Then God said to Moses, “Tell them, ‘I Am Who I Am.’ When you go to the Israelites, tell them, ‘I Am’ sent me to you.” And God said, “Tell the Israelites that you were sent by Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. This will always be my name. It is how I want the people to remember me from now on.
Exodus 3:14-15, The New International Version
This week we began taking a look at the seven "I Ams" of Jesus. There is a specific reason that Jesus used this phrasing. It hearkens back to a familiar statement that every Israelite would know about. It is the language of God expressing Himself as a Lord, Savior, and Deliverer.
Most of you will remember Moses' encounter at the burning bush in Exodus 3. It is here that God reveals His heart to Moses and truly to all of us. "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, an I am concerned about their suffering. 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...” (Exodus 3:7-8)
This has always been Father God's plan for us. He wants to deliver us from the bondage of sin and Satan and to deliver us to a life filled with His promises and abundance. There was a problem though. The Israelites did not know Father God. They would be confused as to who "I AM" was.
Thus begins the conversation. "Then Moses said to God, 'But if I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me,’ then the people will ask, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?” 'Then God said to Moses, “Tell them, ‘I Am Who I Am.’ (Exodus 3:13)" This personal name of God, YAHWEH, also became similar to what the word, "Lord" sounds like. In essence, the name became synonymous with "the ultimate authority."
When Jesus used the I AM statements, He was revealing His connection and equality to the Lord of Israel. He was connecting His role as our deliverer, yet expanding it in their understanding. Here is the bottom line: I AM reveals Jesus a the very one that delivered Israel in the Exodus and now was going to ultimately be the deliverer of the world.
As we learn, meditate, and reflect over these next weeks on the "I AM" statements of Jesus, I pray that you will understand that from all eternity, your God has seen you and desired to bring you into a greater relationship with Him. We now know that I AM is Jesus.
Love, Pastor Stuart