One of the most famous passages of the Old Testament is Exodus 3:13–14. It says this: “But Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them? God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I AM has sent me to you.’” (NRSV).
This passage is so famous because it explains the origins of how God revealed his personal name. The phrase translated “I AM WHO I AM” is the vernal clause behind the Hebrew name that is translated in the Old Testament as “Lord”. While the name itself does reveal the nature of who God is (entirely independent and not limited by time and space, unlike the rest of creation), but I don’t want to tackle that here.
What I do want to highlight here, however, is that when God reveals his personal name to Moses, Moses comes to a deeper, more intimate understanding of who God is. At this moment, Moses and God take their relationship to the next level.
Are you ready for that? It’s risky. It’s scary. It’s dangerous. Jesus reminds us to count the cost before you say “yes” (Luke 14:25–34).
By doing this, God becomes vulnerable for the sake of humanity. This is what taking the relationship to the next level means: becoming vulnerable. Vulnerability requires humility. It means recognizing that even though pain may come, you’re willing to go through that pain (sacrifice) for the sake of something better, for something more, for something more substantial.
I remember when I was at the point in my spiritual walk when I wanted to go deeper, I wanted to become more serious about being a follower of Jesus, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to go through the pain that was required to do it. There were a number of things in my life that I didn’t want to give up. These, using the biblical metaphor, were my idols. I clung to these things. I found stability and familiarity in these things. Even though my idols kept me small and stunted my growth as a human being, they were familiar. I was so afraid of the unknown. What will come from being a more serious follower of Jesus? What will he ask of me? Will I be courageous enough to respond and obey?
I had to be vulnerable. I had to accept that fact that Jesus knew what was best for me and I didn’t. I had to face the fact that He, the relationship itself, was to be my rock; not the temporal, fickle, unstable relationships and stuff of this world. It says in Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.”
Coming back to the passage from Exodus 3, God revealed himself to Moses in a time when the world (and Moses) needed him the most. The Israelites needed deliverance. They were in slavery, their babies were being killed, their people being persecuted, and God heard their cry. God’s response was to call Moses.
I think this means that when God invites us to go deeper with him, to take the leap of faith of becoming radically His, it’s because there’s a job he wants us to do. Are you ready?
By the end of the story, Moses is an entirely different person than he was at this moment in Exodus 3. Moses became a person of consequence in the world because he was courageous enough to be abandoned to God. If you want to change, be ready to take a risk and be abandoned to God.
