God called Moses and sent him to deliver His people, the Children of Israel from their bondage of slavery in Egypt, “13Then Moses said to 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?’ 14God said to Moses, ‘I AM who I am.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”’” (Exodus 3:13-14). This year during the season of Lent through to Easter morning we will be exploring the “I AM” words of Jesus, especially as John expounds on God’s telling Moses that His name is “I AM.”
We begin our exploration of the “I AM” words by going back the very first time that God speaks His name as “I AM” and that was to Moses in the wilderness when He called Moses to be the one to deliver His people, the children of Israel from their bondage of slavery in Egypt.
Words and language have meaning. In some languages word order is important. In English we might understand “Have I hunger,” to be a question whereas in some other language it might be understood as someone saying “I am hungry.” In some languages punctuation is important. Certainly we have heard what is intended to be humorous illustration, “Let’s eat grandma” with the misunderstanding that the missing comma implies we are going to eat grandma, but with the comma, “Let’s eat, (comma) grandma” that we are encouraging grandma to eat with us.
As we look at words and language we also understand that words can be spoken in the past tense. Words can be spoke in the future tense. Words can be spoke in the present tense. In some other languages there are also other tenses, i.e., continuing action, incomplete action, and so forth.
As we begin exploring the “I AM” words of Jesus we begin here in the Old Testament with God telling Moses, “I AM” is His name. As you read through your Bible you will make note that very often you will see the word Lord in all capital letters. Lord with a capital “L” and lower case “o-r-d.” And you will see the word “lord” in all lower case letters. The word “lord” in all lower case letters is simply a designation of a person with power or authority, as in one is the lord of their house. The word “Lord” with a capital “L” and lower case “o-r-d” is a title such as Lord So and So. And the word “Lord” in all caps is God’s name, Yahweh. The reason for this “Lord” in all caps is because when the translators translated the Old Testament they did not want to break the second commandment and misuse God’s name, so instead of printing God’s name, Yahweh, they filled in the text with the word “Lord” in all caps. So, God tells Moses His name is “I AM.” “I AM” is a derivative of God’s name Yahweh. In essence God’s name Yahweh means “I AM.”
So let us explore God’s Name, “I AM” a bit more. What you might notice right off is that God’s name is not in the past tense. His name is not “I WAS.” Jesus even speaks of the fact that “Before Abraham was, I am,” meaning that Jesus was and is God who was from before the creation of the world. So, God’s name is not a name giving any inclination of His age or any indication of His life in time and eternity.
Notice also that God’s name is not in the future tense, “I WILL BE.” Although God does express to His people that He will be their God and they will be His people this too does not indicate any reference to age or time. It is not as if God is not now in time, but will be at some time later.
Indeed, God’s name is in the present tense, “I AM.” God’s name declares His eternal existence. God’s name declares that He is God because only God can have an eternal existence. We human being have a moment of conception. We have a life. We have a past. We have present and we have a future.
God’s name declares His Essence of I AM. God is eternal. He was not created nor came into being. He always was and always will be. For God there is no past nor is there a future, but only the present. God created time for us human beings and you might recall He did that on day one of creation. Incidentally enough it was not until the fourth day that God created the Sun, moon and stars and then put them into the orbits of the twenty-four hour day He created on day one. For us there is a yesterday, a today and tomorrow. For God there is only the eternal now, the eternal present. If you have ever wondered why God can know all things it is because He sees all things, all our time, in His present time. You might think about time like this: for us time is linear. We are going through time one second, one minute, one hour, one day, one week, one month, one year at a time. For God time is like taking our linear time line and looking at it through one end to the other and seeing all points on the line at the same time.
As God created time for us, and as God lives outside of our time, so as God looks at our time from His eternal presence, to Him the past is happening at the same time as the present. Perhaps that will help understand the fact that there are times when God speaks a word of prophecy and His word of prophecy, of what will happen in the future is spoken in the past tense, as if it had already happened.
Even so, as God lives in the eternal present so it is that the future is happening at the same time as the present well. So here again, in speaking words of prophecy He might well express what will happen in the future as if it had already happened.
Understanding God’s living in the eternal present might help us to better understand what we call God’s foreknowledge, that is that before anything happens God already knows it is going to happen. And maybe then we can also better understand that God’s foreknowledge does not mean that He predestines certain things. In other words, just because God knows someone will reject Him, such as Judas, does not mean that Judas’ rejection was pre-ordained or predestined by God. It just means that God knew that it would happen even before it happened.
So, what does all this mean? First and foremost it means that God is God. About God and His name, the commentary writer Matthew Henry writes, “I am that I am. This explains his name Jehovah, and signifies, (1.) That he is self-existent; he has his being of himself, and has no dependence upon any other: the greatest and best man in the world must say, By the grace of God I am what I am; but God says absolutely—and it is more than any creature, man or angel, can say—I am that I am. Being self-existent, he cannot but be self-sufficient, and therefore all-sufficient, and the inexhaustible fountain of being and bliss. (2.) That he is eternal and unchangeable, and always the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever; he will be what he will be and what he is; see Rev. 1:8. (3.) That we cannot by searching find him out. This is such a name as checks all bold and curious enquiries concerning God, and in effect says, Ask not after my name, seeing it is secret, Jdg. 13:18; Prov. 30:4. Do we ask what is God? Let it suffice us to know that he is what he is, what he ever was, and ever will be. How little a portion is heard of him! Job 26:14. (4.) That he is faithful and true to all his promises, unchangeable in his word as well as in his nature, and not a man that he should lie. Let Israel know this, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
God is God and God’s Word is truth. As we heard back in Advent, God’s Word is a word with power, power to do what it speaks and to give the gifts of which it speaks. God’s Word is a Word made flesh in Jesus who is God in human flesh who came to live for us, take our sins, suffer, die and rise for us so that we might have life and salvation. Jesus is the One pointed to in the Old Testament and pointed to in the New Testament, the One through whom, by grace, through faith in Him is forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. Indeed, all of Scripture and all of time from B.C. to A.D. points us to Jesus so we know we get it right when we point to Jesus and Jesus alone.
This year, as we move through Lent, as we hear Jesus point to Himself and even speak of Himself as the great “I AM” I pray that we will be convinced by His Word that Jesus is God even as God declared to Moses and Israel that His name is “I AM.”
As the great “I AM,” as God in flesh, as the Word was in the beginning, so we can see clearly what a great, loving, gift given God we have. Knowing all things in advance, that man would sin, that Jesus would have to suffer and die, God shows His great love for us in that He created us anyway and He created us to love us and to give to us and that is exactly what He does, gives to us. He gives us life. He gives us faith. He gives us forgiveness and He gives us eternal life. And He even stirs in us a response of faith to rejoice and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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