When Moses first encountered God in the burning bush, God ‘introduced’ himself in terms that would have been familiar to Moses, namely that he was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This will have reminded Moses of his history, and that of the Jews, how God had called Abraham and his offspring to be his people and promised to give them a land. God reinforced that by saying he had seen how his people were suffering, and that he was going to bring them out of Egypt into the promised land, and that Moses was the one to do it.

Humanly speaking, that was a massive ask. Moses baulked at the idea – “who am I to do this?” – to which God replied, “I am with you, it’ll happen”.

Moses’ next question is about who God is. He already knows that he is speaking with the God of Israel, but he needs something that will convince people that he hasn’t seen for 40 years, ‘I know you are God, but what is your name?’. 

In the Bible, a name was more than just a designation, but described a person’s character and personality. 

God’s reply gives a self-description. “I am who I am”, followed by his covenant name “Tell them ‘I am’ has sent you”. The ‘I am’ here is the YHWH name which appears as capital LORD in most English Bibles.

‘I am who I am’ is a statement of God’s being. He simply is. He always has been and always will be. He is the only being who has the power of being in himself – which means that he does not depend on, or need, anyone or anything else for his existence, rather that everything else that is derives that existence from God. 

This is known as Aseity – not an everyday word! But all about self-existence.

It was illustrated in the fire in the bush that did not consume the bush. The fire did not need or depend on the bush to keep burning – it was simply there. 

God has to be, otherwise nothing else could exist. RC Sproul put it this way: ‘If ever there were a time there was nothing, there would be nothing now’. Incidentally, this is one of the most straightforward ‘proofs’ of God’s existence. 

But more importantly, it helps us to grow in our knowledge of God. For us to worship truly, we must know who it is we are worshipping. We can only truly know God to the extent that he has chosen to reveal himself to us.

And reveal he does – in creation (Psalm 19:1); through his word, the ‘Writings’ of the Old Testament law and prophets; and finally through his Son (see Hebrews 1:1-3) who is the ‘exact imprint’ of God’s nature.

Our worship is primarily about two things – who God is and what he has done.

In Revelation 4 and 5 we are given a glimpse into the worship of heaven which have a mix of these two aspects. These are powerful words:

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev 4:8)

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Rev 4:11)

“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Rev 5:9,10)

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!” (Rev 5:12)

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever!” (Rev 5:13)

Simply saying these words (especially out loud!) can in a sense lift us up to heaven in worship. They put our focus on God himself, especially on his transcendence, those aspects of his nature that are ‘above’ us.

But we are also creatures made in the image of God, and while that image has been spoiled by sin, we can nevertheless reflect that image in love, creativity, communication, relationship, work and so on. Jesus was described as being the exact imprint (image) of God’s nature which radiated God’s glory (Heb 1:3). In a similar though imperfect way we too can show God’s glory – his character, his ‘name’ – as we live out these characteristics. Which are also called the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22,23).

It’s always interesting to me to watch people when they find a ‘hero’. They copy them and want to become like them. This happens particularly with young people when they find a sports hero or pop star, but is true of all of us – we imitate the thing or person we worship. 

Our highest calling is to know God, and as we do, we will become like him. Imperfectly for sure, but the day will come when we will do so perfectly (1 John 3:2).

None of us has experienced a burning bush in the way Moses did, but the eye-witness account he gives tells us a great deal about God, the self-existent one who calls us by name.