Ex 3:14: And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you
‘JHWH’ or ‘JHVH’ as it is written in the Masoretic Hebrew text is a tetra grammar tone. This is the divine name of the true living God that has been recently written as ‘YHWH’, and in English Bible versions as ‘LORD’ (capital). The Jewish people felt that the name was too holy, too important, too glorious, for expression that it was to be spoken only by the high priest once in a year (when he entered in the holy place), not by any one, any how, as an everyday vocabulary.
The scribes, in reading aloud, substituted ‘LORD’ (capital) and therefore wrote the vowel markings for ‘LORD’ into the consonantal framework JHVH as a reminder to future readers aloud. The translators of the Hebrew, not realizing what the scribes had done, read the word as it was written down, taking the scribal vowel markings as intrinsic to the name of their God and not as a mere reminder not to speak it. From this came the rendition ‘Jehovah’. Jehovah is a transliterated of the word ‘JHVH’ from the Masoretic Hebrew text.
The Hebrews have no pronunciation of the name up to today, for only the high priest knew ‘the name’ and it was later lost: the pronunciation; the articulation. They will just say ‘the name’, and write it as ‘JHWH’ with no vowels. For years and years, people said ‘Jehovah’ and in the recent times scholars say ‘Yahweh’ by adding vowels to it but no one knows for sure how to pronounce ‘YHWH’.
A lot has been written about this names, but when you’re talking to the Lord,call him by the name He gave, ‘I AM’ and not by a title.
Meaning of ‘I AM THAT I AM’
‘I AM THAT I AM’ is name which denotes what He is in Himself. It signifies;
- That he is self-existent: He has His being of himself
- That he is eternal and unchangeable, and always the same, yesterday, today, and for ever
- That he is incomprehensible; we cannot by searching find him out: this name checks all bold and curious inquiries about God
- That he is faithful and true to all his promises, unchangeable in his word as well as in his nature.
Meaning of ‘I AM’
- I AM: – is a continues present tense. Not I was, I will be but I am. The same yesterday, today and tomorrow: unchangeable.
- I AM: – identifies who He is. Signifies His being.
- I AM: – there is none else besides me.
- All else even the universe have their being from God, and are wholly dependent upon Him.
- It is a name that denotes what God is to his people. The Lord God of your fathers sent me unto you. Moses must revive among them their fathers religion, which was almost lost; and then they might expect the speedy performance of the promises made unto their fathers.
- That He is everything
God declares His true nature ‘I AM’ in the bible
In the bible, God has truly revealed Himself, who He is to humanity.
- I am the LORD (Ex 6:2)
- I am the LORD your God (Lev 18:2)
- I am the LORD which hallow you (Lev 22:32)
- I am holy (Lev 11:44)
- I am your shield, and you exceeding great reward (Gen 15:1)
- I am the Almighty God (Gen 17:1)
- I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Mt 22:32)
- I am the LORD, I change not (Mal 3:6)
- I am with you always, even to the end of the world (Mt 28:20)
- I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior (Isa 43:3)
- I am the LORD that made all things; that stretched forth the heavens alone; that spread abroad the earth by myself; (Isa 44:24)
- I am merciful, says the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever (Jer 3:12)
- I am the LORD which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth (Jer 9:24)
- I am weary with repenting (Jer 15:6)
- I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee (Jer:15:20)
- I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God (Isa:44:6)
- I am that bread of life (John 6:48)
- I am the light of the world (John 8:12)
- I am the door (John 10:9)
- I am the good shepherd (John 10:11)
- I am the resurrection, and the life
- I am the way, the truth, and the life
- I am the true vine (John 15:1)
- I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Rev 22:13)
(Help me in adding to this list)
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