Key Verses: Exodus 3:14, 3:6, 3:8
While shepherding Jethro’s flock at Horeb, the mountain of God, Moses sees a bush burning yet not consumed. As he turns aside to look, God calls to him from the bush, warning him to remove his sandals for he stands on holy ground. God identifies Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses hides his face, afraid to look at God. The LORD declares that He has surely seen the affliction of His people, heard their cry, and known their sufferings, and He has come down to deliver them and bring them to a good and broad land flowing with milk and honey. He commissions Moses to go to Pharaoh and bring the people out of Egypt. When Moses protests, “Who am I?” God promises His presence and gives a sign. Moses then asks God’s name, and God answers, “I AM WHO I AM” (ehyeh asher ehyeh), instructing him to say that “I AM” has sent him, and that the LORD (YHWH), the God of the fathers, is His name forever. God foretells that He will strike Egypt with wonders, that Pharaoh will finally let them go, and that the people will not leave empty-handed but will plunder the Egyptians.
The burning bush reveals the God who is both consuming holiness and self-sustaining life, present in the midst of His people’s suffering yet utterly transcendent and set apart. The divine name “I AM WHO I AM” discloses God’s eternal, self-existent, and unchanging being: He depends on nothing and is the source of all that is, the covenant-keeping LORD who will be everything His people need. This name becomes the theological foundation for the entire Exodus and for all later revelation, and Jesus claims it directly for Himself in the seven “I AM” sayings and most strikingly in “before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). God’s declaration that He has “come down to deliver” anticipates the ultimate condescension of the incarnation, when God comes down in the flesh to save. The promise of a land flowing with milk and honey points beyond Canaan to the eternal rest and inheritance secured in Christ. Here the God who sees affliction proves He is not distant but redemptively involved with His covenant people.
Key Terms & Words:
- אֶהְיֶה (ehyeh) - Exodus 3:14 - “I AM / I will be”; God’s self-existent, eternal being, the root behind the covenant name YHWH
- יְהוָה (YHWH) - Exodus 3:15 - “The LORD”; the personal covenant name of God, His name forever, connected to “I AM”
- קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh) - Exodus 3:5 - “Holy”; the ground is holy because of God’s presence, revealing His set-apart nature
Cross-References:
- John 8:58 - Jesus declares “before Abraham was, I AM,” claiming the divine name
- Acts 7:30-34 - Stephen recounts the burning bush and the angel of the LORD
- Matthew 22:32 - Jesus cites “the God of Abraham” to prove the resurrection
- Revelation 1:8 - “I am the Alpha and the Omega... who is and who was and who is to come”
- John 1:14 - The Word became flesh, God coming down to dwell among His people
Discussion Questions:
- What does the revelation of God’s name “I AM WHO I AM” teach us about His character and self-existence?
- Like Moses, we often feel inadequate for God’s call; how does God’s promise “I will be with you” address your own sense of inadequacy?
- How do Jesus’ “I AM” statements, especially “before Abraham was, I AM,” connect Him to the God of the burning bush?