Before the Bible was translated, God's name was written in more than 6,000 places. But approximately 400 B.C. the Jewish scribes felt that God's name was too sacred for common use so they removed His name, יְהוָֹה, and replaced with LORD or LORD GOD.
God's name is יְהוָֹה, which means I AM! יְהוָֹה is transliterated YHVH. Yahweh and Jehovah are two different ways that people pronounce YHVH.
So, when you see LORD or LORD GOD in all capitals it means I AM! (or Yahweh/Jehovah) the name of God Almighty.
We use Yahweh in this post because the Bible definition uses Yahweh.
Yahweh, Jehovah, and I AM! are all the same person.
People mistakenly think Jesus is I AM! because of the following verse:
58Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."
I want to show you several reasons why this contradicts the rest of the Bible and one very simple explanation for Jesus saying, 'before Abraham, I am.'
First note, Jesus didn't say my name is I AM!. He said, Before Abraham, I am. Jesus was speaking of his existence, not his name.
If you click on the underlined word "am", in the verse above, it will take you to the Greek word that "am" was translated from, which is εἰμί (or eimi) which means "I am, I exist".
Indeed, Jesus did exist before Abraham. Jesus is the 'the firstborn of all creation.' (Colossians 1) Jesus was created first, before anything else, and he was with God from the very beginning.
Jesus was Sent
- “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. (Matthew 10:40)
- “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.” (Mark 9:37)
- [Jesus] said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.” (Luke 9:48)
Jesus was sent by someone GREATER than Him
You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.
The One Who Sent Jesus is Yahweh
The following verse in Malachi is the prophecy of Yahweh sending Jesus
Malachi 3:1-3
1“1"Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts. (Click on 'LORD' to see 'LORD' replaced God's name: Yahweh.)
2"But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 3"He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness. (Malachi 3:1-3, From BibleHub.com)
According to Malachi 3, above, Yahweh sent the Messenger of the Covenant to cleanse His people.
Malachi 3 says that Yahweh sent His messenger to purify his people like silver, and to cleanse them, in order to prepare the way before Yahweh comes to live among His people.
Yahweh is the One Who sent the messenger, also known as Jesus.
Jesus was sent and he cleansed God's people and refined them like silver.
Jesus can't be Yahweh because Yahweh sent him.
Jesus is the Shepherd Who Would Be Struck by Yahweh's Sword Prior to Yahweh's People Being Refined Like Silver
(Matthew 26:31–35; Mark 14:27–31)
31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
“ ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.
Jesus was quoting Zechariah 13, which says:
7Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
against the man who is My Companion,
Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn My hand against the little ones.
two-thirds will be cut off and perish,
but a third will be left in it.
9This third I will bring through the fire;
I will refine them like silver
According to the Verse Above in Zechariah 13
Yahweh's sword struck the shepherd. In Matthew 26, we saw that Jesus said he was the shepherd who would be struck.
The shepherd is the man who is Yahweh's companion (verse 7). We saw in Matthew 26 that Jesus said that he is the shepherd, which means he is also the man who is Yahweh's companion. So, in addition to being the firstborn of all creation, he was also with God, as God's companion, since the beginning.
In the verse above in Zechariah, the shepherd being struck precedes Yahweh's people being refined like gold and silver. In Malachi, the messenger of the covenant's coming refines Yahweh's people like silver.
Jesus' sacrifice prepared the way for God to live among His people. (Rev 21) Because Jesus was struck, his blood refined God's people and cleansed them like launderers' soap ushering in the New Covenant. Revelation 5 says that Jesus' blood bought a people for God.
TAKEAWAY
Jesus was sent by Yahweh. Jesus is the shepherd who was struck, he is the messenger of the covenant, and he was God's companion from the beginning.
Ergo, Jesus cannot be Yahweh.
