I am is with you!

“I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you,

and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence.” Ex 33:19 

Moses had just brought the flock he was tending for his father-in-law around the back side of the desert and came upon the mountain of Horeb, called the mountain of God.  He notices a bush, not because it is a great bush, but because the bush was on fire.  Nothing new here, Moses has undoubtedly seen bushes burn before.  Most likely he has burnt some himself as fuel for the campfire on the edge of the desert where not much grows and it gets cold at night.  But then he notices something special about the fire and the bush.  The fire continues to burn and the bush is not consumed.  Normally the bush would burn up but this one does not.  So he turns aside to see this strange sight.  How odd…the bush does not burn up—he’s thinking.  Right there, God reveals Himself to Moses, calling his name “Moses!  Moses!”  Moses replies, as we all should when God calls our name, “Here I am.”  God tells him to take off his sandals because this is holy ground.  Then He proceeds to tell Moses He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He has seen how His people are being mistreated at the hands of the Egyptians and He has come down to rescue them.  He tells Moses He is sending Him to Pharaoh to bring His people the Israelites out of Egypt. 

But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" 12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." 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. 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, 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 by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. Exodus 3:11-15

The Amplified Bible renders verse fourteen as follows, “And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM and WHAT I AM, and I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE; and He said, You shall say this to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you!” 

God chose this name for Himself to be referred to by His people.  He could chose any name but He chooses this one. The verb He uses here is “hayah,” meaning “to be.”¹  In the first person, this verb is translated “I am” or “I will be.”  Verse twelve also uses this verb when God says “I will be with you.”  Moses would have heard and understood the similarities.  Verse fifteen also uses a derivative of this verb when God says “The LORD, the God of your fathers.”  The word “LORD” is the third person singular form of the verb hayah² and is in its original form “YHVH.”¹  

This is called the Tetragrammaton meaning “the four letters” (the Hebrew letters are: Yod, He, Waw and He).  This four letter Hebrew word has its own name for a good reason.  It is the most common name for God in the Old Testament (over 6,500 uses).  Most Bibles will translate “YHVH” as “LORD.”  Part of the reason for this is that the name “YHVH” was not pronounced by the Jewish people so as not to break the third commandment.   

“In modern Hebrew, grammar [in] this matter is so serious and important, that the verb ‘to be’ (‘I am’) is not used in the present tense at all!  An Israeli will therefore state in Hebrew:  “I teacher ... I clever”, omitting the verb 'to be' (I am) in the present tense.  Usage of the Hebrew verb ‘HOVEH’ (I am) would imply referring to oneself as being the Almighty!”³ 

So the proper pronunciation of the word was lost.  Later the vowel points for the word Adonai meaning “My Lord” were added.  Altogether then the pronunciation became Yahweh (as the letter Waw [V] is pronounced as “W”).⁴   

NIV Life in the Spirit Study Bible notes, “The Lord gave himself the personal name ‘I AM WHO I AM’ (from this is derived the Heb Yahweh), a Hebrew phrase that indicates action.  God was in effect saying to Moses ‘I wish to be known as the God who is present and active.’…Inherent in the name Yahweh is the promise of the living presence of God himself day by day with his people…It expresses his faithful love and care and his desire to redeem his people and live in fellowship with them.  This corresponds with the fundamental promise of the covenant, ‘to be your God’ in Gen 17:7 which is the first and fundamental promise on which all other promises rest.  It means that God unreservedly binds himself to his faithful people to be their God, their shield and their reward [as he proclaims in] Gen 15:1.  It also means that God’s grace, pardon, promises, protection, guidance, goodness, help and blessing are given to them in love (Jer 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; 32:38; Eze11:20; 36:28; Zech 8:8).  All Christians inherit this same promise through faith in Christ (Gal 3:16).  The Lord states that this will be his name forever (v. 15).⁵ 

When God says “hayah – I AM,” He is declaring Himself as self-existent.  “The basic thrust of this verb describes the state of existence. As the third person form of haya, Yahweh literally means ‘He is,’ or ‘He exists.’  It is a description of who God is. He is the self-existing one.  When God told Moses ‘I am that I am,’ that is the first person singular form of haya, ‘ehyeh.’ It may be said that from God's perspective He is ‘I am,’ but from our perspective ‘He is.’” ⁶ 

When the Samaritan woman at the well told Jesus “‘I know that the Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming…’” and Jesus replies “I who am with you am he” she would most likely have understood Him as saying “I AM.”  This is the reason why the Jews in John 8:59 picked up stones to stone Jesus because they had understood Him correctly to say “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!”   It is not by accident the Messiah was called “Immanuel—which means, ‘God with us’” (Mt 1:22).  He has chosen the name “I AM” to remind us that He is always with us and has always existed. 

Years later when Moses asked God to show him His glory, God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock and let His goodness pass in front of him, proclaiming His name saying “The LORD, the LORD the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…”  God here proclaimed “Yahweh, Yahweh” as the name He chose to grant Moses his request to show him His glory.  God has chosen to reveal Himself as Yahweh, the God who is, who has always been, who always will be, the One who is with us day by day expressing His love to us.  Yahweh – what a beautiful name!

Footnotes

¹ Strong’s and Thayer’s definitions from: Meyers, Rick. Vers. 9.0.3. Franklin, TN, 2010. Computer software.  http://www.e-sword.net/.

² Barker, Kenneth L., and Donald W. Burdick. "Exodus 3:15 Study Notes." The NIV Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985. 91. Print.

³ "Restoration of the  Sacred Name." Bible Revelations Studies,Hebrew Hebraic Roots,Restoration Israel,Sacred Names. 16 May 2010. Web. 31 Dec. 2011. http://www.revelations.org.za/NotesS-Name.htm.

⁴ Wikipedia contributors. "Tetragrammaton." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 21 Dec. 2011. Web. 31 Dec. 2011.’

⁵ Stamps, Donald C., and J. Wesley. Adams. "Exodus 3:14 Study Notes." Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. 97. Print.

⁶ Dulle, Jason. "Yahweh or Jesus: What Is God's Name?" Institute for Biblical Studies - (OnenessPentecostal.com). Web. 31 Dec. 2011. http://www.onenesspentecostal.com/yahorjesus.htm#foot1. 

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

All Scriptures marked AMP are quoted from "The Amplified Bible." BibleGateway.com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 100 Versions and 50 Languages. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. <http://www.biblegateway.com/>.

God huddles with us, overshadowing us!

“‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him

 Immanuel’ – which means, ‘God with us.’” – Matt 2:23 

Imagine the amazing anticipation, the eager excitement, the innocent inquiries…heaven is poised gaping down on earth.  The fullness of time had come.  The moment for which eternity waited was here.  The promise of the ages—the Eternal One—is about to break into time.  Heaven quivered. The heavenly hosts stood amazed.  Such an act of humility had never been seen before - such stooping, such abasement, such abnegation. The King would become a peasant.  The Absolute Ruler would become a servant.  The Righteous Judge would become a subject.  Holiness would dwell in the middle of the profane.  Love would be present at the heart of a hateful world.  Omnipotence would be found completely dependent.  Omniscience would learn to walk.  Omnipresence would somehow exist in 2 cells.  Love – it must be love – which had prompted such a decision.  Desire for restoration of relationship, to allow all people a way to come freely to Him, devoid of the sin that would disbar them from His presence, this is what drove Him to do it.  Imagine all of Heaven holding its breath in the sheer wonder of it all.  Remember Heaven knows the Ultimate Holiness of God that would be present in the muck and mire of a sinful world.  Heaven knows the Majesty and Splendor of His presence.  It marvels at the idea all that could even fit into a human body.  But Heaven also knows of His great love and compassion—His desire to relate to His people.  Earth, however, well, only one person on earth may have known when that incredible moment occurred when Heaven came to earth, when the power of the Most High overshadowed a young teenager in Nazareth. 

That was the moment “God, without ceasing to be God, was made a man.”¹  God chose to reveal Himself not as a cold, hard ethical standard, not as a set of rules to be followed, or even a story to be recited.¹  God chose to reveal Himself as a person with whom you should have a relationship.  Why did God choose to reveal Himself in this way?  Because He desires relationship with us.  Because He loves us.  He would go out of His way, did go out of His way, to show us just how closely He desires to be with us. 

Here is one of the central points of the incarnation of Christ.  God came to earth and died for our sins so that God could be with us, so that He could be in us, so that He could live in us. 

Most people think of the incarnation in terms of what Jesus did to forgive our sin, but it's so much more than that.  I believe the Father's love drove Him to send the Son, fully understanding and knowing the cost, but willing to pay that price, because He wanted to bring us back into unbroken relationship with Himself.  Think of it, He purposely created man with free will and the capacity for relationship.  Why would He have done that unless He wanted us to relate to Him?  Sin is tragic, but it is the effect of sin – separation from God – that is the real catastrophe.  Is it possible that one of the ways He made us in His image is with this capacity for relationship? 

God foretold of His appearing as a man over 700 years in advance speaking through the prophet Isaiah, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.” 

The Hebrew for Immanuel literally means “With us (is) God.”  “I am” is with us.  The Hebrew is from two words “’im” and “’el.”  ‘Im is an adverb or preposition meaning “with (that is, in conjunction with)…  specifically equally with.”²  The root of this word is “‘amam” which is defined as “A primitive root; to associate; by implication to overshadow (by huddling together)”²  The other Hebrew word comprising Immanuel is “‘el” which means “strength; as adjective mighty; especially the Almighty”²  So Immanuel to the Hebrew mind may have intimated the idea of God huddling together with us, overshadowing us with the strength of His Almighty Presence. 

Immanuel: With us is God—huddling together with us, overshadowing us with the strength of His Almighty Presence! 

Previous to that incredible moment when God stepped down into time, Mary had asked how this could be since she was a virgin.  Notice how Gabriel, the messenger angel, answers her.  “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” Lk 1:35  

Isn’t that interesting, God tells us Immanuel is coming.  Immanuel, God huddling together with us, overshadowing us with His Almighty Presence, and when Mary asks how this will be she is told the Holy Spirit (God’s presence) will come upon her and the power of the Most High will overshadow her.  Immanuel will happen to Mary just as His name reminds us.  Immanuel: With us is God—Huddling together with us, overshadowing us with the strength of His Almighty Presence!  But the promise was not just for Mary, it is for all those who believe in God.  This is our God, the One who promises to be with us, who huddles together with us, overshadowing us with the strength of His Almighty Presence! 

Life was not meant to be lived outside of the awareness of His Presence.  His strength becomes our strength when we live in His Presence.  Pastor Bauman once said, only Christianity elevates joy and love as normative.  It’s about relationship.  Joy in loving Him and each other.  Loving the joy He is to each of us.  He has given everything for you.  He has done everything to make Himself available to you.  What are you doing with Him? 

He is closer to us than we are to ourselves.  He waits for us to commune with Him, to acknowledge Him there huddled together with us overshadowing us with the power of His presence.   

“You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word].” Psa 27:8) AMP

Don’t struggle, just snuggle.  He’s waiting for you…right there where you are. 

Footnotes

¹ Lucado, Max. God Came Near: Chronicles of the Christ. [Portland, Ore.]: Multnomah, 1987. Print.

² Strong’s and Thayer’s definitions from: Meyers, Rick. Vers. 9.0.3. Franklin, TN, 2010. Computer software.  http://www.e-sword.net/. 

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

All Scriptures marked AMP are quoted from "The Amplified Bible." BibleGateway.com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 100 Versions and 50 Languages. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. <http://www.biblegateway.com/>.