THE GOD WITH A NAME – WEEK 5
THE GREAT I AM
APRIL 6, 2025

EXODUS 3:1-15 – Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 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.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

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.

Two Gospel Principles:

You’re of no use to God until you come to the end of yourself
God’s timing is rarely the same as ours

Foreshadowing:

Samuel (1 Samuel 3)
Isaiah (Isaiah 6:8b)

Moses asked TWO important questions:

Who am I?
Who are you?

“Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.”
John Calvin (Institutes of the Christian Religion)

“It is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinizing himself.”
John Calvin (Institutes of the Christian Religion)

WHO AM I?

JOSHUA 1:5 – Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

JUDGES 6:16 – And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you…”

JEREMIAH 1:7-8 – “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”

MATTHEW 28:20 – “…And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

EXODUS 3:12 – 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.”

HEBREWS 11:27 – By faith he (Moses) left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

WHO ARE YOU?

EXODUS 3:13-15 – 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.’”

hyh (אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה) – to be.

JOHN 8:58 – “…Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Ego Eimi (Ἐγώ εἰμι) – to be; I, I am.

JOHN 6:35 – “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

JOHN 8:12 – “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

JOHN 10:7 – “…I am the door of the sheep.”

JOHN 10:11 – “I am the good shepherd.”

JOHN 11:25 – “I am the resurrection and the life.”

JOHN 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

JOHN 15:1 – “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”