One of my all-time favorite biblical stories is God appearing to Moses at the burning bush and directing him to go to Pharaoh and demand the release of the Hebrew slaves. To which Moses responds, “What is your name? If I go to the Israelites and they ask me, ‘Who sent you?’ what should I tell them?”
At first glance, it seems like a strange question. God tells Moses, “I am the God of your ancestors, and I want you to go to Egypt and lead my people out of there,” and Moses immediately replies, “Excuse me, what was your name again?” But what we need to realize is that, in biblical times, your name was more than just a convenient way to identify you. Your name was your essence; it defined who you were, and more importantly, what you stood for.
In effect, Moses is asking, “What is your distinguishing characteristic? In Egypt we had an abundance of gods—fertility gods, harvest gods, gods of war. What kind of god are you?”
God answers him with three words that ultimately defy translation, “Ehyeh asher ehyeh.” It is usually rendered, “I am who I am,” or “I will be what I will be.” But what does that mean exactly?
Some scholars explain these words to mean simply, “I exist.” In other words, “I am pure being—without beginning or end.” Others suggest that God is saying, “Who I am is more than you can possibly comprehend. My essence cannot be contained by a mere name!”
However, I have always been drawn to the interpretation that connects God’s answer to the use of the word Ehyeh (“I will be”) two verses earlier, when God tells Moses, “When you go to Pharaoh, I will be with you.” For me, that is God’s defining characteristic. Ours is a God who is always with us.
The Apostle Paul once asked, “If God is with us, who can be against us?” and then answers his own question by stating, “Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor death, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God.”
When bad things happen to us—and inevitably they will—the challenge is not to explain them, or to justify them, or even to accept them without any questions. The challenge is to survive them and keep on living. And the key to surviving them is to realize that we do not face such things alone.
“What is your name?” asks Moses—meaning “What kind of God are you?” And God answers, “I am the One who is always with you … that’s the kind of God I am!”
At first glance, it seems like a strange question. God tells Moses, “I am the God of your ancestors, and I want you to go to Egypt and lead my people out of there,” and Moses immediately replies, “Excuse me, what was your name again?” But what we need to realize is that, in biblical times, your name was more than just a convenient way to identify you. Your name was your essence; it defined who you were, and more importantly, what you stood for.
In effect, Moses is asking, “What is your distinguishing characteristic? In Egypt we had an abundance of gods—fertility gods, harvest gods, gods of war. What kind of god are you?”
God answers him with three words that ultimately defy translation, “Ehyeh asher ehyeh.” It is usually rendered, “I am who I am,” or “I will be what I will be.” But what does that mean exactly?
Some scholars explain these words to mean simply, “I exist.” In other words, “I am pure being—without beginning or end.” Others suggest that God is saying, “Who I am is more than you can possibly comprehend. My essence cannot be contained by a mere name!”
However, I have always been drawn to the interpretation that connects God’s answer to the use of the word Ehyeh (“I will be”) two verses earlier, when God tells Moses, “When you go to Pharaoh, I will be with you.” For me, that is God’s defining characteristic. Ours is a God who is always with us.
The Apostle Paul once asked, “If God is with us, who can be against us?” and then answers his own question by stating, “Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor death, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God.”
When bad things happen to us—and inevitably they will—the challenge is not to explain them, or to justify them, or even to accept them without any questions. The challenge is to survive them and keep on living. And the key to surviving them is to realize that we do not face such things alone.
“What is your name?” asks Moses—meaning “What kind of God are you?” And God answers, “I am the One who is always with you … that’s the kind of God I am!”
posted by Dr. Robert Crilley at
1:14 PM
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