Exodus 3:13-15 - "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when 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 is His name? What shall I say unto them? And 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. And 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 is My name forever, and this is My memorial unto all generations."
Note: "I AM" is from the Hebrew הָיָה (hayah), the root for the Hebrew יְהֹוָה (Yĕhovah), which occurs 6519 times in 5521 verses, and is always translated as "Jehovah," meaning "the Existing One." This name for God is so sacred, that the Jews, fearing mispronouncing it, no longer are certain as to how to pronounce it! Ironically, they are so fixated on the name, that they have failed to notice what God said in Psalm 138:1-2, which reads: "I will praise Thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto Thee. I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth: FOR THOU HAST MAGNIFIED THY WORD ABOVE ALL THY NAME!"
Even sadder is the fact that when the Apostle John preached the Gospel concerning Jesus, the Jews did not make the connection when John focused upon His identity as "THE WORD OF GOD!" In other words, God is more concerned about how Israel responded to His Son, than He was with their reverence for His name! John wrote:
John 1:1, 14 - "In the beginning was THE WORD, and THE WORD was with God, and THE WORD was God. And THE WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
1 John 1:1-3 - "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of THE WORD of life; for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us; that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ."
1 John 5:4-9 - "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, THE WORD, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which He hath testified of His Son."
Revelation 19:11-13 - "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and HIS NAME IS CALLED THE WORD OF GOD!"
Thy WORD have I hidden in my heart - the throne of my Lord and Savior!
No comments:
Post a Comment