The Great I AM

Has there been someone who has been a mystery to you? Have you seen them from a distance and wondered who they were? Have you worked for a company that was large enough you didn’t know who the president of the company was?

We occasionally come across people of intrigue. We wonder who they are. We may work for a company not knowing who their president or other senior officers are. We may seek out the information. We may find out who is at the top of the company.

Moses was concerned the Israelites might wonder what the name of God was. After all, the Egyptians had names for their gods. So, if Moses was going to tell the Israelites he had spoken with God, which was unheard of since Adam and Eve, he thought he should know God’s name.

The verbal exchange between Moses and God is an early indication that God doesn’t play by human rules. In effect, God says to Moses, “I don’t have a human name.” He is the Creator. He has always existed. But he doesn’t go by a human name in the way gods of other peoples.

We have grown used to calling God the Great I AM. We sing hymns with this name. We have heard sermons or been in Bible studies that look at Jesus’ “I AM” statements. The Israelites gave God a name that was unspeakable as a way to indicate that God’s name was too glorious for us to speak or to indicate it was in a heavenly language we do not know.

Calling God “I AM” is our way of acknowledging he is far more powerful than we are. It is acknowledging he is above all human rules. We acknowledge we are incapable of knowing all there is to know about God. We acknowledge he has always been, is now, and always will be.

I pray we all recognize the amazing glory of God. I pray we acknowledge he is beyond our full understanding. I pray each one of us know that God has always been, is now, and always will be. Give God the glory. Know him as Creator. Be in awe of God. Know he has always existed. Know his is in the moment. Know he will always be.

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’ ”