When Moses is called to deliver the children of Israel from bondage, he asks the Lord saying, “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?” This question emphasizes the importance of names and how they relate to the holy temple. In Exodus 3, the concepts of names and tokens are expounded. As a token of God’s help, he tells Moses, “When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.” This clearly identifies this event as a temple setting.
“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.” (Exodus 3:14)
In Hebrew, the original phrase is Ehyeh asher ehyeh. It describes the nature of God as being ever-present, unchanging, and eternal.
God’s name written in all caps, such as I AM THAT I AM, JEHOVAH, LORD, or I AM, signifies the Lord’s sacred, personal name. The Tetragrammaton (Greek for “four-letter word”) is the four-letter Hebrew name of God, יהוה (YHWH or YHVH), appearing 5,410 times in the Hebrew Bible. Due to the commandment against taking God’s name in vain, Jewish law prohibits uttering it as spelled. It is replaced with “Adonai” or “HaShem” (“The Name”) during prayer and study. Historically, the High Priest uttered it only in the Temple on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).
Because ancient Hebrew was written without vowels, the original pronunciation is uncertain. In fact, Jewish mystical traditions—specifically Kabbalah—hold that the Hebrew alphabet and Divine Names, particularly the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), are the tools through which God created the universe. Kabbalistic thought suggests that properly understanding, combining, or pronouncing these names accesses the creative, structured power of the Divine, though such knowledge is esoteric and hidden. This corresponds to Jacob’s teaching in the Book of Mormon:
“Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?” (Jacob 4:9)
The present tense of I AM reflects God’s ability and nature to always be present. He is there with you, and for you, yesterday, today, and forever. Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said that God operates outside linear time and lives in an “eternal now.” Speaking of angels, latter-day revelation states, “But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord” (D&C 130:7). Another revelation states:
“Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made;
“The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes;
“I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me.” (D&C 38:1-3)
The name Jehovah means “the existing One.” In my opinion, the best description of this was given by King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon, as he said, “For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay” (Mosiah 3:5).
Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). The people understood He was proclaiming to be the Great I AM, and they took up stones to cast at Him.
As we enter the Holy Week, it is significant that Jesus declares His divine sonship with the name I AM. The Gospel of John is filled with irony. This Gospel is unique since it gives no details of Jesus’ suffering in Gethsemane. He crosses the brook Cedron with His disciples and enters a garden (John 18:1). When He leaves the garden, a band consisting of the chief priests and Pharisees are there to meet Him. They are bearing lanterns and torches to greet the Light of the World. They are armed with unneeded weapons. These men are actually the temple guards assigned to guard the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. But they are standing on the holiest space that ever existed, where Jesus took on the pains, sins, and sufferings of all humanity.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus carries out His full atonement unaided. He carries His own cross (John 19:17), and he doesn’t need Judas to identify Him with a kiss. He simply asks, “Whom seek ye?” “They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he.” But the word he is italicized, meaning it doesn’t appear in the original text. Jesus identified Himself as “I AM.”
The purpose of the temple is to prepare us to be able to stand in the presence of God. But these chief priests of the temple “went backward, and fell to the ground.” They were not able to stand in God’s presence. Peter, having a sword, drew it and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (see John 18:1-10).
There was an ancient ordinance to “consecrate” high priests. A “ram of consecration” was sacrificed. The word consecrate comes from two Hebrew words, male’ (to fill) and yad (hand). Consecrate literally means “to fill the hand.” After the ram of consecration is sacrificed, the blood is placed on the high priest’s thumb of the right hand, great toe of the right foot, and upon the right ear (Leviticus 8:22-27). Symbolically, Malchus, the high priest’s servant, cannot properly hear the word of God.
