Ok have you ever been asked this question in regards to Isaiah 43:10 ?

How could God have always existed since it plainly says near the end of that verse before me there was no God formed?

Here is the quote from the NWT and I also looked it up on numerous other translations and they all used the word before.

Isaiah 43:10

 “YOU are my witnesses,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “even my servant whom I have chosen, in order that YOU may

know and have faith in me, and that YOU may understand that I am the same One. Before me there was no God formed,

and after me there continued to be none.

The word before carries the connotation of in advance; in front; ahead.

It would seem to suggest a time period of being before God that there was no other.

Wouldn't  it have been more consistent to say that there has never been another God other than me instead of before me?

Especially if you were wanting to show people that you had always been.

Anyhow whats your take on this scripture and its wording or choice of words?

                                                                                                                                   Regards,

                                                                                                                                   StoneWall

I think it's just an expression that means there was no before or after Him because to take the reasoning of the question about "before" to the word "after" would mean He stopped existing for there to be an after.  So I think it's implying there's neither (also that He's God with no valid other "god").

I believe that Jehovah's existence in time is like a number line with arows both left (into the past, no beginning) and right (into the future, no end).  It is Hebrew language construction for the period.  Jehovah is the only God Almighty throughout time and eternity, from Jehovah's perspective.  As the Creator of all the spiritual and material in the Universe, only Jehovah fits this excellent description of his Almightiness.

Isa 43:10 "You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.  11 "I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me.  12"It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And I am God.  13 "Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?"

Could it be talking about Jesus?..........wf

how would that work, wf?

I don't know.  Maybe it means Jesus here because it sounds like this God had a beginning, that would fit Jesus more and not Almighty God.  Then it says "you are my Witnesses".  Most Christians focus on witnessing about Jesus.  Then the part "there is no savior besides me", all Christians know that Jesus is their savior.  These are just simple thoughts.  I haven't even taken my Bible out and read the context of it and believe me I'm not trying to start something here.  Just thinking outloud.  I'm sure I'm way off!..........wf

Could it be talking about Jesus?..........wf

how would that work, wf?

Yes, the verse is talking about Jesus.

No "god" was formed before the Father, Jesus was not created but is eternal, He always existed and always will. See here

Revelation 22:12-16 (New International Version)

¹²"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

 ¹⁴"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

 ¹⁶"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."

Now cross reference with these verses

Revelation 1:8 (New International Version)

Thanks for giving me your answer, wf.  This verse is actually where JWs get their name from.  You may remember that LORD is a reminder that the Jews still pronounce YHWH as if it reads Adonai, the Hebrew word for Lord.  So, LORD (found in the NASB) and Jehovah (found in the NWT) mean the same thing.  I don't know which version/ translation of the Bible you use now, but I think you'll figure out what it means by reading the context of it (like you talk about yourself).  By the way, there's a PM from me to you, wf

Hi Spike,

Thanks for giving me your answer, wf.  This verse is actually where JWs get their name from.

Haven't you heard? Jesus came and died so we live by the New Testament now, not the old. Are you sacrificing rams and bulls over there?!

I follow Jesus and His words.  When He left He said to be His witness, not His Father's so I am :)

All the best,

Stephen

Jehovah's Written Witness (the Bible, including all correctly translated verses in every language) contains both what you call the Old Testament and the New Testament.  As 2 Timothy 3:16-17, ALL Scripture is beneficial …  Jehovah is mentioned in both OT and NT, and so is Jesus.  As John 17:3, this means everlasting life: [our] taking in knowledge of [Jehovah] the only true God and the one [Jehovah] sent forth, Jesus Christ. JWs are properly known as Jehovah's Christian Witnesses.  After all, without Jehovah allowing Christ to live as a human, none would have a valid hope for everlasting life.  Any one who has witnessed the transformative power of the Bible in someone's life is a witness to the power of Jehovah's word in that one.

and here is more on the oneness of YHWH/Jehovah in the hebrew site

 That YHWH is a single individual and not a multiplicity of gods or personalities is consistent with what we find throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. Moses declares to the children of Israel, "YHWH is our Elohim, YHWH is one" (Dt 6:4). Were YHWH a multiplicity of gods or personalities what would be the point of saying that He is "one"? It is worth noting that it does not say YHWH is one of something (one god, one personality). He is just simply "one", in every respect of the word. Similarly, the prophet Zechariah tells us about the universal worship of YHWH at the end of days, "And YHWH will be king over the entire earth; at that time YHWH will be one and his name will be one" (Zech 14:9). Zechariah is saying that today people multiply YHWH but at the end-time all mankind will know that YHWH is a single individual deity with one single name. We are taught in the book of Isaiah that YHWH is the one and only, "I am YHWH and besides me there is no savior" (Isa 43:11). Elsewhere in Isaiah, YHWH poses the rhetorical question, "Is there an Eloha (God) besides me?" (Isa 44:8). Similarly we read in the Psalms, "Who is an Eloha (God) besides YHWH and who is a rock (=savior) besides our Elohim?" (Ps 18:32). In these verses the word for "God" is Eloha ????????, the singular form of Elohim. These passages are saying that YHWH is an Eloha and besides Him there is no other Eloha. Indeed, YHWH is called by the singular Eloha (God) some 47 times throughout the Hebrew Scriptures which proves that He is not a plurality or multiplicity. This and the fact that the verbs and adjectives connected with Elohim are always singular confirm our conclusion that Elohim is an majestic plural denoting a singular individual but with a connotation of greatness.

and Jesus backs the highlighted point completely

John 4:23
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

/sigh this is the great truth of the bible and all the rhetoric in the world cannot change god's words. Amen

Romans 3:4
Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge."

Reniaa

So how can Jebooboo be the only true god in Isaiah when John 1:1 calls the word a god?

....and JWs weren't called 'Jehovah's Christian Witnesses' when I was being bullied into the cult.  They are only Christian by their own say so.

I know many athiests whose humanitarian attitudes mean that they behave more like Christians than my own family members do.

Jesus at John 17:3 states in his prayer to Jehovah that Jehovah is "the only true God".  John 1:1's use of "a god" is in line with the Bible's definition of "gods" found at Psalm 82:1-8.  Terms such as "Jehovah's Christian Witnesses" and "Christian Witnesses of Jehovah" have been used for many years, as a Google search will attest.

Jesus at John 17:3 states in his prayer to Jehovah that Jehovah is "the only true God".  John 1:1's use of "a god" is in line with the Bible's definition of "gods" found at Psalm 82:1-8. 

OK let's test your claim.

Psalm 82:1-8 (New International Version)

You need the power of Holy Spirit for this one, Stephen.  The cross-references I see for Psalm 82:8 (the bold part) is not 2 Corinthians 5:10, but rather Psalm 76:9, and Psalm 96:13.  Let [Jehovah] God be found true — the only true God — even as Jesus prayed.

From the AB (or Setuigent), the verse reads:

"Be My witnesses, and I too am a witness, says the Lord God, and My servant whom I have chosen; that you may know, and believe, and understand that I am He; before Me there was no other God, and after Me there shall be none."

The word "formed" is not inserted.

re allelsefails (Post 140):— That's NOT what I mean by "You need the power of Holy Spirit", because that's not how Stephen uses this expression when he's posted recently.  That having been said, I do believe that the Bible must be taken together in its entirety, and that sometimes subtle differences to one person are major differences to another, and vice versa.  Proper spiritual discernment is needed to make a correct assessment.  I assert that only Jehovah has the full sense of that, not even his glorified son Jesus has that discernment unless Jehovah allows it to be given to Jesus.

Thanks, Lieu for that Septuagint understanding.  It's too bad that most of us haven't been taught Bible Hebrew or Greek in any meaningful sense of the phrase.  It would be useful to have access to a word-by-word transliteration and translation of both the Hebrew and the Greek.