IMPECCABLE CREDENTIALS
Opening Prayer
Speak to me today Lord. If I am evading some decision, shirking some task, wasting time, bring me to my senses.
Read EXODUS 3:13–22
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose 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?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[a] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[b] 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,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.
16 “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
18 “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 3:14 Or I will be what I will be
- Exodus 3:15 The Hebrew for Lord sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for I am in verse 14.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Meditate on a title of God or Jesus. Pray, sing, or write a prayer-poem to the Lord in response to your reflection.
Think Further
Although it may appear as if Moses is beating around the bush, his question (v 13) is a valid one. Moses finds himsef lin much the same position as a newly appointed ambassador who must persent a ‘letter of credence’ (his ‘diplomatic credentials’) to the head of state in a foreign country. Such a letter would ask that credence be given to the ambassador’s words and actions on behalf of his country. Ambassadors do not commence their duties until their credentials are accepted.
When Moses presents himself to the Israelites as God’s emissary, they will surely ask, ‘What is His name?’ (v 13). Moses must be able to offer convincing credentials. In the ancient world, the name disclosed the nature. ‘… the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’ (v 15) was identified by many titles, each denoting some attribute of God: El Elyon (God Most High, as in Melchizedek’s title);1 El Roi (God who sees me, as described by Hagar);2 El Shaddai (God Almighty, as revealed to Abram).3 To Moses, however, God now entrusts a special revelation of His name: ‘I am’ (rendered Lord or Yahweh) or ‘I am who I am’ (v 14) – which both encompasses and supersedes all other titles. ‘Unlike previous names, “Yahweh” does not limit God’s nature to any particular characteristic: He is what He is. Furthermore, His nature does not change’4 – He is the God of their fathers as well as of all future generations (v 15).
Many centuries later, the title is applied to Jesus Himself, fleshing out the bare bones of that divine ‘I am’ with a variety of descriptors about who He is and what He does – for instance, ‘I am the bread of life’, ‘I am the light of the world’.5
Apply
As ‘Christ’s ambassadors’, we are sent with the ‘message’ and ‘ministry of reconciliation’,6 to testify for Jesus in workplace, neighborhood, and social circles. In what ways are you being an effective Christ-ambassador?
Closing prayer
Lord God of Love, fellowship with You is a life of adventure. You are never finished with me. Make me a new person for a new day.
1 Gen 14:18–20 2 Gen 16:13 3 Gen 17:1 4 TD Alexander, NBC: 21st Century Edition, IVP, 1953 5 John 6:35; 8:12 6 2 Cor 5:18–20
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.