1Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. 2And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush not consumed. 3And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here I. 5And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest holy ground. 6Moreover he said, I the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. 7And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. 11And Moses said unto God, Who I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 13And Moses said unto God, Behold, 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 his name? what shall I say unto them? 14And 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. 15And 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 my name for ever, and this my memorial unto all generations. 16Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and that which is done to you in Egypt: 17And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. 18And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. 19And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. 20And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. 21And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: 22But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.
Before God ever gives Moses a name, he teaches him that this meeting has rules Moses did not invent. Moses sees the bush burning without burning up and steps closer, like any curious person would. God stops him cold: “Draw not nigh hither.” Then God makes it even more concrete. Take off your shoes, because the ground has changed status under Moses’ feet. Gregory of Nyssa reads that sandals-off moment as stripping away what clings to us, the little protections and habits we bring into every room, so we can face a God who will not fit inside our usual categories. Moses does not argue. He covers his face, because this is not a power he can inspect. God sets the distance, the posture, and even what Moses feels through his soles.
Only then does Moses ask for the name, and it is a practical question. In Moses’ world, names are handles. If Israel asks who sent him, and if Pharaoh treats him like a nobody, a name is supposed to function like access and proof, a way to say, this god is with me, and I know how to call him. God answers, but he also breaks the tool in Moses’ hand. “I AM THAT I AM” gives Moses real words to repeat, yet the words refuse to become leverage. Augustine hears in that line the claim of true being, the kind of existence that does not depend on anything else to stay real. In plain terms, God will not be filed alongside river-gods and sun-gods, or summoned by the right syllables, or controlled by the person who knows the secret. Even as Moses receives a name, he is being told that the name will never work like a spell. It reveals God, and it blocks the old instinct to treat the divine like technology.