3 CURTAINS

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

MICAH 6:8

“Whom Say You that I AM”?

Posted: 27 September 2012

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Matthew 16:13-15 KJV
(13) When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
(14) And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
(15) He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

My post today is in continuation of the Greatest Man of All Time. We start with the book of Mathew Chapter 16. Jesus first asked His disciples "whom do men say that I the Son of man am"? They answered some (not the disciples themselves but some) say that He was John the Baptist who was recently beheaded by king Herod because John spoke against him taking his step sister in law Herodias, as wife. Her husband Herod Philip I was probably still living. Her daughter Salome performed a dance for Herod birthday which pleased him that he promised to give her what she wanted even to the half of his kingdom.

Salome, being a y

oung girl asked her mother, what she should wish for and Herodias told her to ask for John the baptist head in a charger. Though Herod was not willing to kill John not because he believed in him but that he knew the common people received John to be a prophet, the fore runner of the Messiah. Herod do not want to be known as one of the kings who garnished the tombs of the prophets. Herod saw his oath, in keeping of it, as more important than the life of John the Baptist who was then his prisoner. We learned later that this young girl Salome became one of the cruelest queen in the Herod’s dynasty. Who knows how horrible a death she met later in the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman General Titus in AD 70 when the prophets spoke of rivers of blood flowing out of the City gates. Heads were severed savagely by Roman swords, and chests ripped by Roman spears. The same kind of the spear that one of the soldiers trusted into Jesus side which broke His heart.

Now back to our topic of “Whom say you that I Am”?, the fact that the disciples simply echoed what the people were thinking at that time, that He could be John the Baptist showed that they were at a lost as to who He really was (is). "Some say you are Elias (Elijah), or Jeremias or one of the prophets". Why do the disciples not even stopped to think when they reply Jesus question? Was it because they knew that in the Old Testament in Malachi Chapter 4 promised them that God would send them Elijah, the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the LORD? (Mal 4:5,6).

Jesus then asked them again, but "Whom do you say that I Am"? Notice He did not say, “Who do you say that I, the Son of man am”? Remember the meeting of Moses with the Angel of the Lord in the mountain (Exodus 3) when the bush seemed to be on fire but was not consumed? The Voice said, I Am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And the Voice further 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; And I AM come down to deliver them …….. When it comes to deliverance, He did not delegate it to another. He came Himself.
The Transfiguration

Moses having this commission directly said unto God, Who should I say sent me when I come upon the children of Israel and told them the God of your fathers sent me? They will ask me “What is His Name?

And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM and He said, Thus shalt you say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

God Himself said to Moses, And I AM come down to deliver them….

Did He say that He would send Michael or Gabriel the two Angels who appeared with Him when He met Abraham and sent the two Angels to judge Sodom and Gomarroh and to bring righteous Lot out of there? No, He said I AM come down. Moses was that human vessel He chose to meet Pharoah. Not even Aaron has the opportunity to speak directly to God. When the people finally had the opportunity to hear God’s own Voice, they trembled in fear and told Moses, please don’t let God speak directly to us. Let God speak to you only and you transmit His words to us.(Exodus 19 and 20). Notice Jesus did not ask the disciples, Who do man say I AM, but Whom? Is there a difference in the word “Who” and the word “Whom”? “Whom” carries the meaning of someone who had appeared before. Someone whom the scriptures can identify or someone foretold in the scriptures to come. That was why the other disciples said, He was one of the prophets, Elijah, or Jeremiah or even John. Finally, the sparks flew and the light came to Peter who immediately declared, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Straightaway, from Peter's reply, we know He must be afore mentioned in the old testament and by the same revelation of Peter, we find many scriptures pertaining to whom Jesus is to be. That one that was prophesied to come. The Messiah. It was Isaiah who pronounced to us: Behold a virgin shall conceive….. Today, scientist claimed credit for such births but God had done it before. Science just discovered them. Peter walked on water and Philip was teleported away from the Eunuch. Jesus stilled the storm and even the body of Elisha gave life to a dead man.

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Yes, now we have the reference to whom is Jesus. He is the Son of the Living God "Immanuel". This was confirmed to Joseph in a dream of the Angel of the Lord and addressed him, Joseph, thou son of David. Quoting the same verse from Isaiah

Matthew 1:23 KJV
(23) Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

(Gen 49:10) The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Did we get the meaning of Emmanuel from here? What is the meaning of Emmanuel or Immanuel? God with us. In other words, Jesus was God with us , Jesus means Jehovah Saviour. Paul put this very clearly as the Mystery of Godliness:-

1 Timothy 3:16 KJV
(16) And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

So you see, when God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, He came down Himself to do the job but was veiled in Moses when Moses met the people. So was God condescending in Jesus Christ because the bible said God prepared that body (flesh) for Himself to dwell in. He was made lower than the Angels.

How precise can it be ? God was manifested in the flesh, and received up into glory. Did Jesus fulfilled all the Word mentioned by Paul? God Voice thundered out both times, once when Jesus was baptized by John and again, in the transfiguration in front of His three selected apostles. God declared: This is my beloved Son in WHOM I AM well pleased. In the transfiguration, He spoke three additional words, "Hear Ye Him". Some has erroneously translated that as in whom I find delight or in whom I delighted in. How wrong and unilluminated of them. Jesus was His only begotten son thus beloved and that word by itself spelled out a Father Son relationship. Of course He was special. He was more than delighted in. He was the Beloved! He was the fulness of the Godhead bodily as declared by Paul in Colossians chapter 1 verse 19 and chapter 2 verse 9. In Him all fullness dwell. There by the witnesses of these verses, we understand in whom I am well pleased, means in whom I am pleased to dwell in or well-up in. Filled with the Spirit. Full of Wisdom. There is no other translation so honed and precise, when we considered all the other scriptures. Because the bible declared Him to be the Image of God. Not an image as in a mirror but the body temple He dwells in. The very personification of God. Yes, we finally understand that God dwells fully in Jesus. The only vessel that has the fulness bodily. That is the declaration, Wonderful, Councillor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace and Mighty God. that was why Peter proclaimed, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

How about this:-

Hebrews 10:5 KJV
(5) Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

By the new way:

Hebrews 10:20 KJV
(20) By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Psalms 8:5 KJV
(5) For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Hebrews 2:9-10 KJV
(9) But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
(10) For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

In the Moses time, God would have spoken directly to the people, instead they trembled and feared that they would die or be consumed and they told Moses to speak to them instead of God. From then on, God had always use human agencies, the prophets. But when it comes down to delivering His people once again, He was back to the I AM come down………..In the form of human flesh as a human being, the Son of God. Made lower than the angels that as a man, He might taste death and was made sin for us.

Exodus 20:18-19 KJV
(18) And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
(19) And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

And we see in Mathew 17, once again, God spoke directly to man, the 3 disciples of Jesus, Peter, James and John in a vision. The Voice said, This is my beloved Son. Hear Ye Him.

The pharisees and scribes could not understand that. They saw the 33 years old Jesus as about fifty years old.

John 8:56-58 KJV
(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.

Instead of falling down to worship Him, they cast stones at him. Because Jesus told them, "If you believe not that I AM (he), you shall DIE in your sins. Sin is unbelief. Jesus said, you sin because you believe not.

John 8:24 KJV
(24) I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

John 16:8-9 KJV
(8) And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
(9) Of sin, because they believe not on me;

See, it is not always those who are supposedly to be wise in man’s way that acknowledge God. Their learning did not bring them near to God, the I AM, but further and they threw stones at their own God. The God they claimed to worship everyday in the temple and by books. They performed all the rites and rituals of the temple considering the great structure that Herod had restored into a glorious building, but forgot Jesus warning that there shalt be no stones left unturned and they place more importance to the gold in the building than the One whom they claimed to worship. Had they considered the wonders of the heavens and the worlds , they would not even think so much of the temple building. One glimps of understanding of the simple but beautiful Lilies of the field would convince you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed such as how God array and give life to the lily.

Look, when God revealed Himself to the unlearned disciples, they rushed to be part of His kingdom, they saw through that veil of flesh, Jehovah, our Saviour. So He spoke to these unbelieving so called learned men, in parables that hearing they might not understand and seeing they might not believe. He told them, you destroy this temple and He could build it back in three days. They said, it took 46 years for Herod to restore this grand building and "you can rebuild it in three days"? "Now we know you are mad". That was their conclusion. They failed to see the One behind the human veil. And Jesus when He gave up the ghost in the Cross, He rent the temple Veil from top to bottom, which was as large as Nebuchadnezzer’s statue of Daniel who had became the king’s God. Daneil's three friends refused to bow to that image or any of the Jewish saints because God told them not to do such heathernistic worship of the creatures and not the creator.

But God said He will not share His glory with another. No prophets or any human being can share that glory. Remember Jesus was made lower than the angels when He condescended as a man through the Virgin birth.

John 18:6-8 KJV
(6) As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.
(7) Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
(8) Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way:

In the above scriptures, the soldiers were coming to capture Him and it was dark, so they probably could not identify Him except for Judas Iscariot who betrayed Him with the kiss. They asked Are you Jesus of Nazareth, and got the shock when He said, “I AM”. He was not answering them that He was the man Jesus but the I AM. Remember, when Moses asked the Angel of the Lord appearing to him in that burning bush, “Who shall I tell the people the Name of the one who sent me”? God said I AM that I AM. That was what Jesus was saying now in the garden of Gethsemane, I AM.

He always Is, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And He is the God of William Branham too. My God and your God. He is the God of the present and not of the past. There is none else beside Him. And He will not share His glory with another. So there are no second or third persons, but Elohim, the Self Existing One. Do not be deceived into thinking that there are 3 persons in the Godhead, because this contradicts Paul in 1 Timothy 3:16.

Neither be deceived to think God has only 3 personalities, when He displayed all His attributes in His creation. There is one unique characteristic of God that showed there is no one else like that and that is LOVE. Agape love. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…….unto death. To save us. And Paul tells us that we are saved by His own blood. Jesus even prayed to forgive them for what they were doing to Him because they could not see who He is! That's Love.

Acts 20:28 KJV
(28) Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Hebrews 9:12 KJV
(12) Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Finally, though we can go on for more revelations, I end with these verses:

Revelation 1:8 KJV
(8) I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 15:3 KJV
(3) And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

John 4:23 KJV
(23) But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

John 4:24 KJV
(24) God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

And truly Jesus was glorified when He said:

Matthew 28:18 KJV
(18) And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Colossians 1:16-17 KJV
(16) For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
(17) And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

You know when He said that that there is no one else anywhere, anyplace, higher or lower that has any power. Indeed Jesus is the Almighty God.

GOD.KEEPS.HIS.WORD_ STURGIS.MI TUESDAY_ 57-0115
E-41    So the kings got on the thrones at the gates, and four hundred prophets come up. And the one of the great big ones called Zedekiah, he comes up, you know, and he says, "Now, let me see. Let us prophesy. Yes, THUS SAITH THE LORD, go on up, the Lord's with you." See, why they were paid to. They wasn't paying no attention to the Word. They were paid well. They were fed well. They had meal tickets.
And a many good man today makes a mistake there. Brother, I'd rather lay on my stomach, drink branch water, and eat soda crackers, and stay in God's Word, and tell the truth, than to have fried chicken three times a day and live in a palace. That's right. It's the truth.

E-42    Right here in Dowagiac, not Dowagiac, but Benton Harbor, Michigan, an old man John Rhyn (not the John, you know, with the long beard, but the one from Fort Wayne) that was healed in the meetings. And they taken me over there; that rabbi... And he said, "How did that man, John, receive his sight?"
I said, "The Lord Jesus Christ gave him his sight."
And the rabbi said to me; he said, "Now, he wasn't either Jesus... Or He might've been Jesus, but He wasn't no Christ." And there we had it, right down. He said, "Oh, you Gentiles can't chop God in three pieces and give Him to us." See?
And I said, "Well, we don't chop Him in three pieces, sir."
He said, "There's one God."
I said, "That's correctly. Correctly."

E-43    And then he said... He got on talking like that. He said, si... Said, "Jesus was a thief."
And I said, "A thief?"
He said, "Yes, sir. Your Scripture, what you call the New Testament said He went through the corn fields on the sabbath day, and stole corn, and give it to His disciples, wasn't even legal." Said, "You know that." And said, "Your..." They're--they was so confused. He said, "He stole corn and give to His disciples and eat it Hisself. That makes Him a thief in my way of seeing."
I said, "Just a moment, rabbi, I'm surprised at you. Your own Levitical law said that a man can go through the field and pluck and eat what he wants to, but don't take any out in a bag." That's right. I said, "Shame on you, that don't know the Scripture no better than that." I said, "He was absolutely keeping the law." That's exactly right.
E-44    So I said, "What... Who was Isaiah speaking of in Isaiah 9:6 when he said, 'Unto us a Son is born, a Child is given.' Who was he speaking, the Messiah?"
"Yes, sir."
I said, "Is... When the Messiah comes, what's He going to be then? 'A Child is born.'"
He said, "Why the Messiah will be a child."
"Uh-huh. And He'd be borned of a virgin."
"Yes, sir, but not that you're talking about."
I said, "Now, I'm just asking you to answer my question."
And he went ahead like that, went on like that. I said, "Then what if the Messiah... What relationship is He going to be to God? See? What's going to be the difference between the Messiah and God? What relationship is He going to be to God?" I said, "There's only two things that your law condemned Him on is breaking the sabbath and making Himself God." And I said, "He was the Lord of the sabbath and He was God." I said, "God was in Christ reckoning... Jehovah God was manifested in flesh in His Son Christ Jesus to take away sin." I seen it got him after while.

E-45    He said, "Well, about this man's eyes, did you do that?"
I said, "No, sir. Jesus Christ did it." I said, "John's a seeing, isn't he?"
He said, "Yes, he sees." Said, "I've give him alms many time."
And I said, "There he was, setting blind twenty years, beggar. And here he is now, could read finer print than I can." And I said, "Now, what about that? Something give him his eyesight." I said, "Jesus Christ done it."
I seen as he turned his head around like that, the tears running down his cheeks, like that, off his gray, or turning gray beard, as he turned his head and walked away like that, walking to one side. And I said, "Just a minute, rabbi."
He said, "I'll see you later."

E-46    And I said, "Just a moment. You be a gentlemen with me. I want to ask you something. You believe that that was the Messiah?"
He looked around at me; he said, "Mr. Branham, I will admit that He was a good man." Well, he done hung hisself right there. See?
And I said, "You say...?..."
"Yes."
I said, "What about His Word?"
He said, "He was a prophet."
I said, "Rabbi, You believe he was the Son of God?" I said, "First thing, if He's a good Man, you couldn't believe Him as a liar. And a prophet, He wouldn't be a liar. And He said, 'I'm the Son of God.' Now, you've got yourself somewhere in trouble. And you said He was a good Man and a prophet. And you have to admit His Word was prophecy, and He said He was the Messiah of God. That's right." I said, "Now, you believe..."
And he said, "Look." Looked over to that little place towards there at Benton Harbor, he said, "If I taught that, I'd be down there in that street begging." 'Course he was a Jew, you know, with money, the one that says, "What profit is this," throwed Joseph in the ditch. See? "All right. Let's sell him, get the money out of it."
But he had his name on that big gold there on that school. I said, "But, rabbi, I'd rather be down there a picking up bread crumbs around the garbage can." (Which I wouldn't have to do it if I served God.) But I said, "I'd rather do that, than to have my name on that building there, and in my heart know I was wrong in the sight of God. I'd rather do it. God's Word stands first." Right.