Exodus 3:13-15
And Moses said unto God: ‘Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them: The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me: What is His name? what shall I say unto them?’ And God said unto Moses: ‘I AM THAT I AM;’ and He said: ‘Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: I AM hath sent me unto you.’ And God said moreover unto Moses: ‘Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations. (1)
“Moses and the Burning Bush” adapted from www.freebibleimages.com
Context of the Burning Bush
At this point in the biblical story, Moses' Egyptian prosperity, position, and privilege have been stripped. He lives in exile in the barren wilderness. He flees to Midian where he meets Reuel (Exodus 2:18) commonly referred to by his title “Jethro,” given in Exodus 3:1. The title “Jethro” (יִתְר֥וֹ yiṯ-rōw), means “His Excellence” or “His Remnant.” (2) Reuel was a priest with seven daughters. Moses marries Zipporah, one of the seven offspring of Reuel.
Meanwhile, the Hebrews are slaves in Egyptian under the oppressive thumb of a Pharaoh who “did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). The Hebrew slaves cry out for deliverance. Their pleas are unheard. A remnant continues to hope for a redeemer. At this point in the Exodus story, the Hebrews have not experienced the plagues nor the physical deliverance from Egypt. The Hebrews have not crossed the Red Sea on dry ground nor received the Ten Commandments. They are waiting for an unknown deliverer. Moses, the deliverer to come is in Midian listening to the voice within the burning bush.
Puzzled by the “I Am that I Am.”
I cannot wrap my brain around the imagery of Exodus 3:14. I am, no pun intended, the kind of guy who first looks to the plain sense meaning of the scripture. How can I understand a man named Moshe kneeling barefoot before a bush that is on fire, but never burns to a crisp? And if that was not strange enough, an “angel of the Lord” appears amid the burning bush, and then God has a conversation with Moshe! If one of my patients came up to me with this story, I would deduce they were at least delusional, if not on the verge of a psychotic break.
Who Am I?
In a moment of bewilderment, Moses questions his suitability for “the call” and asks, “Who am I” (3:11). Explaining who our Lord is and the nature of “The Call” upon our life leads to deep conversations with friends and family. How do we rationally explain our encounters with the divine? Words fail us. I have a beloved friend who has moved on to glory. Euna Mae Freeman summed up her encounters with the divine this way. “Terry, I know that I know that I know.” Regardless of the language translated into, the Hebrew “I am” is “difficult to reproduce in English” (3)
Moses Asks for The Name
Moses needs to know the name of the God who speaks to him in the burning bush. Moses asks for the name of the God speaking to him and calling him to lead the people out of Egypt. Why ask for a name? The Hebrews lived within the Egyptian culture for four hundred years. The cultural beliefs of Egyptian society became deeply embedded in the psyche of God’s people.
In ancient Egypt, people considered the gods to be in charge of every aspect of daily life, fertility, fortune, weather, the harvest, and what happens after death. For example, Ra was the god responsible for the sun, making sure it moved across the sky daily. For the Egyptians, knowing the name of a god was important because using the name gave you power and influence over that specific deity. The ancient Egyptians thought that by saying the names of the gods, they could form a personal connection and ask for their favor.
Moses Receives No Name
The God of the Hebrews was unlike any of Egypt's gods. He has no limitations to specific regions or acts of nature. Therefore, Moses does not receive a name. Instead, Moses was to remember the actions of the God who cut a covenant with his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The name of this God is not as important as trusting in the covenant He made with his ancestors.
Expressions that Describe God's Actions
“In the words of the Midrash, ‘God said to Moses: You want to know my name? I am called by My deeds. I might be called E-l Sha-dai, or Tzevakot, or Elokim, or Ha-Va-Ya-H. When I judge My creatures, I am called Elokim. When I wage war on the wicked, I am called Tzevakot. When I tolerate the sins of man, I am called E-l Sha-dai. When I have compassion on My world, I am called Ha-Va-Ya.H.” (4)
Still, Moses presses for a name so he can convey the identity of the one who is speaking to him, God responds with the enigmatic phrase "ehyeh asher ehyeh." “I am that I am” is a Near Eastern idiom or expression that defies understanding by doing a simple word study to write a precise definition. “In ancient times, a name was more than an identifying label. Your name was your essence, what you were all about, your identity rather than just your identification. (5)
Insights from the Hebrew
“Ehyeh asher ehyeh” (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה), often translated into English as "I am that I am” (JPS 1917, KJV, NET), “I am who I am" (NASB, NIV, Holman), “I will be what I will be” and “I will be that I will be” (RSV footnotes).
The key to understanding this phrase is knowing the tense of the Hebrew verb "ehyeh" (אֶהְיֶה). Ehyeh comes from the root "hayah" (הָיָה), meaning "to be" or "to exist." The Revised Standard Version of the Bible correctly translates "ehyeh" (אֶהְיֶה) into the future tense.
Dennis Prager’s commentary on the book of Exodus, in his series, The Rational Bible, explains why the future tense of the verb was used.
A Verb Without A Present Tense
“Hebrew does not have a word for the present tense of the verb ‘to be.’ In other words, there is no Hebrew word for ‘a,’ or ‘is’ or ‘are.’ Therefore, in order to say, ‘I am Joseph,’ for example, one would say, ‘Ani Joseph’ (“I Joseph”). The absence of the present tense of ‘to be’ is not unique to Hebrew; it is also true of Arabic and Russian, among other languages.” (6)
The Future Promise
Rashi’s comment on Exodus 3:14 nails it. אהיה אשר אהיה I AM THAT I AM — I will be with them in this sorrow — I Who I will be with them in the subjection they will suffer at the hands of other kingdoms - Berakhot 9b. (7)
“God wanted to assure Moses and Israel that God would become what they would need Him to become. In using the words ‘I AM THAT I AM,’ God used an expression to reveal to Moses a promise and pledge.” (8) “To name something is to describe and define it. So, G-g, who is infinite and undefinable, cannot be named. Thus G-d has no name, only names – descriptions of the various behavior patterns that can be ascribed to His influence on our lives.” (9)
The Name Kept Secret
I find it interesting that after Moses insists on receiving a name and receiving the way to introduce God to the people as, “I am that I am,” Moses never uses this phrase to name or describe God anywhere in the Bible. This leads me to question, who needed the assurance of a name for the voice within the burning bush, Moses, or the people? Moses needed reassurance. Why? Moses, “keeps it to himself.” (10)
Conclusion
I still remember my beloved professor, Dr. Kenneth Hendrick, on the edge of his wooden desk facing a classroom full of young, eager Bible students tackling this passage. His simplistic, yet mystical answer still resonates with me.
“Moses has an encounter with the great I Am that I Am. Human words defy explaining the essence of The Almighty. He just is, was, and will be in the future! He is there even though we do not see him. We are not alone.” (11)
In times of trouble or need, it is easy to utter the words of the Psalmist, My God, My God. Why have you abandoned me (Psalm 22:1)?” We might proclaim to the heavens, “Where are you, God?” “Do you not see what I am going through?”
When we look in the rear-view mirror of our life, we can see where the Lord’s hand opened doors, closed doors, prevented us from experiencing hardship, or even allowed hardship, loss, and sadness. It is much harder to see his hand at work when we are in the center of a crisis. No one knows what the future holds.
We can describe what he did in the past, trust him in the present, and place our hope in him for the future. If we desire to know who God is, his essence, we must look to his actions in our lives. “My nature will become evident from my actions.” (12)
Therefore, we must trust that whatever the situation or need, our Lord is the “I Am” that will be present in the future, as he was in the past and is in the present when we do not sense his presence. He will be what we need in the future because he is the I Am that I Am, and nothing can separate us from the great I Am. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is Emmanuel – God is with us!
References
(1) The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text, A New Translation. Jewish Publication Society, 1917
(2) Jethro | The amazing name Jethro: meaning and etymology (abarim-publications.com), accessed January 26, 2024.
(3) Schild, E. “On Exodus iii 14 - "I am That I am.” Vetus Testamentum 4 (1954): 296-302.
(5) Prager, Dennis. "Commentary on Exodus." The Rational Bible, Regnery Faith, 2018, p. 44.
(6) ibid. p.44
(8) Why did God call Himself, “I AM THAT I AM”? (chicagobible.org), accessed January 15, 2024.
(9) I Am - Chassidic Masters - Parshah (chabad.org), accessed January 4, 2024.
(10) Who Is "I Am That I Am"? Mosaic (mosaicmagazine.com), accessed January 4, 2024.
(11) This quote from The Reverand, Lt. Cornel, Dr. Kenneth Hendrick is from my hand-written class notes from a
graduate course and biblical theology lecture in the fall of 1984. His teaching style is the reason for my love of the
Bible in general and my fascination with the words of the Prophets.
(12) Berlin, Adele and Marc Zvi Brettler, editors. The Jewish Study Bible. Oxford University Press, 2004, New York.
"Exodus 3:14" Footnote, page 111.