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The First Big Reveal


God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘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, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation." (Exodus 3:14-15)
 

        Remember watching a group of people on TV standing around with Ty Pennington, and on cue shouting "Move The Bus!"? I only watched the show a couple times, but that was the moment of truth, the climax of the episode, the Big Reveal.  I love Big Reveals. Today's verses are part of a well known Big Reveal. God has lured Moses in to see what this strange thing is: a bush on fire that isn't burning up. They've had a short chat and in answer to Moses' question about what he should say if the Jews ask who sent him, God gives us this Big Reveal. He  figuratively steps out from behind the bush and says, "I AM WHO I AM." I suspect Moses wanted to say, "Stop! Wait a minute... Huh?" I suspect he spent  a lot of time thinking about "I AM WHO I AM" on his way back to Egypt.
      The Jewish culture is one of many for which a name was supposed to be more than a logo, it was the sort of label we put on the inside of the shirt. It told who designed and manufactured the person, what the person was made of, and perhaps something about the care. In other words, it was supposed to reveal something.
      So what does "I AM WHO I AM" reveal? Here are a few possibilities:
"I am truly he who exists and who will be dynamically present..." (Zondervan NIV Bible study note for the passage.)
Independent: Who I am is not dependent on anyone else
EternalUnchanging
Independent
Uncaused
Omnipresent
Self-existent & self-sustaining
Person ("I am who I am" not "I am what I am.")
Very much not created in the image of man  or limited by man
 

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Birthday of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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