Day of Christ

The Day of Christ begins with the appearing (the epiphaneia) and kingdom (basileia ) of Jesus Christ (2 Tim.4:1) and the blazing forth of the glory of the great God, even our Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). This is when the hope of the calling of the Mystery is realized. This is when our faith gives way to sight. This is the next event on God's prophetic clock. This is when Christ Jesus, in His role as the Head of the high calling, convenes [calls into session] His Ecclesia (Church) which is His Body. As the Great Convoker, He, alone, calls His Ecclesia into session. This marks His assumption of sovereignty over the nations. Those who have been memberd into “the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” will either be raised out from among the dead, or will be changed from mortal to immortal, and will take their place, or station, in His Government. Concurrently with the many events taking place when Christ Jesus assumes sovereignty over mankind and the nations, the Holy Spirit (the Comforter) will actively and aggressively restrain evil (John 16:7-13). People who sin will die for their own sin (Jer. 31:30). The Spirit will hinder transgressions because man’s conscience will have been quickened (made alive). The Day of Christ is synonymous with all of the above, including the Kingdom of God, and comes before the tribulation and the second coming (Parousia) of Christ. During the Day of Christ, heaven and earth will be governed by Christ Jesus from His heavenly Throne. This dispensation is set in contrast to the Millennium or the Day of the Lord. To say the two are the same is to say that “one-plus-one equals one.” Most all Christians realize that the Day of the Lord (i.e. the Tribulation and the Millennium) begins with revolution, bloodshed and violence which will be an unprecedented event in all of human history. The Old Testament has a lot to say about this Day—the Day of the LORD. Isaiah speaks about the Lord's imposition upon the world of His Millennial Rule; “For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with wrath, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord will be many” (Isa. 66:15-16). Psalm 50:3 says; "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: A fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him." Psalm 97:3; “A fire goeth before Him, and burneth up His enemies round about.” These verses relate to Jesus Christ Personally returning to earth to put an end to the nation’s revolt against His Rule from heaven (2 Thess. 2:1-12). When the Kingdom of God comes to Israel, it comes silently, “without observation” (Lu.17:22). It will not come suddenly or dramatically. Its’ coming is likened; “as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear” (Mk. 4:26-28). When the Kingdom comes, it comes without calamity with no harm being done to anyone. Notice a much overlooked passage; “He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory” (Matt.12:19-20). Matthew quotes from Isaiah 42:1-4 which informs us that the Kingdom (i.e God’s Government) begins with the Gentile nations. Israel will not be a nation at this time. They will still be scattered, or dispersed, among the nations. While ruling over the nations, the Lord begins His work of re-gathering the Jews. Over time, He leads them back to the Promised Land ─as believers. No unbelieving Jew will be brought back to Palestine; no, not one! The unbelieving will remain scattered among the nations. [This brings up the question; ‘What about the Israel that now is?’ All we’ll say for now is; the present Israel is not of God’s doing. When He brings them back, there will be no disputes regarding borders or whose land it is]. “And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezk.20:38). If words have any meaning, then we must conclude that something begins silently, mysteriously, without observation, without strife, without Christ being heard, and without damage being inflicted. On the other hand, something else begins (i.e. the Lord’s Day) with a colossal display of vengeance, wrath, and cataclysmic punishment which will be openly displayed. It is a contradiction to insist that the two descriptions relate to the beginning of the same event. In plainer words, the Prophetic Word informs us that there is coming the Day of Christ which is another term for the coming Kingdom of God. We are met with a non-Scriptural term, The Millennium, which relates to the 1000 year reign of Christ upon the earth. The Biblical term for this is the Day of the Lord. It is essential to distinguish between the two. The Holy Spirit does. We should do so, also. If we force all truths connected to the Day of Christ into the Day of the Lord, the result is utter confusion. Not only that, but we rob the Lord Jesus Christ of His Day of Exaltation. During the Day of Christ, He will draw, or compel, all men unto Himself. He will be exalted from the earth as every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord to the Glory of God the Father. His Day begins with His “appearing and Kingdom,” and He begins to judge the quick and the dead. (2 Tim.4:1). This is when the glory of the great God, even Jesus Christ our Savior, blazes forth (Titus 2:13). Isaiah speaks of this event in 40:5; “And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” and at the same time. What is seen is the glory of the LORD, not the LORD descending from Heaven; to this, Numbers 14:21 agrees; “But truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.” When the Kingdom comes, “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters covers the sea” (Hab.2:14). The Psalmist says; “And blessed be His glorious Name forever: and let the whole earth be filled with His glory” (72:19). The world will experience the revealing of His Glory without Christ Jesus leaving His Heavenly Throne. The shining forth of the glory of God takes place before the Day of the LORD. It is noted in Isaiah's vision that the seraphim see Christ's Day and say; “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Hosts: the earth is full of His glory.” During the Day of Christ, the “times of refreshing comes from the presence of the LORD.” All things are rejuvenated while the Heavens retain Christ (Acts 3:19-21). The pristine, pre-Noah flood conditions will be re-created (Isa. 65:17; 66:22). When the Day of Christ begins, all of mankind will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit and realize that Jesus Christ is LORD! Christ will begin His benevolent rule of the world. Then, He will begin converting His ancient people, Israel. Read Ezekiel 20:23-33, and notice how the Lord begins a work in their hearts and will lead them back into the Holy Land as a Christ-believing people. As the Day of Christ draws to a close, the restraints of the Spirit are gradually withdrawn.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

In Christ Jesus Do Not Fear 10,000 or More Coming After You

Shemita

Here is all the crazy internet buzz that has been going around for some time.
There is much internet buzz over what is supposed to happen in and around September. Much of it spread by those elites who worship Satan.
I believe the elite that are building underground tunnels for refuge, etc., actually believe they have ancient wisdom, they worship Satan the great lier. Here is a small sample of some of the baloney they believe. How interesting how it fits in unknowingly for them...

"CERN opens up a portal for demonic forces to inundate the land, which the deceived scientists had no idea was the main goal all along. One of these man induced earthquakes destroys the Hoover Dam. This serves as their “breaking of the waters” birthing ritual for the coming evil world ruler. "
When evil comes in like a flood God will put an end to it.

In my site here you can read how God will intervene and put an end to the evil that currently 
Suppresses this world controlled by Satan and his elite....
The following is a small note from a brother and friend who very much agrees with me.
Dear Mark,

I, too, believe these are perilous times in which we live. The “elitists” whose great love is what money can buy (i.e., control of the evil world). They will be stopped “dead in their tracks” when the Kingdom of Christ becomes manifest, as it was with Jannes and Jambres.

2 Timothy 3:8-9;

8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.

Tom
Please read Phil 4:6 and Psalms 3:6 before reading the following fear mongering of this worlds elite....
Gino (23 Aug 2015) 
"The Big List Of 33 Things That Are Going To (supposedly) Happen In September 2015"


The Big List Of 33 Things That Are Going To Happen In September 2015
Is September 2015 going to be a month that changes history? For months, there has been an unprecedented amount of buzz all over the Internet about what is going to happen in September. And without a doubt, we are going to witness a convergence of events during that month that is quite remarkable. What I have attempted to do in this article is to put together a list of things that we know will happen next month. Some of the lists that I have seen contain things that cannot be proven or that are simply inaccurate. And of course it is very likely that some things will happen in September that we cannot anticipate right now. I am just providing the information that I have at this time, and it is up to you and your family to prepare for what you believe will happen. The following is my big list of 33 things that are going to happen in September 2015…
September 1 – This marks the beginning of FEMA’s annual “National Preparedness Month
September 7 – Labor Day
September 11 – The 14th anniversary (7+7) of 9/11
September 11 – The last day of trading on Wall Street before the end of the Shemitah year
September 12 – Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour opens in the United States. The first stop is in Washington D.C. and according to Holly Deyo the “opening theme is Desecration of The Bride and Arrival of Fallen Angels”
September 12 and September 13 – Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, a leading authority in Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, has indicated that the Messiah that the Jewish people are expecting could come at this time
September 13 – The last day of the Shemitah year. During the last two Shemitah cycles, we witnessed record-breaking stock market crashes on the very last day of the Shemitah year (Elul 29 on the Biblical calendar). For example, if you go back to September 17th, 2001 (which was Elul 29 on the Biblical calendar), we witnessed the greatest one day stock market crash in all of U.S. history up until that time. The Dow plunged 684 points, and it was a record that held for exactly seven years until the end of the next Shemitah cycle. On September 29th, 2008 (which was also Elul 29 on the Biblical calendar), the Dow plummeted 777 points, which still today remains the greatest one day stock market crash of all time in the United States. Now we are in another Shemitah year. It began in the fall of 2014, and it ends on September 13th, 2015.
September 13 – Partial solar eclipse
September 14 – Rosh Hashanah
September 14 – The first day of trading on Wall Street after the end of the Shemitah year
September 15 – The 70th session of the UN General Assembly begins on this date. It has been widely reported that France plans to introduce a resolution which will give formal UN Security Council recognition to a Palestinian state shortly after the new session begins. Up until now, the U.S. has always been the one blocking such a resolution, but Barack Obama has already indicated that things may be different this time around. It would be extremely difficult to overstate the significance of this.
September 15 – The Jade Helm military exercises are scheduled to end
September 17 – If there is going to be a rate hike in September, this is probably when the Federal Reserve will do it
September 17 – This is the deadline for Congress to vote on Obama’s deal with Iran
September 17 – Constitution Day – most Americans do not even know that this holiday exists
September 18 – The Days of Awe conference in Sandpoint, Idaho – Christians from all over the nation will be gathering to call out to God in prayer and to repent for the sins of our country
September 20 to September 26 – The “World Week For Peace in Palestine Israel” sponsored by the World Council of Churches
September 21 – This is when the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) is projected to begin
September 21 – The UN International Day Of Peace
September 22 – In Islam, “the Day of Arafat” falls on this day
September 23 – The last day of the summer
September 23 – Yom Kippur
September 23 – The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, also known as “the Feast of the Sacrifice”, begins
September 23 – Pope Francis arrives at the White House to meet with Barack Obama
September 23 – The 266th Pope will be meeting with the president of the United States on the 266th day of the year. Some have suggested that “something is being birthed” on that day since 266 days is the average length of the human gestation period.
September 24 – The Pope addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress
September 25 – On May 14th, 2014 French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius famously proclaimed that we had only 500 days to avoid “climate chaos”. His time frame of 500 days ends on September 25th.
September 25 – The Pope will hold mass in Madison Square Garden in New York City
September 25 to September 27 – The United Nations launches a brand new “universal agenda” for humanity known as “the 2030 Agenda
September 25 – The Pope appears at the UN to deliver an address to kick off the conference at which the 2030 Agenda will be unveiled
September 26 and 27 – The Pope will be traveling to Philadelphia for the “2015 World Meeting of Families
September 28 – The first day of the Feast of Tabernacles
September 28 – This is the date for the last of the four blood moons that fall on Biblical festival dates during 2014 and 2015. This blood moon will be a “supermoon” and it will be clearly visible from the city of Jerusalem.
Due to the ending of the Shemitah year and numerous other factors, there is rampant speculation that a stock market crash is going to happen in the United States during the month of September. Previously, I have expressed my view that a major global financial crisis is imminent, but my warning covers all of the remaining months of 2015. Since I cannot prove that a stock market crash will happen next month, I have left it off the list. But without a doubt, we are entering the danger zone.
There is also lots of speculation about unusual activity at the Large Hadron Collider during the month of September. In my research, I have not yet come across anything that confirms that. If you have solid information concerning this, please send it to me. But certainly, what they are doing with the Large Hadron Collider concerns me greatly. This is something that I covered in a previous article entitled “Will The Large Hadron Collider Open Up A Portal To Another Dimension?
In addition, I am also aware that there is a tremendous amount of speculation about an asteroid or a meteor that may or may not be heading toward our planet next month. At this time, I have no way of proving this is true, and I have no way of disproving it is true either. I have not come across anything that I can independently verify that indicates that this will or will not happen. In law school I was trained to stick to the facts, and I don’t have any facts. If you do have some solid and verifiable information, please share it with me.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge that there is plenty of speculation about certain natural disasters that may happen in September. They may indeed happen, but I cannot prove anything of that nature right now so I have left those natural disasters off the list.
Needless to say, next month promises to be absolutely crazy, and our time for preparing is running out.
Disaster can strike very suddenly, and when it does, average citizens can be caught totally unprepared. This is a point that Carl Gallups, the author of a new book entitled “Be Thou Prepared: Equipping the Church for Persecution and Times of Trouble“, recently made during an interview with WND
Gallups identifies specific incidents when civil society collapsed, most notably in New Orleans immediately following Hurricane Katrina.
You ended up with the worst of both worlds,” Gallups observed. “You had widespread criminality, anarchy and disorder, and somehow, at the same time, you had government officials going around enforcing wildly tyrannical guidelines and even confiscating firearms.”
As a result, Americans may be forced to rely on themselves for protection, meaning Christians have to begin planning now.
Even if it doesn’t happen next month, life in America is about to change dramatically.
The infrastructure and government services that we have all come to take for granted may not be there in the future.
It is imperative that we all start to learn how to become more independent of the system, because the system is going to start failing in thousands of different ways.



Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Before Abraham Was... I AM

Two Part Study: Jesus Christ Is God - I Am The Lord

Posted in: 2004
By Tom L. Ballinger
Mar 2, 2008 - 3:40:43 PM

April 14, 2004

PLAINER WORDS … JESUS CHRIST IS GOD

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8)

This verse is widely used and quoted by non-dispensationalists as their proof text to prove that Jesus Christ hasn’t changed His method of dealing with mankind. Pentecostals, especially, rely on this verse in defense of their stand on “the gifts of the Spirit” being an integral part of Jesus Christ’s administration today.

From time-to-time, I’ll watch charismatic, or Pentecostal preachers, on television. When they feel a need to reject the idea of dispensational truth, they invariably quote Hebrews 13:8 to dismiss right division. When they do, it brings loud applause from the congregations. Their logic is faulty. Once upon a time, Jesus Christ was a baby. In this sense, He was not the same yesterday, today, and forever. To use Hebrews 13:8 to invalidate right division of the Word of truth does harm to the profound truth contained in the verse.

The great truth in Hebrews 13:8 is that Jesus Christ was God yesterday, and is God today, and will be God forever. Hebrews 13:8 should be studied in the light of other verses. The fact that Jesus Christ is God never changes. But, His methods of dealing with mankind have changed over the course of the ages.

In John, chapter eight, the Pharisees were disputing with Christ about who He was. In the fifty-eighth verse, He said to them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” The “I am” was a dynamite answer. The Pharisees understood full well what Christ had told them, even though many Christians don’t comprehend the profundity of—“I am.”

What was it the Pharisees understood Christ to mean when He said, Before Abraham was, I AM? The answer lies in Exodus 3:13-14. This was where the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob spoke to Moses, from the burning bush, telling him to go to the Hebrew children and tell them of their impending deliverance from Egypt.

“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?” (Exodus 3:13).

“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’” (Exodus 3:14).

The Pharisees knew the implication of what Jesus said. They understood Him to mean He was the I AM of Exodus 3:13-14—meaning, Jesus Christ asserted that He was, indeed, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The evidence of this fact was that it so enraged the Pharisees that they attempted to stone Him to death, “Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by” (John 8:59).

The power of “I AM,” spoken by Christ, is further illustrated in the garden when Jesus was betrayed. As Judas and a band of men, along with the officers of the chief priests and Pharisees, marched toward the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus didn’t run; He went to meet them.

“Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I AM He. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as He had said unto them, I AM He, they went backward, and fell to the ground. Then asked He them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I AM He: if therefore ye seek Me, let these go their way:” (John 18:4-8).

In order to grasp the real significance of Who Jesus Christ really was, and is, and Who He will be forever, let’s consider The Emphasized Bible, A Literal Translation, by Joseph B. Rotherham:

Exodus 3:15-16, “And God said yet further unto Moses—Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, Yahweh, the God of your fathers, Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob hath sent me unto you.”

Now, notice Rotherham’s version of Exodus 6:1-3: “Then said Yahweh unto Moses, Now shalt thou see, what I will do to Pharaoh—for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand he shall drive them out from his land. Then God spake unto Moses—and said unto him—I am Yahweh: I appeared, therefore, unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty, although by My Name Yahweh was I not made known to them.”

In the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament), the name, “Yahweh,” is not spelled out; the vowels were dropped, and they spelled God’s name as YHWH. It has been said that out of reverence for His Name, the Jews did not spell it out. For some reason, the King James translators suppressed God’s Name which I, respectfully, think was wrong. If we knew God’s Name in the Old Testament, the English speaking world could more readily identify Jesus Christ as God Himself. (I am digressing a bit, but it seems essential to cover this).

The Authorized Version translated “Yahweh” as “LORD.” All letters are capitalized, but the “O-R-Ds” are in smaller upper case than that of the “L”. According to Vines, the word, “Yahweh,” occurs 6,828 times in the Old Testament. 6,824 times, it is translated “LORD,” and only four times, is it translated “JEHOVAH” which is the anglicized spelling of Yahweh.

“Jehovah Yahweh. One of the most important names for God in the Old Testament is Yahweh, or Jehovah, from the verb ‘to be,’ meaning simply but profoundly, ‘I am who I am,’ and ‘I will be who I will be.’ The four letter Hebrew word YHWH was the name by which God revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush <Ex. 3:14>. This bush was a vivid symbol of the inexhaustible dynamism of God who burns like a fire with love and righteousness, yet remains the same and never diminishes. Some English translations of the Bible translate the word as Jehovah, while others use Yahweh.

“God is the author of life and salvation. His ‘I AM’ expresses the fact that He is the infinite and original personal God who is behind everything and to whom everything must finally be traced. This name, ‘I AM WHO I AM’, signals the truth that nothing else defines who God is but God Himself. What He says and does is who He is. The inspired Scriptures are the infallible guide to understanding who God is by what He says about Himself and what He does. Yahweh is the all powerful and sovereign God who alone defines Himself and establishes truth for His creatures and works for their salvation.”
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary; Copyright 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers).

In our Bible (KJV), the Name of God is concealed from those who listen to the reading of the Bible. The listener is unable to tell whether the word “LORD,”or “Lord,” is read. It makes a big difference. The reader with an untrained eye finds the truth of “LORD” completely hidden. This is tragic, indeed. “LORD” is different than “Lord.” When the causal reader or listener of Scripture reads or hears the word “LORD,” or “Lord,” he is unable to distinguish between the two. These two words are titles. Whereas, Yahweh is a Name; it is not a title. It is the Name of God. He gave Himself the Name, Yahweh. He used this Name when He revealed Himself to His servants and prophets in the Old Testament.

When our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Before Abraham was, I AM,” He identified Himself as Yahweh of the Old Testament.

The Lord Jesus further asserted His deity in the winter during the “feast of dedication” in John Chapter Ten. He told the Pharisees, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). To be one meant they were the same Person. They responded by taking up stones again to stone Him (John 19:31), and, “Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God” (John 10:32-33). Many Christians miss the nuance of “I AM,” but not the Pharisees.

Dear readers, “still water runs deep:” we are in the “still water” of Scripture. To equate Hebrews 13:8 as a condemnation of the right division of dispensational truth is evidence of shallowness.

In conclusion, we’ll look at two other passages:

“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;” (Revelation 1:4).

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).

Hebrews 13:8 is the capstone of divine revelation. It has nothing to do with His methods of dealing with mankind. It has everything to do with Who Jesus Christ is! Interpreting Revelation 1:4 & 8 in the light of Hebrews 13:8 would be as follows:

The “Him,” which is, is equivalent to Jesus Christ “the same today;” The “Him,” which was, is equivalent to Jesus Christ “yesterday;” and the “Him” which is to come, is equivalent to Jesus Christ forever.

The Personal Name of God in the Old Testament was Yahweh. His Name in the New Testament and the Prison Epistles is Jesus Christ. His Name in the ages to come will be Jesus Christ.

The glorious truth we are to learn from Hebrews 13:8 is that Jesus Christ is God.


Tom L. Ballinger



April 21, 2004

PLAINER WORDS … I AM THE LORD

One-hundred-sixty-three times in the King James Version of the Bible, God says, “I am the LORD;” LORD being the translation of Yahweh. One-hundred-sixty-three times, God says of Himself—I AM THE LORD. As it was pointed out in our last study, Joseph Rotherham, in his Emphasized Bible, always translates LORD as “Yahweh.”

The last of the Old Testament references of “I AM The LORD” is found in Malachi 3:6; “For I am the LORD, I change not: therefore ye sons of Jacob are consumed.” This is the definitive comment on Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

Malachi 3:6 could be rendered; “For I Am Yahweh, I change not: …” Hebrews 13:8 would be correct by saying, “Jesus Christ changes not.” Our Lord Jesus Christ named Himself, Yahweh, in the Old Testament. He also selected His name for the New Testament times. He sent His angel to Joseph, who was espoused to Mary, and told him, “…for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shall call his name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21). A superficial reading of this fact would indicate that Jesus is the name of the baby ― “Baby Jesus.” The Name, JESUS, is the English rendering of the Greek, “Iesous,” which comes from “Jehovah,” or “Jehoshua,” and they all are derived from Yahweh. (I’ll not get into that study). But, the Name, JESUS, is the New Testament equivalent of YAHWEH.

I also noticed in Matthew 1:23 that a messenger (i.e. angel) further informed Joseph that the child is to be born of a virgin, and “they shall call His name Emmanuel which, being interpreted, is God with us.”

Here is what I’ve learned: (1) One-hundred-sixty-three times, God is identified in the Old Testament as—I AM YAHWEH. (2) Yahweh never changes. He is always God. (3) When the language of the Bible changes from Hebrew to Greek, only the spelling and pronunciation changes; that’s all. Yahweh/Jesus is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” An example of this can be that my Christian name, in English, is Thomas. It’s pronounced as Thomas. In Spanish, my first name is spelled Tomas. It is pronounced Tow-mas. However, I remain the same person, whether it is Thomas or Tomas.

When I consider the one-hundred-sixty-three references of “I AM YAHWEH,” I am overwhelmed with the significance of the “I AM.” Over-and-over, again, the emphasis is on “I AM Yahweh,” i.e. LORD. Check out the occurrences; you, too, will perceive the significance and import of “I AM.” [ i ]

In Isaiah 43, notice the “I AMs.”

“For I AM the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour:” (v.3).

“Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I AM He: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, AM the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I AM God” (vs. 10-12).

“I AM the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King” (v. 15).

“I, even I, AM He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (v. 25).

The “I AM,” in these passages, is instructing us that “I AM” is Yahweh. I AM the LORD. As it was pointed out, previously, in the study “Jesus Christ Is God,” the Pharisees understood exactly what Jesus meant when He said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”

There is currently a growing movement within a certain sect of Christendom proclaiming that Jesus Christ was a supernatural human being—but He was not God, nor even divine. They claim, “Jesus never once said he was God.” This group is headed up by an ex-Englishman now out of Morrow, Georgia. He calls himself, “Sir Anthony Buzzard.” Two things to notice; in America we do not, by law, have titles such as “Sir,” or “Lord,” or “Duke,” and etc. The man’s last name, Buzzard, isn’t very flattering. You know what buzzards eat? But of course, we cannot choose our family name. The point is, “Sir” Buzzard denies that Jesus Christ is God. [ ii ] It was surprising, and alarming, to learn how broad a range this movement covers within the Christian religion.

Let’s carry the idea of I AM YAHWEH, or I AM the LORD, over into the Gospel of John and see if we can appreciate the full impact of “I AM.”

“As long as I AM in the world, I AM the light of the world” (John 9:5).

“Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I AM the door of the sheep” (John 10:7-8).

“I AM the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

“I AM the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine” (John 10:14).

“Jesus said unto her, I AM the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live’ (John 11:25).

“Jesus saith unto him, I AM the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

“I AM the true vine” (John 15:1).

“I AM the vine (John 15:5).

I want to use a phrase that adequately defines what the Lord Jesus was communicating when He said, “I AM,” but I am at a loss to do so. Therefore, I’ll say the following for wont of a more proper phrase; the subtle nuance of Jesus saying, “I AM,” is that He was stating He was God.

God is the light of the world; God is the door; God is the good Shepherd; God is the resurrection; God is the way, the truth, and the life; God is the true vine. This is what our Lord and Savior meant when He said, “I AM.”

The Gospel of John also describes the event in the Garden, as did Matthew, when Judas and the others came for Jesus.

“Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I AM He. And Judas also, which betrayed Him, stood with them. As soon then as He had said unto them, I AM He, they went backward, and fell to the ground. Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I AM He: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way” (John 18:4-8).

Three times in these four verses, He said He was I AM. He was not just saying, “I’m the guy you’re looking for.” Nor was He just saying, “I’m the man you want.” It was His way of identifying Himself as “Jesus of Nazareth,” Who was the Great I AM of the Old Testament.

When Christ said, “I AM He,” “they went backward, and fell to the ground,” this demonstrated the power in the spoken Name of ― I AM. If you or I were to say, “I am he,” there would be no great significance in it as it was when our Lord Jesus Christ replied, “I AM He.”

Yahweh (i.e. LORD) of the Old Testament and Jesus Christ of the New “is the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever”(Hebrews 13:8). “For I AM the LORD, I change not” (Malachi 3:6).

Tom L. Ballinger

Endnotes:

[ i ] In this study, “I AM” is capitalized in order to emphasize the importance of the phrase which is also His Name.

[ ii ] Anthony Buzzard heads-up what is called, “The Restoration Fellowship” at the Atlanta Bible College, Morrow, Georgia. He is either affiliated with the Assemblies of God, or the Church of God. This fellowship speaks of themselves as the “Minority Church.”