Did Jesus Claim To Be JHWH/Jehovah God Of The Old Testament?
Among the religious leaders who have attained a large following throughout history, Jesus Christ is unique in the fact that He alone Claims to be God in human flesh. Buddha did NOT claim to be God; Moses never said he was Yahweh/Jehovah; Muhammad did not identify himself as Allah. Yet, Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, said that he who has seen Him has seen the Father (John 14:9)
The claims of Christ are many and varied. Jesus said that He "Existed Before" Abraham (John 8:58), and that He was equal with the Father (John 5:17,18). Jesus claimed the ability to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7), which the Bible teaches was something that God alone could do (Isa. 43:25).
The New Testament writers equated Jesus as the Creator of the universe (John 1:3), and that He is the one who holds everything together
(Colossians 1:17). The Apostle Paul says that Jesus was God
(Yahweh/Jehovah) manifested in the flesh (I Timothy 3:16), and John apostle says that "the Word/Logos" was God (John 1:1). The united testimony of Jesus and the writers of the New Testament is that He was
"MORE" than mere man; He was God.
NOT only did His disciples notice that He claimed to be God, but so did His enemies. There may be some doubt among the skeptics who refuse to examine the evidence, but there was no doubt on the part of the Jewish authorities. When Jesus asked them why they waned to stone Him, they replied, "For a good work we do NOT stone You, but for "Blasphemy" and because You, being a man, make yourself out to be God" (John 10:33,
NASB).
The Father calls the Son (Jesus) God/Lord/Yahweh or Jehovah
(Hebrews 1:6-11) But about the Son, he (the Father) says, "Your Throne, O God, will last forever and ever, and righteous will be the scepter of your kingdom." He (the Father) also says, "In the beginning, O Lord (Jesus), you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands..."
This statement, above which is in the Old Testament quoted from
(Psalm 97:7), refers to the Lord God (Yahweh/Jehovah), is here implied to
"Christ," giving clear indication of his full Deity. The very beings with whom Christ is being compared are commanded to proclaim his superiority by worshiping him. In (Verse 10) "Lord, You laid the foundation of the earth as in (verse 6), a passage addressed to Yahweh ("O Lord") is applied to the Son." (New International Version)
The word "God" is Plural in original Hebrew "Elohim", whereas YHWH
(Yahweh/Jehovah) was the personal name by which God was known to the Israelites in the Old Testament.
In the scripture, where "Plurality" the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, and these Three Persons are the "Godhead". There are three Persons of all the same substance, Co-equal, Co-existence, Co-eternal. Elohim/God said,
"Let US make man in our image" (Genesis 1:26). God's plural personality is alluded to here, for He (the Father) could NOT be talking to angels in these instances above, because angels could NOT and did not help Him create.
The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, NOT the angels, created all things
(John 1:3; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:2). Here plurality is seen, obviously, God the Father speaking to His Co-eternal Christ as His equal. God said,
"Behold, man has become one of US" (Genesis 3:22). At the tower of Babel God said, "Let US go down..." (Genesis 11:7). God said, " Who will go for US?" (Isa. 6:8).
(In Matthew 3:13-17) While the Son was baptized by John the Baptist.
The Father spoke from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I well pleased." And the Spirit of God descending on Jesus in the form of a dove.
(In Matthew 14:15-17; 26) Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and He shall give you another
Comforter who is the Holy Spirit that He might abide with you forever. The Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach all things, and bring ALL things to your remembrance, whatsoever I said unto you."
(Matthew 28:16-20) Jesus said, "All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you. and Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world."
(I John 5:7,8) John wrote: For there are Three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word (Christ), and the Holy Ghost, and these Three are ONE in agreement. And there are Three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood: and these Three agree in One agreement.
In alluding to a plurality of God's personality, the Scriptures are quite specific as to naming "God" in terms of Three Persons! There is a Person whom the Bible calls the Father (Galatians 1:1). The Bible talks about a Person named Jesus, or the Son or the Word, also called God. "The Word was God..." (John 1:1). Jesus was "also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God" (John 5:18).
There is a Third Person mentioned in the Scriptures called the Holy Spirit, and this Person is "Different" from the Father and the Son is also called God "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?... You have NOT lied to men, but to God" (Acts 5:3, 4). The fact of the biblical teaching is these: There is One God. This One God has a plural Personality. This One God is called the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, all distinct personalities, all designated God.
(Genesis 1:1,2) In the beginning, God (the word God is Plural in original Hebrew "Elohim") created the heaven and earth and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water. The two main words used for God in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word "Elohim" and the four Hebrew consonants YHWH. "Elohim" was a general word for "God", whereas YHWH (Yahweh) was the Personal name by which God was known to the Israelites. These four consonants are connected with the verb to be, and this was the name by which God revealed Himself to Moses in (Exodus 3).
It will help to make the point clear if we translate (Exodus 3:13-15): Then Moses said to God/Elohim, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God/Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, "What is your name?" what shall I say to them?" God/Elohim said to Moses, "I AM that I AM." and he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, "YHWH, the God/Elohim of Isaac, and the God/Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you": This is MY name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations."
~~~~~ In most English translations "Elohim" is translated fairly consistently as "God," and YHWH (often written Yahweh) is translated as "the LORD" (in capital letters).
As Yahweh was the holy, personal name for God, it was particularly sacred to the children of the Israelite people, and there came a time when it was felt to be too sacred to be spoken by human lips. So, in speaking about God in public reading of the scriptures, another word, "Adonai" (which mean "Lord"), was always used instead. The word YHWH still appears in the text, but was (and by Jewish people still is) always read as
"Adonai." Bear this carefully in mind when we come to examine the New Testament titles given to Jesus Christ!
God the Savior: The Israelite people came to know quite certainly the incredible fact that this All-powerful, All-Holy, infinite God, the creator of all things, is also the God who steps down from heaven and comes to the rescue of people in slavery in Egypt because he has set his love upon them and has bound himself by his own "Promise" to come to their help (see Deut 7:6-11). In Exodus 3:7-8 Then the LORD said, "I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the land of the Egyptians."
The Israelites never forgot that they were a people rescued by Yahweh. All their worship centered in this great fact. Even the three great agricultural festivals (Unleavened bread, harvest and in gathering) became focal points for their worship of Yahweh the Savior (Exodus 23:14-17). Their obligation to serve Yahweh sprang from the fact that he had saved them
(Exodus 20:2).
The prophets constantly reminded the people that they were under covenant to live righteously, and to obey the law of Yahweh, because he was their Savior (Amos 3:1-2). When they forgot that Yahweh their God was their Savior, they began to go wrong and found themselves under God's judgment.
Of course it could NOT be long before they came to realize that this Almighty God, who had saved them from the physical slavery to human taskmasters, was also the God who could save them from the much more
"terrible" slavery to SIN and do Evil within themselves. The word Savior takes on an ever-deepening meaning as the Old Testament progresses. When God deals individually with people, it is through his Spirit. Thus, when God inspires his prophets, it is by giving them his Spirit (I Sam 10:10; Mica 3:8), and it is by his Spirit that God speaks to his people through these prophets (Neh 9:30).
More than this, the later prophets came to realize that we could never repent and live in obedience to God's will by our own efforts, and that what was needed above everything else, was that God should put his own Spirit into our hearts, so that we might become the kind of people God wanted.
~~~~~ JHWH/Yahweh revealed himself to the Israel that He would appear in the human form: (Isa. 9:6; Mica 5:2; Isa. 7:14) "Therefore, the LORD/Yahweh himself shall give you a sign, behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and his name shall be "Emmanuel" (Lit.. God or Yahweh with us). The Old Testament scripture Yahweh God, the Lord of Hosts, has revealed His plan to appear in human form and has fulfilled several prophecies coming this miracle in the Person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament (John 1:1; 8:58; 17:5)
(Isa. 9:6) It is one of the most powerful verses in the Old Testament in proving the Deity of Christ and in contestable declare that Yahweh Himself! planned to appear in human form. (Mica 5:2) "But thou Bethlehem, though thou be little among the thousand of Judah, yet out of thee shall He comes forth that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose going forth has been a form of old, from everlasting." Recording Yahweh's word gave not only the birthplace of Jesus (City of David, Bethlehem), but He gives clue as to His identity--namely God in human form.
In the New Testament (Heb. 1:3; Philip. 2:11; Col. 2:9; Rev. 1:8,17)
Yahweh has kept His promises and did become "the Son of Man" literally Emmanuel "God with us" (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:32; John 1:14), and since there is no other God but Yahweh/Jehovah by his own declaration (Isa. 43:10,11). Therefore, Jesus (Savior) Christ, (anointed One), and Yahweh God are of the same substance in Power and eternity, hence equal.
(Isa. 44:6,8) The overwhelming testimony of these verses, alone ascertain beyond reasonable doubt, the Deity of the Yahweh, who became the Son of God and the Son of man Jesus Christ. He identified Himself with us in that incarnation, and offered Himself as the "Lamb of God" once for all a ransom for many, the Eternal sacrifice who is able to "Save" to the uttermost whosoever will appropriate His cleansing power and forgiveness of Sin. (John 3:15-18) Jesus said, "...Whosoever believes in him, should NOT perish, but have Everlasting life..."
Jesus Christ claimed to be the Yahweh, or the I AM who I AM God.
In (John 8:56-59) Jesus said to the Jews, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." Then said the Jews unto him,
"Thou art not yet 50 years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" Jesus said unto them, "Verily, Verily, I say unto you, "Before" Abraham was (born) I AM." (John 8:5-8) Jesus said, "If you believe NOT that I AM, He (Savior/Messiah), you'll DIE in your sins." Jesus was referring to the "Great I AM" (YHVH/Yahweh) Almighty God in Exodus 3:14.
(Isa. 43:10-13) I, even the LORD; and beside me there is no Savior...Therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I AM God. Yea, before the day was I AM He." (Exodus 3:14) Yahweh, speaking to Moses, said, "I AM" which any Bible scholar recognizes as synonymous with God. Jesus literally said to the Jews, "I am Yahweh" (The I AM who I AM). And it was clear they understood Him to mean just that, for they attempted, as the next verses reveals to "stone" Him.
Hebrew law on this point states five cases
in
1 - Familiar spirit (Leviticus 20:27)
2 - Cursing/Blasphemy (Leviticus 24:10-23)
3 - False Prophet (Deut. 13:5-10)
4 - Stubborn son (Deut. 21:18-21)
5 - Adultery and rape (Deut.22: 21-24)
The Jews had stoned Jesus for the "Second" violation---namely Blasphemy! The Jews again attempt to stone Jesus and accused Him of making Himself God (John 10:33). There is only One "I AM" in the scripture
(Isa. 48:12;44:6; Rev. 1:8,17) and Jesus Christ laid claim to that identity for which the Jews, misinterpret the law, set about to stone him.
In (John 13:19) the meaning of the phrase, in the sense of full Deity, is especially clear here where Jesus says that He has told them things
"Before" they came to pass, that when they DO come to Pass the disciples may believe that "Ego Eimi" or "I AM". Yahweh God is the only One who knows the future as the present fact. Jesus is telling "Beforehand" that when it does come to pass in the future, they may know that "I AM" or Ego Eimi. That He is the Yahweh God! "I AM" or "Ego Eimi" is the Greek word for YHWH, the divine name of the self-disclosure, which translates from Hebrew to English, as "I AM that I AM".
This was the covenant name (YHWH) revealed by God to Moses and was stumbling stone over which the Jews fell. When confronted by Christ's claim to be the I AM (John 8:58-60), they did not stumble at a claim that he was merely Messiah, but as His claim that He was the "I AM that I AM" the Eternal one (YHWH), Almighty God.
(Philippians 2:10,11) Paul writes: That ,at the name of Jesus, every Knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father. (Col. 2:9) For in Him (Jesus) dwelt all the fullest of Godhead bodily. (Isa. 45:22,23) The Lord said, "There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth, shall not return, that unto me Every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess."
And Thomas answered and said to Jesus, "My Lord and My God!" (John 20:28). But unto the Son, He (the Father) says: "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have love righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you."
Divinity of Christ:
According To The Apostolic Fathers' Writing
~~ Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) He is the Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, "Let us make man after OUR image, and after OUR likeness."
~~ Clement of Rome (A.D.96) Let us reverence the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was given for us. God himself was manifested in human form for the renewal of eternal life.
~~ Aristides (A.D. 125) The Christians trace the beginning of their religion to Jesus the Messiah. He is called the Son of the Most High God. It is said that God came down from heaven. He assumed flesh and clothed Himself with it from a Hebrew virgin. And the Son of God lived in a daughter of man.
~~ Letter to Diognetus (125-200) Truly God Himself, who is Almighty, the Creator of all things, and invisible, has sent from heaven, and placed among men, the One who is the Truth, and they Holy and incomprehensible Word... God did not, as one might have imagined, send to men any servant angel, or ruler... Rather, He sent the very Creator and Fashioner of all things by whom He made the heaven... As a King sends His Son, who is also a King, so God send Him. He sends Him as God.
~~ Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) For Christ is King, Priest, God, Lord and Man. The Word is Divine. T he Father of the Universe has a Son. And He, being the First-begotten Word of God, is even God. He deserves to be worshipped as God and as Christ.
Moses...declares that He (JHWH/Yahweh) who appeared to Abraham
(Genesis 18:1-3) under the oak in Mamre is God. He was sent with two angels in His company to judge Sodom by another One (the Father), who remains (in Heaven) ever in the super celestial places, invisible to all men, holding personal contact with no one. We believe this other One to be the Maker and Father of all things. Yet,, there is said to be another God and Lord subject to the Maker of all things. (I Cor.15: 23-25).
~~ Irenaeus (A.D. 180) I have shown from the Scriptures that none of the sons of Adam are, absolutely and as to everything, called God, or named Lord. But, Jesus is Himself in His own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God, Lord, King Eternal, and the Incarnate Word... He is the Holy Lord, the Wonderful, the Counselor, the beautiful in appearance, and the Mighty God.
Thus He indicates in clear terms that He is God, and that His advent was in Bethlehem... God, then, was made man, and the Lord did Himself save us. He is God, for the name Emmanuel indicates this. Christ Himself, therefore, together with the Father, is the God of the living, who spoke to Moses, and who was also manifested to the Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?
~~ Tertullian (A.D. 205) "Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord," that is to say, the Son in the Father's name. And as for the Father's name God Almighty, the Most High, the Lord of Hosts, the King of Israel, the One who Is the scriptures teach us and we say that the Son came under these designation and has always acted in them and has thus manifested them in Himself to men." He says, "All things that the Father has are mine."
Then why not His name also?
~~ Hippolytus (A.D. 205) How it is that the Son suffered, yet the Father did NOT suffer with Him? [The answer is that] the Father is separate from the Son, though not separated from Him as God. Although Jesus endured the CROSS, yet as God He returned to life, having trampled upon death. For His God and Father addressed Him, and says, "Sit at my right hand."
By the Ancient of Days, he means none other than the Lord, God, and Ruler of all even of Christ Himself, who makes the days old and yet does NOT become old Himself by times and days. "His dominion is an everlasting dominion." The Father, having put all things in subjection to His own Son---both things in heaven and the things on earth. Having been made man, He is still God forever. For to this effect, John apostle has said,
"Who is, and who was, and who is to come the Almighty. And he has appropriately called Christ "the Almighty."
~~ Origin (A.D. 225) The arrangement of the sentences in (John 1:1-3)
seems to indicate an order. First, we have, "In the beginning was the Word." Next, "And the Word was with God." And thirdly, "And the Word was God." It was arranged this way so that it might be seen that it is the Word's being with God that makes Him God.
The Canaanite woman came and worshipped Jesus as God, saying,
"Lord, help me." He is perceived as being the Word, for He was God in the beginning with God. He reveals the Father. We now believe Jesus Himself, when he speaks respecting his divinity: "I am the Way; the Truth, and the Life."
~~ Novatian (A.D. 235) If Christ was only man, how did he say, "Before Abraham, was I am?" For no man can be before someone from whom he himself has descended. Nor can it be that anyone could have been Prior to him of whom he himself has taken his origin. Yet, Christ, although He was born of Abraham, says that He is before Abraham!
Why, then, should man hesitate to call Christ "God," When he observes that He is declared to be God by the Father (Hebrews 1:8-12) according to the scriptures?... Reasonably, then, whoever acknowledges Him to be God may find Salvation! In Christ as God. Whoever does NOT acknowledge Him to be God will LOSE Salvation! that he could NOT find elsewhere than in Christ as God.
When Jesus says, "Before Abraham was I am.." We worship, therefore, the Father of truth and the Son, who is the truth. And although they are TWO Persons! or Beings, they are ONE in Unity of thoughts, Harmony! and Identity of Will.
Jesus strongly refuted his adversaries by the example and witness of the Scriptures. He said, "If He called them gods, to whom the words of God were given, and the scriptures can not be broken, you of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, "You Blaspheme" because I said,
"I am the Son of God." By these words, He did NOT deny Himself to be God, but rather He confirmed the assertion that he was God. Nevertheless, He refuted the charge of blasphemy in a fitting manner with lawful tact.
For Jesus wished that he should be thus understood to be God, as the Son of God. He would NOT wish to be understood to be the FATHER! Himself....He is God, therefore, but God in such a manner as to be the Son, NOT the Father.
~~ Cyprian (A.D. 250) God the Father ordained His Son to be worshipped. The apostle Paul says, "Christ Jesus, Being in the nature of God, do NOT consider equality something to be grasped. But, he made himself of no reputation, and took the very nature of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance of MAN, he humbled himself and became obedience unto death, even the death of the Cross. Wherefore, God has exalted Him and given Him a name that is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things heavenly, and things earthly, and things beneath. And that Every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of the Father. " (Philippians 2:9-11)
Christ is God...In Isaiah.... For God is in you and there is no other God beside you. For You are God, and we knew it NOT, O God of Israel, our Savior...Moreover, in Jeremiah, "This is our God, and no other will be esteemed beside Him, who has found all the way of knowledge and has given it to Jacob his son and to Israel, his beloved. After this, He was seen upon earth, and he conversed with men."
~~~ Apostolic constitutions (A.D. 390) We profess that Christ is NOT mere man, but is God the Word and man, the Mediator between God and men. He is the High Priest of the Father. These testimonies of the prophets foretold that it would come to pass that the Jews would lay hands upon their God and put Him to death. We believe Him to be God.
Jesus Jehovah God? The claims of Christ are many and varied. Jesus said that He "Existed Before" Abraham (John 8:58), and that He was equal with the Father (John 5:17,18). Jesus claimed the ability to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7), which the Bible teaches was something that God alone could do (Isa. 43:25). The New Testament writers equated Jesus as the Creator of the universe (John 1:3), and that He is the one who holds everything together (Colossians 1:17). The Apostle Paul says that Jesus was God (Yahweh/Jehovah) manifested in the flesh (I Timothy 3:16), and John apostle says that "the Word/Logos" was God (John 1:1). The united testimony of Jesus and the writers of the New Testament is that He was "MORE" than mere man; He was God. NOT only did His disciples notice that He claimed to be God, but so did His enemies. There may be some doubt among the skeptics who refuse to examine the evidence, but there was no doubt on the part of the Jewish authorities. When Jesus asked them why they waned to stone Him, they replied, "For a good work we do NOT stone You, but for "Blasphemy" and because You, being a man, make yourself out to be God" (John 10:33, NASB).
The Father calls the Son (Jesus) God/Lord/Yahweh or Jehovah (Hebrews 1:6-11) But about the Son, he (the Father) says, "Your Throne, O God, will last forever and ever, and righteous will be the scepter of your kingdom." He (the Father) also says, "In the beginning, O Lord (Jesus), you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands..."
This statement, above which is in the Old Testament quoted from (Psalm 97:7), refers to the Lord God (Yahweh/Jehovah), is here implied to "Christ," giving clear indication of his full Deity. The very beings with whom Christ is being compared are commanded to proclaim his superiority by worshiping him. In (Verse 10) "Lord, You laid the foundation of the earth as in (verse 6), a passage addressed to Yahweh ("O Lord") is applied to the Son." (New International Version)
