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  • Garry Jenness on Revelation 11 - 3 years ago
    What is meant by "I Am that I Am."
  • Chris - In Reply on Revelation 11 - 3 years ago
    Garry, as you've read in the Scriptures ( Exodus 3:14), that God gave Moses this Name, "I AM that I AM" when Moses was called to go to the children of Israel to explain to them Who this God was that spoke to him & what He was about to do for them. And so God gave them the Name that they would know Him by. They would have previously known God by the Name Elohim or El Shaddai: God Almighty, but through the passage of time, their memory (& love) faded for Him. But now, God says that I want them to know Me by this Name.

    In Hebrew, this Name is, "Ehyeh asher Ehyeh" & the direct English translation is, "I will be what I will be". However, we generally understand it to be, "I AM what I AM". And then to explore this Name further, we find that it encompasses other aspects of God's Being. Therefore, to fully realize the Fullness of His Name, we could describe it as: "He is the self-sufficient, self-sustaining, self existent God Who was, Who is, and Who will be". The meaning also conveys: He has dominion over all things, the Source of His Power, and His Eternal Nature. (Note, this extended description copied from Bible Study Tools). This meaning, was to Israel, an understandable description of the God Who has sustained & Who will carry them out of their oppression in Egypt.

    However, to leave this Special Name without its full application would be irresponsible. Jesus often uses this term, mostly in a general way when seen in the Gospels, but more specifically in Rev 1:8, 11, 17 & others, where His usage of I AM, is clearly to denote His equality with the Father (The I AM) & a veiled reference to Jesus' Creative Work with the Father ( Gen 1:26).



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