“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.’” — Exodus 3:14 (NIV84)

King David wrote in Psalm 139: “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in — behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” David was describing that reality when our internal spirit/soul knows something about God that just can’t be expressed with our physical mind and tongue. That’s right! Our spirit knows truths that our mind and mouth find difficult to articulate. David was trying to describe the intimacy that God has with man and ended that part of his discourse with, “such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”

Now bring in Moses and our verse for today. Moses was already overwhelmed by his encounter with God at the burning bush. He now asked God, “When I go back to Egypt and talk to the Israelites, who should I say has sent me?” And God responded, “I am who I am … I am has sent me [Moses] to you.” God used the form of “to be” to describe Himself. When we say, “I am,” we are waiting for the rest of the sentence. We would ask, “You are what?” We would say, I am happy, sad, sick, strong, hungry, etc. God is saying that he “is”! He is what? There is no sentence that can answer that question. It is beyond our mind’s ability to know and our vocabulary’s ability to express. God isn’t a “what”; He “is”!

He “is” for you and me, too. When you go out and live out your Christian faith today, your God who is beyond description or comprehension goes with you.

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church