God's Answer

So, I've started reading Exodus 6, and this is God's response to Moses:

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh:  Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.'

God also said to Moses, 'I am the LORD.  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.  I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens.  Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 

'Therefore, say to the Israelites: "I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.  I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgement.  I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.  Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.  And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.  I will give it to you as a possession.  I am the LORD.'"

-- Exodus 6:1-8

As usual, God is pretty long-winded.  Haha.  Moses asks a 2 sentence question, God gives a 12 sentence response.  Typical.

Even though I'm still processing His answer, and what it means for Moses and me, I am willing to concede that it's a pretty powerful answer.  Basically, God is saying "I AM."  His response to Moses' frustration and confusion is a re-iteration of his character, his promises, and his power and desire to bring them to life.  "I AM, therefore..."  

And though I don't know what to do with this response just yet, I have become convinced that it's okay to question God.  That actually, it's more than okay.  He WANTS us to question.  In Isaiah he invites us to reason with him (Isaiah 1:18).  I mean, Moses was a pretty cool dude, and God used him to do some amazing things (come on, he split the red sea, made water come out of a rock, wrote down the Law, and the list goes on...).  But Moses wasn't afraid to ask God the "why" question.  And when the Israelites were in the desert, Moses talked with God, face to face, as a man speaks with his friend (Exodus 33:11).  That's pretty sweet.  And David was definitely real with God.  He expressed his anger to God towards his enemies and asked God lots of "why" questions in the Psalms.  I mean, he danced around in his underwear before the Lord, for goodness sakes... you don't get much more real than that.  I think God longs for us to be real and honest with him.  He sees it all anyway...