The LORD God

"Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" ¹⁴ And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

Exodus 3:13-14

I have read this passage many times in the past, but when I read this recently it impacted me like never before.  When God identified Himself to Moses by name, it reveals He is sovereign, supreme, and eternal.  A man is identified by a personal first name, family surname, and place of birth to distinguish him from others.  A picture, date of birth, fingerprints, dental x-rays, and unique tattoos or birthmarks help to uncover the true identity of a person.

God is the eternal Creator of the world and cannot be tied down to a geographic area on earth.  Nothing in the universe existed before Him, and all has been made by Him.  He will endure beyond everything He has created so creation alone is insufficient to describe His power or wisdom.  No human being can look upon the all-powerful God who is spirit and live thus an attempt at a physical description would be pointless.  There is absolutely nothing in heaven or earth God could rightly use as a frame of reference to identify Himself so the unique, self-existent One wisely appealed to who He was, is, and ever will be:  "I AM WHO I AM."  Isn't He awesome?

When God met with Moses on Sinai He revealed additional truth about His righteous, unchanging nature.  Exodus 34:5-8 says, "Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. ⁶ And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, ⁷ keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation." ⁸ So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped."  Moses bowed reverently before the LORD God who is merciful, gracious, and forgiving.  His love, truth, and goodness is not according to the shifting standards of man but are perfect in purity and infinite in power.  The God who forgives sin is the Judge of all the earth before Whom all men must give account.

How great is the LORD and worthy to be praised for His power, holiness, and divine condescension.  Psalm 113:4-6 says, "The LORD is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens. ⁵ Who is like the LORD our God, Who dwells on high, ⁶ Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?"  Our God is so glorious it shows humility for Him to stoop to look into heaven, to earth, and to reveal Himself to sinners.  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Moses went even further, sending His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, to put on human flesh and walk on the earth, to go to the cross, that "I AM WHO I AM" would become our God and Father through faith in Jesus.  Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness, for He is altogether wonderful, eternal, and good.