I AM
This name closes out the year-long study on the Names of God. I am deeply grateful to Ann Spangler for letting me share her insights through this blog. If you haven’t gone through the book yet and you’re looking for something to do in 2025, I can’t recommend it enough.
This is the perfect name to wrap the year up with because it ties the persons of the Trinity together so well.
Ehyeh is I Am in Hebrew, and we first encounter it at the burning bush.
Then Moses replied to Elohim, “Suppose I go to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The Elohim of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?”
Elohim answered Moses, “Ehyeh Who Ehyeh. This is what you must say to the people of Israel. ‘Ehyeh has sent me to you.’” – Exodus 3:13-14 (NOG)
Ehyeh, the I AM, makes me grin. I think of it as His “I mean business” name. That’s irreverent, I know, but hear me out. Especially when we get to the New Testament. It’s weighty and powerful, but it’s a little bit sassy, all the same.
I’ve included some nuggets in parentheses–things I can’t ignore but won’t fully explore in order to keep our focus on the name.
Ehyeh means I am, and it’s closely related to the Tetragrammaton, YHWH. It’s first used in Exodus 3. Read the chapter for context.
Jacob took his family to Egypt during the famine, and they had it made while Joseph had favor with Pharaoh. But by the time Moses was born, all the Israelites knew was slavery. And Yahweh? Yahweh who? They felt forgotten.
The first time Moses tried to advocate for his people, they rejected him. (He was rejected by his people the first time, but the second time, he was the boss. That sounds like a type, right?)
He flees to Midian and herds sheep for forty years. The Prince of Egypt lives as an outcast doing the most menial job for forty long years. (Forty days of rain. Forty years wandering the wilderness. Forty days of fasting. Forty signifies a time of testing.)
After forty years, God shows up in dramatic fashion–the burning bush. Exodus 3:2-10 tells of Moses’ amazing encounter with Elohim.
Elohim calls out to him from the bush that was burning but wasn’t burned up. He orders Moses to take off his sandals because he’s on holy ground. He declares that He’s the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
What would you do? Take a moment to ponder that.
It gets better. Elohim–think Creator, in charge, but not a personal name– switches to YHWH–relational, covenantal, caring. YHWH says He’s seen His people’s misery. He’s heard their cries. He knows they’re suffering. And He’s ready to rescue them. And Moses is the man for the job.
How would you respond?
How did Moses respond? With a hearty yes, leaving the sheep in the dust as he hightails it back to Egypt?
No.
Moses hedges.
So, say when I go back, they ask who sent me. What am I gonna tell them?
That’s a lame excuse of a question if I ever heard one. Moses knows he’s talking to YHWH. Granted, Moses had probably been isolating himself and licking his wounds for forty years. That would mess with anyone’s head. He’s the forty-year old gamer who’s living in his mother’s basement.
Testing is always good for building your faith. So YHWH gives Moses a little push.
Here’s how I imagine it. He suppresses a figurative eye roll and lets His breath out slowly. “I AM who I AM, Moses. That’s what they need to know.” He crosses His figurative arms and cocks His head. “Tell them I AM sent you.”
He doesn’t lay into Moses, but it’s a stern reminder of Who’s in charge.
And if you think that’s laying down the law, just wait till we get to the I AM of the New Testament!
