¹³ 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?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel:

‘The Lord, the 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 thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. ¹⁶ Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, ¹⁷ and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ ¹⁸ And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. ²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. ²¹ And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, ²² but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

1) What’s the big deal about God’s name and why does He call Himself “I AM”?
In biblical times, the giving of a name was meant to give a definition of that person, either by occupation or by characteristic or perhaps the circumstances they were born with. God gives Himself a name that defines Him with Himself. He simply is. He is timeless, the beginning and the end of all things. There is no other definition for God except “God”. He holds the supremacy in all matters.
He also refers to Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which is the name He had been known by since cutting the covenant with Abraham and his offspring from that covenant promise. God wanted to be known as the covenant-keeping God, for Abraham, for the new covenant that would come in Jesus, and for the fulfillment of the covenant with Christ’s return. He is trustworthy to be the same, yesterday, today, and forever! Check out these references!
John 8:58, Psalm 68:4, Psalm 83:18, Revelation 1:4, Revelation 1:8

2) What is the significance of God “observing” in v 16? Is He a casual onlooker?
“Observe” here does not have the same implication we may take in our western culture. The Hebrew meaning is much stronger being defined as, “caring for, looking after, or attending to”. We get the idea of an attentive parent caring for the needs of a child, definitely not a casual onlooker who just happened to suddenly notice the Hebrews being enslaved.

3) What does this passage reveal about God’s character?
So Much!! He promises freedom from slavery and bring them into a homeland rich with inheritance. Which we see Him act faithfully on and keep His word. He is honorable, steadfast, and completely trustworthy. God tells Moses flat out that He knows Pharaoh “will not let (the people) go without being compelled by a mighty hand” (verse 19). Which later proves true in 5:2 and 7:4. He is all-knowing, seeing past, present, and future, and able to work and intercede throughout time. He is all-powerful as He tells Moses, again in advance, that He will stretch out His hand and do wonders in order to free His people (verse 20). We also see that He is a providing God, both physically and spiritually. He allowed the Hebrews to plunder the Egyptians as they escaped slavery (verses 21-22).

1) How does God calling Himself the “I AM” impact my everyday?
God gave Moses his intimate, personal name. “I Am” was referred to as Jehovah, but was such a personal name, the Israelites would never say it or even spell it completely, out of respect and awe. In our modern Bibles, every time you see LORD with all capital letters, it indicates this personal name for God, Jehovah, the “I Am”. Back to Moses….there he stood on holy ground, with his head bowed low before the mightiness of the timeless, infinite God, and the All-Powerful told Moses to call Him by His intimate name. What an incredible picture of God’s passionate heart! He is both Almighty and intimate, personal Savior. Ruler of the universe, and yet He is the same one present with us when grief washes over us, when relationships fail, and sadness overwhelms us. The God OF all, is the same God IN all.

2) What is the significance of God “observing” in v 16? Is He a casual onlooker?
God’s observance or “attentive looking after” isn’t limited to large nations, but rather He carefully watches over each of us. Even tiny sparrows aren’t overlooked in God’s observance, how much more so the everyday lives of the beloved people He died to save?

3) What does this passage reveal about God’s character?
We aren’t slaves of cruel taskmasters in ancient Egypt, but we can easily become slaves to a myriad of other masters. Fear, shame, the past, a relationship, financial loss, failing health, anxiety, or even monotony, but the character of our God reminds us that He Is All In. He is for us and not against us. He isn’t outside our reality with hands bound, He’s present, He’s caring, He’s trustworthy, He’s powerful, and He is our great provider, whatever the situation is. Rest easy in who our God is!

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Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

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