

injustice and tyranny. But I think there's another reason God selected Moses. He was an unlikely hero. If God picks someone and he goes, oh, that makes sense. He's so eloquent. Then that person would get the credit. But if God picks someone who's humble, but has doubt and is not eloquent, and he stands up to the Pharaoh that day, who's going to get the credit? God is. That's why God didn't pick Saul, who looked like a king. He picked David, the youngest, who wasn't even included in those who his father thought might be the next king, because he had a good heart and God would get the credit. I think God picked Moses because he was an unlikely hero. In fact, I think God is more

interested in our availability than our ability. God is more interested in our availability than our ability. Why? Because then he gets the due credit. But the third reason is Moses is what we call a type of Christ. What do we mean by that? Moses in his life foreshadows the coming savior of the person Jesus. We see this with Isaac. we see it with Joseph. What do we mean by this? Well, Moses saved his people from slavery. Jesus saved the people from sin. Moses had two identities.

He was Egyptian and Hebrew. Jesus was the divine man. Just as babies were killed at the birth of Moses by Pharaoh, babies were killed at the birth of Jesus by Herod. And just as Moses delivers the law, Jesus gave commandments. So Moses is a foreshadow, but the difference is Moses fell short and couldn't go into the promised land, which should make us cry out for an ultimate deliverer who never fell short, which of course we see in the person of Jesus. So Moses is a little worried, needless to say, who am I that you're going to use me

to free the people? What's fascinating is how God responds. Verse 12, he said, but I will be with you. And this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you. When you brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God in this mountain. So here's Moses. He's afraid. How am I going to go confront Pharaoh? Maybe they remember who I am. They're going to kill me. And what does God say? God says, I will be with you. In other words, the creator of the universe, the great I am will be with Moses. Give him the words to speak. He will be present with him and so he'll succeed. But the second thing, and I never

noticed this until I read it this time, is God says, I'll give you a sign. But what's that sign? The people will be free from Egypt and the worship me on the mountains. That's in the future. Moses might be sitting there going, okay, wait a minute. I need a sign. You're with me. You're asking me to trust you in some future sign that hasn't happened yet. But had God already given Moses a sign? The answer is yes, because he appeared in what? The burning bush. So God doesn't call us to blind faith, but God calls us to trust him amidst questions, amidst doubt, even when we can't see the end. Faith is not blind, you might say. In fact, faith is not trusting God despite the evidence, it's trusting God in light of the evidence. Now we'll come back to that, but let's keep going with our passage. Verse 13, then Moses said to God, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers

has sent me and they asked me, what is his name? What shall I say? So that time there was polytheistic, there were so many different gods and Moses is like, I'm going to show up to all these people. They're going to ask me, who is this God? Tell me your name. Now again, when I read this, I don't know how many times I've read this passage. It never stood out to me before.

What was Moses's first question? His first question was, who am I? What's the second question? Who are you? Moses has it backwards. He wants to know who he is first and then who God is. The key is to flip it around and say, who is God? And then in light of God, who am I? Now in verse 14 and 15 is the central place in the Bible where God reveals his name. He reveals his identity to Moses at Mount Sinai about 3,400 years ago. God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, say this to the people of Israel, I am, has sent me

to you. God also said, this is important to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, the Lord, the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever And thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations God doesn't reveal himself as I am who I am anywhere else But derivative of that is I am which is to be which is the root of yaw. We We sometimes translate as Jehovah God God's central, most personal name, you might say.

So here's Moses saying, tell me your name. God says, I am who I am. If we stop right here, God is revealing himself and telling us important things about his character. And number one is this, God exists. God is real. God's not a myth. God is not a human invention. God is not like the idols that have no power or source behind them. They're fake. God is real. Now I could give you evidence that God is

real from science and philosophy and history and near-death experiences and miracles, evidence for the resurrection. But in some ways we know God is real by just looking at the name of God. I am who I am. God is real. But second, God had no beginning. Everything we experience, a marriage, this service, a game, a life has a beginning. God had no beginning.

Now, the moment you say this, someone's gonna say, okay, wait a minute Then who created God? What caused God? I'm gonna show you a quick video. I was at a church in Singapore last summer This church is incredible. There's over 2,000 students 2,000 people in the church and I think 80% are 25 and under And I was on stage for a Q&A, and this girl asked me the question, who made God? This is my quick response, maybe this'll help. If God created the universe, who exactly created God?

This question is what you call a categorical fallacy. What do I mean by this? It's like saying, what does the color blue taste like? It makes sense to say who made your hat and who made your jersey and who made the microphone because these are the kinds of things that can be made. God, by definition, cannot be made. If God could be made, then we'd say, wait a minute, then who made that God? And then who made that God? And who made that God? And then who made that God? And who made that God? You'd have an endless cycle until you get to some being that itself is uncreated and self-existent

and not made. That's exactly what we mean by God. So if I say what caused God? You're literally saying what caused the uncaused created universe? You might as well ask what the color purple tastes like. God exists and God had no beginning. God had no creator. He is the source of everything else that exists. Now number three, God is constant. God doesn't change. Now you and I can improve our cooking skills. We can improve

our health. We can improve our ability to fix a car. Maybe you can improve your surfing skills, but God can't improve. Why? Because improvement implies some deficiency you once had, but God is perfect. So God can't improve. That's why in Hebrews 13, 8, Jesus, it says what? Jesus Christ is saying, yesterday, today, and forever. That means the same God who created the world, revealed himself to Abraham, revealed himself to Moses, who took in human flesh in Jesus, is the same God we worship today. For if God is the great I am, that means God is the source of truth, goodness, and beauty. God is the source of goodness, truth, and beauty. Now, why does this matter? Maybe three months ago, I had a debate with maybe for the name Michael Shermer. He's

an outspoken skeptic, PhD, New York Times bestselling author, teaches at Chapman University. I invited him. I said, Hey, would you come on my YouTube channel and debate the source of morality with me? And he said, sure. He's a fun guy. He's sharp. He's very cordial. We actually went two hours and we were talking about whether morality points towards God or evolution can explain it. And he raised something called the youth or fro dilemma. One of the most common objections skeptics raise goes back to the time of Plato. And basically the question is, do the gods command something because it's moral? Or is something moral because the gods command it?

So if the gods command something because it's moral, then there's a standard outside of God. But if something's moral because the God's commandment, then morality is arbitrary to the whims of the gods. So it's a way of saying, if you think God caused morality, you're trapped in a bind between A, there's a standard outside of God, or B, it's arbitrary. And I said, actually, you can split the horns of the dilemma.

That might apply to Muslim view of God, but it doesn't apply to the Christian view of God. There's no standard outside of God. And morality is not ultimately rude in God's will because you see God is good. His character is the source of morality. God is holy. God is righteous. And his commands reflect his character. I said, that splits the horns of the dilemma. Does that solve your problem? And it actually shocked me. He goes, yes, I think it does.

I was like, yes, we've made some progress. You see, when you look at mountain, a mountain is beautiful, but that's derivative from the God who is beautiful. God is, Jesus said, I am the truth. So God revealing himself as the great I am, he is the source of goodness and truth and beauty. And finally, what we learn from this is that the God of the Bible is not solely the God of the philosophers. There's discussions about Jerusalem and Greece.

And in ancient Greece, you go back to Aristotle and Socrates and Plato, there was belief in kind of a first mover, a mind behind the universe. But this was not a God who had revealed himself, stepped into history that we could know. You'll notice in this passage, I don't know why I didn't notice this before, God says, I am who I am to Moses. And then what else does he say? He says, also say this to Israel, the Lord, the God of your fathers, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this is my name forever. In other words, this isn't just the God of the philosophers who's distant. It's just not, I am who I am, some deistic being. This God has revealed Himself to His forefathers.

This God is revealing Himself to you. And this God will reveal Himself in the future to your posterity. The philosopher's got it half right, but this God has made Himself known. In fact, this God who revealed Himself to Moses had still not yet fully made himself known. We only see this God fully made known in the person of Jesus. So Jesus radically said, if you've seen me, you've seen who? The Father. Jesus is the incarnation of the Great I Am. Now we see this in John chapter 8, where I think it's about as clear of a claim to deity as you'll find in the scriptures. Now I'm going to read a couple of verses before to give context. So Jesus is debating with the religious

leaders and they say, are you greater than our father Abraham who died and the prophets who died? Who do you make yourself out to be? Jesus said, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my father who glorifies me of whom you say he is our God, but you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say to you that I do know him, I would be a liar like you. Now let me stop anyone who thinks Jesus told parables and carried sheep and kids around and didn't insult people at times, hasn't read this passage. He spoke truth boldly. He says, I'd be a liar like you, but I know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoice that he would see my day. Can you understand the religious leaders at this day who believe Abraham's greatest prophet and then you've got Moses and you've got Elijah and Jesus, this human being is like,

yup, Abraham rejoiced at my day. If you don't miss how radical this is. And then he says, he saw it and was glad. So the Jews, the religious leaders at that time said to him, you are not 50 years old yet. And you've seen Abraham and Jesus is about to drop a spiritual bomb on them. Now notice Abraham lived roughly 2000 years before Jesus. Jesus is like 30 some years old. And they're like, wait a minute, you're saying you existed before Abraham who existed 2000 years ago. And Jesus is like, that's exactly what I'm saying. Not that I existed when he was born, but I am the great I am. He says this, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. I enjoy the chosen, but there's no way the chosen could capture how radical that moment

would be. Jesus just said a human being who was born, a human being who slept, human being who got hungry, he just said to the religious leaders, I am who I am. And they pick up stones to kill him. They were right that this was blasphemy if Jesus wasn't the great I am. They're exactly right. If he wasn't who he claimed to be in this single encounter, Jesus just claimed to be greater than Moses. How do we know this?

Because remember, God shows up to Moses and what does Moses do? Takes off the shoes because he's standing on holy ground. He says God, God says to Moses, I am who I am. So Jesus says, I'm the one who appeared to Moses. And by the way, before Abraham was, I am. You see how radical of a claim Jesus is making? Jesus is the great I am. You want to know the name of God? Yes, it's I am.

And it's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But if we want to understand that God who might feel distant, we'll get the person and life and sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus is the name of God. It's the name above all names. That's how powerful it is. I was not planning on that, It's the name above all names. That's how powerful it is.

I was not planning on that, but sometimes when you just think about the name of God, it humbles you. I've studied this passage. I think there's three life takeaways that I took away, and I hope they encourage you. Number one, be thankful because God is the one who gives life, breath, and everything else. God is existence. That means everything else only exists because God spoke it into existence. Every single thing good you have, big or small, only happens because God has given it to you and given it to me.

If you had coffee this morning, you're like, Oh, I enjoy coffee. Thank God he gave you taste buds. If you're like, I went surfing this morning. Thank God that he created the world and the tides and waves and made water the way he made it and gave us bodies to surf. Everything good comes from God. You know what's fascinating about this? Do you know what studies show? It's actually people who are the most thankful and express thankfulness. who are the happiest?

Our culture says, look within your feelings to find your identity. And we have a mental health crisis. But it's actually those who say, you know what? I'm gonna first look outside of myself and give thanks to a God who exists, who's given me life and breath and everything. But guess what?

Tend to be the most happy. But second, when you have doubts about God or you suffer, pull out your history book. Now, what do I mean by this? My mom used to say all over again to me growing up, she'd say, son, what does your history book tell you? Now, what does she mean? She meant when we're going through doubts and questions and not sure what God is doing in our life, don't look forward. Look back to the times that God has been faithful. Now, how does that stem from this passage? Remember, God shows up to Moses in a burning bush. If that's not a clear sign of his presence, I don't know what would be. But he told them, I'm not going to really give you a sign until the future. So Moses was given evidence, but he had to look forward

and trust God he would deliver. That's the Christian life. God doesn't invite us to blind faith. We have evidence in the scriptures, evidence of changed life, evidence from the person of Jesus, evidence of miracles, evidence from science. That's our history book. So if you're doubting or questioning things right now, my encouragement to you is remember the times God's been faithful to you. In fact, maybe just remember the times God was faithful to Abraham and your ancestors and revealed himself in the person of Jesus. If you have doubts and questions, pull out your history book as Moses did. Finally, just as God was with Moses, God is with you and me through the Holy Spirit. God's answer to the doubts of Moses was, I am with you.

I'm with you. 15 years ago, some of you might remember this, I had a debate with a high school teacher from a Capua Valley high school. And it was, he was sued from a kid who recorded him under desk and the story was covered on the O'Reilly Factor. And I was invited to debate them at Saddleback College on God and morality. And it's online if you want to watch it, but this is my first debate. He was twice my age. He was a PhD. I was just starting my PhD. And so honestly, I prepped for this unlike anything I have prepped for in my life.

Somewhere between three and six months, I was up at five in the morning watching debates. I was reading every book on God and morality. I was prepped doing practice debates. I was prepping, but I was nervous because it was kind of on my home turf. And I'll never forget something again that my mom said to me. It was the most meaningful thing anybody said to me during that whole time. If I remember correctly, I think it was the day before or more, maybe the morning of, she said, son, I know you've been prepping, but I want you to know something.

You're not alone when you debate. And she opened up to this passage in Second Kings, in which there's this young boy talking to Elisha, not Elijah. And he says this, he says, look around, these armies are surrounding us. What are we going to do? All the signs were physically that we're going to lose. These armies are too great. And notice what it says, second Kings six verse 16, Elisha says, don't be afraid for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Verse 17, then Elisha prayed and said, Oh Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. And my mom said to me, she goes, you're not debating alone, the Holy Spirit is with you.

The angels are with you. Greater are those who are with you than in opposition. And I remember that almost every day of my life. If you're struggling financially, God says, I am with you. If you're barely hanging on to your marriage or relationships with your kids, God says, I am with you. If you're a follower of Jesus, the same God who created the heavens and the earth, same God who called Abraham, the same God who appeared

in a burning bush and spoke to Moses and said, I am who I am. The same God who walked in human flesh in the person of Jesus is with you in the Holy Spirit. That should give us not arrogance, in the Holy Spirit. That should give us not arrogance, not self-doubt, but proper confidence that our identity is rooted in God and any success we have at all only comes from what God may do through us. Amen. Let's pray.