The Hebrew people were living as slaves in Egypt at the time that Moses was born. Pharaoh was oppressing the Hebrews because they were becoming too numerous, and he felt they posed a threat.
Pharaoh ordered that the male children of the Hebrew slaves should be killed to slow the increase in their population. Moses was born to Hebrew parents, who, after trying to hide Moses for some time, set him adrift in the Nile River in a basket. He was found by pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him, and he was raised as a Prince of Egypt.
It appears that Moses was aware of his Hebrew heritage, and that the oppression of his people troubled him. When he was about 40 years old, he observed an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew slave, and he murdered him. When Pharaoh learned of it, he tried to kill Moses. So, Moses fled Egypt and stayed iin the land of the Midianites for 40 years.
The third chapter of Exodus finds Moses tending sheep for his in-laws near Mount Horeb (Sinai), where he had an encounter with God:
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the
priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to
Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the
midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but
the bush was not consumed.
3 Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great
sight, why the bush does not burn."
4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him
from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said,
"Here I am."
5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals
off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."
6 Moreover 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 upon God.
7 And the Lord said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My
people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters,
for I know their sorrows.
8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians,
and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing
with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the
Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to
Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress
them.
10 Come now, therefore, and 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 that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
12 So He said, "I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a
sign to 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, "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.'
"
15 Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children
of Israel: 'The Lord 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
My memorial to all generations.'
16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, 'The
Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared
to me, saying, "I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in
Egypt;
17 and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to
the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites
and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey."
'
18 Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the
elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, 'The Lord God
of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days' journey
into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.'
19 But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not
even by a mighty hand.
20 So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders
which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go.
21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and
it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed.
22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells
near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you
shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the
Egyptians." (Exodus 3 NKJV)*
There are many lessons that can be learned from Moses’ experience, not the least of which is that when Moses tried to “do something” in his own strength about the mistreatment of the Hebrews he failed, and God gave him 40 years of herding sheep in the desert to think about it. A prince of Egypt was reduced to herding his father-in-law’s sheep. When God called him into service, Moses seems to have felt inadequate, but in verse 12 we learn that when God calls us, he gives us the strength to do what he commands.
Exodus 3 is a gold mine of Biblical truth. However, the identity and nature of God is our focus here. This account tells us more about God than it does about Moses, and I want to concentrate on how God reveals Himself to Moses, and to us, in this encounter.
In verse 2, an Angel of the Lord appears to Moses in the midst of a bush that is on fire but not being burned up. Commentators differ about what Moses saw. Some think that he saw an angel, at least at first. Others think it was one of several appearances (a Christophany) of Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, prior to His earthly ministry. (see also Daniel 3:24-25)
In the 1st Chapter of the Book of Revelation the experience described by the Apostle John seems similar to Moses’ experience. Initially, John appears to have been contacted by an angel, and after that the Lord revealed Himself. As we read Exodus 3:4, a case can be made that Moses originally saw an angel in the burning bush, and when he “turned aside” to see what was going on, he found himself in the presence of God. Moses saw an angel, or perhaps a Christophany, (our Pre-incarnate Savior.) However, the Bible says he heard the voice of God from within the burning bush.
As God speaks to Moses, He identifies Himself in verse 6, "I am the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." (emphasis added) Then He calls Moses to deliver the Hebrews from bondage in Egypt. At first Moses tried to excuse himself by saying he was unworthy. After that, he asked God to give his Name, so that he could tell the people who sent him. Some commentators say that Moses was trying to get out of the job God was giving him. Perhaps that is true. For instance, a bit later, in Exodus 4:10, Moses claims a speech impediment. However, we must take into consideration that the Hebrews had been living in Egypt around 400 years. (Acts7:6) Moses also had lived as an Egyptian Prince for 40 years. A great many gods were worshiped in Egypt, and they all had names. It is, therefore, not surprising that Moses might think that God had a name, and that the people might ask about it.
There is an elegance of simplicity in God’s answer, “I AM WHO I AM.” The one true God, the creator and ruler of the universe, lets us all know that he is too great to need a name. I seem to detect a note of irritation here. It looks like God may be wondering if people will ever understand.
The commentators I read drew all sorts of meanings from the “I AM” statement. To them, it spoke to the various traits that describe God; that God is self-sustaining, self-existent, eternal, unchangeable, faithful, incomprehensible, supreme among all other beings, and the God of the past, present and future. I agree with them, but I wish they had included more support for their intuitive ideas. What they give us, for the most part, is their opinion. The opinions of informed persons should be given full credit. However, in Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, the burning bush is seen as an illustration that explains God’s self-disclosure when He said, “I AM WHO I AM.” **
The commentators I read all believed that the burning bush had a symbolic meaning, however, the meaning they got from it differed. For instance, Matthew Henry thought it represented Israel and the church, as both have gone through the fire of persecution and not been burned up. Some of the other commentators agreed with him. However, the section on Exodus 3 of Ellicott’s commentaries, (written by the Rev. George Rawlinson, M.A.), makes an eloquent and compelling argument that the burning bush represents God, and that it explains the meaning of “I AM.” Please bear with me, as I quote Rawlinson at length. I think the argument he makes may shed some light on what God meant when He said, “I AM WHO I AM.”
And now, first, I do not think that the bush burning but not consumed,
stands as it is ordinarily understood to stand, for the symbolical representation
of the preservation of Israel …
Beautiful as that idea is, I do not think it is the true explanation;
because if so, this symbol is altogether out of keeping with the law that
applies to all the rest of the symbolical accompaniments of divine appearances,
all of which, without exception, set fourth in symbol some truth about God, and
not about His Church; and all of which, without exception, are a representation
in visible and symbolical form of the same truth which was proclaimed in articulate
words along with them. The symbol and
the accompanying voice of God in all other cases have one and the same meaning.
… let me observe that the fire is
distinctly a divine symbol, a symbol of God, not of affliction … I need not do more than remind you of the
stream of emblem which runs through scripture, as confirming this point. There
is the smoking lamp and the blazing furnace in the early vision granted to
Abraham. There is the pillar of fire by
night, that lay over the desert camp of the wandering Israelites. There is
Isiah’s word, ‘The light of Israel shall be a flaming fire.’ There is the whole
of the new testament teaching, turning on the manifestation of God through His Spirit. There are John the Baptist’s words, ‘He shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.’ There is the day of Pentecost,
when the ‘tongues of fire sat upon each of them.’ And what is meant by the great word of the Epistle
to the Hebrews, “Our god is a consuming fire”?
Fire is the source of warmth, and so, in a sense, of life … Therefore, as
cleansing, as the source of life, light, warmth, change, as glorifying,
transmuting, purifying, refining, fire is the fitting symbol of the mightiest
of all creative energy …
Nor should we forget, on the other side, that the very felicity of this emblem
is, that along with all these blessed thoughts of life-giving and purifying,
there does come likewise the more solemn teaching of God’s destructive power. …
and this same God that is the fire to
quicken, to sanctify, to bless; and (when) resisted, rejected, neglected, is
the fire that consumes …
… notice that this flame is undying-steady,
unflickering … Adopting the principle
which I have already taken as our guide, that the symbol and the following oral
revelation teach the same truth, there can be no question as to that answer. ‘I am God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham,
of Isaac, and of Jacob.’ ‘ I AM THAT I AM.’
You and I have to say, ‘I am that which I have become,’ or ‘I am that which
I was born,’ or ‘I am that which circumstances have made me.’ He says, ‘I AM THAT I AM.’ All other being is derived, and therefore
limited and changeful; this being is underived, absolute, self-dependent, and
therefore unalterable for evermore.
Because we live we die. In living
the process is going on of which death is the end. But God lives for evermore, a flame that does
not burn out; therefore His resources are inexhaustible, His power unwearied. He needs no rest for recuperation of wasted
energy. His gifts diminish not the store
which he has to bestow. He gives, and is
none the poorer; He works, and is never weary; He operates unspent; He loves,
and He loves forever; and through the ages the fire burns on, unconsumed and
undecayed.
After the “I AM,” statement God adds:
15 Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of
Israel: 'The Lord 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
My memorial to all generations.'
According to, The Moody Bible Commentary (p. 120), in English language Bibles, the name “I AM”, or “Lord God” or “Lord” are translations from the Hebrew word, “Yahweh.” Now, I do not speak, read, or write Hebrew, but I respect the opinion of the Moody Bible Institute. There are endless theological arguments about translation about the Name of God. They are best left our learned Theologians, because the simplicity that I think God intended gets lost in such arguments.
The question then becomes, “What are we going to do with it?” The Word says that, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,” (Hebrews 9:27 NKJV).* Tomorrow is not promised to any of us. Where will you stand at the judgement? If you are saved your name will be written in The Lamb’s Book of Life, and you will not be condemned. If you are not, there is another fire, a lake of fire, and you will join Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet in it, forever.
Jesus paid the price we owe for our sins. He offers our pardon as a gift. All you need to do is accept it. If you do, He will live in you, and His Spirit will cause you to become more and more like Him every day. Please, follow Jesus and live.
Note: Reader, please be aware that when I post about matters of such gravity as the nature of God, I do not do it without consulting articles by credentialed authors and various biblical commentaries. I read from the commentaries of John Gill, Matthew Henry, Charles Ellicott, John Calvin, and the Moody Bible Institute; as they pertain to Exodus 3.
* https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/
** https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/exodus/3.htm
