#LENT2019 Day 3: Exodus 3:13-22
(For our lent devotional, we’ll be going through the book of Exodus with the rest of our church and be looking at the hand of God carrying the Israelites through their captivity and oppression as well as their sin and unbelief. Keep up with us as we look at how much God loves His people and never leaves us alone.)
first, read: Exodus 3:13-22
Do you believe that God will do what He’s said He will do?
Yesterday, we looked at the way God calls Moses and meets him where He is, unimposing, but ready to show Moses His power and majesty. We see Moses hiding his face in reverent fear, and God sending him out to do the amazing and terrifying task of delivering the Israelites out of the hand of the Egyptians as God’s messenger. We see Moses being doubtful in the face of his calling, saying, “Who am I that I should do this?” and God replying with a promise of His presence.
But the conversation with Moses and God doesn’t stop there. Moses, not in questioning, but in openness, asks another question. He asks of God,
“If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” This question starts with an “if.” Moses is opening up to the possibility of obeying God. And God meets his openness with divine openness as well. God says,
“I AM WHO I AM.” “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
God identifies here as “I AM WHO I AM.” There is a lot to unpack here, and we must unpack it because it is important to understand the gravity of what is going on here.
Now, Names are particularly significant in the Hebrew culture because the Israelites believed that names were tied to a person’s essence. The names of God in Judaism in particular have to do with attributes or aspects of God’s nature, and this name, which is not in third-person, but is God referring to and naming Himself, showing clearly that we cannot name God, but that only God can name himself.
But that’s not all that’s significant. Take a look at the name: “I AM WHO I AM.” Translated another way, it means, “I will be who I will be,” or “I will be who I am/I am who I will be.” This name is not just about the existence of God (“God is”), but about the faithfulness and the continuity of His presence in our lives. God is and will be who He is: God. Wherever God is, he will continue to be God. This name is talking about how God will continue to be God for Israel— just like He is to Moses, just like He was to the fathers of Israel. It’s a consistency of character, a divine “faithfulness” to who He is for His people.
Aside from God revealing more of His nature, God’s name-giving is also so interesting because of the significance of name-giving. Names are given to us when we begin to exist by another. But God here names himself— He doesn’t get named by others. There is none before him. Another tricky part about name-giving to know is that name-giving to another person introduces and begins possibility of a relationship. For example, when I introduce myself to another person, the introducing of myself by my identified name begins relationship with another. By God identifying himself, He was beginning a new relationship with Moses while at the same time drawing Israel closer to himself in relationship.
This name-giving of “I AM WHO I AM” is the beginning of God’s instruction to Moses, where he tells Moses exactly what he needs to do, exactly what will happen, and what God is planning to do in response to Pharaoh. God explains everything from his perspective. He’s not drawing a complete picture, but gives Moses enough (more than many of us get) to see what exactly God is trying to do.
But the thing that calls out to me is the way that God addresses the future. For example, when God is explaining how Pharaoh will probably be, God says to Moses,
“But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty…”
Notice something here?
God talks to Moses in strong, confident language that he ‘will’ do things and that he ‘will’ give Israel favor. God is not striking maybes, or leaving room for possibilities other than freedom from bondage for His people; He is telling Moses that he will do what He’s said He will do— because “I AM WHO I AM;” because God is and will continue to be God for Israel.
God’s promises are all over His call for Moses to go and do what God has commissioned Him to do. He’s not just giving a lofty, inapplicable promise; God is explaining exactly who He is and showing Moses practically how He will be with him. And that’s how the chapter ends. From curiosity, to call, to promise, to practical relationship. God here is as real as He ever could be.
My question to you this Friday night is: How do you see God? Do you believe that He will always be God to you, that He will lead you through every single actual life situation, and that He is actually holding you and guiding you through? Do you believe that He is real and that He’s hands-on, not just because He loves you, but because He is and always will continue to be God?
Today, as you wrap up your week, I want to challenge you to grasp the fact that God stays the same. He never changes— and He will continue to be with you. He will lead you through your days, and He is watching over your every situation. He waits for your curiosity, He waits for your move, and when you ask in doubt, God offers you his name. He introduces a chance to get to know him better and engages with you in relationship. And most of all— get this— God has your back. Just like Moses, who shouldn’t have been able to lead the Israelites out of Egypt of all places, with God on your side, there’s nothing you can’t do, not because you’re any good, but because God will continue to be God.
Let’s hang onto this and as we go into our weekends, Let’s open our hearts to the God that continues to be God and continues to be for you always.
With all my love,
janedo
