Mid-Week Service Friday (Tomorrow) at 7 PM.

The Mid-Week Lenten service, which did not go out on Wednesday, will be on Friday at 7 PM Central. More below.

I pushed 30 orders of The King James Version out the door today, metaphorically speaking. Amazon has a good method of getting author's copies out quickly. All these are the usual suspects (That is from Casablanca - "Round up the usual suspects.")

That is not the complete lists, so there will be more tomorrow, God willing. We had two large gifts specifically for the KJV Project, so everyone is covered and then some.

RESI after Vimeo

Vimeo was a good transition after Ustream, which finally kicked us under the bus, because they were prehistoric in video services, picking it up from the founders.

That was push-button streaming, very easy for us to do.

Vimeo used to be a quality producer but they seem to be aiming at only the big customers. We will use them a little longer until we have the RESI hardware sorted out.

I learned about the RESI hardware first, and I think they will be good about avoiding twirlies and blackouts. 

The Logitech camera was not even close to doing the job, so I am looking at an HDMI video camera whose signal can be converted into SDI for the RESI encoder. HDMI cameras start at $500-600 and we already have the money. The converter is about $70. I am not buying anything until the technology men in the congregation discuss it. One member is quite familiar with the HDMI video camera, which his wife uses for her work. Until today I did not know about HDMI video cameras.

Another benefit of RESI is that they will send the live video to the blog, using the embed code. They will also send it LIVE to YouTube and Facebook at the same time. That will make it easier for some people to see it live, and we will have two storage places. There is also a RESI library function, which we will use.

I did not know IBM/Ustream would force us into the 21st century, but I am glad this happened. 

Thank you, everyone for helping get the complete KJV book published, for your encouragement and cooperation. 

RESI Update

We need a camera with SDI, not what we have. It was a funny conversation - "Why are you using UBS?" 

Back later.

OK. Huddled with RESI techie. No way could our cameras hook up. We need an SDI or HDMI camera (looks like co-ax, not USB). I am working on that, and will meet with a group of RESI people today.

LCMS/ELCA Leadership

John Nunes

"The Rev John Arthur Nunes, PhD, is a Lutheran pastor and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy. He has served as the President of Concordia College New York, as the President and CEO of Lutheran World Relief, and as a professor at Valparaiso University. Recent books are, with Alberto Garcia, Wittenberg Meets the World: Reimagining the Reformation from the Margins (2017) and Meant for More: In, With, and Under the Ordinary (2020). Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, he is a graduate of Concordia College, Ann Arbor MI (BA), Concordia Seminary, St Catharines, ON, Canada (MDiv), and the ELCA Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (ThM and PhD).

John is married to Monique Nunes, MA, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Concordia University Irvine, California. They have six children and thirteen grandchildren."

***

GJ - LCMS members wonder, for instance, about the Concordia College in Mequon and the turmoil there. The Missouri Synod has a very large contingent of clergy who are really ELCA in background, education, or philosophy. The ELCA cheerleaders in Missouri are much larger in number and influence than most people imagine.

 "We finally got rid of that Ichabod blog."
GJ - Neither one is a PhD. Matt got his D.D. from a weight-loss clinic in St. Louis. Kintz got his education degree online, part-time, in three years, after joining CPH.

Used Books with My Name? I Can Beat Their Prices

Some eBay books might look familiar - look here.

Biblio too? - look here.

Alibris - my favorite place? - look here.

Note that The Path To Surrender, by Gregory L. Jackson is another person with that name. 

 Book reviews are extremely important.
Thank you for all the positive responses - and the haters help, too.

The author's price is always the best deal, and the book is new.

Camera Issue with RESI

Something was wrong with the camera feed. I will talk to Resi tomorrow and if necessary get a different camera. 

They sounded like I had a toy camera, but we had an older weaker one for a decade. Everything changes.

We can still have the service when that is settled.

In Christ,

Pastor Jackson

Mid-Week Lenten Vespers Service, 7 PM Central Time.

Mid-Week Lenten Vespers, 2022

 

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

This will be the RESI encoder tonight if all goes well. 

 

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central Time

The Hymn #523    Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me

         
The Order of Vespers                                                p. 41

The Psalmody                          Psalm 24                  p. 128
The Lections                            The Passion History

                                                 
The Sermon Hymn #345   Jesus Lover of My Soul

 

The Sermon –    I AM the Bread of Life

 
The Prayers

The Lord’s Prayer

The Collect for Grace                                            p. 45

The Hymn #554         Now Rest Beneath Night's Shadows

The Name of God is unique and should fill us with wonder and praise. The thousands if not millions of divine names in paganism are connected with animals and many kinds of gross, human references. I AM is all-encompassing and puts to shame all the local gods and goddesses. This Name unites the Old and New Testaments because Jesus Himself employed it in His Gospel of John sermons. Unworthy scholars would make Jesus in the Fourth Gospel to be Gnostic – occultic – and not Jewish. Nothing is truer to Israel than Jesus as the human face of God, using His Name again from the Burning Bush – I AM.

            John was the disciple Jesus loved. He was present at the cross, when he was given the honor of taking care of Mary, the mother of Jesus. He was one of the first the empty tomb, and the risen Christ came to him and the disciples while they were fishing, providing a cooked meal before they could bring their catch ashore.

            The hot air merchants of rationalism have much to say about the Four Gospels, mostly wrong. One thing is very clear – the Fourth Gospel is the capstone of the Gospels. John’s Gospel completes and comments upon the events we know from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The Fourth Gospel also preserves unique sermons and narratives, and reveals the public ministry of Christ as three years with the disciples.

            Those who want to understand the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, whether they are Jews, Christians, or non-aligned, should study the Gospel of John. The Fourth Gospel is a commentary on the Books of Moses, revealing to us that many unusual stories from that era foreshadowed the Christ of the New Testament. By reading and meditating on John, we see the Christian Faith in Moses, and by reading the Torah again, we understand how God fashioned the future to fulfill the Promises of the past.

 

Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel is rich with lessons, starting with the feeding of the multitude, followed by Jesus coming to the disciples as they were dealing with a great windstorm at night on the sea.

KJV John 6: 19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. 20 But he saith unto them, “It is I; be not afraid.” εγω ειμι μη φοβεισθε – Literally – I AM, do not be afraid.

Some would take issue with that, but the disciples, knowing Greek, also knew the language of Exodus 3, when the Angel of the Lord named Himself as I AM, εγω ειμι. Who but the Word incarnate could walk on water?

            People came looking for Jesus, after the great miracle of healing, and He challenged them about their motives, which anticipated the last few decades of the Gospel bringing material success instead of the cross. After this miracle, the people wanted even more, so Jesus questioned their motives.

KJV John 6: 26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

This is a fine example of Jesus teaching something that would have enormous importance if it were not ignored. How do we work the works of God? On the Roman Catholic side, there is a long list of works, including praying for the dead to stay a shorter time in Purgatory. Money given to the priest helps too. That is a “reparation offering,” meaning literally in Latin that they are paying for sins – reparations. But this also addresses the limit of works.

            The work of God is to believe on Him He has sent – Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Midwestern Objective Justification scheme has clergy wildly and dramatically saying, “You are making faith a WORK!” The Bible does not speak about works on their own but the works which are the fruit of Gospel faith. This faith does not happen as a decision or an effort of intelligence but develops from the Spirit conveying Jesus to the individual. What is spoken is heard and understood, even by babies. Anyone can see that when the baby moves his head to hear his mother’s voice and cries when seeing a stranger the first time. When nurses tried to teach Jesus to Erin, her response (without words) was, “I know Him.” She was baptized and brought into the Kingdom of God as a tiny baby.

            In viewing this accusation of faith being a WORK – that is exactly what Jesus said, and it is sad that clergy do not know or believe that. The effective Work works on those who have been taught error. It is not the speaker but the Word that converts.

            The Gospel of John especially emphasizes faith in Jesus Christ as the One who teaches His Father’s teacher and does His Father’s will. Faith – as trust in the Savior – is powerful because it gives us access to God’s grace through faith in Him. (Romans 5:2) Those who oppose this are against the Fourth Gospel and the Apostle Paul. Faith in Him must be first or else human solutions and attitudes will prevail with bad consequences. The religious opponents then, like those today, knew the truth enough to hate it and remove it, any way possible.

            The curious then said to Jesus – show us a miracle (literally a sign, which meant much more then than our watered-down idea – “I saw… it was a sign from heaven.” These signs in John are divine miracles to be seen and experienced, not a daydream. They went on to brag about Moses providing bread in the desert (Exodus again). “What can you do?”

KJV John 6:31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life:

εγω ειμι ο αρτος της ζωης he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

I AM the Bread of Life:

he that cometh to me shall never hunger;

and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Our tendency is to focus on the bread of life. Since this is about His divinity, I AM is more appropriate for emphasizing the meaning of the Bread of Life. One of the Beatitudes is – He who hungers and thirsts for righteousness shall be satisfied. Faith in Him means that hunger and thirst will be satisfied, just as food and water take care of us when we are faint with hunger and dehydrated.

            This is the dramatic difference between the opponents dealing with material things and relying only on their reason and senses. What Jesus teaches is intangible and eternal.

Old Lutheran or Old Calvinist?

Walther changed the rules for electing a professor, making sure he got his way, as his nephew, Fuerbringer reported.

Taken from Zur Wehre. (To Fight Back) By An Old Lutheran.  in "Columbus Theological Magazine", Vol. 1, Issue 2, 1881.  Matthias Loy, Ed.

"Prof. Pieper regards it as a complete refutation of Prof. Loy's statement that the orthodox Luther theologians of our Church for three centuries had with great unanimity declared election to take place in foresight of faith, that these theologians were not in full accord as to whether they should term faith an instrumental cause of election or give it some other name. But is not this a sophism, invented to divert attention from the point of dispute? This matter has nothing to do with the other, in which they were all agreed, that election, namely, was made in view of faith. But Prof. Piper, in his superhuman logic, thinks that these other differences, which are not at issue at all in the present controversy, overthrow Prof. Loy's position and refute his statement. It is often the part of a sophist, whether conscious or not, that he tries to disprove a point which is not at issue, in order to make it appear as though he had disproved the real point in dispute."

 Loy was president of the Columbus, ALC,
seminary. Lenski and Leupold taught there too.

Now in Print! - Almost Ready for Kindle

Using a three-way strategy in Texas, Michigan, and Arkansas, the finishing touches were put on the new book yesterday.

Today the book is already in print and being ordered. As I said and wrote before, print copies will be sent - automatically - to our regular readers, no cost. 

The author's cost is almost $11, while the website cost is almost $20. 

The Kindle version will be $3, but is not available yet.

 Notice the agreement among the Nida troops, especially the WELS-LCMS faves, the NIV-ESV.

I added $1 profit to each KJV book and Kindle, so we could track sales. All the other books and Kindles have no profit, so the cost is reduced but their count is hard to figure. When profit is added, Amazon also boosts its cost, so I prefer non-profit overall.

The profit number will indicate interest outside of the usual readers, and the profit will be used to send more free books out. We get a lot of gifts that are put in the church account, used for broadcasting and publishing costs.

In Production - The King James Version: Apostolic Texts Precise Translation versus Fraudulent Texts and Heretical Translations. 50% Longer! Fewer Typos

This Is the Final PDF. 

Feel free to share it with others.

Janie Sullivan has sent the new book to Amazon for printing and the Kindle version. That takes a few days to finish, under the watchful eye of HAL 9000.

The original has been rewritten and enlarged by 50% - almost 300 pages.

I am tired of superficial people knocking a Bible they know so slightly, so I gathered 10+ pages of praise for the King James Version. That is at the front of the book, where it belongs.

I also have an extensive list of books at the end, which will help people do similar research. I added notes to that list because I realized how much I had to learn to get the new version completed.

There are two major parts. The first one includes more information and appreciation concerning the KJV. 

The second part exposes the modern New Testament text (pieced together from fraudulent and dubious sources). When people the extent of the deception, they will be enraged or appalled. 

Below are four ladies who did so much to make this happen. Member Randy Anderson began supporting the writing efforts, which allowed me to stop relying on extra work. Many others have done the same. 

 Norma A. Boeckler created the covers and illustrations.

 Janie Sullivan went over the final version to fix errors and send it on to Amazon and Kindle.

 Virginia Roberts is the champion of proof-reading.

 

 Christina cheered on every writing project.

From the Lutheran Librarian

From “The Formula of Concord on Predestination” in The Columbus Theological Magazine. Vol. 1, Matthias Loy, ed.

Do not the words of our Savior, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him,” John 6:44, suggest… only a few elect are effectually drawn by Him(?) But our Confession gives a clear and decided answer to the question by declaring that this drawing takes place in the ordinary means of the Word and Sacraments not otherwise, and that “to the preaching of this Word each miserable sinner should betake himself, hear it diligently, and not doubt the drawing of the Father; for the Holy Spirit with His power will accompany the Word and operate through it; and this is the drawing of the Father.” § 76, 77. The means are for all, and they bring the same grace with the same energy to all men alike.

Janie Sullivan - Finishing Editor - The King James Version Apostolic Texts Precise Translation versus Fraudulent Texts and Heretical Translations - Finnished Tomorrow

After Janie is done, the books will be ready to send directly to the active list. That could be in two weeks.

Did you see the pun or bad spelling in the title? No? Then you should not edit! 

I am kidding, because every printing has typos. The relief comes from having relatively few - and none that cause hilarious laughter.

I was going to tell Janie, "At least the Table of Contents is cleaned up this time!" I am glad I never said that, because she zeroed in on numbers out of order, repeated, and omitted. 

The usual suspects (a growing list) will get one copy, and more if requested. I will give some people extras automatically because they are likely to distribute them. That is the idea, to encourage people about the Apostolic text (Majority Text) and the best translation (KJV). That is why gifts are saved to do this.

Beautiful Gerhardt Hymn

 

"All Ye Who on This Earth do Dwell"
by Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676

Tune - Nun danket all' und bringet Ehr - linked here

1. All ye who on this earth do dwell,
Give thanks and glorify
The Lord whose praises ever swell
In seraph songs on high.

2. Lift up your hearts in praise to God,
Himself best Gift of all,
Who works His wonders all abroad,
Upholding great and small.

3. Since first our life began to be,
He has preserved our frame;
And when man's strength was vanity,
He as our Helper came.

4. Though often we His patience try
And well deserve His frown,
In grace He lays His anger by
And pours new blessings down.

5. 'Tis He revives our fainting soul,
Gives joyful hearts to men;
And when great waves of trouble roll,
He drives them back again.

6. May He adorn with precious peace
Our own, our native, land
And crown with joys that never cease
The labors of our hand.

7. Long as we tarry here below
Our saving Health is He;
And when from earth to heaven we go,
May He our portion be!

Hymn #581
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Ecclus. 50: 22-24
Author: Paul Gerhardt
Translated by: Alfred Ramsey, 1926, alt.
Tune: "Nun danket all' und bringet Ehr'"
Composer: Johann Crueger, 1653
Tune: "Nun danket all'"

Definitely Colder But the Daffodils Are Up

 Grape hyacinths come in all kinds of small sizes, color variations. They hold their blooms a long time and seem to come up forever, no matter how they are ignored.

 If a mouse is courting a mousess, a grape hyacinth bunch would be like a dozen roses.

Daffodils came up today, shaking off the gloom of two mild sleet storms (enough to close the city each time). Earlier the nascent blooms were sleet coated. Color under the protective outer petals showed they were ready to open up. And they did. It looks like 50 or more of the earlier planted daffodils will bloom, then the very large planting of daffodils will follow at odd times.

Bulbs bloom earlier for two reasons. One is from being pushed higher from frost heaving them upward. Another cause, I imagine, is the greater abundance of energy from a year or years of gathering food for the bulb. 

I cut a large bunch for the altar on Sunday morning, and that went to graves of Ranger Bob's mother and step-father today.

We included a lot of grape hyacinths, planted a layer  above the various daffodils, last year. They have lasting and intense blooms on short stems. 

California Dreamin' (about lower taxes).

 Caladiums have many variations in their colors. They take forever to come up but keep their showy style for a long time. 

Gold from Matthias Loy - Genius Theologian, Hymn Writer, Hymn Translator, Historian

The Columbus Theological Magazine is a real lost treasure. Here’s a short quote from the first article in the first issue, by Loy:

The Missouri doctrine is that God elected some persons, not in view of the faith by which they appropriated Christ and by which they were thus distinguished from the rest as well-pleasing in His sight, but merely because it was the good pleasure of His will to sanctify and save these particular persons. If we ask why these and not others were elected, the answer is, not that these were seen in Christ and thus accepted in the Beloved, but that it so seemed good in His sight, we know not why: it is an unfathomable mystery.

The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1. No. 1. 1881. Ed. Prof. Matthias Loy.

4 The new theory endangers the great central doctrine of justification by faith, and thus threatens to revolutionize our whole doctrinal system. "The just shall live by faith" has lost none of its importance since Luther's day. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should net perish, but have eternal life." Salvation is through Christ, by faith in His name: not through Christ without faith, not by faith without Christ. The great commission reads: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature: he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16:15, 16. That is the clear and consolatory way of salvation which our Church has inscribed upon her banner and which she has carried triumphantly, as the peace and joy and hope of millions, through the centuries. She never for a moment entertained the unworthy thought that man's faith could be a merit, on account of which God grants eternal life as the believer's due. How could she harbor such a fancy, when it is destructive of all that makes the doctrine of justification so precious? If faith were saving as a good work under the law, we would still, because of the imperfection of all our works, including faith, be under the curse. But it is the divinely ordained means of embracing Christ, and as such it does put us in possession of a merit and righteousness which renders us pleasing in God's sight, as those are not who do not believe and have not that righteousness, "Without faith it is impossible to please God." Hebrews 11:6. 

 From The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1. No. 1. 1881. Ed. Prof. Matthias Loy.

Invocavit: The First Sunday in Lent, 2022.

Invocavit, The First Sunday in Lent, 2022

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

Vimeo:

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Standard Time

The Hymn #312            Lord, Thou Living Bread

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer Him: I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life will I satisfy him: and show him My salvation.

Psalm. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High: shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19

O Lord, mercifully hear our prayer and stretch forth the right hand of Thy majesty to defend us from them that rise up against us; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.

The Epistle and Gradual      

For He shall give His angels charge over thee: to keep thee in all thy ways. 

V. They shall bear thee up in their hands: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Tract. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High: shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

V. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God: in Him will I trust.

V. He shall cover thee with His feathers: and under His wings shalt thou trust.

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #146    Lamb of God                       

I AM

The Hymn #524        In Thee Lord I Have Put My Trust - Winkworth trans.                

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #154        Alas and Did My Savior  

  

Prayers and Announcements

• Treatment - Pastor Jim Shrader, Chris Shrader, Doc Lito, 
• Our family friend and helper Dottie Hagar - her grand-niece is in the hospital from a respiratory infection.
• Pray for our country and duly elected President.
• Thanksgiving - Mary Howell.
• Wednesdays are Vespers at 7 PM.
• The new KJV book is at the finishing editor's place, - Janie Sullivan. The usual suspects will get a free copy. Write if you want multiple copies and if you want the final PDF.

         

KJV 2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: 4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

KJV Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

First Sunday In Lent

Lord God, heavenly Father, inasmuch as the adversary doth continually afflict us, and as a roaring lion doth walk about, seeking to devour us: We beseech Thee for the sake of the suffering and death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, to help us by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and to strengthen our hearts by Thy word, that our enemy may not prevail over us, but that we may evermore abide in Thy grace, and be preserved unto everlasting life; through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Invocavit

 

KJV Exodus 3 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4 And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. 11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. 15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

 

The name of the LORD is unique and remains mysterious. The four Hebrew letters are called the Tetragrammaton (meaning four letters). The vowel pointing is not intended to fill out the Name, but indicate instead that the sacred Name is not to be used and abused for many reasons – sacrilege, holiness, and withholding it from those who want its power, to abuse it.

When Job’s wife said, “Curse God and die!” the Hebrew is written “Bless God and die” because it was not proper to “curse God.” Believing Jews today will say “The Name” in Hebrew rather than using the formal name.

The name Jehovah is used in the King James (though rarely). Another version uses it frequently and that one is loved by the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Yawweh was claimed by the modernists who assumed that they knew the real Name of God, but that was only another example of their hubris (Greek for overweening pride).

 

This Exodus 3 passage is well known and yet not given the significance it deserves in unifying the Old and New Testaments’ message of faith in Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is not a history book we skip through to read the familiar stories or comforting Psalms. The Old Testament is the proclamation of the Gospel before His incarnation to serve as the foundation and fulfilling of His work. Modernists separate the Testaments, as if they are accidentally put together. Those raised in Judaism are shocked and exhilarated by the knowledge that they were reading the Gospel all along, though their eyes were closed to it (see Emmaus, KJV Luke 24:31).

The concentration of spiritual wisdom in the Testaments is shown by how much is revealed in such few words in Genesis 3.

KJV Exodus 3:2 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

Lutherans have taught the Burning Bush represents the Two Natures in Christ, human and divine, united by the Incarnation and united ever since.[1] This event, vision, or miracle is similar. The Bush burns but it is never consumed, so its herbal nature remains while it continues to burn.

            The Angel of the Lord appeared, but look at the identity of this Angel. In many places, the Angel of the Lord is the Son of God before His Incarnation. Jacob wrestled with the Angel, but referred to Him as God.

KJV Genesis 32: 30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

The Speaker is the Lord (not all caps) and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – an indication of the Trinity.

KJV Exodus 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. 15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

I AM – the Tetragrammaton – is the unique Name of God, though many other names are used in the Bible.

            The Tuebingen School promoted the idea of the Fourth Gospel centuries later and Gnostic, so the Gospel of John has been neglected and ignored. We know that Jesus was deliberately using the Name of God in John 8, where we find this taught and strengthened by the additional points of doctrine.

KJV John 8: 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

59 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.

1.      The point is Jesus proclaiming His Messianic title and His divinity because He was talking about the distant past and the present at the same time. Only God can exist that way, which the Pharisees quickly saw and opposed. In fact, in John, that was their final accusation against Jesus – He claimed to be God.

2.      The second point is that Jesus openly declares His existence in the past and now, more significantly, He calls Himself – I AM. No Jewish leader would miss that explosive statement.

3.      Finally, that claims spurs the opponents to pick up rocks to kill Him, yet He revealed His Two Natures by passing through this angry mob without being harmed, unlike the martyr Stephen in Acts.

Readers and listeners should count the number of times Abraham is named in this one chapter, emphasizing Abraham as the Father of Faith in Jesus, not Moses the Law-giver. One of Luther’s great insights was that people made Jesus into Moses the Law-giver, and Moses into the Savior.

            This use of I AM in the Gospel of John binds the Fourth Gospel to the Books of Moses, showing how the glimmer of gold in the Torah was so much a part of teaching the divinity of Jesus for the future:

1.      The sacrificial Lamb.

2.      The water from the rock. John 4.

3.      The bread from heaven. John 6.

4.      Most of all the bronze serpent used to heal. John 3:15-16. Numbers 21.

The Fourth Gospel is the ultimate book about Jesus because it was written by His beloved disciple and written, through the Spirit, with the thought of us already knowing Matthew, Mark, and Luke fairly well. So we see two major emphases in the Fourth Gospel. One is detailing with sermons what the prose narratives taught in Matthew-Mark-Luke. Another is teaching about future errors, correcting them in advance – such as Mariolatry.

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[1] The Two Natures in Christ, Martin Chemnitz, is good reading for everyone, from the laity on down to scholars.

PS - Pardon for having Genesis take over from Exodus earlier today.