Thank you for the question on Exodus 3:13–14, “What additional insight, wisdom or explanation might you add to illuminate the passages from our Holy Bible, (NAB) The Book of Exodus, 3:13 and 14?”
Here are some thoughts on Exodus 3:13–15. Before I share it, it is not that I have greater insight, but as we observe the text more carefully and correlate the truths review, it helps us understand the text clearer.
Here is the text of Exodus 3:13–15: “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 you shall call me from generation to generation” (NIV).
A. As one reads the text, God is sending Moses, but Moses is unsure if he wants to go (vs. 6:13a).
The word, suppose, or in the Hebrew for “If” hints at a possibility that he hasn’t committed himself to go. Moses doesn’t say, “When I go, but if I go…”
B. As one reads the text, Moses anticipates the question the Jewish leaders will ask him of who sent him vs. 6b)
Although God revealed to Moses in verse 6 as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, neither Moses or the Israelite know the name of God. They only know that that God appeared to their forefathers and this God is called the God of their forefathers. They wanted to know WHO sent him, specifically the name of the God of their forefathers.
The question by the Israelites assumes not the common enslaved Jewish people, but the leaders of the Jewish people. It will be them who will question Moses.
C. As one reads the text, Moses anticipates a journey back to Egypt.
God is sending him back to Egypt to deliver his people. Moses assumes that this means either leaving his family or his family joining him in this journey. That decision is undecided at this point.
He doesn’t know in the past 40 years whether the Egyptian rulers has forgotten about him or will they bring up his past deeds. It implies that if he goes back to Egypt, he may be endangered. The journey back to Egypt may well be perilous to him or to his family.
D. As one reads the text, Moses doesn’t say the Gods of your father, but the God of your fathers has sent him.
Moses does not believe in polytheism but in monotheism. There is one God who revealed himself through time to the descendants of Abraham. This God revealed himself to the fathers would be the same God who is now present with them. This God has not changed nor has another God replaced the God of their forefathers. They are the one and the same. There is one God.
E. As one reads the text, Moses anticipates the silence of God for the last 400 years or long since the time of Jacob.
Since the time of Jacob, God has not revealed himself to the Jewish people. One may say that God has been silent for over 400 years. The stories of a God who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was still being retold, but it is likely that some of the Israelites questioned the existence or presence of God.
Why would he appear now and not sooner? Why has he been silent for 400 years?
F. As one reads the text, Moses would anticipate some proof is needed to remove any doubt that God has sent him.
It is reasonable for Moses to anticipate not only the name of God, but proof that God sent him. Anyone can claim that God sent him, but if there were some indisputable proof from God, this will confirm for himself and for the Jewish people.
G. As one reads the text, God reveals the name that he wants his people to call him, “I AM.”
God reveals to Moses the name whereby the children of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob are to call him. The interpretations of the Hebrew name for God can be “I AM WHO I AM”, I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE, or I AM WHAT I WILL BE.
From what I read, the Qal Imperfect tense has two general properties: Active Voice whereby he subject is agent of verb as I guarded. The other property is the Simple Aspect whereby the action of the verb is simple, not reflexive or cause. Thus in the perfect tense the action is completed or “perfected” as in the past, while in the imperfect tense, the action is ongoing or not completed. It is present or future. Context will determine how the tense of the verb.
Is God saying that he will be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or is God saying that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? If it is used in the future tense, then the implication is that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are futuristic. It is prophetic. It implies that he will become the God of their fathers. In verse 6, God already declared that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Is God saying that he is changeable and fickle that he can be whatever he wants to be in character or action or is God immutable and faithful?
Therefore, it is my understanding/interpretation that HE IS or I AM. He is the Ever Present One, Unchanging One. Whenever they call upon “I AM”, they acknowledge that he is the One who see them and is able to protect and provide for them.
That name became so respected and revere that no Israelite would dare pronounce that name lest they profane his name. To avoid taking the name of “I AM” in vain, the Jewish people substituted the “I AM” with “LORD” or LORD God.
H. As one reads the text, God is not declaring or emphasizing his kingship over them. God does not declare, at least in this passage, that he is master-servant covenant relationship, but rather Creator God-created creature relationship.
It is important as one reads the biblical text; one needs to observe the reference to God as being LORD (I AM) or Lord (master).
If one is interested, one can look at Isaiah 6, noting the usage of LORD and Lord in the context.
SUMMARY: The name of God reveals and reflects his character and actions.
-Kingston