Before plaguing Egypt to deliver His people,Jehovah had told Pharaoh the following:
Exo. 9:13 Then Jehovah said to Moses: “Get up early in the morning and station yourself in front of Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘This is what Jehovah the God of the Hebrews has said: “Send my people away so that they may serve me. 14 For now I am directing all my blows to strike your heart, your servants, and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have thrust my hand out to strike you and your people with a devastating plague, and you would have been wiped out from the earth. 16 But for this very reason I have kept you in existence: to show you my power and to have my name declared in all the earth. 17 Are you still behaving arrogantly against my people by not sending them away?
... but Pharaoh was very stubborn and had disrespected Jehovah saying to Moses:
Exo. 5:2 But Pharaoh said: “Who is Jehovah, that I should obey his voice to send Israel away? I do not know Jehovah at all, and what is more, I will not send Israel away.”
More than 40 years had passed since Jehovah had made his greatness known. Rahab was living in Jericho when the Israelites were about to begin their entry into Canaan to conquer it by 1473 BC. Joshua sent two spies to inspect the city of Jericho (Josh.2), and she hid them in her house. She told them:
Josh. 2:9 She said to the men: “I do know that Jehovah will give you the land and that the fear of you has fallen upon us. All the inhabitants of the land are disheartened because of you, 10 for we heard how Jehovah dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction on the other side of the Jordan. 11 When we heard about it, we lost heart, and no one has any courage because of you, for Jehovah your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 12 Now, please, swear to me by Jehovah that, because I showed loyal love to you, you will also show loyal love to my father’s household; and you must give me a sign of good faith. 13 You must spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and you must save us from death.”
A short time later, when Joshua and his Israelite army were about enter Gibeonite territory (Josh.9), they, Gibeonite community,
"sent a delegation to Joshua at Gilgal to sue for peace. The Gibeonite ambassadors—dressed in worn-out garments and sandals and having burst, skin wine-bottles, worn-out sacks, and dry, crumbly bread—represented themselves as being from a distant land, hence not in the way of Israel’s conquests. They acknowledged Jehovah’s hand in what had earlier befallen Egypt and the Amorite kings Sihon and Og. But wisely they did not mention what had happened to Jericho and Ai, as such news could not have reached their “very distant land” before the supposed departure. Israel’s representatives examined and accepted the evidence and covenanted with them to let them live."
They told Joshua and his men:
Josh. 9:9 (...) “Your servants have come from a very distant land out of regard for the name of Jehovah your God, because we have heard about his fame and about all he did in Egypt 10 and about all he did to the two kings of the Amʹor·ites who were on the other side of the Jordan, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan, who was in Ashtaroth. 11 So our elders and all the inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey and go to meet them. Tell them: “We will be your servants; now make a covenant with us.”’ 12 This bread that we took as our provisions was still hot on the day we left our houses to come here to you. Now you can see it is dry and crumbly. 13 And these wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they have burst. And our garments and sandals have worn out because of the great length of the journey.”
Was it important to God that the Israelites use his personal name?
Why was it important for the Israelites to know and use Jehovah's personal name?
