I Am that I Am

“I Am that I Am”, these are words that were spoken to communicate a sense of awe and respect for God.  These words indicate that God is, was, and always will be.  We see in Ephesians 4:6 that God is “over all and through all and in all”, he is omnipresent and omniscient.   There are none like Him. 

Now, consider the most honorable, wisest, and person most worthy of respect you know.  When that person speaks do you listen carefully to exactly how they say things and feel comfortable deriving meaning from every word?  We are often most impressed by people who are able to choose every word so that the meaning is clear, concise and exact. We consider a person foolish who does not choose his words carefully especially when discussing an important topic.  For some reason many are not willing to apply this natural logic to God and what He has written for us.

A debate has been going on for many years of whether or not every word in the Bible is important and should be considered when interpreting scripture.  This has given way to many translations that take great liberty in how they represent the original language.  I find it inconsistent at best that many people will respect every word even down to the tense and try to understand the specific nuances or words used for many people and past human authors, but when it comes to God a general gist of what he was getting at is good enough.  If we believe that wise men can choose specific words carefully when discussing an important topic why is it we don’t think that God chose every word when writing to us about our salvation?

We find in the Bible that God is not content with this.  In Matthew 4:4 it is written ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth -of God.’”  Here we read that man lives on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.  Note that it says “every” word. 

Many will say that “every” should not be taken literally and this is just to make us understand that all of the principles God gave us are important.  However, I am convinced that Jesus would disagree and we find him doing exactly that in the book of Matthew.

Matthew 22 31 But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

I have been told this is not pertinent because Jesus is specifically teaching on the resurrection, and not whether or not we should examine every last word. Notice though that the logic he uses to prove that there is a resurrection depends on the tense of the word “Am”.  At the time the Pharisees and the Sadducees were two of the most strict Jewish sects considered widely to be very knowledgeable about the Law. They were very similar in their beliefs, but had one major disagreement that separated them.  The book of Acts helps us understand just how strong this disagreement was between the two groups.

Acts 23 6 But Paul, perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, began crying out in the Council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!” 7 When he said this, a dissension occurred between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 And a great uproar occurred; and some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and started arguing heatedly, saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

Its worth repeating here that Jesus used the tense of one word to settle a longstanding and heated disagreement between two of the most respected Jewish sects of the time. 

Also, notice that when Jesus makes this argument the Pharisees and Sadducees took no issue with His reasoning.  The text then continues to say that the crowds were astonished His teaching.  We also read that after a few more questions also answered masterfully no one dared to ask Him any more questions from that day forward.

So, should we respect every last word spoken of God?  If you respect God and His wisdom you will recognize that He is able to choose His words carefully to convey specific meanings just as wise men do here on Earth.  We see this stated explicitly in verses such as Matthew 4:4 and Revelation 22:18 that we are not to add to or take away from what was written.  We also see that Jesus was also willing to base an entire argument regarding our primary hope on the tense of one word.  I find it odd that we will infer specific meanings from each word our loved ones and business partners use, especially in the written word, but do not believe what God wrote deserves the same respect.  In doing this we give less honor to God then men. This should not be so.