I AM הָיָה

We are in Exodus chapter three with our word for today. הָיָה come to pass, occur, happen, be, become, have, exist, to have the quality of being. It is used 2,808 times in the Old Testament. The basic idea of our word is simply exist or you could say the reality of something. A good example of this is the very first time it is used in the Bible in the second verse of the Bible. Genesis 1:2 Now the earth הָיְתָ֥ה was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. God is describing the reality of the earth before he created it was without form or void. This idea of reality is exactly how it is used in our chapter today. Exodus 3:13-15 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God is saying tell the people that I am reality. I am the ever existing one. There may be lots of ways to interpret what is going on but I’m the reality the one that defines what is and what will be. Again the example of creation. Genesis 1:7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it וַֽיְהִי was so. God is reality because when he said the word to create it was so. It became the reality. We see this throughout God’s creation in Genesis chapter one and two. And we see how God works through his creation in the rest of the Bible to bring about what he wants to happen again because he is reality. The people had a current reality of being slaves in Egypt but God who is reality is now engaged to change their reality because it was the right time. Because only God can call himself reality in that he is the ever existing one and that he is the only one who can change reality, it became a title for God himself. This is also why Jesus identifies himself this way calling himself the ever existing reality. One of the clearest statements of this is in John. John 8:56-59 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. The religious leaders knew exactly what Jesus meant by saying this he is saying that he is God the ever existing reality this is why they tried to kill him. We find seven “I Am” statements that Jesus made recorded in John’s gospel. I love these because when I am experiencing a reality that is difficult I remember that God is the true reality and I can be encouraged knowing that God the Son and God the father are working to bring about a much better one. We will look at these closer as we make our way through the Bible but for now I will close with them. John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 10:7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die. John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.