sidebar Genesis 49-Exodus 3
The Great I AM

God raised up Moses to be the deliverer of the Hebrews who had been enslaved by the Egyptians. But, as he looked out over his sheep in the land of Midian, Moses must have felt like anything but a deliverer. He had fled from his exalted position as a prince in Egypt after killing an Egyptian officer while trying to save one of his people. The New Testament records, "For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand" (Acts 7:25). Certainly, as a child, his mother must have told him about the God of the Hebrews-his God-but on a lonely mountain in the desert, Moses met his God in a special way. In the fire of an unconsumed burning bush, God spoke to Moses, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exodus 3:6). He revealed Himself first as the God of Israel's history-He was not a new God. Next, He revealed Himself to be the God of personal attention. "I have surely seen the oppression of My people... and have heard their cry... for I know their sorrows" (Exodus 3:7). Then, He revealed Himself as the God of needed deliverance. "So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey..." (Exodus 3:8). Moses was, naturally, overwhelmed. When he asked who he was to tell the Hebrews had sent him, he was given this stark answer, "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). The Hebrew words literally mean, "The Existent One." It begs the question, "I Am"...what? Therein is the power of the phrase-and the grandness, the sweeping element of the phrase. God is! He is always the God who is always "I Am." He is the self-contained, all encompassing, unlimited Being of the universe. As the "I AM," He is always...

There is great comfort in looking at God as the great "I AM." He is not a God who can be contained in temples or shaped by gold, silver or precious stones. He is not sufficient in some areas and deficient in others. He is not a God of ages past. He is not a God who died as was proclaimed in the 60's. He is for us the God who is ever "I Am." He sees our afflictions-just as He saw His people's then; He pays attention to us now just as He did then; and, He seeks to deliver us today-just as He delivered them then. Some 3500 years have passed, but He is still as relevant and needed in our lives today as He was then. He is still the great "I AM."