2/13

Exodus 3:14

14God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"


Moses had been herding sheep and goats for the last 40 years in Egypt. He saw a bush ablaze on a mountain side and went up to see it. God called to Moses from the bush to go back to Egypt and bring out the nation of Israel. When Moses asked who he should say had sent him, God responded with the above verse.

This is the first time in Scripture that God declared His name. For the Hebrews, a name was a brief description of what your life was about. What can we learn about God from this name, I AM? It is always present tense. If we speak of I AM in the past, present, or future, He is always present. In other words He transcends time. Your birth, today, and the day you enter heaven are all before Him right now and always.

He is unchanging. He will always be who He is. Because He is always present in all time at once, He does not grow or decay as with us creatures who are bound by time. He will ever be the Eternal One. His attributes will forever be the same. He declared that He is love. (1John 4:8) He will always be love and has always been love. He will always be One that expresses steadfast love and faithfulness.

For Moses this meant that He is the exact same God that made the promises to the patriarchs. He had not changed, nor had His promises changed. The land that Moses would lead them to was the land God promised to Abraham. Moses could see that what he was about to do, frightening as it was, had forever been before God. God already sees the outcome. His direction to our today results in the future He already sees. What a reassurance this must have been when Moses met with what seemed to be fruitless efforts!

Meditation: The God who instructs me today knows the result of my obedience. Whether I meet with resistance from the world or not, God already knows the good outcome.