The Great I Am

Exodus 3:14 (ESV) ¹⁴  God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

At the end of Exodus 3:14, the God of the Bible tells us His name, at least one of His names, is I Am.  He is called the Great I Am in literature and hymns.  In Exodus 3:14, the Hebrew word is ehyeh which is a form of the familiar Yahweh. 

The name Yahweh appears 6,519 times in the Old Testament.  “I Am” is as much God’s name as Yahweh.  He used it to identify Himself through Moses to the Egyptians and to God’s people.  To both Jew and Gentile, the God of the Bible can be known as the Great I Am.

Yahweh is based on the Hebrew word “to be.”  In the first part of Exodus 3:14, God calls Himself “I Am That I Am.”  Hebrew scholars Keil and Deilitzsch in their commentary on this passage say Moses almost certainly knew God’s name, the name of the God of his fathers.  They believe Moses was asking about God’s nature.  “I Am that I Am” means “The Becoming One” or that God can be whatever is needed.

Now let’s move on to the New Testament.  In John chapter 8, Jesus is in a long argument with the Pharasees.  He embarrasses them with the woman caught in adultery by asking the one without sin to cast the first stone.  They accuse Jesus of being illegitimately born, but Jesus continues to tell them He is the Light of the World, that He is the Messiah Who will die for our sins, and what He is teaching is true.  Then Jesus tells them they are of their father, the devil. And the Pharisees’ angry accusations continue.

The Jews accuse Jesus of being demon possessed, and Jesus says Abraham saw Jesus’ day and was glad.  The Jews accused Him of having a demon again since Jesus was still a fairly young man and claimed to have known Abraham.  Jesus’ answer was interesting.  He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am” (vs.58).  Jesus used the divine name and applied it to Himself.  How do we know?  In the very next verse, we’re told the Jews picked up stones to stone Jesus.  This was the punishment for blasphemy.

Just two chapters later in John, the Jews once again pick up stones to stone Jesus.  Why?  John tells us:

John 10:33 (ESV) ³³  The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

Jesus used the divine Name and applied it to Himself.  Look at one more passage in John:

John 18:4-6 (ESV) ⁴  Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”   They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. ⁶  When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Have you ever wondered why they fell to the ground?  Was Jesus’ reply so overwhelming?  Who were these guys who came to arrest Jesus anyway?  John 10:3 says these were the chief priests, soldiers and officers who came with them.  Were these soldiers Romans?  Luke tells us who they were:

Luke 22:52 (ESV) ⁵²  Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?

So, all these guys who came for Jesus were Jews and officers in the Temple.  They knew God’s Name.

What’s interesting is that “he” is not in the Greek In John 18:6.  Jesus didn’t say “I am he.”  He said “I Am” using the divine name.  This was so powerful and so shocking to the Jewish officials and soldiers they fell to the ground in fear.

Why is this important?

We as Christians need to understand who Jesus really is.  I’ve spoken with some who believe Jesus is God but a sort of lieutenant god; that He’s certainly called God but just doesn’t rise to the level of the Father. 

That’s not true.  The Jesus who stood before the soldiers and Pharisees proclaiming He was the I Am is the same God who spoke from the burning bush in Exodus 3:14, the God who delivered the Jews from the Egyptians, the same God who walked with Abraham in Genesis 18 and destroyed Sodom in Genesis 19.

Our God in the Person of Jesus Christ is equal in power and authority to the Father and the Holy Spirit.  So, when we pray to Jesus we pray to the God who brought the universe into being (Col. 1:16).  The wonderful truth is that same power lives in us (Rom. 8:9-11).  The Jesus we know is the same Jesus who carries the divine Name.  He is the Great I Am!