Exodus, 3:11-15

 

Moses is picked by God to lead the Hebrews out of slavery, out of Egypt, to a new land of milk and honey, but Moses is not all pleased with this new assignment. Here is his response, from The New American Bible,  to Yahweh’s personal command or invitation: “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?’ He answered, ‘I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring your people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this very mountain.’ But Moses said to God, ‘’when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?’ God replied, ‘I am who am.’ Then he added, ‘This is what you shall tell the Israelites; I AM sent me to you.’

 

God spoke further to Moses, ‘Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is my title for all generations.’”

 

My response: Moses is not willing to undertake this heavy responsibility, but God will not take no for an answer. I am who am as a name for and self-definition for God is a profound one, and the notes on Page 61, The New American Bible, refer to Yahweh as the absolute and necessary Being. God pushes Moses to go get the Israelites freed from Pharaoh and bring them back to this very sacred mountain to worship Yahweh. God is quite persuasive, when De is focused like a laser.

 

Here is Moses’s answer to God’s command as laid out in the Holy Bible (KJV): “And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.

 

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say to them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.”

 

My response: God’s self-identification that he exists that he exists is that it is a brute fact, fait accompli, not to be interpreted, not to be explained, not to be find justification in some other fact or being outside of itself (God), its own existence. God is the first principle of first principles, and there is no explanation for that. Moses is just to rally the people and get them out of /Egypt, which he shall do.