Creator, Father, King #68

I AM WHO I AM.

THE BURNING BUSH EPISODE was a turning point in Moses’ life and an early milestone in Israel’s history as God’s chosen nation. The Lord was calling Moses to be his instrument of redemption as he prepared to do mighty, saving wonders for his people.

But that moment in Midian also marked an extraordinary day for all of humanity because of God’s gracious decision to reveal important attributes about himself. When Moses asked God whom he should say sent him, here was God’s response:

I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you. . . . Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.

What’s It Mean?

In ancient cultures, a person’s name often provided essential information about that individual. In this response, God was giving his name and communicating important truths about himself.

When God called himself “I AM,” he was referring to his divine name, “YHWH,” which is transliterated from the original ancient Hebrew text into Yahweh or sometimes rendered LORD in small capital letters. The original Hebrew words God used to describe himself in Exodus 3:14-15 that our English Bibles translate into “I AM” and Yahweh were verbs that originally meant “to be.” In other words, as God prepared to save Israel from Egypt, he wanted the people to know these truths:

• God is self-existent. No one created him, and he doesn’t rely on anyone else for his being.
• God is eternal. He has no beginning or end.
• God is the Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe.
• God is the perfect standard of truth and goodness that everything else in the cosmos is judged by.
• God doesn’t change.

Did you catch that last part? Yahweh doesn’t change. He is still the same loving God today that he was more than three thousand years ago when he spoke to Moses. He is still speaking, calling people to follow him, and saving lives today. Will you answer?

Now What?

Read Exodus 3–4 to get the full story and hear what God reveals about himself.

Did You Know?

In some Bible translations, the word Yahweh is translated as LORD in small capital letters. This comes from the ancient Greek word kyrios (“Lord”), which was used in place of Yahweh in the Septuagint, the first Greek translation of the Old Testament in the third century BC. The translators used Lord to link Jesus with God the Father. (See John 8, specifically verse 58.)