Ryan King
Exodus 3:1-14
It had been a long day. Nothing particularly dramatic had happened, just the stuff that turns minutes into hours, hours into days, and days into 40 years.
I can imagine it was getting on to evening time, and the fire in the sky spread out with majestic pink fingers into the blue around it.
As Moses sat down to enjoy his sack lunch, a wisp of smoke invaded his nostrils. I can see one white eyebrow cocking, then his wrinkled brow furrowing into oft repeated lines as he wondered who or what else could be out here? Who had a fire going?
Getting up to investigate he rounded a corner of rock and spied a bush on fire. Not super-out-of-the-ordinary, there is a bush in that part of the world that does combust internally if it gets hot enough, but it’s not super common. But the weird part is that the fire kept burning, the bush was not being consumed.
Moses said what we all would be thinking too.
(Exo 3:3) And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
When Moses got close to the bush, the bush spoke. What’s amazing about this is that Moses answered! Maybe he looked around first to make sure he was alone before he spoke to burning foliage, but answered he did.
(Exo 3:4) And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses, Moses." And he said, "Here am I."
This is that famous passage where God commissioned Moses to be the leader of his people and deliver them out of Egypt.
Moses wanted to know though, when he approaches Israel’s leadership and tells them the grand plan, who exactly is giving the orders?
(Exo 3:13) And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
God’s answer was His personal name.
(Exo 3:14) And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
This is called his plain name, because instead of being derived from His works, it is derived from His being. It literally means “I AM’. It comes from the verb ‘to exist’. He is the self existing one. God had no creator, He is the creator. This name shows his immutability (he doesn’t change) and his omnipotence (he is all-powerful).
The ancient Jews were so afraid of accidently transgressing the third commandment (taking the name of the Lord in vain) that they wouldn’t even say it. Instead they would substitute Adonai for it.
What’s interesting is that ancient Hebrew had no vowels, only consonants. So God’s name would appear as YHWH. This is known as the ‘Tetragrammaton’, which simply means ‘four letters’. Because the Jews for centuries wouldn’t say God’s name, people aren’t real sure how it is supposed to be pronounced anymore. While some say ‘Yahweh’, and some say ‘Jehovah’, both mean the same thing, ‘I AM’.
The writer of Hebrews may have had this in mind when he penned Heb. 13:8; Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Ryan King is pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Westville
