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Finding Silver in the Dark: Frieren and The True I AM

Twwk

“Who do you think I am?”

By the time Frieren asks that question in this week’s episode in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, it’s been three decades since the death of Himmel the Hero, and many more since Himmel, Frieren, Heiter, and Eisen defeated the Demon King. Their existence and works having become legendary, people immediately recognize Frieren as a mighty mage whenever her name is revealed during her and her party’s current travels.

That’s the case in the second half of season two, episode five—even as Frieren finds herself in a tight spot. She has been imprisoned for owing a debt incurred when the Hero’s Party passed through Norm Company’s fortress city more than half a century ago. The young master of the city knows how powerful Frieren is and intends to use her to locate silver ore in the nearby mountain; once mined, the company can revive its fortunes (and that of the residents of the Northern Plateau who rely on their goods).

Frieren is detained, put into debt slavery, and sent to the mines, where she sulks (naturally) until the company’s miners come upon her and tell her the master has let them know who she is. Then, she gets to work, using magic to find where the silver ore is hidden and pointing the miners to it.

But the foreman is apprehensive. When he asks if she’s certain this is the spot, Frieren responds: “Who do you think I am?”*

Frieren’s response isn’t full of arrogance or pride. It’s said matter-of-factly. She is, of course, one of the most powerful mages to have ever lived, a member of the Hero’s Party that killed the Demon King, and a being for whom finding silver ore is no challenge at all.

Who do you think I am? I am Frieren.

In hindsight, the question seems ridiculous for they already knew who she was. Their master told them in advance, and they recognized her as the great mage. But isn’t it just like a human to know the answer and still worry? To not have faith?

This scene reminded me of Moses and his anxieties as he prepared to confront the Pharaoh and lead the Israelites to freedom. When He met God and asked Him what He should say when the Egyptians asked who sent him, God responded with his name:

Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

~ Exodus 3:13-14 (ESV)

“I AM.” YHWH. Jehovah. There’s no need for anything more to be said. The question itself, just like the miner’s, is almost silly. This is no regional god speaking to Moses from the burning bush—He was and is the One and Only God. When God tells His name to Moses, He speaks down through time to us as well: “I AM” is unending (1 Timothy 1:17), unchanging (Hebrews 13:8), all-powerful (Revelation 19:6), just (Deuteronomy 32:4), and loving (1 John 4:8).

What amazing characteristics God shows. How holy and perfect He is! Frieren may have destroyed the Demon King, but God has won the victory against all evil once and for all time. Frieren may be kind, but God is the very definition of love. Frieren may have lived for a thousand years, but God has no beginning and no end. And Frieren may build her party’s character, but God created us all.

He is “I AM.” And “I AM” is greater than any obstacle that lies in front of us.

When I struggle to find “silver” in my life—when relationships are discouraging, work and ministry are frustrating, the world seems to be full of only evil, and I wonder if I can even go on—God reminds us through His word, his people, and his work in our lives that He is there. He is with us, and He loves us deeply—with the same fierce, devoted love of the Father running to embrace the prodigal son.

And I’m reminded of this, too: God has already won.

Whatever the struggle, whatever the hurdle, whatever the evil—in tunnels, in caves, in work, in life—I need only turn to scripture and be reminded of who God is and of His enduring promises. He has completed the work, and He is faithful to deliver.

So when you’re feeling the same as me—despondent in a difficult world, or, like the miners, unsure of where to go in a dark place as you search for the light—be reminded of God’s response to Moses, of His very name. And think of the One greater than Frieren, responding to you as you stumble, searching for light in the dark:

“Who do you think I am?”

God, you are I AM. And if I AM is for me, who or what can be against me?

*When I watched this scene, I immediately thought of another character who famously said something similar. Kamina built trust in those around him and shook those against him by saying one of his catchphrases: “Who the hell do you think I am?” No spoilers here, but there are other connections that could be made by his characterization in Gurren Lagann to the God of the Bible, though perhaps more to the Son than to the Father.

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