"I AM who I AM"

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?" God said to Moses, "I AM who I AM."


Anybody who has spent time with me knows I enjoy having my mind blown. I love to appreciate the amazing things in this world as well as the thoughts that we just can't wrap our minds around as finite beings. For example, when the topic of the vastness of the universe comes up, I can space out (pun intended) for several minutes. I allow my mind to wander as it tries to grasp the seeming infinitude of outer space. Similarly, the complexity and amazing cooperation of trillions of living cells in the human body. I could close my eyes and try to grasp the concept of literal eternity for a figurative eternity. I love it.

One such thought that has crossed my mind brought about by reading philosophers and discussing with friends is the idea of the present. When you really stop to think about it, everything that is happening has already happened. You may think you are reading this sentence in the present, but it's already past. In the same way, everything else is in the future until it is in the past. The present is as small as the line that the future crosses to become the past. In fact, even you are not. You were and you hopefully will be. But you cannot pin point the moment when you are, because instantaneously that will become when you were. Is your mind blown yet? If not, I hope soon it will be.

When Moses is trembling before the Burning Bush, he asks God, "What is your name?" A name is the single most important identifier of who you are. Picture all of the people you've met and never gotten a name. It's pretty difficult to do, right? So Moses wants to know, whom have my forefathers had as their God? With whom am I speaking right now? This is God's chance to really blow Moses away with the most amazing name imaginable. "My name is Awesome, King, The Man, Incredible, Epic, The Legend, The Great One." He could have given Moses the most complex name known to man. He could have given him a very simple name, "My name is Joe." But instead He gave Moses a sentence, "I AM who I AM," translated from the Hebrew Yahweh asher Yahweh. This is where we get the all caps "LORD" in the Bible as well as the Latinized form "Jehovah."

This name means that only God can describe God, only the I AM can describe who is the I AM. It means that God is self-sustaining. There is absolutely no living thing in this world that can claim that. Everything must be fed. But the I AM sustains the I AM. But what I find the most astounding about this name of God is the fact that in a world where everything was or will be, God is the only one who is always present. If we named ourselves, we might be called "I WAS who I WILL BE" or "I WILL BE who I WAS." But never "I AM who I AM." That name is reserved for God alone.

Even Jesus bends the rules of grammar to express the always presentness of God in John 8:58, "Before Abraham was, I am." Before creation, God is. In the days of Israel, God is. During Christ's time on earth, God is. Yesterday, God is. Today, God is. Tomorrow, God is. When this earth is destroyed and Christ is forever enthroned as King, God is.

As we begin the study of the Doctrine of God at BPSM, I have found it essential that we are studying and knowing I AM, not a god of our own making. As Christians, we must give the respect and worship that a being of God's transcendance merits. Dwell on God and allow your mind to be blown. Do not create god, instead know God and worship Him as your Creator.