By My Name Yahweh I Was Not Known
Episodes 1-3 of 7
Has Anyone Ever Seen the Father?
The Bible's Own Answer - Episode 1
But, Who Is the Father? What is his name?
By definition, He is the Father of Jesus. Jesus Himself declared this many times. John 20:17 records Jesus telling Mary Magdalene, "I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God," distinguishing his unique relationship with the Father.
In Hebrews 1:1-2, we read, "God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son".
Here we see Father God has previously spoke throught prophets of the old testament. But, what is His name? Just a few verses later, in Hebrews 1:5, we see the Father saying to Jesus,
"You are my Son. Today have I become your father?"
It turns out that the author of Hebrews was quoting Psalm 2:7, which says,
"Yahweh said to me, You are my son. Today I have become your father."
So, what is the Father's name on the old testament? It is Yahweh. So, back to our original question, with more context:
Has Anyone Ever Seen Father Yahweh?
Yahweh said to Moses, "You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live." - Exodus 33:20 . But why? Perhaps it is because, "all have sinned" and "your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you" - Romans 3:23; Issiah 59:2
In 1 Timothy 1:17, Paul referenced Father Yahweh as "the King eternal, immortal, invisible"
Invisible? Does that mean that Father Yahweh has no body or just that Humans are not able to see Him?
Jesus will answer a little later. but first, John said, "No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him." - John 1:18 . But how did Jesus declare Him if no one has seen Him? Jesus has the answer: "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father." -- Jesus has seen the Father, so Father has a body to see. But no human other than Jesus has seen Him or can see Him.
I have quoted the words "God" and "Father" as if they are interchangeable. But are they?Paul answers that directly. In 1 Corinthians 8:6 he writes:
"...there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things..."
One God. The Father. Paul does not leave room for ambiguity — in the new testament, the title God belongs specifically to the Father.
Of Father Yahweh, Paul said He is "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see..." - 1 Timothy 6:15-16 .
Wait. Jesus is a man and He has seen His Father. How is that? Because Jesus is not just a man. He is also the only-born Son of God. - John 3:16 .
Conclusion
Israel at Sinai heard a voice from fire. Abraham sat with visitors from Heaven at his tent. Jacob wrestled with God until dawn. Moses spoke with someone "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." — Exodus 33:11
If the Father Yahweh has never been seen — if He cannot be seen and a person remain living — then who were they encountering?
Scripture has an answer, and it runs deeper than most readers expect.
What we can say with confidence here is this: Father Yahweh — dwelling in unapproachable light — has never stood before human eyes, other than His Son. Every visible encounter with God in the ancient record — Abraham's visitors, the voice from Sinai, the man who wrestled with Jacob — came through someone else.
Deuteronomy 4:12 reminds Israel of Sinai: "Ye heard the voice...but saw no similitude — only ye heard a voice." No form. No face. A voice only.
Father Yahweh remains, across all of scripture, the one no living person has ever seen.
Which raises the question that the next study is built to answer: if it was never the Father — then whose face, whose voice, whose hand was it?
Watch for, "The Angel Who Carried the Name" in the next couple days on Facebook.
The Angel Who Carried the Name
The Messenger of Exodus 23 - Episode 2
The Hebrew word translated "angel" in the following text is mălʼâk - meaning: "a messenger; specifically, of God, i.e. an angel (also a prophet, priest or teacher) - according to Strong's Hebrew Dictionary.
Israel has just been redeemed from Egypt. The law has been given at Sinai. And now Yahweh makes a promise about the journey ahead:
"Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Take heed of him, and hearken unto his voice; be not rebellious against him; for he will not pardon your transgression: for my name is in him." — Exodus 23:20-21
Read that final clause again. My name is in him.
This is not the language Yahweh uses for ordinary messengers. Angels throughout Scripture carry messages. They deliver words, execute judgments, and move on. They are never described as vessels of the divine name itself. That language appears here — and it changes everything about who this figure is.
What "My Name Is In Him" Actually Means
In the ancient world, a name was not merely a label. It was identity, authority, and legal standing compressed into a single word. To carry someone's name was to act with their full authority — not as a proxy, but as an authorized extension of the person themselves.
When Yahweh says His name is in this angel, He is not describing a title or a commission. He is describing a transfer of identity. This messenger does not merely speak for Yahweh — he bears Yahweh's own name as an intrinsic possession.
That is why the warning is so stark: "be not rebellious against him." Rebellion against this angel is rebellion against Yahweh Himself — not because the angel is a powerful servant, but because the name — and therefore the person — of Yahweh is present in him.
He Is No Ordinary Angel
The text drives this distinction further with a detail that is easy to miss: this angel has the authority to pardon or withhold pardon for transgression.
"He will not pardon your transgression." — Exodus 23:21
Forgiveness of sin is not a delegated administrative function. Throughout the Hebrew scriptures, the power to pardon belongs exclusively to Yahweh:
"Who can forgive sins but God alone?" — Mark 2:7, echoing the consistent Old Testament assumption
The fact that this angel has that authority — and can withhold it — is not incidental. It is a quiet but devastating indicator that this figure operates at the level of divine identity, not angelic office.
Just 3 verses later, look what Jesus said about Himself:
"the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive" — Mark 2:10
Who else could Yahweh's
The Son being monogenes (only-born- Jn3:16 ) and prototokos (firstborn- Col1:15 ) is critical. Being "born" is a biological process designed by the Creator — it is not a creative act like making a chair. Therefore:
- The Son shares the Father's nature (just as a human child shares their parent's nature). "His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance", " the image of the invisible God" - Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:15
- He existed before creation, being "the firstborn into the world" the agent of creation ( Hebrews 1:2,6; Colossians 1:16 )
- He is not a creature; He is Father Yahweh's own Son in the fullest, literal sense.
- The "firstborn of all creation" title in Colossians 1:15 denotes rank and inheritance priority over creation — not membership in the creation
The Same Figure Throughout Israel's History
This messenger does not appear only in Exodus 23. He is the consistent, recurring presence through whom Yahweh engages His people across the entire Hebrew narrative, You can see 50 verses where the angel of Yahweh appeared => http://sidnash.org/b/vDL
In every case, the pattern holds: the figure is called an angel, yet speaks as Yahweh, accepts worship as Yahweh, and exercises divine authority as Yahweh. The name is not borrowed for the occasion. It is his — because Father gave it to His Son - Jesus, our Messiah.
Who Was El Shaddai?
The One Who Appeared - Episode 3
John 6:46
"Not that anyone has seen the Father — except the one who is from the Father(His Son). He has seen the Father."
No one has seen the Father. Jesus says so plainly.
John 8:56-58
"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad... Before Abraham was, I am."
Abraham saw Jesus' day. Jesus was there, personally, before Abraham existed.
Genesis 17:1
"When Abram was ninety-nine years old, El Shaddai appeared (râʼâh) to him and said, 'I am El Shaddai...'"
Since the Father has never been seen, this one who appeared bodily to Abraham was not the Father. Abraham was glad to see El Shaddai, just as Jesus said that Abraham was glad to see Jesus' day.
Exodus 6:2-3
"I am Yahweh and I appeared (râʼâh) to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai, but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them."
The patriarchs knew this speaker as El Shaddai — not yet by the name Yahweh.
The Hebrew verb translated "appeared" is râʼâh in the Niphal stem — the passive or reflexive form. It does not mean someone caught a glimpse from a distance. It means the subject made himself visible. He presented himself. He showed up in a way that could be seen, spoken to, and physically encountered. That's why the speaker cannot by Father Yahweh.
Genesis 48:15-16
"...the Elohim before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the Elohim who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil..."
Jacob uses one grammatical construction. Elohim and the Angel are the same referent. The word "Angel" was translated from the Hebrew word - mălʼâk , meaning "a messenger; specifically, of God, i.e. an angel (also a prophet, priest or teacher)" according to Strong's Hebrew Dictionary.
Genesis 32:24, 26, 28
"A man (ish) wrestled with him until daybreak... 'Let me go, for the day is breaking'... 'Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with Elohim and with men, and have prevailed.'"
A physical encounter. The wrestler has a body, has a name, and is identified as Elohim.
Hosea 12:3-4
"In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with Elohim. He strove with the Angel (malʼak) and prevailed..."
Hosea looks back at Genesis 32. The one Jacob called Elohim was the malʼak — the sent one, the agent. This could not have been Father Yahweh. So, what other Elohim could he have been?
The Father has never been seen. El Shaddai was seen — repeatedly, bodily. Jacob called him Elohim; Hosea called him malʼak. Jesus said Abraham saw his day.
The texts point to one conclusion - El Shaddai must be the Son of Yahweh - our Messiah - Jesus.