3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this mountain.”
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[c] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 3:1-14
During Israel’s time in Egypt, they had forgotten their heritage. They knew not the God their forefathers knew. Instead, they worshiped the same gods that everyone else around them did. They did live separate from the Egyptians. But this was not the will of Israel but of the Egyptians. The Egyptians thought of livestock as impure and degrading to be around. The Israelites provided the means to secure their livestock without actually raising them.
The Israelites never fully assimilated with the Egyptians because they lived separate from them. There has been recent archaeological evidence that the Israelites were indeed a separate people from the Egyptians during this time. Part of God’s plan. However, despite this, they were obstinate and were used to living in slavery. More than freedom, they needed a mental paradigm shift. During this time the surrounding nations, including Egypt, worshiped many gods which shaped Israel’s views of theology.
In Egypt, the Israelites knew of the Egyptian gods and likely worshiped them. They heard the stories of how a god was with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham that were passed down from generation to generation. As a result, the real God became mixed with Egyptian theology. This idea of pluralism was passed down to each generation after the Patriarchs. An idea of a deity that was mixed with several other pantheistic gods.
In verse 6, God states to Moses that he is the God of his forefathers. Yet, this is not enough for Moses, he must know the name of God to tell the people. The reason was that he needed something more substantial to go back to the people with that would beckon the Israelites to forsake all other gods they have learned to love in Egypt.
This was the challenge Moses was up against. To convince an unbelieving people that God was the one true God and to give up following other worldly gods, a task that was met with defeat and victories. Of course, we are no different, right? We also tend to go to God for fire insurance and run to the world for its pleasures. It is easy to fall on our knees when trouble strikes but let dust cover our bible when blessings flow. How do we change? By shifting our attitude from the idea that God is a piece of our lives and a tool we use to the fact he is our personal friend. Jesus said in John 14 that he gave up his life for his friends, not slaves. We are close to his heart, why shouldn’t we open our heart in return?
In verse 14, Moses now wants to know “what is your name?” which almost gives a sense that the people did not really know God yet or who he was even though God had stated this several times to their forefathers. In this God states “I am has sent you”, a somewhat cryptic phrase yet packed with power and authority. God could have explained more who he was yet he uses this simple phrase.
“I am”, which is open ended, encompasses all authority such as “I am king”, “ruler”, “above all others”, and so on. With this statement the details suddenly become meaningless. What suddenly becomes important is faith. A faith that simply believes. Jesus in the New Testament expressed this same simplistic faith in Matthew 16:4 when he was asked for a sign from the Pharisees regarding his authority. He said only the sign of Jonah would be given.
Yes, Jesus could have explained more of how the sign related to the Son of God, but this was up to the Pharisees to understand. If the Israelites wanted to know who the great “I AM” was, they only needed to seek him. If the Pharisees wanted to know who Jesus was, they needed to relent of their pride and authority and accept the truth of the Scriptures and the signs that they saw.
When it is God speaking to us we know in our hearts what the truth is. Yet, we only question when we do not want to accept the truth. The truth that demands simple faith. In my walk, when I have heard others speak of the great things God has done, it is the result of them taking a leap of faith. For example, moving to a new place, changing occupations without the financial backing they need, an so on. Allegorically speaking, God always shows up when we walk off the cliff in faith. Take a leap of simple faith and believe in the great “I am”.
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