I remember the first time I really learned God’s name. When I was very young, my dad showed me the 1956 film The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston as Moses. The movie is a classic loaded with iconic scene after iconic scene.
One scene that stood out to me was Moses at the burning bush. It was the one that really focused on the mystery of God. I remember, as a kid, being in awe at the sight of the Lord speaking through a bush that burned but was not consumed. I remember Him speaking to Moses, saying, “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” But there was a moment that I could not quite understand as a kid. Quoting right from the Scriptures, God’s responds, “I AM THAT I AM.” I got that God’s name was I AM, but I couldn’t grasp what that meant and didn’t for a long time. God’s name is extremely important and understanding it changes lives.
The quote comes from Exodus 3:13-14. It is the first time God answers the question. When Jacob asked the Lord in Genesis 32:29, He answered with only the question, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” However, we read God’s name several times prior to Exodus 3. The first time we see the name of God in Scripture is Genesis 2:4. “This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,” The word “Lord” in Hebrew is Yahweh, the name of God. But it is the noun form of the word found in Exodus 3. When God speaks His name to Moses, He uses the verb form which tells us what is truly meant by His name.
The translation “I AM” is truly the best rendering of the word. But what does it mean? It means “to be,” “to come to pass,” or “to happen.” Essentially, His name means, “The One who exists.” So, when Moses asks God’s name, His response is a name that means the one that existed before existence. God is eternal. He is the God that wasn’t just there when the beginning happened, He was there to start the beginning. If we understand this properly, then the name of God becomes one of the most important revelations of the Bible.
Within God’s name is one of the greatest proofs of God’s existence. The vast majority of scientists agree that our universe had a beginning. But no one can explain where all the matter in it came from. The only explanation that works is that there was a mind that existed before the universe. A mind outside its constraints. A mind that gave the universe form and laws to sustain it. The one who is. That is the God the Bible reveals. And He wants us to know Him.