Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you and they ask me, ‘what is His name?’ what should I tell them?” God replied to Moses “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation. (Exodus 3:13-15, CSB)

In Exodus 3 God commissioned Moses to lead the people out of 400 years of Egyptian slavery and revealed both His nature and His name to Moses on Mount Horeb. There is some significant wordplay at work in this revelation that is not so apparent in the English translation. Knowing a little of this Hebrew wordplay can certainly strengthen our understanding of God’s purpose in our lives and our world.

In vs. 11 when Moses asked God what gave him the authority to command the Egyptian Pharaoh to emancipate the Israelites , God answered in vs. 12 that His presence with Moses authorized him to negotiate with Pharaoh: “I will certainly be with you and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you.”

In vs. 13 when Moses asked God what His name was, God didn’t provide a direct answer like you or I would if someone asked our name. Rather, God answered Moses in vs. 14 by revealing His nature. “I AM WHO I AM” can also be stated as “I AM BECAUSE I AM” and interpreted as “I am He Who continually exists” or even translated “I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE.” The Hebrew phrase can indicate both present and future tense or both at once and indicates that God abides eternally beyond the ephemeral, time-controlled existence of human beings.

Interestingly, the “I AM” statement in vs. 14 God used to reveal His nature to Moses is also the same Hebrew verb contained in God’s promise to Moses in vs. 12 that He would be with Moses. Thus, the One Who was sending Moses was also the One Who promised to be with Moses to procure the Israelites’ freedom.

In vs. 15 God actually revealed His name to Moses. The “I AM” description of God’s nature in vs. 14 actually hints at God’s revealed name in vs. 15. The English “I AM” is ‘ehyeh in Hebrew, which sounds like Yahweh.

So, God Almighty, Yahweh, revealed Himself to Moses–and to us–in this somewhat metaphoric manner indicating His name is a reflection of His eternal and timeless nature.

God revealed to Moses that although He was the Eternal One, He desired to be present in our world and joined with His people in an intimate relationship. In these last days God has demonstrated His nature most propitiously by assuming human nature and becoming the man, Jesus Christ, and then sending His Spirit to indwell all His people who are joined with Christ as Savior.

God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell or abide with people who believe in Jesus Christ. The indwelling Spirit joins the believer to God and gives the believer the life of God, eternal life, which is God’s very nature just as He revealed it to Moses on Mount Horeb in Exodus 3.

In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:2-3, CSB)