hidden page for editing transcript

Our text for tonight's message is taken from Exodus chapter 3, verses 10 to 15. Allow me to read for you verse 10. "Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." And Moses said unto God, "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" And he said, "Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain." Verse 13: "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?" And God said unto Moses, "I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." And God said moreover unto Moses, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." The Lord blessed the reading of His holy and sacred word.

When God called Moses to go to the Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, he asked God two questions. The first question was, "Who am I?" We had learned about that in our last message. Tonight, we want to focus on the second question: "Who are You?" When Moses asked God, "Who am I?" God could have proved to Moses that he was the right man for the job. He could have reminded Moses that he was trained in the Pharaoh's court. He could have pointed to the lessons that Moses had learned as a shepherd out in the wilderness. He could have emphasised that no man in this whole world was better prepared to lead Israel out of Egypt than Moses. But God did not do that, because if God had shown to Moses that he was fully qualified for his calling, that would lead Moses to trust in his own abilities, strength, and gifts rather than trusting in God. Therefore, God simply said, "I will be with you."

Let us begin with the first part of verse 12. "And he said, Certainly I will be with thee." You see, when Moses said, "Who am I?" in a sense he was telling God that he could not do the job, which was correct, but that was beside the point, because he was not the one doing the saving; God was the one doing the saving. Whatever doubts Moses might have about his own abilities were totally irrelevant. If I may phrase it this way: when Moses said, "This is an awesome task; I cannot do this! Who am I?" God responded, "You are not doing this on your own; I will be doing this through you. You are my instrument; I will be with you." The Exodus did not depend on the competence of Moses but on the promise of God's presence. Later on, Moses understood this lesson, or he learned this truth, because in Exodus 33, verse 15, when God commanded him to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, Moses said to God, "If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence."

When God calls His children to service, it always comes with the promise of His presence. There are many examples in the Bible. Let me give you some. When God called Joshua to take over the leadership from Moses, He promised him, "As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee" (Joshua 1:5). When God called Gideon to lead the Israelites against the Midianites, He promised him, "Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man" (Judges 6:16). When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, He promised him, "Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 1:8). So you can see a repetition of "I will be with thee." Whenever God calls His children to service, He will always be with them to empower them.

But this promise was not only given to Moses, Joshua, Jeremiah, and the other prophets; it is for all of us. Remember when Jesus gave the Great Commission to go and preach the gospel unto the uttermost parts of the world? When you and I obey this command, Jesus promised, "And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:20). My friends, if we have the promise of God's eternal presence, what more do we need, or what more do we want? Are you afraid of the task set before you? Perhaps you have been called to serve as a choir master or as a fellowship leader. Oftentimes, when we consider new candidates for deaconship or eldership, some of them would respond by saying, "I can anticipate the troubles ahead of me. I'm afraid I may not be able to accomplish the duties and responsibilities faithfully." They are hoping that the pastor would say, "Don't worry, I will always be with you to help you." That is most comforting, right? No, the most comforting thing to hear is that if God has called you, He will be with you; He will help you at every step of the way. There will always be troubles in the ministry, just as there will always be rejections as we share the gospel. Do you think God will only call you into a ministry that has no problems, no struggle, no lack of anything? If that is the case, then why would God need you to serve in such a ministry? Most, if not all, of the time, God will call you into a ministry that is filled with troubles, challenges, and difficulties, but He will be with you.

If Moses still had any lingering doubts, God gave him another sign. Look at the second part of verse 12. "And this shall be a token unto you, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain." A token is a sign, and this sign that God has sent Moses—when would it be confirmed? It will be confirmed when he had brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and when he served God on this mountain. Some of you may be wondering, "But this sign would not be confirmed until the future, somewhere in the future," and the question is, how could this help? How could this sign be something to reassure Moses at this present moment? Something in the future that would reassure him at this present moment? So what is the purpose of this sign? Remember, the key to our Christian life is all about faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. He had already assured Moses that He would be with him. He must simply take God's word for it and move forward in faith.

Do you realise that this same principle applies to all of us every day of our lives until the day we die? Do we know what will happen to us tomorrow? No, we don't. By faith, we trust and believe that God is in control of today, tomorrow, and forever. Have we ever experienced what it means to die, be buried, and be raised from the dead? No, we don't. None of us has ever experienced that. By faith, we trust and believe what God has said about death, about the resurrection, about the rapture, about Heaven, and eternity. So, at every step of the way, we trust and believe what God has said in His word, and by faith, we move forward, and we do that continuously as a life pattern until the day we draw our last breath and we see the Lord face to face. That is faith. Do you believe that God is with you? Do you believe that God will always be with you? That is the question.

Our second point is, "I AM THAT I AM." Before agreeing to lead Israel out of Egypt, Moses first wanted to know who he himself was, and the next thing he wanted to know was who God was. God had already promised Moses that He would be with him. Yet, Moses asked in verse 13, "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?" Moses was still focusing on the situation and the people. He was worried about what he should say to the people and what the people would think of him. Though this appeared to be a genuine question, there were three problems.

Notice, firstly, Moses said unto God, "Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel." In other words, he was saying to God, "Look, let’s suppose if I go to the children of Israel." When God gave a divine command, it was not open to negotiation. Moses had to obey—that's it. There was no supposing. Instead of saying, "Let’s suppose if I go to the children of Israel," he should have said, "Behold, I will go to the children of Israel." Likewise, when God said in His word, "Ye must not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers," or "Ye must not divorce your husband or your wife," or any other commandments that He had given to

us in His word, we must never say, "Well, let’s suppose if I obey God." We must never do that. Instead, we must simply say, "I will obey." That's it; it is not open to negotiation.

Secondly, Moses said, "When I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say unto me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?" Moses made it sound as if he was asking on behalf of the Israelites, when in fact he was the one asking. He was voicing his own doubts. Remember, at this point in time, Moses had not yet returned to Egypt; he had not yet spoken to the children of Israel. He was just anticipating what the Israelites would say to him. There's nothing wrong with anticipating any potential difficulties ahead of us, but the problem is this: we can never anticipate everything. Our anticipation can be wrong, and when we anticipate things that will happen, we can be overwhelmed with fear, and that is not how faith works.

Take a moment and consider this: let’s say you were called to get married to someone, and after you got married, you had a child whom both of you love very dearly. After a few years, your husband lost his job, and your family was in a financial crisis that was so bad that you had to sell your house and move from place to place. You struggled to put bread and butter on the table. Then your husband fell sick, and subsequently, he died. A few years later, you lost your only child in an accident. It was as if your whole world had collapsed. You see, you will never be able to anticipate all these things happening to you, and if God were to reveal to you all these things in the first place, you would be so overwhelmed with fear that you would never be able to take the first step to get married. That is not how faith works.

This same principle applies to all of us, whatever be our calling, whether we are called to be pastors, preachers, Sunday school teachers, elders, deacons, parents, and so forth. Trust and believe in God. He is in control of all things. If He allows things to happen, then it is for a sovereign purpose, and by faith, we move forward.

Thirdly, Moses already knew who God was. Look at verse 6. God said to Moses, "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." So, God had already told Moses who He was, what His name was, and yet Moses was still asking Him. But before we blame Moses for his lack of faith, we must learn to put ourselves in his position for the moment.

Think about this: Moses had not been back to Egypt for 40 years. He did not know what was happening in Egypt. Even worse, the last time he was there, the Israelites had rejected his leadership. Most likely, they would not believe Moses when he said he was sent to be their deliverer. Personally, Moses was not even sure himself that he could do the job, so why would anyone else believe he could do it? He himself could hardly believe his own eyes and ears that he was standing in the presence of God, and how could anyone else be convinced by him that the Lord had appeared to him and had called him?

Imagine Moses going to the children of Israel and saying to them, "Look, I was out there in the wilderness watching over the sheep, and I saw this bush. It kept burning and burning without being burnt out. Then I heard a voice telling me that I would lead you out of Egypt." Surely, the children of Israel would think that he was crazy, that he had been hallucinating, he had been seeing things or hearing things out there under the hot desert sun. Who would believe him? Therefore, Moses felt he needed something more. He wanted God to reveal His very name. But remember, God had already revealed who He was: "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." So why did he still ask?

You see, God's name was more than a name—it represented His entire character, His reputation. When God said, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," He was speaking of Himself as a covenant-keeping God. So, here Moses was asking God to reveal His name. He was seeking to understand God's essence. In a sense, he was asking God to reveal His very being; he was asking God to reveal His attributes.

That was why verses 14 and 15 say: "And God said unto Moses, 'I AM THAT I AM,' and He said, 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.' And God said moreover unto Moses, 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations.'"

What does "I AM THAT I AM" mean? Firstly, it means God is eternal and unchangeable (or immutable) in His divine being. Basically, the phrase "I AM THAT I AM" means "I am the one who is." It is in the present tense of the Hebrew verb "to be." Notice, God did not say, "I was who I was," or "I will be who I will be." He said, "I am who I am." This is because God has no past or future, but only an eternal present. God is the one who always is. He is who He is. He has always been who He is, and He always will be who He is.

Secondly, it means God is self-existent. The term "I AM" can be translated as "He causes to be." Everything and everyone in this world traces their roots to God, but God is independent. He does not owe His being or His attributes to anyone else. He simply exists by Himself, all by Himself. The puritan Matthew Henry said this: "The greatest man in this world must say, 'By the grace of God I am what I am,' but God says absolutely—and it is more than any creature, man or angel, can say—'I AM THAT I AM.'"

God is not dependent on anyone or anything else because He has His very existence from Himself for all eternity. He is the "I AM THAT I AM."

Thirdly, it means God is self-sufficient. He does not need any help. He does not live, or move, or have His being dependent on anyone except Himself. Alexander Maclaren, a faithful Baptist pastor, said—allow me to quote him: "You and I have to say, 'I am that which I have become,' or 'I am that which I was born,' or 'I am that which circumstances have made me,' but God alone says, 'I AM THAT I AM.' All other being is derived and therefore limited. God's being is underived, absolute, self-dependent, and therefore unchangeable forever. Because you and I live, we die, but God lives forever—a flame that does not burn out. Therefore, His resources are inexhaustible, His power unlimited. He needs no rest. His gifts diminish not. He gives and is none the poorer. He works and is never tired. He loves and He loves forever, and through the ages, the fire burns on and on and on, unconsumed and undecayed." How true.

Once Moses knew God's true essence, His very being and His attributes, he was able to go back to Egypt and say to the Israelites, "I AM hath sent me to you." So, the rest of Exodus is the story of God living up to this name, "I AM THAT I AM."

My friends, do you know that the God whom you and I believe in is the "I AM THAT I AM"? He has revealed that to us, and He is none other than Jesus Christ. Please turn with me to John 8:24. The Gospel of John, chapter 8, verse 24, Jesus said, "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." Jesus Christ is the Great "I AM." Anyone who does not believe in Him has no hope for salvation—absolutely no hope for salvation.

Look down to verse 28: "Then said Jesus unto them, 'When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.'" Here, Jesus was speaking about His crucifixion, claiming that His death on the cross for sinners would prove that He was indeed the one true and living God—the God of our salvation—the Great "I AM."

A Christian is someone who believes that Jesus Christ is the Great "I AM." If you do not believe that He is the one living and true God, the Great "I AM," Jesus says, "If you do not believe I am he, ye shall die in your sins."

Finally, look further down to verse 58, John 8:58. Perhaps this will be one of the clearest verses in the Bible that Jesus is the Great "I AM." Jesus said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." Can you see that? In other words, Jesus was claiming to be the Great "I AM," the God whom you and I believe in—the eternal, unchangeable, self-existent, self-sufficient God—the "I AM THAT I AM."

And this Great "I AM" was willing to come into this world, live a perfect life, keeping the laws of God, which you and I cannot keep. This Great "I AM" was willing to go the path of Calvary, where He suffered and He suffered in great agony. He was crucified on the cross; He shed His precious blood. Without the shedding of His blood, there is no remission of sins. Jesus, the Great "I AM," died on the cross because of you and me. He was buried, but on the third day He rose again from the dead, and because He lives, you and I can live also.

I pray that as we consider our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is the Great "I AM," let us learn these two important lessons: He will always be with us, always, and by faith, we move forward no matter what happens. Jesus will be with us, and He is the only one whom we worship and serve, because He is the only one who is worthy of our love and adoration. We love Him because He first loved us. Jesus is the Great "I AM."

Let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for this opportunity for us to consider this portion of scriptures. And even as we seek to study through the book of Exodus, we want to learn from Thy precious word. We want to learn of Thy grace and mercy. Most importantly, we want to learn who Thou art. Even as Moses asked, "Who are you, O Lord?" we want to ask—not because we have doubts in our hearts, but because we want to know more about Thy essence, Thy very being, Thy attributes. And the more we learn about Thee, the more we will trust and believe in Thee.

O Lord, we pray that our faith will be founded in Thy precious truth—in the God whom we believe in, in His word, in the Great "I AM." Help us, O Lord, even as we continue in our study on this book of Exodus. Speak to us continuously. This we ask of Thee, in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.