Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" – Exodus 3:13

Today's Scripture Reading (November 3, 2024): Exodus 3

What is your name? Where did it come from? My name is Garry. The name is my dad's middle name. One of the strange facts about my name is the spelling. The two r's in my name are a little unusual. When I was born, the belief was that there were two rs in my dad's name, but an examination of his birth certificate years after I was born revealed that dad only has one r in his middle name. He had been spelling his name wrong for decades, but it was just his middle name. There is also a story that my name was supposed to be David Garry, but there was already a David Mullen in the family, so I became Garry David instead. The funny part of this end of the story of my name is that I don't think I have been in the same room with David Mullen for over six decades. So, the two of us sharing the name probably wouldn't have mattered.  

A couple of decades ago, there was a TV show about a bar that advertised where everybody knows your name. The show was "Cheers" (1982-1993), and I have always thought that the church should be like that fictional bar because it feels so good to walk into a place and be called by name. I used to frequent a restaurant near where I worked (it closed a few years ago), and they knew me by name. I was greeted with a smile whenever I arrived, and the waitress would bring my Diet Coke before I placed my order. I remember meeting a friend there a few years back. I got there a little early, and the waitress showed me to a seat. I told her I was waiting for someone, and she gave me a paper to read while I waited. When my friend showed up, he asked me, "Do you come here often?" I asked, "Why?" My friend answered, "Because the waitress asked me when I came in if I was here to see Pastor Garry."

Moses asks for the name of God, and God answers, "I Am Who I Am." I am Yahweh or Jehovah. Later, we would expand on that name. We have multiplied the names of God. We sometimes call him Jehovah Jirah, which means "God the provider," Jehovah Nissi, which means "God is Your banner," or Jehovah Shalom meaning "God is your peace." We call him Jehovah Shammah, meaning "God who is there," and Jehovah Tzidkenu, meaning "God is Righteousness." God has been called by humans many things. He is Elohim (God), Adonai (Lord), and El Shaddai (God Almighty). But when God speaks of himself, it is Yahweh or Jehovah, "I Am Who I Am."

Moses needs to know who God is, and God responds, I Am the one who will take my people out of their situation in Egypt. Moses, I Am the one you need right now. Biblical Scholars tell us that the word used here has no tense. It is just as proper to say, "I was who I was," or "I will be who I will be," as to say, "I am who I am." This is God's name. It's the only one that you really need to know.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Exodus 4