How important is God’s name to you? Names are very important. Whether you realize it or not, people love to hear their own name. When you meet up with someone and call them by their name you can almost see their eyes light up. Names are very important. Names tell a story, and they really do matter. But there's no name that matters more than the name of God. God's name reflects His character and draws us to trust Him.
For those who have heard the messages that I've preached over the years, you probably have noticed that I love to take a familiar passage of Scripture and dig deeper to see how it applies to us. My thought on that is that God gave us His word and wants us to apply it to our lives. So, I dig deeper and ask the question, "What does this mean to me?" Today I'm going to go back to a familiar OT passage in Exodus 3 as we ask the question, "How important is God's name to me? Prayer.
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If we back up in Scripture just a little bit, we remember that Moses had had been raised since a baby in the house of Pharaoh. When he had grown, he realized how he was related to the Hebrew people. He went out one day and saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews. He ended up killing the Egyptian and hiding his body in the sand. Word got back to Pharaoh about the incident and Pharaoh tried to kill Moses. So, Moses fled from Egypt and ended up in the land of Midian. He became a shepherd for a man by the name of Jethro. He ended up marrying Jethro's daughter and stayed in the land of Midian. It is now 40 years later. We pick up our story in Exodus 3.
Exodus 3:1 – “Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.”
One thing that stands out to me from this one verse is that God can call us exactly from where we are. Moses was more or less in exile in Midian. Yet God's plan was to use him in a mighty way. So, the story begins with the call of Moses.
40 years earlier, Moses had fled Egypt after he killed the Egyptian while defending a Hebrew. Now he was shepherding his father-in-law's flock. By the way, the Midian territory is now modern Saudi Arabia. The Midianites are descendants of Abraham, who was also the father of the Jewish people.
Keep in mind that Moses was raised from a little baby until his adult years in the palace of the Pharaoh. He had now traded his royal clothes for the clothes of a shepherd. Now Moses is serving as a shepherd, a position that the Egyptians would have considered very low. He was in quite a different position than he had been when he was raised in the home of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. For him to think that God would call him to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt was probably the last thing on his mind if it was on his mind at all.
The passage locates the calling of Moses at Mount Horeb. Even though we're not positive where the mountain was, most scholars identify it as Mount Sinai, where the Hebrews would receive the Ten Commandments. Either way, it was known as the mountain of God. So there, while Moses was doing the menial work of a shepherd, God called him to a different role. God wanted him to go from leading sheep to leading the people of God out of Egypt.
So I asked the question, what can we learn from this one verse? We can learn that God knows exactly where we currently are and precisely where He intends for us to be. Sometimes God unexpectedly grabs our attention while we're living out one task, and He calls us to a new role in serving Him. Our responsibility is to walk with God so closely that we recognize when He's wanting to get our attention.
Exodus 3:2-4 – “Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. 3 So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?” 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered.”
This was quite an event in Moses’ life. The angel of the Lord identified himself as God and appeared to Moses in a burning bush. We aren't given much of an explanation of how all this happened, but it does assure us that something supernatural took place.
A lot of times in Scripture God's presence is manifested in fire. But what caught Moses’ attention was the burning bush wasn't being consumed. So, Moses was inquisitive. He went over to check it out because he wanted to know how this was to be and wanted to know more.
While Moses is closely examining this burning Bush that isn't being consumed by the fire, God calls Moses by name and made himself known to Moses. In fact, God called his name twice to get his attention. It's not clear if Moses understood what was happening at that point, but he couldn't deny what he heard. His response was simply, “Here I am.” He had no idea at this point what God's plan was for him.
I want us to take note that this isn't the only time God called someone by name.
- You might remember that God called Abraham by name to stop him from sacrificing his son Isaac.
- God called Samuel by name to reveal his prophecies.
- Jesus called Simon by name before warning him of Satan sifting him like wheat.
- Jesus called Saul by name before commissioning him to carry out the gospel message.
I hope that this reminds all of us that God not only knows our names, but He also calls us personally. He uses His word, His spirit, and His people to help us know our calling, and He sometimes does so in such a surprising way that we can't deny the fact that He wants to get our attention. All we can do is say as Moses said, “Here I am”
Exodus 3:5-6 – “Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.”
These verses should remind us of how reverent we should be when we come to God. How do you approach God? How reverent are you if you come to God? Even those who have been believers for years can sometimes treat God too flippantly. We need to be reminded that God is our friend by His choice, but He is still the most holy God. Moses apparently needed that reminder too, as he responded to the voice coming from the burning bush.
God hasn't yet identified himself to Moses but just from reading these two verses we can just feel the reverence that God demanded. God's very presence made this a holy place. It was so holy that Moses had to keep his distance from the bush. Then he gets the command to take off his shoes and that was likely a recognition that Moses now stood before someone much greater than he. I see this as God telling Moses not to even carry the dirt and dust of his surroundings into the presence of a Holy God.
And then God finally reveals Himself, telling Moses he was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was the God who established and continued to keep His covenant with His people. As a clearer understanding for us today, we need to know that the God of the book of Genesis that created the world and everything in it was also the same God that spoke to Moses in the book of Exodus.
Let's take note of how Moses responded to his encounter with God. He was very fearful and that fear caused him to hide his face from God. He recognized that he was in the presence of Holiness far beyond his comprehension, and all he could do was respond with reverence. He could look at the bush, but he couldn't look on the Holiness of God. A little later he would want to see God's glory, but not at this time.
What I get from these verses is the fact that God initiated reaching out to Moses and that was amazing, but no more amazing than God reaching out to us personally through his Son, Jesus. Do you realize that a holy God has come to us to make us His children? That truth should cause us to kneel before Him today, approaching Him with reverence and awe. Our God is holy. He should be treated as such. So, God begins to give Moses His instructions.
Exodus 3:9-12 – “So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, 10 therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
******** 11 But Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I am the one who sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.”
Let me tell you how much you can trust God. We can trust God to do what He says He will do. You might remember from last week's message that faith is believing what we can't see, and trusting God to do what He says He will do. When God calls Moses from this burning bush, He's raising up a leader to deliver His people from the Egyptians. God had promised them a land flowing with milk and honey, and He would keep his word. That is simply God's nature.
Moses was God-chosen, but like us many times, he was reluctant to accept that role. After all, he was now just a Shepherd in Midian and had been for four decades, hardly one that was prepared to lead this mission. But, when you think about it, it isn't unlike God to call people like a Shepherd boy named David to face a giant, or a young leader named Jeremiah to prophesy to his people, or a persecutor named Paul to be a preacher.
God said a lot in these few verses. Let's not miss how God assured Moses that He would fulfill His promises to His people:
-God said that he had heard the cries of his people under the oppression of the Egyptians. He was fully aware of their plight and would work His plan to free them.
-God called out Moses as His spokesperson . God was implementing His plan, despite how hesitant Moses was.
-God would certainly be with Moses just as He had been with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
-God would not only bring His people out of Egypt, but He would also bring them back to the mountain where Moses was to worship Him. God knew the future and would bring it to pass. Okay, God did all of this for the Israelites. But what about us?
We too can trust God to keep His word. He won't forsake us or leave us. The Bible says so. He'll forgive our sins and cleanse us when we confess our sins to Him. He'll meet our needs. We can trust Him to do what He says He will do. And now God reveals His name, that all important name that He was, is, and will be known by.
Exodus 3:13 – 15 – “Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”
********14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.”
When Moses heard God's call, he suspected that the people would ask him about the God who set him up as their leader. So, God powerfully addresses Moses’ concern by giving him His name. I am who I am. God was saying to Moses, “I have always been and will always be. I am the present tense God of the Hebrews who has the right to call them out and set you apart to lead them.”
But now we're getting down to the reality of it all and how it affects us. We hope that knowing God's promises will immediately alleviate our fears, but that's not always the case. And that certainly wasn't the case for Moses, who battled through his own insecurities and inadequacies when God called him. Knowing God's promises didn't automatically produce unquestioning faith.
Moses had a response that is probably much like ours would be. He not only asked, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?, but he also asked, “If they ask me, what is His name? What should I tell them?” And this question for God's name goes a lot deeper than we might think. Seeking the name of God was much more than simply asking what to call Him. In the ancient world, to seek someone's name was to ask about their character. That means that to Moses, knowing the name of God would help him understand the very nature of God. That's why names are so important.
So God responds with the simple, I am who I am. His answer wasn't really a name, it was a quality, a characteristic, wrapped in a phrase. God is telling us today that he is the Eternal One who spoke all things into existence and will bring all things to consummation in His time. He is who He has always been and will be forever. ‘I AM’ is His name forever, because He is a forever God. You might remember that Jesus Himself declared to be this same God when He identified Himself by the I ams in the NT.
The Egyptians claimed to have a lot of gods. Even the Pharaoh himself claimed that he was deity. Their gods may have been great in number, but there was only one true and living God; YAHWEH.
God identified himself to Moses as the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the same God who called out the Hebrews in the first place. Every generation since then has been called to remember and respect Him. Our God is a relational God who still calls us to Himself as His people. Our response is to simply trust and follow Him.
Now let's make this personal and put ourselves in Moses’ place.
-How willing would you be to change your plans if you sensed God leading you in a different direction? What, if anything, might cause you to hesitate and make excuses for not following God's call?
-Is there an area of your life where you might need to press forward in faith today, believing God will do what He said He would do?
You've probably heard the statement, “be careful what you wish for.” We need to be careful what we pray for. If we fully trust God to do what He says He will do, we need to rely upon our trust in Him. Are you willing to go to God in prayer and say, “Here I am?” Are you willing to go where God leads you, even if you don't yet know the details of His plan?
I want to encourage you this week to have your own personal worship time with God. Pick a time and a place where you can worship, meditating on the Holiness of God. And before you begin, think about how you can approach God from a position of reverence and awe, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
I hope and pray that we don't approach God flippantly. I pray that as we come into His presence that we will treat Him in reverence for who His name declares He is.
“I AM WHO I AM,” God says. I am the same God I was yesterday, today, and will be tomorrow. And that is a God we can trust to hold us in the palm of His hand when we accept His Son Jesus Christ and become His child.
So, I close where I started. How important is God’s name to you?
