During a read of Exodus 3 in the Samaritan Torah today, I came upon something fascinating and a monumental blessing. I’m so excited to share it with you today.
Exodus 3 is where we find Moses face to face with God in the burning bush. Frankly, this is Moses first meeting with the God of his people and hearing His voice, Moses having been raised with Egyptians after his infant rescue by Pharoah’s daughter. In this interaction, Moses asks God His name, and God answers!
We’ve all heard in classrooms and pews: “And Elohim said to Moses, ‘I am that I am’.” (Exodus 3:14)
That is from the Masoretic Text (MT). That popular translation was published 1,000 years after Christ by Jewish Rabbinical students. It is certainly an important document, a witness to ancient Hebrew texts, but is one which needs constant fact checking for its many differences with older texts. I’ve written previously on its most significant alterations of the original languages, so I won’t go into it again here.
Today, however, we have a much older version of the Torah, that passed down by the Samaritans. And the version I use is absolutely amazing. It stands the Samaritan Torah side by side with the Masoretic Text (MT) and shows us the differences. The Samaritan version is 1600 years OLDER than the MT. The version I read also uses notes from the Septuagint (version of Scripture used by Jesus and the disciples). The Septuagint is also centuries older than the MT.
Anyway, to get to the point, see in the screenshot below how the Samaritan Torah records God answered Moses when Moses asked God’s name. For reference, you are looking at two pages here side by side (like an open book, and each page has two columns). For each page, the left column shows the Samaritan Torah and the right column shows the Masoretic Text.
God told Moses His name: “I will be as I will be.”
“I will be as I will be” is quite a difference from “I am that I am” in the Masoretic version. “I am” is present tense, and I do love it still. Our God is always with us, here and now. “I will be”, however, is future, perpetual, always still to come, and never ending!”
Years ago, around 2014 or 2015, I was led to do a dark but intriguing study on the number 666 in Bible dictionaries published by James Strong. In his dictionaries, every word has numerical value. Maybe someday I will share those findings in full. They were eye-opening and profound.
At that time, the Lord led me to search and compile ALL words with 6 or 666 within their numbers, and there were many. What I saw in the meanings of those words formed a shocking pattern. Destruction and evil were contained within them. And something else that stood out: a NAME!! The name which came out of a study of 666?
“I WAS”.
“I WAS…” THIS is Satan’s future! To be past tense forever, gone, defeated, never to return. (Praise the Lord!) Of course, until the day he is ended, his goal is to take down and destroy everything he can along with him.
How completely counter and opposite to our God, our Elohim. “I WILL BE AS I WILL BE”! Always more, forever offering hope and a future! Praise be to Adonai! How precious is He?
I pray this blesses you today. I also pray, if you have never known the Branch Redeemer prophesied by Isaiah, that you consider the words of the Prophet and the fulfillment of all Messianic prophesies in Yeshua, Jesus. He loves you, He is the door, the way, the Bridegroom promised to the people of God centuries before Christ’s life on earth. Isaiah 53
[According to Steven Rudd, Pastor, author, and Biblical archaeologist, “the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) is the oldest Paleo-Hebrew Bible manuscript in the world… the Samaritans acquired it from Josiah around 610 BC.” (Source link: https://bible.ca/manuscripts/Samaritan-Pentateuch-SP-Bible-manuscripts-Old-Testament-Torah-Paleo-Hebrew-1362AD)]
This makes it the OLDEST, the very earliest text of the first five books of Moses! It is a must-have for all serious Bible students.
Peace.
–oneseekingtruth
FAITH AND FASTING 