Context No. 2854 of 4322 · Exodus

Exodus 3:12-22: in context

12He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” 13Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?” 14God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations. 16Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt. 17I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18They will listen to your voice. You shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD, our God.’ 19I know that the king of Egypt won’t give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand. 20I will reach out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do among them, and after that he will let you go. 21I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed. 22But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing. You shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall plunder the Egyptians.”

At the burning bush, Moses asks the question that will echo through all of Scripture: when the people ask your name, what shall I tell them? God answers, I AM WHO I AM. Tell them I AM has sent you. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and this is his name forever. Then he promises to bring Israel out of their affliction, warning that Pharaoh will resist, and that they will not leave empty-handed.

The name I AM is staggering. God does not define himself by anything outside himself. He simply is, self-existent, depending on nothing, the ground of all that exists. To a people in slavery this is not abstract philosophy but rescue: the God who simply IS has bound himself to their fathers and to their future, and he is not going anywhere. The unchanging I AM is the guarantee standing behind every promise he makes to them.

When my circumstances shift under my feet, do I rest on the God who simply IS, unchanged and present, the same yesterday and today?

Sources

Exodus 3:14: "God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM... You shall tell the children of Israel this: I AM has sent me to you."
John 8:58: "Most certainly I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM."
Malachi 3:6: "For I, the LORD, don't change."