Gospel Doctrine 13: I Am that I Am

[Katy Lied]

This is speculation off the top of my head, I'll start adding citations as the lesson draws nigh (if I can!). Please add corrections. Background flavor only.

The Mesopotamians had an advanced system of gods; each natural element had its own god. Not only was there a god of corn, say, but that god was imbued in the corn. You could not separate the god from the corn, and the god was in the form of corn. (Not like a bounteous nebraskan lass with a crown of corn who ruled over the corn).

When you traveled from city to city, each temple had on the wall a translation table that said if you worshipped Baal in one country, the equivalent god in another country was X. So people could maintain their worship of a certain god in the pantheon even in a foreign country.

So when Moses asks God, when the Israelites ask me who sent me, what should I say? He was wondering which of the pantheon of gods was he speaking with. And God tells his He is not affiliated with any particular force in nature, that He is above it all, that He is unique and not subject to anyone. He answers I AM THAT I AM. And does not define himself by nature.

But He does identify himself by history. He tells Moses, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He defines Himself by His history. God talks about what He has seen and done, and who He has covenanted with. (Side note about the Hebrews and history)

And when Moses and Aaron show up at the palace and tell Pharoah that their God says to let their people go, Pharaoh asks: Who is the Lord? He wants to know who he is up against. He wants to know which of the pagan pantheon is worshipped by Moses' people.

Ever wonder why the Lord hardens Pharoah's heart? It would be much easier to soften his heart, so Pharoah gives in right away.

When God sends Moses to demand of Pharoah to let his people go, it appears that He is intending to make a stronger statement of supremacy with the people of Egypt, and not only intending to free the Israelites. This is why God hardens Pharoah's heart; because He needs Pharoah to say no multiple times to show his supremacy. "And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt."

Every time Pharoah says no, the Lord sends a plague. These plagues are specific forces of nature. When the rivers turn red, it shows the superiority of the God of Moses over the pagan river god. When He sends insects it shows that Moses' God can defeat the pagan god of locusts. 7 times Pharoah says no, each time giving Moses an opportunity to show the invincibility of his God over a particular pagan in the pantheon. And finally, in the ultimate showdown, God send the plague of death of the firstborn which coincidentally, strikes the household of Pharoah, thus showing His supremacy over Pharoah (who is worshiped as a god himself)

After such a magnificent show of strength over the pantheon of pagan gods, is it any wonder the Lord gets so teed off when His chosen people, the ones he rescued, turn right back to worshipping those same pagan gods?

[Indy Coug]

That's a great post. Thanks.

[tooblue]

That's a great post. Thanks.

Yes, thank you Katy.

[Solon]

Yes, thank you Katy.

why start with mesopotamian gods? Moses would have been much more familiar with the Egyptian gods. I know Abraham was from Ur, but you might want to add in Egyptian components.

This makes YHWH's strong identification more necessary. He's a foreign god to the Egyptianized Hebrews.

One place to start:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook04.html#Religion

[Katy Lied]

why start with mesopotamian gods? Moses would have been much more familiar with the Egyptian gods. I know Abraham was from Ur, but you might want to add in Egyptian components.

This makes YHWH's strong identification more necessary. He's a foreign god to the Egyptianized Hebrews.

One place to start:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancie....html#Religion

Thanks. Will do.

[wuapinmon]

Judas (Ιουδας [Ioudas]) is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Judah (יהודה [Yadhvè]), meaning “I shall praise Yahvè.” Yahvè is the Proper Name of God in Hebrew, and their more orthodox traditions still hold it secret, ineffable, and nay unmentionable. Historically, to utter it was to violate the Commandment against taking God’s name in vain, described by Piero Ricci in his article “The Fourth Version of Judas”:

The P.N. [Proper Name] itself manages to turn this character into a double actor. One who, by the simple dropping of a letter may become God, because in Hebrew script a single letter--dáleth--differentiates the name of Judas from the magic letters, the Tetragrammaton, which may not be either written or spoken. A simple distraction, a lapsus calami, the falling down of a border (‘dáleth’ means ‘door, threshold’ in Aramaic) could confuse Judas with God. (18)

Because of the loss of the original pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton and other chrono-linguistic causes, the original exact meaning of the Name of God has been lost. By guessing at the sounds lost to the missing vowels, various interpretations are plausible--including the auto-predicate statement, “I AM.” When Jesus used this name to describe himself to the Pharisees they sought to take away his life for breaking the taboo, and thus in their minds the commandment against speaking the name of He Whose Name Is Not Spoken:

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. 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 8:56-59)

The mere act of uttering “I am” or “I exist” constituted blasphemy to many Hebrews, for their existence correlates to divine primacy--they owe their existence to God’s acts and will.

[creekster]

Judas (Ιουδας [Ioudas]) is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Judah (יהודה [Yadhvè]), meaning “I shall praise Yahvè.” Yahvè is the Proper Name of God in Hebrew, and their more orthodox traditions still hold it secret, ineffable, and nay unmentionable. Historically, to utter it was to violate the Commandment against taking God’s name in vain, described by Piero Ricci in his article “The Fourth Version of Judas”:



Because of the loss of the original pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton and other chrono-linguistic causes, the original exact meaning of the Name of God has been lost. By guessing at the sounds lost to the missing vowels, various interpretations are plausible--including the auto-predicate statement, “I AM.” When Jesus used this name to describe himself to the Pharisees they sought to take away his life for breaking the taboo, and thus in their minds the commandment against speaking the name of He Whose Name Is Not Spoken:



The mere act of uttering “I am” or “I exist” constituted blasphemy to many Hebrews, for their existence correlates to divine primacy--they owe their existence to God’s acts and will.

This cross-refences with Solon's information on the importance of a 'name' in the ancient woirld.

[Surfah]

I remember a zone conference on my mission where a missionary thought it wise to begin his testimony "I Am that I Am." Our MP swiftly rebuked him and told him he took the Lord's name in vain and counseled all of us to avoid such usage of His holy name.

[Indy Coug]

I remember a zone conference on my mission where a missionary thought it wise to begin his testimony "I Am that I Am." Our MP swiftly rebuked him and told him he took the Lord's name in vain and counseled all of us to avoid such usage of His holy name.

Channeling Dennis Green: "I am who you thought I was".

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_N1OjGhIFc"]YouTube- Dennis Green Flips[/ame]

[Jeff Lebowski]

KL, I really enjoyed this post. Keep 'em coming.

You said:

So when Moses asks God, when the Israelites ask me who sent me, what should I say? He was wondering which of the pantheon of gods was he speaking with. And God tells his He is not affiliated with any particular force in nature, that He is above it all, that He is unique and not subject to anyone. He answers I AM THAT I AM. And does not define himself by nature.

Note how Moses worded his question (from the NRSV - Exodus 3:13):

But Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you”, and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’

God then uses the name YHWH for the first time in the OT.

Pretty interesting in light of our recent Temple Names thread and the information from Solon on ancient customs related to names of gods.