Exodus 3:15 tells Moses that God is the same God who made promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that this God’s name is to be remembered by every generation. In plain terms, God is saying that the name by which he is known is not a passing title but a permanent identity tied to his faithfulness across history. God speaks these words to Moses at the burning bush, as Moses prepares to go to Pharaoh and lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.
God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.
Exodus 3:15 (WEB)
What Exodus 3:15 Means
The verse opens with God giving Moses a message to pass on: “The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.” The repeated “God of” links the present rescue to the older promises. Moses is not introducing a new deity to a people who have never heard of God. He is bringing the God their ancestors already trusted back into their story.
The phrase “This is my name forever” tells the reader that God’s name is meant to endure. The name “LORD” in English translations stands for the personal name God revealed in this passage, and the verse says it is to be remembered without end. “My memorial to all generations” means the name will be spoken in worship and remembrance so that each new generation knows who rescued Israel and on what basis.
What the verse does not do is explain every detail of how God will act. It does not promise an easy path for Moses or a quick release for the people. It establishes identity and continuity: the God who speaks now is the God who has kept covenant before, and that is the foundation for everything that follows in the book.
The Context of Exodus 3:15
Exodus is traditionally attributed to Moses, and it was written for the people of Israel as they remembered their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and their formation as a nation under God’s covenant. The book moves from oppression to liberation to the giving of the law at Sinai, so its earliest readers would have heard this scene as the opening of a story they already knew the ending of.
Just before this verse, in verses 12 to 14, God promises to be with Moses and then answers Moses’ question about his name with “I AM WHO I AM.” Verse 15 restates the name in a form the people can use, tying the divine self-description to the patriarchs. Verses 16 to 18 then send Moses to the elders with the same message, which shows that the name is meant to be spoken publicly and used as the basis for the appeal to Pharaoh. Reading the verse inside that sequence makes clear that the name is part of a commission, not a theological lecture.
Key Phrases in Exodus 3:15
Exodus 3:14
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
(WEB)
This verse comes just before Exodus 3:15 and gives the fuller answer to Moses’ question about God’s name. Reading it alongside verse 15 shows how the self-existent name “I AM” is then connected to the God of the patriarchs, so that both the eternal nature and the historical faithfulness of God are held together.
Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD your God himself is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with them who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations…
(WEB)
Moses later reminds the people that the LORD is faithful and keeps covenant to a thousand generations. This echoes the generational language of Exodus 3:15 and shows that the memorial of God’s name was meant to anchor the people’s trust in his reliability across the centuries of their life in the land.
A Short Prayer From Exodus 3:15
Lord, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and you have kept your name as a memory and a promise for every generation. Thank you that your character does not change with the seasons of my life. When I face choices I cannot see through, help me remember how faithfully you have worked in the past and trust that you will keep your word in what lies ahead. Let my own life be part of the story I pass on to those who come after me. Amen.
