Exodus 3:13-22

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 should I tell them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the sons 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 this is how I am to be remembered for all generations. ¹⁶ Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have seen you and what has been done to you in Egypt, ¹⁷ and I promise that I will bring you up from the trouble of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”‘ ¹⁸ And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless forced by a mighty hand. ²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand and hit Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. ²¹ And I will give this people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians; and when you go, you will not go empty, ²² but each woman will ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You will put them on your sons and on your daughters. This is how you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Yahveh

That ancient name was based on an ancient form of the verb “to be,” and spoke of a God who is infinite. He was the God of Israel’s past, being the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He was also the God who had power for the present – a mighty hand that would force the stubborn Pharaoh to release his iron grasp on his slaves. He was equally the God of the future, who promises a new land, a land flowing with milk and honey, far away from the present trouble in Egypt.

This amazing deity is the same God who comes to us today, and commands us to trust him in our present struggles, and to put our faith in him for our future destiny. He is the I AM. We can rely on him. He will never ask us to do anything he cannot empower us to do. He will never promise anything he cannot fulfill.

LORD, we are ready to get out of Egypt. Rescue us. We trust in you.