God said “I AM WHO I AM"

Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”  God said to Moses, "I AM THE I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, "I AM" has sent me to you.” Exodus 3:13, 14

Moses understood there were many gods recognized throughout the region. Remember, He was raised as grandson to the Pharaoh. He had an "Ivy League" education  and was not unfamiliar with surrounding cultures. So...it makes sense that Moses would ask..."who are you?"

Here is a list of, at least some of, the gods Moses would likely recognize.

Adrammelech	Sepharvites	2 Kin 17:31	Sun-god
Amon	Thebes In Egypt	Jer 46:25	Sun-god
Anammelech	Sepharvites	2 Kin 17:31	Moon-goddess
Asherah (Asherim)	Canaan	Judges 6:25,26,28,30	Fertility goddess
Ashima	Hammath In Syria	2 Kin 17:30	------------------------------
Ashtoreth (Ashtaroth)	Syria/Phoenicia/Canaan	1 Kin 11:5,33	Love, fertility goddess
Baal	Syria/Phoenicia/Canaan	2 Kin 10:18-23,25-28	Principal god
Baal-berith	Shechem in Canaan	Judg 8:33, Judg 9:4	Name means "lord of covenant"
Baal-Peor	Moabites	Num 25:3,5	------------------------------
Baal-Zebub (Beelzebub in NT )	Ekron In Philistine	2 Kin 1:2,3,6,16	Name means "lord of flies" (protection from)
Bel (possibly same as Baal)	Moabites/Babylonians/Ammonites	Isa 46:1 Jer 50:2, Jer 51:44	Principal god
Castor/Pollux (Twin Brothers)	Greeks	Acts 28:11	Twin sons of Zeus. Protection for sailors.
Chemosh	Moabites	1 Kin 11:7,33	Destroyer, subduer. Child sacrifices made for
Dagon	Philistines	1 Sam 5:2-5,7	Grain god
Diana/Artemis	Ephesus In Greece	Acts 19:24,27-28,34-35	Moon, hunting, virginity goddess
Gad (Fortune)	Israel	Isa 65:11	------------------------------
Golden Calf	Israel (Borrowed from Egypt)	Story in Ex 32	------------------------------
Jupiter/Zeus	Greek	Acts 14:12	King god, ruler of heaven and all other gods
Kalwan (Chiun)	Babylonians	Amos 5:26	Possibly star god
Meni (Destiny)	Israel	Isa 65:11	------------------------------
Mercury/Hermes	Greek	Acts 14:12	Messenger for the gods
Merodach/Marduk	Babylonians	Jer 50:2	Possibly associated with Mars, war god
Milcom (Malcham, Malcam)	Ammonites	1 Kin 11:5,33	------------------------------
Molech (Moloch)	Ammonites	Lev 20:2,3,4,5	Destroyer, consumer. Child sacrifices made for
Nebo	Chaldea In Babylon	Isa 46:1	Writing, speech, literature, arts god
Nehushtan	Israel	2 Kin 18:4	Serpent Moses made in wilderness (Num 21:4-9)
Nergal	Cuth in Babylon	2 Kin 17:30	War and hunting god
Nibhaz	Avvites	2 Kin 17:31	------------------------------
Nisroch	Assyrians	2 Kin 19:37, Isa 37:38	------------------------------
Queen Of Heaven (Known as Ishtar)	Assyria/Babylon	Jer 7:18, Jer 44:17,18,19,25	Love, war, fertility goddess
Rimmon	Syria	2 Kin 5:18	Weather god
Sikkuth	Babylonians	Amos 5:26	Saturn god
Succoth Benoth	Babylonians/Samarians	2 Kin 17:30	goddess
Tammuz	Babylonians/Samarians	Ezek 8:14	Vegetation god
Tartak	Avvites	2 Kin 17:31	Prince of darkness

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And, he heard a name he had not heard before. Elohim (God of creation) settled the issue...אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה  (Yahweh asher Yahweh). I AM THE I AM. "This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations".  Matthew Poole tells us the words are with equal precision rendered, I WILL BE WHAT I AM, or, I AM WHAT I WILL BE, or, I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE. Not only I am what I am at present, but I am what I have been, and I am what I shall be, and shall be what I am.

The verb hâyâh (to be) expresses not "to be" essentially, but "to be" phenomenally; it denotes, in Delitzsch’s words, not the idea of inactive, abstract existence, but the active manifestation of existence. Think about this...everything that "is", exists as a reflection of Elohim's being. The two cannot be separated. We see the same essence presiding over the final chapter of creation , "I am the Alpha and the Omega--the beginning and the end, I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come--the Almighty One." (Revelation 1:8) The great God of creation (Elohim) is the same great God who will make all things new.

The name is all encompassing and all consuming. None of the other gods actually exist...they exist only in the minds of the pagans who invented them.

This, of course, means you and I have a decision to make. We either subordinate ourselves to the self-proclaiming, self-existing, Lord of all existence...or we look for other options that can exist only in our little minds.  Blaise Pascal (1623–62) reminds us what a foolish endeavor that might be. He posits that humans bet with their lives that God either exists or does not. A rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas he stands to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (eternity in Hell).

But, you know, the pleasure of that fruit was so tempting to Eve. She wanted it more than she wanted God. And, the pleasure of Eve was so tempting to Adam that he wanted her more than he wanted God.

We all know how that turned out...

Live boldly out there today...

The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people

The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey". Exodus 3:7

I once was in the middle of an extremely chaotic situation and was attempting to figure out a solution. I couldn't seem to get my mind focused sufficiently to properly analyze the situation and develop a promising plan. A friend of mine opined "It's hard to remember you came to drain the swamp when you're up to your hips in alligators!"

Very true. Often life seems that way...even for good people who have done nothing to warrant the stress. King David once said "The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all". (Palm 34:19) Most of us know the first part by heart; The righteous person may have many troubles. It's the second half of the statement that we often lose sight of.

I believe we already know why remembering the promise of deliverance is so difficult in times of trouble. When God asked Adam where he was, Adam said "I was naked". When God asked what Adam had done Adam said "The woman you gave me..." When God asked Eve if she had eaten the forbidden fruit she said "The serpent deceived me".

Lots of "I's" and "me's"...

Looking inward is no way to overcome trouble. All it does is magnify our discomfort and encourage us to do anything...often the wrong thing...to escape our problems. . In fact, James tells us in his epistle "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (James 4:3). My personal experience says James is referring to our most common prayer; "Why, God?", as though God must justify himself to us. A better prayer might be "what now, God?"  It allows us to concentrate on the way forward.

1 Peter 3:12 says "the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer".

This is a confirmation of what we read in Exodus 3:7. But, we only seem to remember the promised deliverance if our hearts and minds are focused on the deliverer, not on the problem (ourselves). The Children of Israel, while in Egypt, had the spiritual sense to cry out to God for deliverance and...God heard them. Even more, He said "I have come down to deliver them".

This life is a swamp and some day we will be delivered. Until then, why battle the alligators? Its a fight we cannot win. We have a far better solution. "If we know that God hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him" (1 John 5:15). So..."do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God". (Philippians 4:6)

And...let God drain the swamp...

Live boldly out there today...

The Lord said “Moses! Moses!.”

When the Lord saw that Moses turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” Exodus 3:4

You and I are not alone...sometimes feeling estranged from the God we love because of our own stubborn insistence on having it our own way. We feel like we are alone in a wilderness. This has happened all through history and every time we lose sight of where God might be, he calls us.

"Lee! Lee!"

The first time was when God called "Adam! Adam!"  Then again, with Moses at the burning bush. Moses was tending his father-in-law's and was on the west side of the wilderness near Horeb, the mountain of God. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and Moses said, “I have to go and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” Moses replied "Here I am!".  And...God declared himself saying "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

God is always calling us. Unfortunately, we usually fail to hear Him. There are reasons for this. The children of Israel where in exile...estranged from their God Yahweh. They longed to live in fellowship with Him once again but despaired of it ever happening. The prophet Jeremiah comforted them with a letter outlining Yahweh's words to them. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jer 29:13)

Elijah ran for his life and hid in a cave...at Horeb...the same place Moses found Yahweh, after Jezebel threatened to kill him. The Word of the Lord came to him, and He said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?...Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! A powerful wind was pounding the mountain and breaking it in pieces. But...the Lord was not in the wind. And an earthquake came after the wind , but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire came, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing...and the voice of Yahweh was in the gentle blowing.

We learn two important lessons here. First, we will find God only when we search for Him with all our hearts. Second, when God calls it may be in the least expected manner. You may be wandering but, there is a way out of the wilderness. God is calling you...can you hear his voice? Listen! Harder!

Sadly, millions of people will never experience the overwhelming elation, the exhilaration, the  intoxicating pleasure found through intimacy with God because they never seek Him. It's sadder still when people of faith fail to ever find perfect fellowship with their Savior because they simply will not seek Him with all their heart.

I can choose to be a believer and live in the spiritual wilderness or I can choose to be a believer and dwell securely in the arms of the God who called my name.

Who are you?

Live boldly out there today...

The Lord said, “I am the God of your father Abraham...I am with you for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

The Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.” Genesis 26:24

There was a famine in the land similar to the earlier one during Abraham’s time. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines. The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Don’t go to Egypt. Stay where I tell you.  Live here in this land for a while, and I will be with you and bless you. I will give all these lands to you and your descendants. I will keep the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.  So Isaac stayed where he was.

Isaac planted crops and harvested a hundred times as much as he had planted because the Lord had blessed him.  He continued to be successful, becoming very rich. Because he owned so many flocks, herds, and servants, the Philistines became jealous of him  and filled in all the wells that his father’s servants had dug during his father Abraham’s lifetime.

So Isaac dug out the wells that had been dug during his father Abraham’s time and gave them the same names that his father had given them and said, “Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in this land.”

He went from there to Beersheba...where the Lord appeared to hem and said “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.”
We lose our way when we begin to believe the goodness of God is a result of our own righteousness. In truth...God blesses us for the sake of his servant Abram...and all the righteous men that followed him...all the way down to my father George. The only question remaining is, "will I be part of the chain of righteous servants who ensure the blessings pass to the next generation?" 

Live boldly out there today...