- Name 15 of 70The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
- HebrewElohei Avraham, Yitschaq ve-Ya'aqov
- In plain wordsThe God who keeps His promise to a family
- Where to find itExodus 3:6, at the burning bush on Horeb
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the name God used to introduce Himself to Moses at the burning bush. It means the God who made a promise to one family and kept it from grandfather to father to son, and on to their children long after them. You can read it in Exodus 3:6, and God told Moses it would be His name for ever
(Exodus 3:15).
Moses, a desert bush and three old names
By the time of Exodus, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been dead for centuries. Jacob's family had moved to Egypt during a famine, and over many years they had grown into a large people. A new Pharaoh came to fear them and turned them into slaves. The Bible says the Egyptians made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick
(Exodus 1:14). Bondage means slavery.
Moses was born into that slavery, raised in Pharaoh's palace, and then forced to run for his life after he killed an Egyptian. He ended up in the land of Midian, married, and spent years looking after his father-in-law's sheep. One day he led the flock to Horeb, called the mountain of God, and saw something strange: a bush on fire that did not burn up (Exodus 3:2).
When Moses walked over to look, God called his name from the middle of the bush and told him to take off his shoes, because the ground was holy. Then God said who He was.
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
Exodus 3:6
Out of all the ways God could have described Himself, He chose a family history. He was telling Moses that He was not a new god. He was the same God who had spoken to Abraham, who had promised Isaac, and who had wrestled with Jacob. The promises had not expired.
The exact location of Horeb is not certain. A long Christian tradition places it in the south of the Sinai Peninsula, where Saint Catherine's Monastery stands today. Its Chapel of the Burning Bush marks the spot tradition links to the story, and a bush still grows beside it. UNESCO lists that area as a World Heritage Site because of its importance to Christians, Jews and Muslims. Scholars still debate other possible locations.
What the Hebrew says, one name at a time
In Hebrew the title reads Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzchak, ve-Elohei Yaakov.
- Elohei is a form of Elohim, the most common Hebrew word for God. In this form it means "God of."
- Avraham means "father of a multitude," the new name God gave Abram when He promised him many descendants (Genesis 17:5).
- Yitzchak, Isaac, means "he laughs." Both of his parents laughed when they heard they would have a son in old age.
- Yaakov, Jacob, is tied to the word for heel, because he was born holding his twin brother's heel.
Look closely at the King James wording in Exodus 3:6. It does not say "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" as one group, the way people often say it now. It repeats the words for each man: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. The Hebrew does the same. Each of them met God for himself. Abraham's journey was not Isaac's, and Isaac's was not Jacob's.
The idea that ties the three together is covenant. A covenant is a binding promise, like a treaty or a marriage vow. God promised Abraham land, a family too large to count, and a blessing that would reach the whole world. He repeated that promise to Isaac at Beer-sheba (Genesis 26:24) and to Jacob at Bethel (Genesis 28:13). Moses' generation had never met any of these men, but they were living inside the promise God had made to them.
Key verses about the God of the fathers
And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Exodus 2:24
This comes just before the burning bush. The people were groaning under slavery, and God had not forgotten. In the Bible, when God "remembers" a promise, He is about to act on it.
And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
Exodus 3:15
Right after revealing the name I AM THAT I AM, God gave Moses this family title to carry back to the slaves. A memorial is the way a person is remembered. God chose to be remembered as the One who keeps His word to people over time.
And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
1 Kings 18:36
Centuries later the prophet Elijah stood on Mount Carmel against the prophets of Baal and prayed using almost the same name. (Israel is Jacob's other name.) Fire fell from heaven, and the people bowed down.
I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
Matthew 22:32
Jesus quoted the burning bush to people who did not believe in life after death. God said "I am" their God, not "I was." The book explains this argument in full.
Good news for unfinished people
Here is something surprising. Abraham lied about his wife to protect himself, and Isaac later did the very same thing (Genesis 20:2 and 26:7). Jacob tricked his own father and brother. These were not perfect heroes. Yet God tied His name to theirs and was not ashamed of it.
That means you do not have to be finished to belong to God. He calls people while they are still messy and stays with them through the long process of change.
The name also speaks to waiting. Israel spent a very long time in Egypt, and the Bible gives it as 430 years (Exodus 12:40). Generations were born and died there. It must have felt like God had forgotten. He had not. Maybe you have prayed about something for years. This name says your prayer has not been lost.
And it speaks to families. God works across generations. Someone may have prayed for you before you were born. And if you are the first person in your family to follow God, you may be where the story starts for the people who come after you.
- Thank God this week, by name, for someone whose faith helped yours.
- If you have counted yourself out because of past mistakes, read about Jacob in Genesis 27, then read Exodus 3:6 again.
- Write a short note to a younger person in your family about what God has done for you.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is name 15 of the 70 in the book. Just before it came the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. The name God gave Moses in the same chapter is I AM THAT I AM, and the next name on the list is God of gods. For a wider look, visit the Hebrew names of God page.
