Christ in the Old Testament

Exodus 3:14

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Today’s Reading: Exodus 3:7-15, John 8:56-59 and John 1:1-18

We discussed the word “holy” yesterday in great detail. It’s a key that will help us unlock more understanding of who God is today. God has called to Moses from the burning bush and He is going to reveal himself in great detail to Moses. God wants a relationship with his people and he will first build that relationship with Moses.

So God gets right to the point and calls Moses to bring his people out of Egypt. Moses likely remembers that he was rejected by the Israelites forty years ago and that’s how he ended up in Midian. So Moses asks God why He is sending him. Moses is probably the worst person to choose for this mission. Remember Moses is the adopted son of Pharaoh who wants him dead and he was rejected by the very people God wants him to lead. It doesn’t seem like this is a good choice to pick Moses.

I love God’s response, “I will be with you.” It’s not you Moses, it’s Me. And it’s not a matter of “if” but “when.” Oftentimes God chooses the least likely of people to accomplish His will. It just makes it all the more clear that it’s because of God these things are accomplished and not the person doing them. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Cor 4:7)

Then Moses dares to asks God a bold question. “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Reading this stirs up so much emotion when I read it that it’s hard to intellectualize. This is the awesomeness of God! God speaks His own name. I feel like we should just stop there and worship Him. He is the mighty God, the great I AM. No beginning. No end. He is all-encompassing and self-sufficient. He is everything. Awesome beyond words.

But let’s dig into God’s name so we can see Him more clearly. God uses the Hebrew verb hāyâ the first time He calls himself I AM. This is simply translated “I will be” or in other words, God is the one who is and who will be. His existence doesn’t depend on anyone or anything else. God simply is. This is God’s name in the first person.

God then uses the name YHWH as the name “you shall call me from generation to generation.” This is the third person version of God’s name meaning “He will be.” He is the God who was, who is, and who will be. Wherever you see the name “LORD” in all capital letters in Scripture, YHWH is the name being used.

God is telling us in His name that nothing exists on its own. Everything depends on God. Only God fully exists. Things exist only in their good in that they have God in them. Nothing can exist apart from God. So anything that you try to grasp for yourself is not true existence. Anything that is true is derived from The Truth which is God.

John brings this full circle for us:

1. Jesus is God (John 1:1)

Jesus is YHWH. In John 8:58, Jesus tells the Pharisees, “Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I AM!” There is no doubt here who Jesus was claiming to be. They immediately picked up stones to stone him for claiming to be one with God.

2. Through Jesus all things were made (John 1:3)

Nothing exists on its own. If it exists, it was made by God through Jesus for him. And all things are held together by Jesus. (Col 1:15-17)

3. Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing (John 15:5)

There is nothing good apart from God. Anything that is good is from God (Rom 8:28). No one is good except God. (Mark 10:18)

So what do we do with that? Worship is appropriate for sure! But also knowing that we are fully dependent on God to do anything truly good, it should drive us to involve God in everything we do. We are called to be holy which means we are set apart by God to serve His purpose. His purposes are always good. And God is most pleased with us when we are good.

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” (Hebrews 13:15-16)

Today’s Prayer: LORD, we serve an awesome God who holds all things together. And we serve a good God. Help me want to involve you in all my endeavors today so that I can please you.