Podcast Summary: Yahweh: The Sacred Name of God

Podcast: Renewing Your Mind (Ligonier Ministries)
Episode Date: December 16, 2025
Speaker: Dr. R.C. Sproul
Host: Nathan W. Bingham

Overview

This episode explores the profound significance of Yahweh, the sacred and personal name God reveals to Moses in the Old Testament. Dr. R.C. Sproul unpacks the drama and meaning behind God’s self-disclosure as “I am who I am,” drawing from Exodus 3 and connecting it to deep truths about the unchanging nature of God, and highlighting its implications for the believer’s relationship with the divine.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Background of the Name Yahweh

• Moses’ Story in Context (01:27–08:30)
  • Recap of Moses' early life: from Pharaoh’s court to exile in Midian.
  • The dramatic episode of the burning bush: God calls Moses, asking him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
  • Moses’ feeling of inadequacy parallels stories of historical figures who found their purpose later in life (e.g., Winston Churchill, Douglas MacArthur).

2. Moses’ Two Questions to God

• First Question: "Who am I?" (10:50)

  • Moses asks why he, of all people, has been chosen for this monumental task.
  • God's response:

    “I am with you. That’s all you need to know, Moses, about who you are with respect to this task.” (12:18, Dr. Sproul paraphrasing)

  • The emphasis is on God’s presence, not Moses’ abilities.

• Second Question: "What is your name?" (13:30)

  • Moses anticipates skepticism and asks for God’s name to authenticate his mission.
  • God responds with “Yahweh”—“I am who I am.”
  • Insight: This is more than a title; it’s a declaration of God's self-existence and eternal nature.

3. The Meaning and Significance of ‘Yahweh’

• The Tetragrammaton and Translations (15:10)

  • Explanation: In Hebrew, God's name is spelled with four consonants (YHWH), known as the Tetragrammaton.
  • English Bibles sometimes render this as “Jehovah,” but Sproul clarifies:

    “There is no Hebrew word Jehovah. The word Jehovah comes from the root consonants for the name Yahweh, with the vowels from the title Adonai added…to guard against a misuse of the sacred name.” (17:18)

• What Does ‘I am who I am’ Mean? (18:00–20:00)

  • Multiple translations: “I am who I am,” “I will be what I will be,” or “I will do what I will do.”
  • Most scholars and traditions affirm the core meaning: God is self-existent, sovereign, and unconstrained by time or human definitions.
  • Quote:

    “God is not one who says, I was, I am, I shall be, but always and ever he remains, I am.” (20:50, Dr. Sproul)

• Contrast with Human Experience (21:30)

  • Human lives are marked by change, past and future—summed up in dates on a tombstone.
  • God alone is unchanging:

    “Yesterday God would say I am. Today he says, I am. Tomorrow, he still will be I am. He’s always and ever the same. There’s no shadow of turning in his character.” (21:43, Dr. Sproul)

  • Highlights God’s eternal, unchangeable, self-sufficient nature.

4. Yahweh and the New Testament: Jesus’ Use of ‘I am’

• Jesus’ Self-Identification (22:00)
  • Jesus evokes God’s divine name in the Gospel of John (“ego eimi”—Greek for “I am”).
  • Examples include “I am the good shepherd,” “I am the vine,” and most profoundly, “Before Abraham was, I am.”

    “Not before Abraham was I was, but before Abraham was, I am. See, Jesus is using this same concept by which God reveals his eternal character, his eternal deity to Moses in the Midianite wilderness.” (22:31, Dr. Sproul)

  • This provoked animosity from religious leaders, as it was a claim to divinity.

5. The Practical Application: Our Identity and God’s Unchangeability

• Coram Deo: Living Before God (24:09–25:47)
  • Reflecting on the question, “Who are you?”
  • Human identity is fluid and marked by continuity and discontinuity; people change, but God remains fixed.
  • Quote:

    “Only God remains the same. Only God can call Himself, ‘I am.’” (25:44, Dr. Sproul)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the significance of Yahweh:

  “The sacred name is made up of four consonants...called the tetragrammaton...the four letters that stand for and signify and communicate the sacred name of God.” (15:10, Dr. Sproul)

• On God’s changelessness:

  “He doesn’t grow up. There’s no evolution, there’s no devolution in his character. He remains always the same.” (21:50, Dr. Sproul)

• On Jesus and the divine name:

  “One of the things that Jesus did in the New Testament that provoked so much animosity…was the way he used the phrase I am in John's Gospels…” (22:00, Dr. Sproul)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:27 – 08:30: Moses’ story and the significance of his calling
• 10:50 – 14:15: Moses’ two big questions to God
• 15:10 – 18:30: Explanation of Yahweh, the Tetragrammaton, and translation notes
• 18:00 – 21:50: Theological and existential meaning of “I am who I am”
• 22:00 – 23:30: Jesus in the New Testament and the “I am” statements
• 24:09 – 25:47: Practical reflection—God’s changelessness versus human change

Conclusion

Dr. Sproul’s message invites listeners to stand in awe of the personal, self-existent, and unchanging God who reveals Himself as Yahweh. The episode emphasizes how this truth undergirds the believer's confidence in God’s sovereignty and faithfulness, and sets the stage for further exploration of God’s names in the following sessions.