Exodus 3:13-14. 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.’”
Genesis ends on a high note of hope, grace, and love. Joseph is restored to his family, the world is saved, and all evil turns out for good. Cue the music; roll the credits.
But between Genesis and Exodus there’s a 400 year gap where all the good seems to have evaporated and turned to evil again. A new Pharaoh in Egypt has enslaved Joseph’s grandchildren, Moses, the hero of the book, is on the run in the wilderness, and God is suddenly very silent and very absent. But God has been waiting for just this right moment to reveal himself. The creator of all things, the star breather, the galaxy weaver, is now present in front of Moses in a burning desert bush. God warns Moses that he is on holy ground. I have seen the affliction of my people, he says, I have heard their cries. I have come down to deliver them. Finally, God says to Moses, I will send you to Pharaoh, and I will be with you.
This amazing encounter with God reveals both the transcendence and the imminence of our God. He is far beyond us and yet very close to us. Don’t come near me, but also, I will be with you. A burning flame, yet one that does not consume the bush. Holy yet merciful.
In the midst of the terrifying encounter, Moses bravely asks to know God’s name. God’s name? Yes, God has a personal name. Moses knows he can’t go to Pharaoh without the unique name of God. To know a god’s name is to have his power. Without a name, there’s no chance Pharaoh listens to Moses. So Moses asks and God tells him his name – Yahweh. I am who I am. I was who I was. I will be who I will be. God is being itself. He is constant and unchanging. The only self-determining and self-existent being in the universe.
God the transcendent IS beyond time and space, and yet he WILL BE, as in I will be with you.
Exodus 3:11-12. 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you…
But the burning bush is just a glimpse of God’s character and nature. Jesus Christ incarnate is the fullest expression of the great I Am.
I am the light of the world. I will be with you in the darkness.
I am the bread of life. I will be with you in your hunger.
I am the good shepherd. I will be with you to guide you.
I am the way. I will be with you always.
I am the resurrection and the life. I will be with you on both sides of the grave.
The one who is totally apart from us, the creator of all things, the all sufficient one, the one who exists without need and without deficiency, Yahweh, the I am, has come to us as one of us to live in us. His transcendence made imminent. His all sufficient life and love made receivable. Now, like the bush, we too burn with God’s holy presence without being consumed. To live is Christ is to have the I Am living in us as the I Will Be. With you. For you. In you. Wherever you go.
You: Which I Am statement by Jesus above do you need today?
You in Christ: Fill in the blank: I (Jesus) will be _____________________ for you today.
Christ in you: Where is God asking you to be a burning bush of his character in the world today?
To Live is Christ 
God told Moses that His presence goes with him and that He would give him rest. Thank you for your post, it reminded me that He is always with me.
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