God is I AM

Have you seen "The Prince of Egypt?"  I love that movie!!  My husband and my two brothers and I went to see it on Christmas night of the year it was released.  Now, I love watching it with my son.

It's hard enough to imagine stumbling across a bush burning in the desert, yet not be consumed by the flames.  Then consider how terrifying it must have been to hear a voice coming from the bush!  After God commands Moses to go back to Egypt (from which he fled as a criminal fugitive) and tell the Pharaoh (who was a genocidal terrorist) to release the Hebrew nation (of which Moses was a member), I can understand how Moses might have been feeling a little . . . shall we say, overwhelmed?

But I so admire his next question.  "Who shall I say you are?"  "What is your name?"  That's a pretty legitimate question!  I mean, imagine going back to Egypt and telling the Israelites, "Hey!  Follow me!!  Burning Bush God said so."  Doesn't have a lot of strength, might or power behind it!

But God answers . . .  "I AM WHO I AM.  This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”(Exodus 3:14)

Now before you start thinking about Popeye and eating spinach and getting muscles, let's look at what this really means.  It is more literally translated, "I-shall-be that I-shall-be."  This Hebrew tense is also found in Revelation 1:8:  "I am the Alpha and the Omega."  Now THAT rocks my world!! 

I am.  I shall be.  I am the Alpha.  I am the Omega.  I am the beginning, I am the end, I was, I am, and I shall always be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think I can say any more about it.  Reminds me of the chorus of the worship song by Aaron Shust (I think), "My Savior, My God":

My Savior loves, My Savior lives
My Savior’s always there for me
My God: He was, my God; He is
My God is always gonna be

My God is I AM!  Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!