Although the one thing in the world which Mo'ses desired above all was the deliverance of his people from bondage in E'gypt, he felt that he was unable to serve as the leader in such an undertaking. With all humility he answered the summons from the burning bush in these modest words, "Who am I, that I should go unto Pha'raoh, and that I should bring the children of Is'ra-el out of E'gypt?"
It was only natural for Mo'ses to think of the fact that he was still sought by the E'gyp-tian authorities for the killing of an overseer so many years before, of the fact that for forty years he had been out of touch with events in E'gypt, and of his own lack of experience in serving as the leader of a great people. For these reasons he was most reluctant to accept the Divine Commission now thrust upon him.
If Mo'ses had been a proud, conceited man, he no doubt would have said, "Who am I not?"; but as a man who trusted only in the LORD, he said, "Who am I?" In reply to the modest question of Mo'ses, the LORD assured him that He would be with him, and that as a token of His presence Mo'ses should worship on this mountain when he brought Is'ra-el out of E'gypt.
Then Mo'ses remembered the treatment his people had received when he had slain the cruel taskmaster so many years before. It also occurred to him that perhaps the Is'ra-el-ites would not follow a leader who had spent forty years in the king's palace while they were forced into the hardest kind of labor, and who had now been absent from the country for forty years. He knew that his people must be broken in spirit by the years of bondage, and must have lost all hope of being delivered from their troubles. Honestly facing these difficulties, Mo'ses asked the LORD, "Who shall I say sent me, what is His name?" To this question God replied, "Tell them that I AM WHO I AM sent you, that is my name."
This name for the God of Is'ra-el means a great deal; though it cannot be fully understood by man, it helps us to learn something about the nature of God. It means, in part, that God is eternal, without beginning or end; independent, unchangeable, and all-powerful; that he is the great and only ruler of everything that has been, or ever shall be created. Mo'ses did not fully understand the words of God, but he knew that they cast a blessing upon his mission to Is'ra-el. He knew that he could begin his work of deliverance in the name of God, a name which has power to free slaves, and to inspire men to the most courageous deeds.
