In Eden humanity didn’t simply reject God’s promises, blessings, or provision; in Eden we rejected God.
Undeservedly, graciously, thankfully, God spoke words of hope and love in promising that someday one of Eve’s offspring would destroy the serpent (Gen 3:15), viz. the the exemplar of rebellion, and restore that most sublime and peerless relationship with our Creator.
As humanity spiraled further downward into uncharted wickedness and reveled in depravity, God looked on heartbroken (Gen 6:5-6). God considered wiping humanity from existence, but recalled His blessing of hope to us, and lovingkindness prevailed. In v.8 we read, “Noah, however, found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”
Ephesians 2:8 instructs us that grace is a gift. Therefore, Noah did not merit God’s grace or favor because of his personal piety, righteousness, or moral conduct. The whole of humanity - including Noah - was engulfed in the contaminated darkness of sin. But God singled out Noah and blessed him with the gift of faith.
It didn’t take any time at all for Noah to go off the rails of righteousness and for humanity to get back to licentiousness and debauchery. In Gen 11:4 we see humanity’s motive, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves..."
On the surface that doesn’t sound so awful to modern day readers, unless we consider that the ENTIRE universe is God’s temple, and the earth is the most holy place because that’s where God Almighty’s presence took up residence with humanity - the pinnacle of His creative masterpiece.
It wasn’t bad enough for us to reject God in Eden, but then - even in the midst of His pursuit of us - we overtly shun Him to build a tower for ourselves in order to make a name for ourselves.
Collectively, we devised a plan to build a tower up to God’s heavenly throne, which we would ascend under our own power and cap the trek off by rolling up our middle finger in God’s face to say, “You’re pathetic, obsolete, and insignificant!”
It wasn’t bad enough for us to reject God in Eden, but then - even in the midst of His pursuit of us - we overtly shun Him to build a tower for ourselves in order to make a name for ourselves.
Collectively, we devised a plan to build a tower up to God’s heavenly throne, which we would ascend under our own power and cap the trek off by rolling up our middle finger in God’s face to say, “You’re pathetic, obsolete, and insignificant!”
That’s the cataclysmic backdrop upon which Scripture traces Abram/Abraham’s genealogy, which goes all the way back to Adam and Eve through Noah.
In Genesis 12:1-4 we see that God blessed Abram, just like He did Noah, with the gift of faith. God said, “Go…” and Abram went. But this time God didn’t simply make a promise not to destroy, but instead made a covenant promise to bless “all the peoples on earth” (12:3).
In Genesis 12:1-4 we see that God blessed Abram, just like He did Noah, with the gift of faith. God said, “Go…” and Abram went. But this time God didn’t simply make a promise not to destroy, but instead made a covenant promise to bless “all the peoples on earth” (12:3).
Fast forward to the story of Exodus.
The nation of Israel has been enslaved for about 400 years - just as God had anticipated in Gen 15:13. The glimmer of hope for humanity shed in Eden seems impotent now. God’s subsequent promise not to flood the earth and destroy all life appears pointless - "We're not drown, we're just enslaved. WOOHOO!" God’s covenant to Abraham rings hollow considering the brutality of Egypt’s king who commands the abortion of all their baby boys in childbirth...
The nation of Israel has been enslaved for about 400 years - just as God had anticipated in Gen 15:13. The glimmer of hope for humanity shed in Eden seems impotent now. God’s subsequent promise not to flood the earth and destroy all life appears pointless - "We're not drown, we're just enslaved. WOOHOO!" God’s covenant to Abraham rings hollow considering the brutality of Egypt’s king who commands the abortion of all their baby boys in childbirth...
Once again, with all hope abated, God delivers. In Exodus 3:7 we read, “The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering…’”
People who say they despise or reject the God of the Old Testament because of His ruthless and merciless character are blatantly ignorant fools.
People who say they despise or reject the God of the Old Testament because of His ruthless and merciless character are blatantly ignorant fools.
As an extension of God’s gift of hope in Eden, and His blessing of Noah and Abram with the gift of faith, God chose Moses to be Israel’s deliverer. God revealed Himself to Moses in a mysteriously burning, yet preserved, bush (Ex 3:1-6). In doing so, God commissioned Moses to go and bring the nation of Israel into a place that sounds a lot like Eden: “bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—” Hope is alive and well!
To confirm Moses’ innate brokenness we read, “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’”
Despite God’s promise, “I will be with you” (v.12), Moses wavered in saying, “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?”
Again, like humanity’s seemingly innocuous plan to build the cozy little Tower of Babel, Moses’ pseudo-valid inquiry was an affront to God’s character, power, and person.
In Ancient Near Eastern cultures names told a story. Names of deities revealed their perceived realm of power - crops, rivers, fertility, weather, etc. So when Moses probed God, with his “innocent” query, he was really asking God Almighty for His resume, credentials, and qualifications to do what He was boasting about.
So Moses wavered and created a false argument: “...and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” Somewhere in the back of Moses’ mind he was undoubtedly thinking, “It’s one thing to light a bush on fire, but it’s a whole ‘nother thing to squash Pharaoh, his vast army, and deliver Israel from 400+ years of slavery!”
In Ancient Near Eastern cultures names told a story. Names of deities revealed their perceived realm of power - crops, rivers, fertility, weather, etc. So when Moses probed God, with his “innocent” query, he was really asking God Almighty for His resume, credentials, and qualifications to do what He was boasting about.
So Moses wavered and created a false argument: “...and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” Somewhere in the back of Moses’ mind he was undoubtedly thinking, “It’s one thing to light a bush on fire, but it’s a whole ‘nother thing to squash Pharaoh, his vast army, and deliver Israel from 400+ years of slavery!”
God’s response blows my mind. “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”
Moses wanted to know “WHAT” God God's name was to find out what this God could do. God’s answer wasn’t a resume’ of miracles - as if Moses were in charge and interviewing God for the job of "ISRAEL's DELIVER WANTED." Instead, God issued an eternally profound statement of WHO He is - “I am who I am.” That phrase is subsequently translated in Hebrew (the language the Old Testament) as YHWH or Yahweh, which frequently get translated in English as LORD.
God’s response went beyond Moses superficial inquiry and insecurities to profoundly revealing the reality of God and His eternally holy, benevolent, gracious, merciful, patient, loving, selfless, and triune character.
God’s desire for humanity, for us, for YOU, is not to simply answer our insecurities regarding salvation and eternal destination -or- to derive WHAT God can do for us so that we can flip Him over like a bottle of multivitamins to read His label and determine His inherent value to us. Instead, God’s ultimate desire for us is to know WHO He is and to eternally celebrate our reconciled, redeemed, and glorified relationship with Him.
So what about you? Are you still building your own tower to the heavens, still rolling up your middle finger in God’s face, still asking Him for His resume and credentials, still assessing the label and “value add” God Almighty brings to your life of independence?
Or are you absolutely floored by the reality of your depravity and unworthiness in the presence of our righteous and holy Creator -and- His relentless pursuit of us, of you, even to the Cross of Calvary?
Or are you absolutely floored by the reality of your depravity and unworthiness in the presence of our righteous and holy Creator -and- His relentless pursuit of us, of you, even to the Cross of Calvary?
Are you still asking “WHAT” He can give you when you should be praising Him for "WHO" He is, has been, and will eternally be - God Almighty, i.e. "I AM."
Blessings,
-Kevin M. Kelley
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