I Am Who I Am

Exodus 3: 13-15

13 But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,the God of your ancestors, 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 my title for all generations.”

Moses was raised by the Egyptian royal family.  The Egyptians worshiped thousands of gods, but only about 1500 are known by name.  Some of the most commonly known of their gods were Amun-Ra: The Hidden One, Mut: The Mother Goddess,

Osirus: The King of the Living, Anubis: The Divine Embalmer, Ra: God of the Sun and Radiance, Horus: God of Vengeance,and Thoth: God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

After Moses fled to the wilderness he married a Midianite woman whose father was a Midianite priest.  Midianite gods included Baal and Ashtaroth.

Moses had been exposed to hundreds of pagan gods throughout his lifetime. No doubt he knew the names of many and may have even participated in the worship of some of them, since he had been separated from his native culture since birth.

Moses was curious to know the name of the God that was speaking to him, since no pagan god had ever spoken to him.  The answer Moses received was mysterious.  

By saying “I am who I am”, God was telling Moses that He was the one true God, who had always existed and always would exist.  He was the God that the Egyptians and Midianites searched for but had not found.  He was the essence of life and all of human experience.

And He was the God of Moses’ ancestors.

At last, Moses had found his true compass, his one true God.