Verse of the day: Exodus
3:14 And God said to Moses, “I
AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM
has sent me to you.’”
Moses,
reluctant to carry out the task he was called to, asks God in the previous verse,
“Indeed, when I come to the
children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to
you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what
shall I say to them?” God’s response should have meant a lot to both
Moses, and the Israelites; and should still mean a lot to us. God’s Name is one
that indicates that He is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. He was not
born as men are born, and He will never die (Job 36:26; Habakkuk 1:12;
Revelation 1:8). God is unchangeable, as He has been He will always be (Malachi
3:6; Hebrews 13:8). This should be a comfort and a hope for us because it
reminds us that God does not forsake His promises to us (Number 23:19). His
ways are unsearchable, and beyond our comprehension (Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans
11:33). All of this is just the tip of the iceberg in getting to know our God.
We can spend a lifetime searching Him out and growing in our knowledge of Him
(2 Peter 3:17-18) and still find ourselves wanting in what we discover, as He
reveals Himself to us. In the context of this verse, it is significant in that
God needs no one to exist, and needs no one in the carrying out of His will and
plan. He is self-sufficient, and can do all things without us. In other words,
He did not need Moses in order to deliver His people. He could have delivered
them Himself. Later, when the Red Sea is parted, it is not Moses who does it,
but God who does it (Exodus 14). In Deuteronomy 9:3, God Himself reminds them
that He is the One going before them into the Promise Land to drive out and
destroy the inhabitants that were already there. In Psalm 50:8-15, God made it
clear to Israel that He was not in need of their sacrifices, or anything they
offered, because He is self sufficient, and needs nothing from man. He tells
them that He owns the world (Psalm 50:12). So why would God call Moses to lead
His people out of Egypt? Why would God call any of us to carry out that which
He can do Himself? Well, because of His love, grace, and mercy toward us. The
bottom line is that there is not one of us who has served, is serving, or will
serve the Lord, who is so great, in and of ourselves, that God needs us to
carry out what He is going to do in our midst. We must be careful not to think
more of ourselves than we should, in God’s service, simply because God has
endowed us with an extra touch of some gift, talent, or ability. In calling
Moses to go to His people in Egypt, God, once again, reminds Moses that He will
be with Him (verse 12). This alone should have been enough to encourage Moses
to go about God’s business without reservation. It was God’s way, once again,
of reminding Moses who it was that was going to actually do the delivering. Today,
we have the same promise in Hebrews 13:5-6, where God tells us that He will
never leave us, nor forsake us, and He will be our Helper; so what can man do
to us? The bottom line is that we need not be filled with
pride when God calls us into His service, because in reality, He does not need
us. The other consideration is that we must serve Him in humility, gratitude,
and praise, knowing that He chooses to use us, in Christ, and by His grace,
even though He does not need us.
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