“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 55: 6-7

_____________

#####

The Messiah in John’s Gospel

John’s gospel is the key that unlocks many mysteries in the Bible. It’s no wonder that so many believers recommend that people who have never read the Bible before should begin by reading John. It’s an eye-opener.

To Begin

To begin with, I need to explain something. In this editorial, I will not attempt to provide all the supporting information you need. To do that, I would have to write a book, and I did. The title is His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition. You should read it.

When I wrote the book, I focused on the Name Yahweh. Later, Yahweh led me to understand that referring to Him as “God” was offensive to Him because God is the literal name of a pagan deity. Sometimes, it’s pronounced Gad, Gaud, and Gawd. It doesn’t matter how it’s pronounced; Yahweh doesn’t like people using God in connection with Him. I revised the book to remove any reference to Yahweh as God. The correct title is Elohim.

Yahweh is not God. He is Elohim, and Elohim is a title, not a name. Yahweh is a Name. In fact, Yahweh is the Name that’s above every name.

Elohim can be used in connection with anything including wood, rock, and metal, but when it refers to Yahweh, it means Strong One. When it refers to pagan deities, it means false elohim with no power. There are too many of them to count. There is only one Yahweh and only one true Elohim.

Elohim is a plural word. That fact is of paramount importance since it refers to the triune nature of Yahweh. Genesis 1:1 is the first verse of the Bible, and it’s the first verse in the Bible that refers to Elohim:

In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

The Creator, Yahweh, is a plural Being.

John 1

John 1 begins by telling us who the Messiah is:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim. He [the Messiah] was in the beginning with Elohim. All things came into being through Him [the Messiah], and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:1-5)

In those 5 verses, John tells us that the Messiah is the Word, Elohim, the Creator, Life, and the Light. So, Elohim is One, but He is three distinct beings that believers refer to as “the Father”, “the Son”, and “the Holy Spirit”. That’s what Genesis 1:1 points to but doesn’t spell out in detail. That message is fleshed out in the Scriptures.

I don’t engage in debates about the Trinity. The word “Trinity” doesn’t appear anywhere in the Bible, but Yahweh’s triune nature is referred to repeatedly in the Bible. I focus my attention on what the Bible says and let the chips fall where they may. Yahweh is a plural Being.

There is a section in His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition that deals with the Messiah as the Word of Yahweh. Yahweh’s Word is a Person who is called “Yahweh” in the Old Testament. Therefore, John did not introduce anything new. He simply told us what the Scriptures say, and the Scriptures tell us that the Messiah, the Son, is the Word of Yahweh. Therefore, He is Yahweh.

In John 1:14-18, John says,

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John [the Baptist] testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Yeshua the Messiah. No one has seen Elohim [the Father] at any time; the only begotten Elohim [the Son] who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. (John 1:14-18)

The word “dwelt” in those verses means “to tabernacle” or “to pitch your tent”. It’s a clue about the Messiah’s birth. He was born during the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall of the year, not during Christmas in the winter of the year.

In Hebrew, the Feast of Tabernacles is called “Sukkot”. The Elohim of all creation came to Earth in bodily form, pitched His tent, and dwelt among us so that He would experience life on Earth and become the perfect sacrifice for our sins. This is how Isaiah explained it in Isaiah 53:

Surely, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore, and our pains that He carried; yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, struck down by Elohim, and humiliated. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; the punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

And His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But Yahweh was pleased to crush Him, causing Him grief; if He renders Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of Yahweh will prosper in His hand.

As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My servant, will justify the many, for He will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:4-11)

This is how Paul explained it:

He [the Father] made Him [the Son] who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of Elohim in Him [the Son]. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This is how Yahweh explained it to Isaiah:

“I, even I, am Yahweh. There is no savior besides Me.” (Isaiah 43:11)

Yahweh, the Creator and our Elohim, is our One and Only Savior.

John 8

To me, John 8 is a standout chapter, because the Messiah told us exactly who He is:

• “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12)
• “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” (John 8:18) The Messiah and the Father are One.
• “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8: 23-24) The statement “I am He” is a claim to be Yahweh. The Messiah said that if we don’t believe He is Yahweh, we will die in our sins. I didn’t say it. He said it. Don’t take my word for it. Take His word for it. If we don’t believe the Messiah is Yahweh we will die in our sins.
• “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He.” (John 8:28) Again, the statement “I am He” is a claim to be Yahweh. He said that when they “lift up”, crucify, the Son of Man, they will know that He is Yahweh. He rose from the dead after 3 days, and all of them knew it. Yahweh conquered death on the cross. His resurrection was proof that He is Yahweh.
• “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32) “My word” refers to the Scriptures, i.e., the Old Testament or the Tanach. The Word that became flesh and dwelt among us is Yahweh, and He is the focal point of Yahweh’s written word, the Scriptures. There was no New Testament when John wrote his gospel, so John’s gospel is not Scripture. It explains Scripture. By referring to the Scriptures as “My word”, the Messiah was claiming to be Yahweh.
• “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I EXIST.” (John 8:58) This statement is a claim to be the Creator, Yahweh. The Messiah created Abraham before he was born. Most Bibles translate “I EXIST” as “I AM”. I EXIST is a better translation. It tells us that no one created Him. He is the Creator, Yahweh.

As I said, John’s gospel is the key that unlocks many mysteries in the Bible. It presents the Messiah as Yahweh in the flesh. He is the Light of the world, the Creator, and our Savior.

Below are the Messiah’s “I AM” statements presented in John’s gospel:

1. I am the bread of life	6:35, 48, 51
2. I am the light of the world	8:12; 9:5
3. I am the door of the sheep	10:7, 9
4. I am the good shepherd	10:11, 14
5. I am the resurrection and the life	11:25
6. I am the way, the truth, and the life	14:6
7. I am the true vine	15:1

John 17: The LORD’s Prayer

This passage from John 17 is very telling. The Messiah is speaking, and this is The LORD’s prayer:

“I have manifested Your Name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your Name, the Name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your Name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.” (John 17:6-12)

The Messiah begins by telling us that He is the manifestation of Yahweh. No one else is like Him. Yahweh the Father is Spirit. Yahweh the Holy Spirit is Spirit, too, but He is a distinct being as well. Yahweh the Son is the only form of Yahweh that anyone will ever see. When people like Isaiah and John, for example, saw Yahweh on His throne, they saw Yahweh the Son.

This passage from John 17:11-12 is as clear as it gets:

“Holy Father, keep them in Your Name, the Name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your Name which You have given Me.” (John 17:11-12)

Yahweh the Father gave the Name Yahweh to His Son. That’s exactly what Paul said in Philippians 2:9-11:

“Elohim highly exalted Him [the Messiah], and bestowed on Him [the Messiah] the Name which is above every name [Yahweh], so that at the name of Yeshua [Yahweh] every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Yeshua the Messiah is Yahweh, to the glory of Elohim the Father.” (Philippians 2: 9-11)

The Messiah is Yahweh. Yahweh is our only Savior. Every being on Earth and in heaven and hell will bow to Yahweh and declare that He is Yahweh. If you read His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition, you will see that the same message is presented in the Tanach. It’s not a New Testament phenomenon.

#####

_____________

#####

“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”

John 10: 14-18

See “His Name is Yahweh”.