I AM Sent Me — TDW Kids

I AM WHO I AM

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When Moses asked God's name, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’” (Exodus 3:14). Those four words tell us more about God than a whole book could.

God simply is. Everything you can see was made by someone. Trees grow from seeds. People are born. Even the stars had a beginning. But God was not made. He simply is. He never had a beginning.

God needs nothing. People need food, water, sleep and friends. God does not need anything to keep Him going. He is not tired or hungry. Everything else depends on Him.

God has always been. “Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Psalm 90:2). There was never a time without God.

God never changes. “For I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6). People change their minds. Moods go up and down. God is always the same. That means He always keeps His promises.

The name LORD. Right after “I AM,” God calls Himself “the Lord God of your fathers” and says, “This is My name forever” (3:15). In many Bibles the word LORD is printed in small capital letters when it stands for this special name.

The God who was, is and will be. In the last book of the Bible God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End… who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).

Jesus said “I AM.” Jesus told the crowds, “before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). Abraham lived about two thousand years before Jesus was born. Jesus was saying He is the eternal God who spoke to Moses.

Jesus' “I am” promises. Jesus also said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), and “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Everything we need, Jesus is.

The same forever. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The Jesus who died on the cross and rose again is the same Jesus who hears your prayers today.

Good news for worriers. If God could change, we could never be sure of His love. But because He is I AM, His love for His people is as steady as His name.

What to do. When things around you change, and they will, remember God's name. Pray, “God, You are I AM. You never change. I trust You.”

Exodus 3:14 is one of the most important verses in the Old Testament about who God is. The Hebrew ehyeh asher ehyeh (say: eh-YEH ah-SHER eh-YEH) is built on the verb hayah (say: hah-YAH), “to be.”

Two ways to say it. The phrase can be translated “I AM WHO I AM” or “I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE.” The first stresses God's self-existence; the second, His faithfulness in the future. Both are true. God is, and God will be what He has promised.

Self-existence. Every created thing has its being from something else. God has His being from Himself. He is not borrowing life from anywhere. Psalm 90:2 states it in poetry: “from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”

Unchangeableness. “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob” (Malachi 3:6). God's people survive because God does not change. His covenant love does not wear out.

The covenant name (3:15). The four-letter name, often written YHWH, is related to the same verb. It is translated LORD in most English Bibles. Exodus 6:3 says the patriarchs knew God as “God Almighty,” but “by My name Lord I was not known to them,” meaning they had not yet seen the full meaning of the name in rescue and covenant.

Revelation 1:8. “Who is and who was and who is to come” is a New Testament way of saying the same thing. John uses the language of Exodus 3 to speak of the Lord God Almighty.

John 8:58. Jesus does not say “before Abraham was, I was,” which would only claim great age. He says, “I AM,” the timeless present of the divine name. The crowd understood and picked up stones (8:59).

The seven “I am” sayings. John records Jesus calling Himself the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way and the truth and the life, and the true vine. Each one shows what the eternal I AM is for His people.

Reverence for the name. The third commandment will say, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” Because the name reveals who God is, it is to be spoken with honor. Jewish practice of reading “Adonai” in its place grew out of that reverence.

Application. God's name is not only information. It is a promise. The One who is, is with you, and the One who will be what He has promised will keep every word.

Who Am I?

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Before Moses asked God's name, he asked a different question: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” (Exodus 3:11). Moses felt much too small for the job.

Moses' excuses. Moses gave God five answers. Who am I? What is Your name? They will not believe me. I am not good at talking. Please send someone else. Have you ever made excuses when God asked you to do something?

God's answer. God did not say, “Don't worry, you are great.” He said, “I will certainly be with you” (3:12). What matters most is not how strong we are, but who goes with us.

What is in your hand? God asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?” (4:2). It was just a shepherd's rod. God used it to do amazing signs. God can use ordinary things, and ordinary people, for His work.

God made your mouth. When Moses said he was not good at talking, God said, “Who has made man's mouth?… Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth” (4:11-12). God knows our weaknesses. He made us.

God chooses the weak. “God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1:27). God often picks people who know they need Him.

Strength in weakness. Paul once begged God to take away a weakness. God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we are weak, God's power shows.

Another young man. Jeremiah said, “I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” God answered, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth’… For I am with you to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1:6-8). Kids and young people can serve God too.

God gives help. When Moses refused, God was angry, but He still gave Moses his brother Aaron. God often sends people to help us do what He asks.

Jesus is with us. Jesus promised His followers, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). The same God who was with Moses is with everyone who trusts Jesus.

What to do. Think of something God wants you to do that feels too hard: telling a friend about Jesus, saying sorry, being kind to someone difficult. Pray, “God, I am small, but You are with me. Help me.”

Moses' first question, “Who am I?” (3:11), is a question about identity. God's answer is not about Moses at all: “I will certainly be with you” (3:12). The answer to “Who am I?” is “I am with you.”

From self-confidence to self-doubt. Forty years earlier Moses acted boldly and failed (2:11-15). Now he swings to the opposite error. Neither pride nor false humility is faith. Faith takes God at His word.

From questions to refusal. Moses' objections moved from questions (3:11, 13; 4:1, 10) to refusal (4:13). God answered the questions patiently but responded to the refusal with anger (4:14). Honest doubt brought to God is different from unwillingness to obey.

“What is that in your hand?” (4:2). God's question takes Moses' attention from what he lacks to what he has. The shepherd's rod becomes “the rod of God” (4:20), through which God works the signs.

The Creator's claim (4:11). God claims authority over mouths, hearing and sight, including disability. Scripture does not treat weakness as outside God's purposes. Paul's thorn in the flesh leads to the promise, “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

A biblical pattern. 1 Corinthians 1:27 says “God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” Gideon, Jeremiah and the apostles fit the same pattern. Jeremiah's objection (“I cannot speak, for I am a youth,” Jeremiah 1:6) echoes Moses closely.

Words given. God promises Moses, “I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say” (4:12). Jesus makes a parallel promise to His disciples: “it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matthew 10:20).

Commissioned with presence. Moses is sent with God's presence, and the church is sent the same way: “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). “Be strong and of good courage… for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

Gifts in community. God's answer to Moses' weakness includes Aaron. God often meets our weakness through other people He gives us. The church works the same way, with different gifts serving one body.

Application. Identify one excuse you most often give God. Then ask what His presence changes about it.

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