“And Jesus, answering them, began to say:
‘Take heed that no one deceives you.
For many will come in my Name,
saying, ‘I AM,’ and will deceive many.’”
Mark 13:5

When you read this in your Bible, you’ll find that it reads “I am he.” But the “he” is in italics, meaning it wasn’t there in the original text, but was added for clarity. This might be a good time to mention that this is true throughout the Bible. Words in italics were not in the original, but were added to make the reading easier to understand.

The point in this passage is that Jesus foretold that in the last days many would come saying, “I AM.” If you do a study of this, you will find that “I AM” is the very NAME of God. In the passage where the Lord tells Moses to go set his people free, Moses suggested that the people will ask who it is that sent him. God answered:

“And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’
And he said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel,
‘I AM’ has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 3:14

Later, in Jesus’s day, he used this very name to identify himself to the Jews, and they understood immediately and took up stones to stone him for “blasphemy.”

“Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you,
before Abraham was, I AM.’
Then they took up stones to throw at him,
but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple,
going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”
John 8:58-59

Why is it important to know this?

It’s important because the context of this passage in the Gospel of Mark is the Olivet Discourse, the passage about the “last days” signs Jesus told us to watch for. When they asked him what would be the signs of his coming, the very first thing he said was:

“Take heed that no one deceives you.”
Mark 13:5

In other words, he was telling them that the “last days” before his coming would be marked chiefly by DECEPTION. And then he goes on to point out that his Name, “I AM” would be used to deceive people.

Are there teachers teaching today using the words “I AM?”

Absolutely! When you hear a preacher or teacher saying that he is “I AM,” or that you can be “I AM,” know of an absolute surety that this one is a false teacher teaching heresy, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

The “New Age Movement” teaches that we are “divine,” and that we should search for the “I AM” within us. This is out and out blasphemy. This is what Oprah Winfrey promotes. She’s been called “the high priestess of The New Age Movement.” She peddles all the “New Age” heresies, leading many into the occult, leading many to hell. A pretty-face, immensely likable – fount of DECEPTION.

And it’s not found only in the “New Age” movement. False teachers within the church are teaching this very thing, notably, Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, among MANY others. These are the deceivers Jesus was speaking of – spouting things that he said to pay careful attention to because they will SIGNAL to us that we are in “the last days,” the days of deception, the days of the “great delusion” (2nd Thessalonians 2:11).

Friends, we are NOT divine. We are fallen, very fallen human beings. Isn’t it odd that all of these who teach us    that we are “I Ams” – are sinners showing that they are actually disciples of Satan. And to suggest that we can have our best life now by getting in touch with the “I AM” within us, is vile heresy.

If you belong to a church that teaches these things, RUN! You’re right smack dab in the midst of the apostasy, which is another sign of the last days (2nd Thessalonians 2:3), for Jesus told us this would happen and to WATCH for it, so that when you see it you might escape the rampant deception of “the last days.” He ended this discourse with these words:

“And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”
Mark 13:37

WATCH, therefore!