By Your servant Dan
Baxley
Email: dan@servantsofyahshua.com
Special Note from the author of this article: I would like to make
it plain that this article is covering a new look at the "IAM that
IAM" and the Greek influence upon the Hebrew Scriptures and no one, that
is, NO ONE, is making this observation. This is not a point of
"salvation", and it is not an absolute and I admit to this being my
own speculation and even guessing in some places to make my point.
Scripture is always first and it is the scriptures you should be most attune to
not the ranting of someone like me with a new "theory" to push. But I
do find this observation concerning IAM that IAM interesting and worth a look.
IAM = HaYaH
Knowing and understanding that our God and Savior has a personal
Name and that the God of Israel also has a Personal Name we can look at the
Hebrew Scriptures for the correct wording, without the Greek, and we come
up with the Hebrew "ha" for the Greek "I" and the Hebrew
"YaH" in place of the Greek for "AM". Marvelous isn't it?
Ha-YeH, or "I YaH", I-YeH,
if you insist on including the Greek, but, if you insist on discarding the
Greek, as I do, then we have "Ha-YaH", or THE YaH. If
you think I am making this up then let's have a look at Strong's Hebrew
Dictionary:
(Exodus 3:14, IAM) H1961 - hayah - A primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary): - beacon, X altogether, be (-come, accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), continue, do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, X use.
So, what do we see if we stay with the Hebrew only? "And
God (El) said to Moses, The YaH that (that is to say) The YaH: and He said,
thus shall you say to the children of Israel, The-YaH (eh-YeH)
has sent me to you." It just keeps getting better, doesn't it. For IAM we can look at Strong's H1961 -- hayah, and
it does not get much better than this.
I am or IAM -- ?
(John 8:58) YaHshua said
to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, Before Abraham
was, I am.
Many teachers and scholars of the New Testament writings like to
insist, or teach that every time you come to the term,
"I am", as used by our Savior He is claiming the title of
IAM in Exodus 3:14. But is that really what is being said? Is
YaHshua, as recorded in John, really saying He is the IAM? A big
deal is made out of this and some have even written whole books and themes
around this Greek term "I am". Now, let's get real, let us
examine this "I am" in Greek and the IAM in Exodus and see if they
match up. Let's let Strong's Hebrew, Greek Dictionary answer the question
--
Hebrew for
"IAM" - H1961 -- ha^ya^h
-- A Primitive root (compare H1933);
to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass
... (my note: this is the same definition given to YHWH, the Name of the
God of Israel)
Greek For
"I"-- G1473 -- egoŻ -- A primary pronoun of the first
person, "I" (only expressed when emphatic): - I, me ...
Greek For "am"
-- G1510 -- eimi -- First person
singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb;
I exist (used only when emphatic): - am, have been, X it is I, was.
Let's see, IAM or YAM is a single word or term, haYah, which is the same as saying "The
YaH". The Greek "I am" is two separate terms, one is
"I" and the other is "am", each with its own
definition. "I" as in first person and
"am" indicating active first person -- the Greek for "I" is
where we get our term "ego". The Hebrew term is not the
same as the Greek, they are totally different and the "I am" of the
New Testament has nothing to do with the IAM, or YAM or the Old
Testament. It is easy to see how this kind of thing could happen, after
all, both terms look alike, and as the Translators seem to favor the Greek over
the Hebrew or Aramaic we can then see why they would prefer to use IAM as
opposed to The YaH -- really? By rejecting His Name, YaH - YaHWeH and
substituting the term "LORD" in its place it must have been difficult
when they came to a variation like, "hayah", so why not just make it
into something else, say, like, IAM. If one were to correct this and
restore the HaYaH then the "I am" in the
New Testament would not really be saying what some want it to say. Look,
I believe YaHshua was YaHWeH before His coming in the flesh. I believe
our Savior's previous glory was in the God of Israel, YHWH, but this is not
excuse to use false reasoning in attempts to prove YaHshua is the Messiah of
the promised in the OT. Fact is, the very teachers that deny YaHshua had
a previous life and glory as YHWH and say that YHWH (YaHWeH) is the Heavenly
Father actually are arguing against themselves, for if IAM and "I am"
of the NT are the one and the same, then what are they denying? This
teaching would really prove the point that YaHshua had a
preexistence as YHWH, or IAM by their reasoning. I can't, in good
conscience, use this argument to support my view that YaHshua is and was YHWH
and YHWH is not the Heavenly Father YaHshua said He came to reveal.
Now for some more stuff I find interesting and I hope you do to
for I am certain it will be of benefit even if I am a little repetitive -- in
no way "am" I claiming to be the great "IAM" by using the
term "I am" when referring to myself. Whew, my head is
spinning, but that is what happens when you keep it real and follow the
truth.
*********************************
IAM is Greek -- YAM is Greek/Hebrew -- haYah
is Hebrew
Here is a little more on the IAM is YAM, a name given to the Creator by men, acknowledging the God of the Flood as the supreme ruler. This is the name by which YHWH originally identified Himself to Moses. Moses having spent his first 40 years within the Egyptian court and educated by the best available for the time would recognize which of the many gods he had been subjected to was speaking to him.
The following information is just the tip, as it turns out, when looking for this name among the heathens it appears and adds to something interesting and informative, but in no way has anything to do with out salvation or the coming Kingdom. Also, I do take liberties, as state before in speculating and opinion while at the same time staying within scripture. If scripture clearly corrects my speculation, or opinion then please, let scripture be the rule.
It seems the terms Amen, used as a finish or sign off of prayer is actually derived from this name YAM. I was once informed that Amen was a term in adoring moon worship. This then played with my head a bit when praying so I dropped using the traditional finish to prayer and thanksgiving and started finishing with, "HalleluYaH", which is to say, "Praise to You YaH". Happy with that I moved along.
One day in a conversation with a sister believer this came into our conversation and brought to mind how our Savior never used this term. It is found in some translations but on the whole the term Amen was added to our Lord Yahshua's Prayer sample sometime around 1692 AD and was called the "doxology". So far so good, I figure I'm still on good ground, and so what if I am probably the only person I know to drop the term Amen from prayer -- i am sure there are others. So, trudging along I decide to look into this business of the Amen, amon, ammon.
It seems that in the Hebrew the term "amen" is taken to mean "so it be; truly", which seems to me next to making an oath or to swear what you say is true. Among the Muslim, Islamic religion, they too use this term and it means simply, "so be it". This term is also used among other pagan religions and has the basic same meaning, to finish you prayer as "true" or "so". With this information and understanding YaHshua told us to "swear not", I figured I am still on good ground by dropping this from my vocabulary.
Not quite satisfied with what I found I went a bit further, looking for that Egyptian connection. Below I have copied what I found concerning Amen, Amon with the Egyptians of old.
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamanu (also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, and rarely Imen or Yamun, Greek ?µµ?? Ammon, and ?µµ?? Hammon), was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt. Whilst remaining hypostatic, Amun represented the essential and hidden, whilst in Ra he represented revealed divinity. As the creator deity "par excellence", he was the champion of the poor and central to personal piety. Amun was self created, without mother and father, and during the New Kingdom he became the greatest expression of transcendental deity in Egyptian theology. He was not considered to be immanent within creation nor was creation seen as an extension of himself. Amun-Ra did not physically engender the universe. His position as King of Gods developed to the point of virtual monotheism where other gods became manifestations of him. With Osiris, Amun-Ra is the most widely recorded of the Egyptian gods.[1] He was also widely worshipped in the neighboring regions of Ancient Libya and Nubia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amun)
Do you see it? If you have read my first two articles on the IAM or YAM, part 1 or part 2 then you will spot the connection right away. Apparently the Amen, Amun, Aoun, Imen is also YaMun. Amon or Amen is or was originally "Yam- a-nu". And this is no small thing as we see Amen-Ra defined as Amen the secret God and Ra the visible God. The names may be wrong as names derived from the lips of men but when we go deeper we discover the true Creator God revealed and worshiped as one of the High God among the many other gods that the Egyptians worship.
The connection can be seen again in the fact our Savior YaHshua said He came to reveal the Father (Amon the hidden Father? Ra, the visible YHWH/). See the connect? No, please, I am not saying that the pagan gods of Egypt are to be recognized, what I am saying is the Egyptians of the ancient world new of the Creator God, they were aware of the Great Flood and did, in a pagan way gave credit to Him but at the same time they applied this to themselves through their Kings, seeing their Kings as this god of creation or as descendants of the Great Creator God Himself.
Remember, YHWH delivered the Israelites across Yam-Surf (translated Red Sea)
and this when Egypt was at its zenith.
Peace to all that read this.
Send comments to -- dan@servantsofyahshua.com