But although it was to the elect of God that Moses was commanded to say, "I AM hath sent me unto you," yet is there deep solemnity and reality in that name when looked at with reference to the unbeliever. If one who is yet in his sins contemplates, for a moment, this amazing title, he cannot, surely, avoid asking himself the question, How do I stand as to this Being who calls Himself, "I AM THAT I AM"? If, indeed, it be true that HE IS, then what _is_ He to _me_? What am _I_ to write over against this solemn name, "I AM"? I shall not rob this question of its characteristic weight and power by any words of my own; but I pray that God the Holy Ghost may make it searching to the conscience of any reader who really needs to be searched thereby.
I cannot close this section without calling the attention of the Christian reader to the deeply interesting declaration contained in the fifteenth verse,--"And God said, moreover, unto Moses, 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: _this is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations_.'" This statement contains a very important truth--a truth which many professing Christians seem to forget, namely, that God's relationship with Israel is an eternal one. He is just as much Israel's God now as when He visited them in the land of Egypt. Only, because of rejecting their Messiah, they are, in His governmental dealings, set aside for a time. But His word is clear and emphatic: "This is My name forever." He does not say, This is My name for a time, so long as they continue what they ought to be. No; "This is My name _forever_, and this is My memorial unto _all generations_." Let my reader ponder this. "God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew." (Rom. xi. 2.) They are His people still, whether obedient or disobedient, united together or scattered abroad, manifested to the nations or hidden from their view. They are His people, and He is their God. Exodus iii. 15 is unanswerable. The professing church has no warrant whatever for ignoring a relationship which God says is to endure "forever." Let us beware how we tamper with this weighty word, "forever." If we say it does not mean forever when applied to Israel, what proof have we that it means forever when applied to us? God means what He says; and He will, ere long, make manifest to all the nations of the earth that His connection with Israel is one which shall outlive all the revolutions of time. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." When He said, "This is My name forever," He spoke absolutely. "I AM" declared Himself to be Israel's God forever; and all the Gentiles shall be made to bow to this; and to know, moreover, that all God's providential dealings with them, and all their destinies, are connected, in some way or other, with that favored and honored, though now judged and scattered, people. "When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance." (Deut. xxxii. 8, 9.)