8.5 Jehovah of the Old Testament
by Hubert F. Sturges, www.everlastingcovenant.com, February 17, 2010
Topics:
Jehovah has appeared to men in Human Form
The Angel of Jehovah is One who was Sent
One Person of the Godhead has sent Another
God the Father has never been Sent or Seen
Jehovah, Jesus led Israel through the Wilderness
Summary
The Angel of Jehovah is One who was Sent
One Person of the Godhead has sent Another
God the Father has never been Sent or Seen
Jehovah, Jesus led Israel through the Wilderness
Summary
Jehovah is the Creator, Protector, and Provider of the Old Testament. The Bible also tells me that He is the Redeemer, the God incarnate who shed His blood on Calvary to take away my guilt. The Bible does not state it as a fact in so many words; but there is strong evidence recorded in the Bible which we will look at in this article.
God gave His name when He spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, “He said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God” (Exodus 3:5,6). See also verse 14.
1. Jehovah has appeared to men in human form.
He did this on several occasions in the Old Testament. The following story is an illustration. The story is told in Genesis 18, when Abraham was resting outside his tent:
Three travelers came down the road. With oriental courtesy, he invited them to be his guests. Abraham recognized One as the leader and addressed Him as “Lord.” In small letters this indicates in Hebrew simply “Master” or in English “Sir.” The food was prepared and as they ate, Abraham stood by them under a tree to help if needed.
“And they said unto him, Where is Sarah, thy wife” (vs 9)? That is, the One he had called “Sir” said this. Abraham replied, “Behold, in the tent.”
“And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life (when the season cometh round); and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him” (vs 10).
How could any man or angel possess the knowledge of things before they exist or happen, the power and the authority to make such a declaration?
“Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also” (vs 11-12)? Was her laugh one of doubt or delight?
“And Jehovah said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is anything too hard for Jehovah? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son” (vs 13-14).
Jehovah Himself is the speaker, not a man and not an angel. When the King James Version uses the word “LORD” in capitals, it indicates that in the Hebrew it is the name “Jehovah.” It is translated this way in the American Standard Version, 1901. This ONE is none other than Jehovah in human form.
When “Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid” (vs 15), then “He said, Nay, but thou didst laugh.”
As a man He did not see her laugh, for she was behind Him in the tent, and He did not hear her laugh, for she laughed “within herself.” But Jehovah is omniscient as well as omnipresent and omnipotent, and He knew she laughed though she was neither seen nor heard.
2. “The Angel of the Lord (Jehovah).
”It was not “an angel” but “The angel,” and “angel” means one who is sent.
As in the other case a single illustration may suffice. This time it is in the history of Jacob, grandson of Abraham, and recorded in Genesis 31.
Jacob had served his father-in-law Laban for twenty years. He had been much prospered, but jealousy had arisen from Laban. “Jehovah said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee” (vs 3).
Jacob called his wives and talked with them. “The angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. And He said, . . . I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowest a vow unto Me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred” (vs 11-13).
The angel of God said, “I AM God, the God of Bethel”; and the word “angel” means one who is sent. In verse 3 “LORD” is spelled in capitals meaning “Jehovah.” The “God of Bethel” is none other than Jehovah, and the One who now spoke to Jacob in a dream.
3. One person of the Godhead will send another person of the Godhead.
Zechariah, a post-captivity prophet, held out to the returned Jews the bright hope of the latter days, when the Lord Jesus Christ should appear to set up His kingdom in Israel on the earth. (Note: these verses are from the American Standard Version. In the King James Version the word “Jehovah” is translated “the LORD.”
“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith (the LORD, Son) Jehovah.
“And many nations shall join themselves to (the LORD, Son) Jehovah in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that (the LORD, Father) Jehovah of hosts has sent me (Jehovah, Son) unto thee” (Zechariah 2:10-11, ASV).
The first Person of the Godhead, God the Father, never has been sent and never has been seen. He is invisible, dwelling in light unapproachable (1 Timothy 6:16). But God the Son has been sent and has been seen. Five times in His controversy with the Jews, Jesus declared that His Father had sent Him (John 8:16, 23, 26, 29, 42). See also:
John 20:21 “As
my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”
John 1:18 “No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son,.. He hath declared Him”
Colossians 1:5 “Who is the image of the invisible God,”
John 14:9 “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father,”
John 1:18 “No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son,.. He hath declared Him”
Colossians 1:5 “Who is the image of the invisible God,”
John 14:9 “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father,”
It is thus becoming more clear that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New?
4. Jesus was the rock from which they drank,
He led them in the pillars of fire and cloud, He led them through the Red Sea, and He gave them manna to eat (1 Corinthians 10:1-4).
“They did all eat the same spiritual meat (manna); and they did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (vs 4). See Psalm 78 for a description of what God did for them in the wilderness.
“They remembered that God was their Rock”. All their dependence must be placed upon Him who did such wonders for them, who was their Shelter, their Foundation, their Source of supply, their Unchangeable Friend. It was Christ who was the true source of all their protection and their nourishment. He, “the Angel of the Covenant,” went with them whithersoever they went as their Guide and Support. Christ was their “Rock.” See also John 4:10, 14; 7:37-38.
SUMMARY
1. In the Old Testament Jehovah has appeared to men in human form.
2. In the expression “the Angel of Jehovah,” “angel” means one sent, who is Christ.
3. The Old Testament speaks of one Person of the Godhead sending another Person of the Godhead.
4. Jehovah as God the Father was never sent or never seen, while God the Son has been both sent and seen.
5. The New Testament clearly identifies Jehovah and Jesus Christ.
The offices of the Three Persons in the scheme of redemption - the Father choosing us, the Son redeeming us, and the Holy Spirit sanctifying and teaching us (see 1 Peter 1:2)!
Jehovah - Jesus forgives sins: “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isaiah 43:25).
Jesus said unto the sick of the palsy, “Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee” (Matthew 9:2).
Jesus is the source of the water of life: “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).
But in the last day, that great day of the feast, “Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink” (John 7:37).
Jehovah - Jesus is the bridegroom: “As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee” (Isaiah 62:5).
But Jesus said, “I am the bridegroom; how can the children of the bridechamber fast while I am with them” (Mark 2:19).
Our love must be to Jehovah - Jesus: “Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
Jesus said, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:27).
Jehovah sent the Old Testament prophets (Jeremiah 14:14-16). On the day when Jesus left Jerusalem desolate, He said, “Behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify . . . that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar” (Matthew 23:34-35).
To sum up, Jesus said to His unbelieving countrymen, “If ye had believed Moses, ye would believed me: for he wrote of me” (John 5:46). And after His resurrection, to His faithful followers He said, “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me” (Luke 24:44). Jesus is the sum and substance of what Moses wrote; He is the foundation of the whole history of the Old Testament, and He is the central object of all its prophecy.
When I hear men say that they believe the New Testament but reject the Old Testament, I pity them, for they know not what they say. No man can know the New Testament who does not believe the Old Testament. And when I hear men say that they love Jesus but hate Jehovah, I not only pity them but tremble for them, for no man can love Jesus who does not love Jehovah. Jehovah is Jesus, and Jesus is Jehovah. And it is He whose "... eyes are as a flame of fire, and on whose head are many crowns..." It is "He who treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation 19:12,15,16).
It may be added here, and I’m sure Professor Gray would have believed this, that the “I AM” in John 8:58 is the same “I AM” in Exodus 3:14. Therefore Jesus must be Jehovah! GJH.
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This is adapted from by James M. Gray, DD., LL.D.,President of Moody Bible Institute,
http://www.lwbc.co.uk/jehovah_or_jesus.htm
See also: http://jesusisyhwh.blogspot.com/2009/02/jesus-is-jehovah-in-galatians.html
and: http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/articles/deity.htm
