I am

I love Exodus. At this particular point in my life, it may be my favorite book in the Bible! Most recently I'm into the command section. God has freed the Israelites from slavery. He has led them safely through the Red Sea. He has graciously provided their needs through the wilderness. And now He is with them at Mount Sinai, giving them the law. These two verses  jumped off the page at me.

If ever you take your neighbor's cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. 
Exodus 22:26-27

When I read that "I am" statement, the first thing I thought of was in chapter twenty when God says that He is a jealous God. He made them. He redeemed them. And He refuses to share their worship, their affections, with anyone or anything else. I thought it was a beautiful balance when a couple chapters later He tells us that He is compassionate.

compassion: a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering  (Dictionary.com)

As I did a little digging, I realized that Exodus is FULL of "I am" statements. God introduces Himself to the Israelites as "I am". All through the plagues He reiterates "I am the LORD". And after they crossed the Red Sea, He declares Himself to be their healer. Exodus is the beautiful story of the Holy God who redeems and reveals Himself to a weak and wayward people.

The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with [Moses] there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generation."
Exodus 34:5-7