Jehovah — I Am
If God's people are to worship and serve the Lord properly, they must understand what He is like. Just as every individual is known by His specific characteristics, so too God is known by His characteristics — His attributes. These attributes are revealed in the Scriptures in many different ways, but especially by the proper name of God.
When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, He revealed to him that His name is I AM. Thus we read in Ex. 3:13-14, And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus, shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. The name of God is I AM (transliterated — Jehovah). This is the name by which He reveals to us His attributes. God is not I WAS or I WILL BE, but is I AM .
Independence
By this name God reveals that He is the Independent God. That God is I AM means that He is not dependent upon anything or anyone out side of Himself. He is all that He is in and of Himself. He is the self-sufficient God Who is not caused by any creature but is the Sovereign Cause of all things. He needs no one to make Him be what He is or do what He does, but all things depend upon Him for life, and breath, and all things. (Acts 17:25). He is the eternal ground and fountain of His own blessed Being.
Jesus spoke of God's Independence when He said, For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. (John 5:26). The Father (The Triune God) has His life in Himself. No one gives it to Him and no one can take it away from Him. We creatures can add absolutely nothing to the great and glorious God. The apostle Paul confirms this when he says, For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. (Rom. 11:34-36).
Simplicity
That God is the great I AM also implies the simplicity of God. God is not made up of many different parts that together form God. Man is made up of many parts (arms, legs, hands, feet, etc.) but God is One God. He cannot be divided. He is the one simple Being that is God. It is not even proper to speak of God as having or possessing various attributes. Because He is one simple Being, He is all of His attributes. Creatures possess life; God is life. Man may possess the Truth; God is the Truth. That is why God's name is I AM. What is more, all of His attributes are one in Him. His attributes cannot be added up to equal what He is. God is not a mixture of attributes. Though we may distinguish between the various attributes of God, they are all one in Him. His righteousness is Truth; His love is holiness; His mercy is justice; so that there is never any conflict between them. God is perfectly One.
The apostle John refers to God's Simplicity when he says, This is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (I John 1:5). Light refers to all the attributes of God. God is light. As God, Christ could also speak of Himself as the One God. Thus He says, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life... (John 14:6). Jesus is the I AM Who is the Way, Truth, and Life.
Infinity
Jehovah, the I AM, is the Infinite God. He is not subject to any limitations. Thus the Psalmist says, Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. (Ps. 145:3). God's infinity with respect to time is His eternity. God is above time. He is not limited or bound to time. He lives and works outside of time. He has no past, present, or future. He is I AM. He always IS, but never WAS or BECOMES. Jehovah is the eternal God Who has no beginning and no ending. Time is a creature of God that is subservient to God. Thus the Psalmist says, Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou are God. (Ps. 90:2).
God's Infinity with respect to space is His omnipresence. God is not limited to or bound by space. He transcends space and is immeasurable. Yet He is everywhere present. He is in heaven. He is in the earth. He is even in hell. He fills every point of space. He does so not like a gas that is spread out in all of space, for God is not physical; but because space too is one of God's creatures and therefore, completely subservient to and dependent upon God. We read of God's omnipresence in I Kings 8:27, But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded. God says through the prophet Jeremiah, Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord. (Jer. 23:23-24).
Immutability
Since God is infinite above time, He is also immutable (unchangeable). I AM never changes. The creature is constantly changing, but the Creator never changes. He does not grow older, nor does He increase or decrease. God never changes in His being, His mind, or His will. This is of the greatest comfort to God's people. For it means that, the God who loves and saves them will never turn back from that purpose. God says, I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. (Mal. 3:6). God is the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17).
Knowledge
The great I AM is also the all-knowing God. I AM must know all things. He must Himself be the fullness of all knowledge so that nothing can be added to Him or taken away from Him. Thus the Psalmist says, ...his (God's) understanding is infinite. (Ps. 147:5). God's omniscience (all-knowing) is the attribute of God whereby He perfectly and completely knows Himself and all things. The apostle James says, Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. (Acts 15:18). God, as the Triune God, knows Himself. He knows all of His thoughts, His plans, His will, and all of His works. There is nothing that God does not know about Himself.
Therefore, He knows all that there is to know about His creation and the history of the world. Peter answered Christ, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. (John 21:17). God knows even the most secret thoughts of our hearts. The Psalmist confesses, Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. (Ps. 44:21). Moreover, God does not receive this knowledge by looking into the future. He does not receive it from man or even the very events of history themselves. He knows all things in and of Himself. The prophet asks, With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? (Isa. 40:14). No one ever teaches God anything. God's knowledge is inherent within Himself and is not received from any outside source.
Wisdom
God is also the only wise God. The apostle Paul praises God with the words, Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (I Tim. 1:17). God's wisdom is His infinite understanding of Himself as the Only Good and the adaptation of all things to one another and to God Himself. In all of God's works He perfectly adapts all things to the end He has purposed. Thus we read of creation, O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. (Ps. 104:24). That end is God Himself. ...All things were created by him, and for him. (Col. 1:16). In His wisdom God is leading all things to the manifestation of His great glory in this world and the world to come.
Sovereignty
Finally because God is I AM He is also sovereign. He is the Master and Ruler of the world. He sovereignly governs and directs all the creatures and events of the world. No one can judge what He wills or does. He is the sole Judge who requires all to conform to His standard. He is sovereign first of all because His will is sovereign. His eternal will and determinate counsel is always done. The will and works of the creature, even of man, cannot frustrate God's sovereign will. The apostle Paul teaches us that Jehovah is the God who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. (Eph. 1:11). Thus we also read in Isa. 14:24 & 27, The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand...For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannal it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? The purpose of God stands. His thought surely comes to pass. This is the only way it can possibly be, since God is I AM. God could not be I AM if His will could be disappointed, frustrated, or changed by anyone or anything.
That God is sovereign also means that He is sovereign in His power. He is omnipotent. I AM is the all-powerful God. He does not merely have the most power. He has all the power. No other being has any power of itself. The power of the creature comes from God Who alone is powerful. Thus God Himself sovereignly brings about His will and good pleasure by His power. The Psalmist says, The Lord, reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world is stablished, that it cannot be moved. (Ps. 93:1). In Ps. 115:3 we read, Our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Jehovah reigns. He is wrapped in strength; He wears strength, as it were. Therefore, by that might and majestic power He does whatever He pleases. He is I AM.
