.“the Lord, the Lord”

a  Puzzle

Today, Thursday the 17^th of July, the first reading at Mass tells us how God revealed his name to Moses at the burning bush. His name is “I AM”. This is one of the only times in our readings at Mass, where we actually use that name, “I AM”. For the rest of the readings we use the term, “THE Lord”. Take for example the first reading on Trinity Sunday in Year 1 of the Sunday Cycle of Readings.

Moses climbs up the mountain of Sinai into the fearsome presence of God to seal the covenant between the people of Israel and God. It is the second time he does this. The first time ended in disaster, because the people had solemnly agreed to the covenant and then broke it because they were very fickle. The ringleaders have now been killed and the people have asked to start again. Moses must be wondering if God will agree. He has glimpsed the glory and majesty of God and he appreciates how offensive the people’s sin is. What will God do?

The Reading says: ‘He (Moses) called on the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.’ And Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshipped.’

What is this ‘Lord, Lord’? It doesn’t make sense easily. But if you look at the original Hebrew text, it doesn’t say ‘Lord, Lord’, it says ‘Yahweh, Yahweh (the Hebrew for “I AM”), a God merciful and gracious’ etc. God speaks his name. It is the name he revealed to Moses years before at the burning bush. Yet we substitute the title, “THE Lord”. That is tough to get your mind round.

You could start to explain it by saying that God is saying ‘I am all there is. I am the root and creator of all that exists. No being compares to my being’, and you could go on explaining it for ages.

But we are not supposed to get our minds round it. Our minds only grasp the surface of things. It is in our spirits that true knowing arises. It is a matter of worship. At the burning bush and on this occasion, Moses bows down in worship. He contemplates, just lets his soul and spirit sink into the awareness of this Supreme Being in whom all beings exist.

God says two times his holy name and then reveals his tenderness, compassion, slowness to get angry, rich kindness and utter faithfulness. He gives Moses a moment of awe as he contemplates the deepth of God’s unfathomable love. Moses will never forget this and will return to the truth of this again and again as he falls in love increasingly with his God of immense burning love.

He knows they are forgiven and the covenant is still on offer. Their God is faithful even when they are not.

Why change the Name?

Why does our Bible use the word ‘Lord’ instead of ‘Yahweh’? It is out of respect for our Jewish brothers and sister. The Jews never speak the name ‘Yahweh’; they see it as too sacred. When they come across it they should worship wordlessly and so stand for a moment in the deep presence. So should we.

We are recommended by Church leaders to use ‘Lord’ instead of ‘Yahweh’ out of respect for the Jews, but I think that is wrong; we should offer our Jewish brethren the chance to tolerate our unique understanding taught to us by Jesus that this immensely majestic God is close to us and our loving Father.

They are motivated by the third of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain”. We are motivated by the New Commandment, “love one another as I have loved you”. We are in the new covenant.