JESUS IS "I AM"

Depending upon which version of the Bible you have, when reading the Old Testament, you may have noticed that the word, "LORD," is written in all caps. This is true for the KJV, NRSV, ESV, LB, NIV, NEB, NCV, and The Promise, to list just a few. The Jerusalem Bible uses the word, "Yahweh," and The Message simply has "GOD" in all caps. The primary reason for the use of "LORD" in place of God's Hebrew name is because the Hebrew Bible was written prior to the use of vowels, and the Jews, fearing they might mispronounce or misspell God's name, did not used it.

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the Tetragrammaton, YHVH (the Hebrew name God told Moses to use when speaking of Him to the Jews in Exodus 3:14), appears 6823 times in the Biblia Hebraica (the Hebrew Old Testament). With very few exceptions, YHVH is translated "LORD." Ironically, one of those exceptions is found in Exodus 3:14, where it is translated "I Am." Of the approximately 300 Old Testament quotes in the New Testament, about 2/3 of them came from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), where it is always translated Κυρίος (Lord). Κυρίος in the Greek New Testament is also translated "Lord," a title used for Jesus over six hundred and fifty times.

There are some very important reasons why the child of God needs to understand that Jesus is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. It explains why the Bible can say that "no man hath seen God and any time" (Jn. 1:18; 1 Jn. 4:12), and it also quotes two men as saying they had seen God (Gen. 32:30; Jud. 13:22). In the case of Jacob, he wrestled with "a man" (32:24), and in the case of Manoah, he had seen the Angel of the LORD (Jud. 13:23). Both men were mistaken.

Jesus said of himself:
"I AM the living bread that cometh down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (Jn. 6:51). "Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, I AM the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (Jn. 8:12). "And He said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I AM from above; ye are of this world; I AM not of this world" (Jn. 8:23). "I said, therefore, unto you, that ye shall die in your sins; for if ye believe not that I AM (He), ye shall die in your sins" (Jn.8:24). "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I AM" (Jn. 8:58). "I AM the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (Jn. 10:9). "I AM the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep" (Jn. 10:11). "Say ye of Him, Whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest because I said, I AM the Son of God?" (Jn. 10:36). "Jesus said unto her, I AM the resurrection and the life; He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (Jn. 11:25). "Jesus saith unto him, I AM the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (Jn. 14:6). "I AM the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser" (Jn 15:1). To be continued.