Day 30.
Then 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?” God 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.’ ” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. (ESV Ex 3:13-15)
There is all kinds of meaning behind the name “I am” in terms of God being the only eternal, self-existent being, I’m sure. But I want to consider the other part of his name. God tells Moses to say to the people, “The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” It is amazing that God chooses to identify himself with individuals. There are all kinds of implications here that have to do with the promises God made to Abraham, and then renewed with Isaac and Jacob (aka Israel) and how God is remembering His promises. But just that fact that God wants his people to know that He is is the God of people, as opposed to the God of thunder or the God of creation, or the God of something else. He makes himself known as their God. That’s like me introducing myself among my wife’s coworkers as “Rhonda’s husband” as a primary means of identification. I’m connecting myself to her and her reputation. That’s remarkable for God to do given the feeble and marred nature of man!
I wrote the other day about God forgiving for His name’s sake. God forgives and God answers prayer and God is maturing and protecting and prospering us – ultimately because it is His own good name that is on the line. That should give us a pause to consider one, that there is great hope to expect God to help us and two, that God is that committed in love to us!
Have you ever introduced yourself with someone else’s name?
Chronological Reading Plan plus Psalms: Ex 1-3, Ps 30
Yes