God is our I AM
Exodus 3
May 26, 2024
The story of the exodus is really fascinating and the more I look at it, the more I’m intrigued and am learning.
As we were talking about meeting Moses meeting God at the Burning Bush last week - - - - - it was so cool that so many of you texted and emailed me to tell me where you meet with God. They were all over the place, which is great. Some were as early as 4 AM. Someone simply texted me and wrote FOUND MY SPOT!!
One thing that stood out to me was the intentionality in those meeting times. I had the sense that God was calling you to meet up at a certain place and time. We don’t all experience God the same way. And that’s great! There’s no cookie cutter formula. There’s not a recipe which says add a little of this, a pinch of that, but not too much. AND presto, you’ll meet with God.
It’s often based on our personalities and our callings. As I’ve mentioned before, It was a process for me.
But for some of you, it was radical. It was a moment in time that you will never forget and you hold onto that. And that’s great to have that moment.
It was that way for Moses as well. Moses was out doing his job as a shepherd. He’s minding his own business. He turns his head and there’s this crazy bush which is on fire, but not burning up.
He’s drawn to it . . . and that’s the first call of God to Moses. That was his first meeting with the divine.
Your assignment last week was to determine where you meet God. Where is it that you talk to Him and hear His voice? Where is it that you find peace, comfort, worship and celebration? Where is it you read the Word, which transforms your heart, spirit and mind?
I want to add one more thing about what’s interesting regarding Moses’ encounter with God, and then we’ll move on. It actually occurred to me at 5:40 on Monday night. That’s how vivid this recognition was. And it’s not rocket science, which makes this even more fun. In Exodus 3, we read - - -
2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.
He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
4 When the Lord saw that, he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
What’s key in this passage, that hit me on Monday is the fact that God presented Himself to Moses and Moses had to choose the bush or the sheep. It’s pretty simple, but it’s that key word I spoke about last week . . . .
COME! Come to me! Draw Near!
You see, that’s the call of God in our lives. Come to me. Notice that God DID NOT speak until Moses came to Him. Moses needed to take that step towards God, even though he wasn’t sure what he was stepping to.
It doesn’t always work that way. But I would assume most of us are pretty oblivious to God’s voice, especially and because we don’t know God’s voice.
Think about it this way, you start to date someone and you call them on the phone. I’m going back about 35 years ago. If it’s me, I am calling Debbie on a landline. Those things that have cords.
Well, Debbie also had a roommate. I had to quickly learn if it was Debbie or Gloria. I couldn’t hear a voice and say ‘hey babe!’ and have it be Gloria. Not good! Especially because there was no caller ID. So, they didn’t know who was on the other end.
My point is that if we’re not talking to God and listening to God, then when He speaks to us, we very well may miss that call or answer to our prayer!
So Moses had to draw near . . . He had to approach the bush in order to hear God’s voice and begin this relationship with the God of his fathers.
Again, often times God is calling us. He wants us to move into a relationship with Him, or to go deeper, but we have to take that step and draw near to Him.
OK! So, as the story goes, Moses is meeting with God. It’s holy ground, and as the conversation, the calling continues, we see Moses’ insecurities. Really, it’s not surprising. If God’s going to call me, I may not feel quite as adequate, so I might question a bit.
The Bible tells us - - - -
7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and
have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,
8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land,
a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you:
when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
13 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?”
14 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.’”
15 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.
We associate names with a person’s character. Let’s play a little name association - - -
Don’t shout out your answers - - - -
Joe Biden
Donald Trump
You see how this can get?
Remember, we’re here to worship!!
Let’s change the tone - - - -
Milli Vanilli
Peyton Manning
Audrey Hepburn
Paul Newman
Jesus
OK! Names mean something! Names have a rich meaning. Yet, God gives Moses this name that really in many respects doesn’t have a good translation. Most of us can look at our names and find some sort of etymology. What our names mean. For example, Michael means “who is like God.”
Yet, at first glance, God gives Moses this somewhat arbitrary name.
I AM WHO I AM
I mean, what’s that? Yet, what’s so great about this name is that in many respects, God is telling Moses, you can’t define me. That’s why that burning bush is not disintegrating in the heat and smoke and fire.
Nothing can contain me. I’m here and I’m there and I’m everywhere. When you talk to the people of Israel, my chosen people, tell them I AM has sent you.
And of course, if you’re part of the people who are about to be freed, you’re going to ask Moses, ‘so Moses, what exactly does that mean? I AM WHO I AM? What’s that all about?’
I’m not sure how Moses would have explained it away. After all, he’s had this burning bush experience and a few other experiences along the journey back to Egypt.
God has even shown Moses that his staff can turn into a snake and his hand can become diseased, then healed. So, God is making Himself real.
Even Aaron has a conversation with the LORD, as he’s going to do some of the talking for Moses.
When they finally arrive in Egypt, Moses meets with the Pharaoh who is probably wondering, ‘what’s this guy doing back? He ran away!’ In Exodus 5, the story continues - - -
1 Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel,
‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’”
Now look at what pharaoh says to Moses - - - -
2 “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice and let Israel go?
I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”
You see, that’s kind of the same question . . . who is this God of yours? What does He look like? What’s His name?
The exodus story is more than just a story. And that’s what I want to pass on in the next few minutes. And then I want to go back to the burning bush and tie it all together, I hope.
God tells Moses, I AM WHO I AM
Moses is moving into totally unchartered territory. He’s out of his comfort zone. He’s given God every excuse he can think of, yet, God tells him, “GO!! GO to Egypt and proclaim who I am to my people and to the pharaoh. Tell him to let my people go!!”
With that in mind, as you think about your situation in life, in those moments when you have quiet time with God, when you’re worshiping God and you have a revelation from God - - - -
whatever it is God is calling you to do, how do you feel about it? Are you all excited and thinking YEE HA! Let’s go, God! Let’s conquer the world together!
Or is it more dread, some fear, some anxiety, some worry that quite possibly you’ve misunderstood God. God couldn’t have been asking me to go into the world and make disciples.
I have a hard enough time, thinking I’m a disciple, yet, you want me to go into the world . . . . . this cold cruel world and proclaim Jesus?
Um, Lord, do you think you could send my brother or sister over there? I’m not sure they’re more equipped. Frankly, I don’t care if they are or aren’t, I just don’t think I am . . . and don’t want to risk it!!
Usually, we have a feeling of being inadequate. Certainly, God couldn’t and wouldn’t be calling me. Yet, I fully believe if God is going to call you, He’s not going to abandon you, and simply have you go off and do it on your own power.
He wants to make His power visible through you. He wants you to succeed and He promises to go with you. He won’t leave you, He won’t forsake you. He’ll never abandon you. He’s not going to throw you out there and hope you figure it out.
The story of the burning bush and the first conversation Moses has with God . . . . is meant to help us trust more in who God says He is. It’s a reminder for you and I about who God is in our everyday lives.
God is our I AM
And this is what I want you to take away from this message. It’s as if God was telling Moses,
I need you to carry out your God given assignment. Whatever you need me to be, that’s who I’ll be.
If you need me to perform miracles, I will. If you need me to interact with nature, I will. If you need food and water, I will provide. If you are afraid, I will strengthen you. I will never fail or forsake you.
When Moses took on this assignment / this calling from God, he didn’t know what he would need, but God knew exactly what Moses would need and promised to provide.
The same is true for you and I. Whatever we need, God will provide. It is not always in the ways we want, because God is looking down the road and we can’t see past this minute, let alone --- today.
But that’s OK, because God is my provider, He is the One who blesses me beyond my comprehension. He is the One who has promised to not abandon me. He is the One who died for me! He’s the One who forgives me and offers me life!
Why would God abandon me? He died for me. It would be a waste if He did! God won’t! He is my I AM.
So, to go back to the burning bush. When we see that bush burning, but not being destroyed, could that also be a symbol to us . . . . a very stark reminder that God is with us in the midst of the storms and fires of life. Just as God was with Moses in the burning bush, God is with us.
He offers us His mercy and grace. He promises us that we will not be destroyed, because of the storms. We may die! I know, not always a pleasant thought, but in the end, we really don’t, because we have this amazing offer of eternal life. We know and trust that we will live on, forever with God. His fire in our spirits will never be extinguished.
It’s just like in the book of Daniel 3, when Mishach, Shadrach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar looks at the furnace and now sees 4 people in there.
He said 25 I see 4 men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.
Just as God was with those 3 guys in the fiery furnace, God’s presence was in the bush which was on fire. And then we see this on the cross. When Jesus took upon Himself, God’s wrath. He become the payment for our sinfulness.
Yet, even in the midst of the storm, God was there. The fire of God’s wrath fell upon Jesus . . . why? Because we are like that burning bush . . . . and God was not about to allow that bush (you and I) to be destroyed, we wouldn’t be consumed, as Jesus bore our sins.
Friends, that’s our God. He promises to meet us in the fires of life. He promises not to fail us, but to always, always, always be there. He is our I AM. He is in the midst of good and in the not so good. He’s in the cool breeze and the hot steam. He’s in new life and death.
He’s our I AM. The promise to be with you today, tomorrow and forever! That’s my God.
