If ehjeh asshur ehjeh is the I Am phrase spoken to Moses at the burning bush as a shadow of the name Jesus then would it not suffice to say that the fathers name was always Jesus from eternity?

Answer 1

No. The 'I Am' phrase was necessary for the Jewish people at that time. 'I Am' is not really a shadow of Jesus' name but the name God wished to reveal to the wayward Israelites. Moses presumed, after talking to God, to ask God who he should tell the Israelites sent him. "'I am' sent you" said God - "just tell them 'I am who I am'". No names should have been necessary. If God spoke then the Israelites should have obeyed and not be concerned with the name of the particular 'god' that had spoken. The huge difference comes with Jesus. Jesus was not the impersonal 'I am' of the Old Testament, but God the Son - God who revealed himself, not as a spirit and an 'I Am' figure but a human sent to finally redeem us. Jesus's names were significant because of this plan of God the father: Jesus means - Deliverer or redeemer Emmanuel means 'God with Us' Christ (actually the title for Jesus - not his 'name' as such) means The messiah, the annointed one. Therefore, Jesus's names were very significant regarding his mission on earth. Jesus's also gave himself another name - 'I tell you, before Abraham was, I AM', he said. Thus Jesus refered to God's name as his own. So we come full circle. We have the God who revealed himself to the Israelites through prophets, but as they were rather fickle, the 'I Am' God had other plans. By coming to earth himself in the form of Jesus he was truly 'God with us' as a 'redeemer' for our sins, and, as a result was known as 'the anointed one' and therefore had a different role and hence a different name.