Wednesday, August 6, 2014

I AM THAT I AM...I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE (Part 1)

I Am that I Am (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה, ehyeh ašer ehyeh

For many years I've taught on the concept of God revealing Himself to Moses as the "I AM", and how that relates to the NOW, and how it has implications for us, and for the way we talk about ourselves, and the things that we say about ourselves on a daily basis...in these sermons I used to always say, "He didn't call Himself the great 'I Was', or the great 'I Will Be', and would make the connection with the word "AM" to the word "IS", as in 'God is in the NOW/we are in the NOW'...I would use the passage in the book of Hebrews that says "they that come to God must believe that HE IS..."  to make my point...

But as I have studied this more over the years, I have modified my teaching on the subject somewhat...as it turns out, the real interpretation of what God actually said to Moses is closer in meaning to "I will be what I will be" than it is to "I that I am"...Hayah means "existed" or "was" in Hebrew; "ehyeh" is the first person singular imperfect form and is usually translated in English Bibles as "I will be" (or "I shall be"), for example, in Exodus 3:14... Ehyeh asher ehyeh literally translates as "I Will Be What I Will Be", with attendant theological and mystical implications in Jewish tradition...but in most English Bibles, in particular the King James Version, this phrase is rendered as I am that I am...

Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh  (often contracted in English as "I AM") is one of the Seven Names of God accorded special care by medieval Jewish tradition...the phrase is also found in other world religious literature, used to describe the Supreme Being, generally referring back to its use in Exodus...the word Ehyeh is used a total of 43 places in the Hebrew Bible, where it is often translated as "I will be" (as is the case for its first occurrence in Genesis 26:3), or "I shall be", (as is the case for its final occurrence in Zechariah 8:8)...used by God to identify himself at the burning bush, the importance placed on the phrase, as it is, stems from the Hebrew conception of monotheism..that God exists by Himself for Himself, and is the uncreated Creator who is independent of any concept, force, or entity; therefore "I am who I am" (ongoing)...

In the Hellensitic Greek literature of the Jewish Diaspora the phrase "Ehyeh asher ehyeh" was rendered in Greek "ego eimi", or "I am the BEING"....in the Septuagint (the Hebrews Scriptures translated into Greek), Exodus 3:14 is rendered "And God said unto Moses, I am HE WHO IS (ho ōn): and he said, Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel, HE WHO IS has sent me unto you."

The great Philo of Alexandria (who is credited with coming up with the concept of 'Logos') translated it this way: "And God said, 'At first say unto them, 'I am (egō eimi) THE BEING', (ho ōn, nominative of ontos) that, when they have learned that there is a difference between THE BEING (ontos, genitive of ho ōn) and that-that-is-not (me ontos), they may be further taught that there is no name whatever that can properly be assigned to Me (ep' emou kuriologeitai), to whom (hoi) only (monoi) belongs (prosesti) the existence (to einai)."

What's the point of bringing all this up? Isn't the difference in shade of meaning between"I am that I am" and "I will be what I will be" so subtle that it couldn't possibly matter that much?...

Well, I think it's important for several reasons...it seems to me that the real meaning of the phrase is not just a declaration of present existence, but a statement of prophetic potential...what if God isn't static? What if God and the concept of God is evolving? As I have already posted, the Greek literally says, "Within a beginning (or: In union with Headship and Sovereignty) there was the Logos (the Word; the Thought; the collection of thoughts; the Idea; the Reason; the discourse; the communication; the verbal expression). And the Logos (the idea; the thought; the expression; the Word) was facing, [directed, and moving] toward, (or: continued being face to face with) God. And the Logos (the Word; the thought; the idea; the reason; the expression) continued being God" (John 1:1 - JMNT)...

In the beginning was the "Thought"..."the collection of thoughts"..."the Idea"...wow(!)...they say that the Universe is expanding and growing and continuing to create and re-create itself...what if there's a God-connection to that? What if our personal evolution is connected to God's personal evolution? 

What if when Jesus asked His disciples "Who do you say that I am?", He was implying more than we thought before? Was He telling them that they could in a sense "create" who He was by what they said about Him? The writer of Hebrews said, "Though He (Jesus) was a son, He learned obedience through the things he suffered (through process)"...Jesus clearly had to grow into the knowledge of who He was (or into Christ-consciousness, if you will)...what if we're all on the same journey? John said, "Beloved, NOW are we the sons of God, and does not yet appear what we shall be..."

With every statement that you make about yourself, you're not just saying who you are, you're declaring who and what you want to become...there is a greater version of you on the inside that is trying to manifest...talk up your future...talk up who are you becoming!

You're somewhere in the future, and you look much better than you look right now!

To be continued...

21 comments:

  1. Leslie Holloway said...

    In the flow....but how do you change what you've already spoken? Spiritually I know this however manifesting it in the natural is quiet the obstacle. How far back do you go to lay the axe to the root? Would love to hear your perspective.

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  2. I'll answer in the next post, but let me go ahead and say that it's not that hard...the most profound changes usually happen with the least amount of effort..."the light shines in darkness, and the darkness cannot overtake it"...one positive word is more powerful than a thousand negative ones...

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  3. Karen Abraham said...

    To be continued... Im waiting for it...

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  4. Richard Wayne Garganta said...

    I heard a Rabbi expert on Hebrew once say this could be said, "I exist because I am existence." I fired up a camera and taped a show immediately. lol

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  5. Pamela Holbrook said...

    Oh my.......awesome!.....waiting..... :)))

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  6. That's so good, Richard Wayne Garganta...I want to use that...

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  7. Tony Hyers said...

    Continuing thoughts from a previous post, so refreshing to have the word reconciled by spirit science. God created man in his own image, not he or her, or humanoid, but consciousness, we are him & he is us. The Big Bang did happen & it's God's perfect creation of evolution, being able to adapt. When two or more are gathered in his name or laying of hands means shared energy, driving the negative away with positive vibrations. I'm glad you're teaching this, because quite frankly I'm tired of arguing with & offending other stagnant Christians.

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  8. Lonna Spencer said...

    I have begun thinking that whatever god is "he, she, the universe" must be evolving as well. (Contrary to references in Malachi that he changes not.) For me, it speaks of continuing enlightenment and evolution where there is no standard of perfection that is to be achieved. We are perfect in our growth. As to the universe growing, it appears to be accelerating faster and faster instead of slowing down, purportedly faster than the speed of light. It makes me realize that we only think we know. What we really know is that we don't know. It is exhilarating to wonder and ask questions. Questions are answers in seed form.

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    1. I love it...to me the "I change not" passages speak to God being the same in essence (power, integrity, truthfulness, etc), but increasing at the same time...the thing about the rate of growth of the Universe accelerating is just AMAZING...there has to be a connection...

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  9. Lonna Spencer said...

    I see your point about change. I have changed drastically, yet I am still me. Love it.

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  10. Donald Cofield said...

    That's extremely deep stuff but I'm feeling it. Leslie that is an interesting question you had. My first thought carried me back in my mind to the old TV show "Bewitched". On it Endora (I hope I spelled that correctly) was often casting a spell (speaking a reality into existence) and it usually or always never benefited her target. When her daughter Samantha got hip to her shenanigans she would finally get her to speak another spell which would cancel out the first spell. And personally I grew up on a farm and we have been known to literally disc a crop under (that's farm jargon) in order to make room for another crop that had more profit potential. I think that possibly a similar principle could apply to us in the spirit realm. At least I hope it does.

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  11. Actually, I think that's a brilliant analogy, Cofield...that's exactly how it works, and you did spell her name right...her character was named after the Witch of Endor that Saul visited to speak to the departed Samuel...

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  12. I love your history lessons!

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  13. Patti L Cook said...

    Revelations pouring from you like both the water & fire used to symbolize them. How could ANYONE possibly deign to imagine that you're going in an errant direction when the Truth IS so obviously revealed more with each jot, tittle, and word you post? S/He/Universe IS so freakin' AWESOME! FLOW BISH FLOW! :-) <3<3<3 U!

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  14. Gregory Bowman said...

    I completely love the last line...... Thank you for another great word. This was for me.

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  15. Nicolas Von O'Rourke said...

    You just laid out a framework for Theosis. I completely resonate with this.

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  16. Jeff Bowen said...

    Good point Tony Hyers. "Laying on of hands by the elders means shared energy". I have been pondering if Anointing Oil has healing properties itself, was intended to have a placebo effect during ceremonies, or if, in fact, the oil is actually a "conductant" that transfers healing "light/energy" from a higher consciousness/higher frequency person(s) to a lower consciousness/lower frequency "sickly" person.

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