I Am

It's a strange name. Yahweh, the God of Israel, revealed this name to Moses when he stood before the burning bush, with his shoes removed. The name, I'm sure, was very significant to Moses at that time.

Remember that Moses is the author of the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. He was intimately familiar with the history of mankind, of creation, of God's dealings with mankind as Adam and Eve sinned, when the curse fell on the earth. He knew about God's judgment in the flood and how He dispersed mankind through the confusion of languages. He was very familiar with the power and majesty of God.

Moses was also schooled in all the wisdom of Egypt. He had lived an idyllic life, growing up in Pharaoh's household yet nurtured by his own Hebrew mother. He had the best of both worlds. Greatness and fame surely were to follow.

Then it happened. Enraged by the mistreatment of his own people, Moses raised his hand and killed one of the Egyptian slave masters. Fearing for his life, he escaped into the desert and for the next forty years lived a boring, quiet, solitary life. Exodus 3:1 says, "Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert." Hardly the glamorous life of fame and prestige that awaited him forty years before.

I think Moses may have been wondering, is God still the almighty creator? Has God perhaps lost his power? Or have I blown it so much that God is through with me? I'm worthless, washed up? And confronted with God, speaking through a burning bush, he asked God his name. Is it really you, God?

First of all, God assured Moses that He was the same God Moses had learned about. "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." (Exodus 3:6) That's comforting but then God revealed that He had some grand plan for the deliverance of the Hebrew nation, and that plan involved Moses. Doubts flooded his mind. He was a man acquainted with failure, not greatness. Who would follow him? The only ones who follow him now are the sheep of his father-in-law. So, Moses asks God, "What is your name?"

"And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am" Exodus 3:14

In essence, God was saying to Moses, you may feel like you are a failure, you may have changed, circumstances may have changed, and the future looks dismal. But, Moses, I have not changed. I am the same God I was before creation. I am the same God who spoke everything into existence. I am the same God who guided Abraham from his place of birth, brought him into the land of Canaan, and made of him a great nation. I am who I am. I don't change, Moses, and circumstances do not overwhelm me. I am who I am, and I always will be.

Comforting words to Moses. And to us.

Today we are looking at an uncertain future, not a burning bush but a society that seems to be on fire and about to be consumed. It doesn't matter what end of the political spectrum you are on, the future for our nation, for our society, indeed, for the church, does not look bright. Who do we trust? There seems to be so much deception, so much “fake news”, that we really don't know what is going on. The very foundations on which we trusted have been shaken.

But God says, "I Am That I Am". I am the same, yesterday, today, and forever. I do not change and none of these strange events that we see have shaken me. I Am That I Am. Trust me.