OLD TESTAMENT
Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 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.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Genesis 3:13-15
“I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.
I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.
Also henceforth I am he;
there is none who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and who can turn it back?” Isaiah 43:11-13
NEW TESTAMENT
Before Abraham Was, I Am
The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. John 8:48-59
When Moses was called by God to save the Israelites from the Egyptians, He did not know God. His encounter with Him was new. God appeared to Him as a burning bush and told him not to come near that he was standing on holy ground. “Take off your sandals” God told Moses. Then God proceeded to tell him, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses responded by hiding his face because he was afraid to look at God. When God finally tells Moses what he is to do, Moses asks a very important question, “Who should I say sent me?” And God answers, “I am who I am…Say this to the people of Israel ‘I am has sent me to you.’” I don’t think we could ever grasp fully what this statement means, but one thing is clear—God’s preeminence. There is no one like Him. There has been no one before Him. And there is no one who will ever be like Him. And so when Christ came claiming this same statement, there were people who could not understand that standing before them was God incarnate.