God revealed himself to Moses as the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”.  I don’t know how many times I have read that and thought, “OK, that’s nice, he’s highlighting three of the patriarchs.” But I never really considered what he was truly trying to communicate to me. 

Recently I have been looking at the big picture themes of the Bible.  I find that these major themes are linked to the character of God and he reveals them through the lives of people. When I understand these overarching ways of heaven, the subplots just naturally make sense. Let’s look at an example from Exodus chapter three. 

God replied to Moses, “I am who I am. 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: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.
This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.
Exodus 3:14-15

Abraham is the father of our faith, the one who received the covenant and the promise.  Isaac is the one who experienced resurrection life as he was brought back from the brink of death so to speak.  Jacob had to flee his brother’s vengeance, suffered fourteen years under his ruthless uncle’s business practices and eventually had to make amends with his brother Esau. He also wrestled with the angel of God throughout the night as part of his transformational journey. 

Recently while reading through Exodus I was caught by this passage and it seemed as if the Holy Spirit instructed me to linger on it.  After a few days of meditating on this eternal name, I was so blessed as the Lord began to reveal that he was the God of covenant, keeping his covenants and promises.  He is the God of resurrection and life, restorer of that which was hopeless and dead – working in ways I cannot imagine. He is also the God of transformation – taking my old nature and making me like himself and blessing me with a new name reflective of my destiny. 

This is God’s intended goal for those who seek him.  We come into covenant relationship with him.  We experience the power of God in answer to our prayers and supernatural encounters.  But ultimately, he wants us transformed so we reflect his character, nature and glory.  This transformative work is a slow gradual process generally taking our entire lifetime as he molds and shapes us to be like him. 

The beauty of God’s work is that each layer builds on the one before.  Covenant relationship is the foundation of all and the transformed life is the goal of our earthly, human experience. 

This is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The God of covenant, the God of resurrection and power and the God of transformation.  And this is how he will always make himself known.