Continued Questions for JW's

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM Who I AM" And He said, "Say this to the people of Israel, "I AM has sent Me to you." RSV

Christians universally recognize that Jesus Christ was claiming to be the Deity when he referred to himself as the "I AM". John 8:57-58 "The Jews then said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.
Even Jesus enemies recognized what he was saying. the next verse tells us that, when they heard this, 'they took up stones to throw at him. The Jews viewed Jesus claim to be teh I AM as blasphemy, a crime for which they wanted to stone him to death.
JW's, however, teach that Jesus Christ is really just Michael the archangel and that Christ never claimed to be God. So, to make Scripture agree with their doctrine, they change the reading of both verses in their Bible. The Watchtower Society's translation says, "this is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, 'I shall prove to be has sent me to you' Exod. 3:14 NWT and "Most truly I say to you, Before Abraham came into existence, I have been" John 8:58 NWT. So, in the JW Bible, Jesus words appear to have no connection with Exodus 3:14
You don't have to be a Greek or Hebrew scholar to prove that the Watchtower Society has twisted these verses. JW's own study Bibles prove that Jesus was claiming to be the I AM. Their 1984 large-print NWT of the Holy Scriptures with References has a footnote on Exodus 3:14, admitting that the Hebrew would be rendered into Greek as "Ego eimi" " I AM". And their 1985 Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures reveals that Jesus words at John 8:58 are the same: "ego eimi" (footnote), "I AM" (interlinear text)


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Exodus 3:15 Then God said once more to Moses: "this is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, "Jehovah the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. "this is my name to time indefinite, and this is the memorial of me to generation after generation." NWT

JW's use this verse to argue that they are the only true worshippers of God, because they are the only ones who still call God by his name----Jehovah. The above verse, they insist, is God's command to call him by that sacred name "to time indefinite" or forever. Int he eyes of the JW's, Christians who pray to "God" or to "the Lord" are actually praying to the false god, Satan; the true God, Jehovah, does not hear prayers unless they are addressed to him by name. Therefore, JW's always use the name Jehovah in their prayers. In factl, they often repeat the name many times during a single prayer, as if God might forget that he is the one being addressed, or as if the Witness might forget to which God he was praying.
Although their own publications admit that "Jehovah" is an Anglicized misrendering and not the correct pronunciation of the original Hebrew Tetragrammation YHWH, they insist upon using that pronunciation only, rather than the more correct name Yahweh. JW's never pray to "Yahweh".
A comparison of Exodus 3:15 with verse 14 shows that the name Yahweh, or Jehovah, has meaning: God is the self-existing Eternal One. He is much more than a name and knowing him involves much more than using a name. Jesus showed that more than just a name is involved, when he said, "On that day many of you will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them'"I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers' Matt. 7:22-23 RSV.
Question: Ask a Jehovah's Witness to examine with you the prayers of Jesus Christ. Point out that Jesus never started out his prayers by saying "Jehovah God" as JW's do. Rather, Jesus began his prayers by saying "Father" Matt. 11;25, 26:39-42; Mark 14:36; Luke 10:21, 22: 42; 23:34; John 11:41, 12: 27-28, 17:1-26 and when teaching his disciples how to pray, Jesus instructed them to address "Our Father" Matt. 6:9 Luke 11:2 Christians, then, are to have an intimate relationship with God as his children who call out to him "Abba! Father!" Romans 8:15, Gal. 4:6
And, as to the importance of names, the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to stress the name of Jesus Christ by saying, "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" Acts 4:10-12 RSV Moreover, Jesus is the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father Phil 2:9-11 RSV
Finally read Psalms 83:18 and Isaiah 43:10

That's all for today. I going home to see my daughters Beth and Lisa and my grandchildren Brandon, Anna, Zachery, Lake and Kaden. Again, my prayer is that God will give you wisdom and boldness to be the real Witness of Jehovah, our Savior who is Jesus Christ.