Daily Devotions
Exodus
"And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." Genesis 14:20
Text: Exodus 3 : 14
A PROFOUND ANSWER
If God were to give an answer to Moses, would he (and the children of Israel) really understand Him better? The Lord did not have to give an answer to Moses at all, but He did.
“And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’
And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel,
‘I AM has sent me to you.'”
EXODUS 3:14
If God wished to identify Himself in this manner, could anyone fully comprehend the significance of what He said? How would knowing God’s name, “I AM”, help the children of Israel be more certain that Moses had indeed been sent to liberate them from the tyranny of the Pharaoh?
THE MANY NAMES THAT GOD WENT BY
The Book of Genesis recorded a number of names that the Lord God went by. Let us make a quick list of some of the more striking names.
1. The LORD
“Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.”
Genesis 4:26b
“And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.”
Genesis 13:4b
2. God
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High..”
Genesis 14:19
“Then Abraham… called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.”
Genesis 21:33
3. Almighty Potentate
“Possessor of heaven and earth”
Genesis 14:19
“And God said to him (Jacob), ‘I am God Almighty.”
Genesis 35:11
4. Gracious Provider
“The-Lord-Will-Provide”
Genesis 22:14
A NEW NAME – ‘I AM WHO I AM”
Since Moses asked for God’s name, He graciously obliged. He may indeed be called “I AM WHO I AM”. But what does knowledge of this profound name do for the children of Israel?
Faith in God, that is a rekindled faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was really more important than to ask for knowledge of God’s personal name. This new name pointed out the Eternal Attribute of God. But how may finite human beings fully comprehend the concept of eternity, or the Being of an Eternal God? A humble and genuine faith in God was of even greater significance to any inquirer!