It\u2019s not uncommon to see Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses from the Watch Tower Society in Ukraine. They often have their book stand set up on the sidewalk offering free Bible studies and materials to those passing by. I have had many conversations with them about faith and I want to share with you an approach I often use.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jehovah\u2019s witnesses may claim to be \u201cChristian\u201d but in reality their teachings are in opposition to Christianity. They deny central aspects of the Christian faith such as the deity of Christ and forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ. Whenever I talk with Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, Mormons, or another group that falsely claims they are Christian, I always try to focus on the most significant difference between us, which is belief or denial of the deity of Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s no secret that the name \u201cJehovah\u201d plays an important role in their faith. That\u2019s why when I talk to Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses I usually start by saying, \u201cI believe that the name \u2018Jehovah\u2019 is very important. Do you want to know why?\u201d Of course they also believe the name is important and are curious to see what I have to say about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I then take them to Exodus 3:14<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and then said, “Tell the Israelis: ‘I AM sent me to you.'”<\/em><\/p>Exo 3:14<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
I tell them that this is an important verse in the Bible because it reveals God\u2019s name to us. Here God replies to Moses, who asked him earlier \u201cwho should I say sent me?\u201d God gives a short and powerful statement, \u201cI AM WHO I AM.\u201d Moses took what God said here and changed it just slightly. The word \u201cJehovah\u201d or \u201cYahweh\u201d can be translated as \u201cHE IS.\u201d This is significant, it means that Jehovah God is completely self-existent, he is uncreated and therefore has no beginning and no ending, he eternally exists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My Jehovah\u2019s Witness friends are happy to agree to this. They usually nod their heads and smile as I explain the meaning of Exodus 3:14 and the name \u201cJehovah.\u201d The next step is to now point them to Jehovah in the New Testament. I ask them to now take a look at Jesus\u2019 interaction with the Pharisees in John chapter 8. Here Jesus claims that Abraham looked forward to the day when Christ would appear, and now he has rejoiced because he has seen it. (John 8:56) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Jews quickly respond by saying, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou are not yet 50 years old and yet you have seen Abraham!\u201d (John 8:57) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus\u2019 reply produces a violent reaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
58<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Jesus said to them, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.\u201d<\/em> 59<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.<\/em><\/p>Joh 8:58-59<\/em><\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Why did they pick up stones, because the Jews understood very clearly that Jesus was claiming that he and Yahweh\/Jehovah are one and the same. The Greek used in this passage is \u201c\u1f10\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9\u201d this is an exact quote from the Septuagint in Exodus 3:14 when Jehovah says \u201cI AM.\u201d During Jesus\u2019 time the Septuagint was the accepted and well used Greek translation of the Old Testament. Jesus was unmistakably claiming that he was Jehovah, the God who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and told him to deliver the people from Egypt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The truth that Jesus and Jehovah are one can be clearly proved by using Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58 and pointing Jesus and Jehovah exclusively refer to themselves as \u201cI am\u201d. Those who reject this teaching reject the truth claims that Jesus made and can not truly be called Christian. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s not uncommon to see Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses from the Watch Tower Society in Ukraine. They often have their book stand set up on the sidewalk offering free Bible studies and materials to those passing by.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[436],"class_list":["post-13574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing","tag-jehovahs-witnesses"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Woman-Photo-Hiking-Travel-YouTube-Thumbnail.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-3wW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12308,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/jehovahs-witnesses-and-the-deity-of-christ-in-john-13\/","url_meta":{"origin":13574,"position":0},"title":"Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Deity of Christ in John 1:3","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"March 12, 2020","format":"video","excerpt":"The biggest difference between Jehovah's Witnesses and orthodox Christianity is that the Watch Tower Society teaches that Jesus was not God. They reject the Christian teaching that Jesus existed as God before, during, and after his incarnation The New World Translation, which is used by Jehovah's witnesses changes the wording\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Video Updates"","block_context":{"text":"Video Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/video-updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7693,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/an-open-letter-to-vladimir-putin-from-russian-baptists-about-religious-freedom\/","url_meta":{"origin":13574,"position":1},"title":"An Open Letter to Vladimir Putin from Russian Baptists About Religious Freedom","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Russian Baptists are worried that they may lose the freedom to worship after the Russian courts banned Jehovah's Witnesses from the country. https:\/\/youtu.be\/B0LqAGkeCas A.V. Smirov, chairman of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christian Baptists recently wrote the following open letter to Vladimir Putin expressing his concerns about the loss of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New"","block_context":{"text":"New","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/new\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1_282014_ap3764991169718201.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1_282014_ap3764991169718201.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1_282014_ap3764991169718201.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1_282014_ap3764991169718201.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1_282014_ap3764991169718201.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1_282014_ap3764991169718201.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":202,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/jehovahs-witnesses\/","url_meta":{"origin":13574,"position":2},"title":"Jehovah’s Witnesses","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"October 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0\u00a0Shortly after we arrived in Odessa I was on my way down the stairs of our apartment building to take out the trash. As I exited our apartment I was met by two nice women in the stairwell. They explained to me that they wanted to share with me about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6249,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/it-could-be-demons\/","url_meta":{"origin":13574,"position":3},"title":"It Could Be Demons","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"February 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\"It could be demons\" the lady told me, referring to her adult son, \"But I don't think so because he's a really kind boy.\" \u00a0Her son, who suffers from epilepsy was sitting\u00a0just outside the door in the hallway as we talked. The woman, a refugee from Eastern, Ukraine had asked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/DSC05370.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/DSC05370.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/DSC05370.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9210,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/religious-groups-outlawed-in-unrecognized-republics-of-eastern-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":13574,"position":4},"title":"Religious Groups Outlawed in Unrecognized Republics of Eastern Ukraine","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"March 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A new law in the Russian Separatist controlled \"Lugansk People's Republic\" has many churches and church leaders worried. On February 2nd the unrecognized government approved a law that requires all \"religious groups\" to register with the government. According to the minister of religious affairs a religious group is any group\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ukraine"","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/lugansk1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/lugansk1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/lugansk1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/lugansk1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/lugansk1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/lugansk1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5172,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/church-in-eastern-ukraine-seized-by-militants-for-a-2nd-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":13574,"position":5},"title":"Church in Eastern Ukraine Seized by Militants for a 2nd Time","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"March 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Last September I shared with you how armed men stormed into this church in Antratsit, Lugansk region of Eastern Ukraine and seized their church building. This church was actively feeding hundreds of people and providing a bomb shelter for dozens of disabled people. 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