Please notice how verses 10-15 is written in The Message Bible in Contemporary English because it clearly brings home a point that should remind us of exactly what God wants us to remember throughout all our generations forever, and how we need to think of Him, first and foremost.
Brethren, this translation of these 5 verses points to three things that must always be front and center in our very personal relationship with our Great God. The first two are absolutely guaranteed by the third!
The first, within verse 10, says “It’s time for you to go back.” This should help us consider that everything is being done in order and on God’s schedule as He moves all things to the end He has determined to create men perfectly in His image and likeness.
It is obvious to us that at this point in God’s 80-year preparation for the task Moses had been born to do, Moses was no longer the presumptuous deliverer of Israel from the Egyptians that He once considered himself to be. But now, as the Message Bible put it, with his pride deflated, his response to God was, "But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
How many of us are saying the same things as we sit here today among God’s elect? (We are going to follow up on this in a minute.) But it is God’s reply to the humble shepherd that is vital for us to take with us always. God’s simple reply was, "I'll be with you."
Here is another very simple statement of truth: God had told Moses, “It is time to go, on My time schedule, with everything you need. I will be with you.” Then He ends this, as the only One who could possibly guarantee the covenantal agreement that would be worked out through generations into eternity; the One who inhabits eternity, declaring the end from the beginning—“I AM!” Not only does He sign this order to Moses with His name, but He also tells us, “This has always been My name, and this is how I always will be known!”
Maybe you have considered the emphasis that I have placed over the course of the sermons leading up to and through the holy days on the name “I AM” a bit too much. But when we are told from God’s Word, “This is how I always will be known,” we really need to consider this, even though it literally borders beyond the edges of human comprehension.
This has to do with God's necessary will. God's necessary will is what He must decide and do because of His nature, because of who He is. That is, God must choose and act a certain way, because He is God and has perfect, holy, righteous character. And His name reflects this. The name He gives to Moses states emphatically that He is Who He is. That does not change.
In some way, from our limited perspective, God cannot choose to live or act differently than His permanent and unchangeable character dictates. It is hard to imagine because you do not think of God as being limited.
But He has purposely limited Himself because that is His character. He has decided that is the way He is going to be. Therefore, there are certain decisions that He makes simply because He is perfect, righteous, and holy, and He will not act any other way. Along with this is another thing, He cannot cease to exist. It is part of His character, part of His being that He is ever-living, He is eternal. He will not ever commit suicide. He will never stop being who He is. These are parts of His necessary will.
A name expresses more than just surface identification. God's name expresses His nature and operations. He was explaining to Moses His name. Israel in Egypt did not know God. They undoubtedly had a memory of Him or they would not have been crying out to Him to relieve them of their bondage; but there was no relationship with Him, and therefore they did not really know Him. They knew of Him, but they did not know Him. By comparison neither did we when we were in spiritual Egypt, even though we were not completely ignorant of Him.
God's very name, when He revealed Himself to Moses, was "GOD is!" God is not becoming. He is one. He is not becoming something else. God is pure being.
