The Burning Bush
Wesley, Frank, 1923-2002. The Burning Bush, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59170 [retrieved September 4, 2023]. Original source: Estate of Frank Wesley, http://www.frankwesleyart.com/main_page.htm.
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Burning Bush
Rudolf von Ems. Burning Bush, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55958 [retrieved September 4, 2023]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Weltchronik_Fulda_Aa88_087r_detail.jpg.
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Exploring the Text: The name of God
When God is talking with Moses, Moses asks for God's personal name. God replies with the phrase, "I am that I am." This name signifies the self-sufficiency of God. God doesn't need anything from us or anyone else (Acts 17:24-25). We need things outside of ourselves in order to survive. We need food, water, air, and love, among other things, but God needs nothing. He alone is sufficient in himself.
Because of God's self-sufficiency, he can also be all that we need. God does not need us, but we need him. When God gave this name to Moses to share with the people of Israel, it illustrated that he was everything they would ever need. He could bring them out of Egypt, he could provide for them in the wilderness, he could guide them to the promised land, and he could establish them as a people. As slaves in Egypt, they had nothing, now in God, they would have everything.
Just as God was everything the people of Israel would need, he is all that we need as well. When we fell insufficient, we can rest assured that in God's sufficiency, he can be all that we need.
David Dalton
When God is talking with Moses, Moses asks for God's personal name. God replies with the phrase, "I am that I am." This name signifies the self-sufficiency of God. God doesn't need anything from us or anyone else (Acts 17:24-25). We need things outside of ourselves in order to survive. We need food, water, air, and love, among other things, but God needs nothing. He alone is sufficient in himself.
Because of God's self-sufficiency, he can also be all that we need. God does not need us, but we need him. When God gave this name to Moses to share with the people of Israel, it illustrated that he was everything they would ever need. He could bring them out of Egypt, he could provide for them in the wilderness, he could guide them to the promised land, and he could establish them as a people. As slaves in Egypt, they had nothing, now in God, they would have everything.
Just as God was everything the people of Israel would need, he is all that we need as well. When we fell insufficient, we can rest assured that in God's sufficiency, he can be all that we need.
David Dalton