The relationship between God of the Old Testament and Jesus Christ.
A common question is “who is the Messiah that was promised from the Old Testament?” and “who is Jesus Christ? If He is the Messiah, is He equal to God the Father?”
In this study we will see that Jesus Christ and God the Father, as well as God the Holy Spirit, are ONE in the same.
There are many New Testament passages that teach Jesus is God Himself, but today we will examine the Old Testament names for God our Creator, and we will see Jesus is given the same names and titles, proving He is not just a man, but God Himself who left heaven to suffer and die in our place for our sins.
As our Lord Jesus said Himself in John 10:30: “I and the Father are one.”
1. As Jehovah
ISA 40:3 A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
Isaiah mentions Jehovah, the Lord’s name in the Old Testament Hebrew, as coming in the wilderness, and MAT 3:3 tells us Jesus is coming in the wilderness. But it is a direct quotation from the Old Testament, about Jehovah as Lord!
Matt 3:3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'”
In the New Testament Greek, the word for Lord in this verse is: kurios (koo’-ree-os); from kuros (supremacy); supreme in authority.
The same word in this verse quoted from the Old Testament, translated “Lord” as well, is the Hebrew word “Jehovah” in ISA 40:3, which is used for our Almighty God of the OT. Yehovah (yeh-ho-vaw’); (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God!
And the Greek “Kurios” is used many times for Jehovah Elohim; He is called the Lord God.
The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT) records kurios more than 9000 times. The term equals such Hebrew words as “adhon” and “ba’al”, and the Aramaic term “mare”,, which all mean “lord”.
But first and foremost “kurios” is used to translate God’s name as is depicted by the tetragrammaton YHWH (Yahweh), and “kurios” is the same title given to Jesus throughout the New Testament.
“Kurios” occurs more than 6000 times in the Septuagint for Yahweh.
And as in Old Testament usage, “kurios” in the New Testament also functions as the name of God Himself.
In fact, as we read the scriptures, each person of the Godhead: the Father, Son , and Holy Spirit, is called “Kurios!” This would be blasphemous, unless they are one and the same God.
In the following texts “kurios” is the equivalent of “adhon”, the Old Testament Hebrew name for the Lord. Grab your Bible and compare these verses with one another: PSA 118:22/MAR 12:11, PSA 110:1/MAR 12:36, and PSA 2:1/ACT 4:26.
God is frequently called “Lord” in the OT citations and allusions found in the NT. The Father exercises His authority as “Lord” over all His created universe.
Jesus praised Jehovah, the Father, as “Lord”, or Kurios, with the address “Lord of heaven and earth” in MAT 11:25, LUK 10:21.
This authority is primarily a result of the fact that He is the creator of the universe: “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth…” (ACT 17:24).
God is also called the “Kurios” of mankind, and the “Kurios” of the harvest. (MAT 9:38)
The point is that Jesus is given this same exact title. Jesus is called “Kurios” many times throughout the New Testament, which is the same word used for God the Father as well.
Again, an even more compelling fact to prove the deity of Jesus Christ, and His oneness with the Father, is all the OT usages of Yahweh (Jehovah) quoted in the New Testament with reference to Jesus Christ.
This is excellent proof for Jehovah’s Witnesses to examine. They simply don’t understand how ONE God can be in THREE Persons.
But when the scriptures give us evidence after evidence of Jesus being spoken of as Jehovah, we must conclude that Jesus is truly God(Jehovah) who took the form of a man for our salvation.
Let’s go on with the Old Testament titles for Jehovah (the one and only God), and see how the NT states Jesus is the same Person.
2. Jehovah of glory
Ps 24:7-10 Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.
Notice it asks: “Who is the King of glory?”- and the answer is “Lord” which again is the Hebrew word “Jehovah”.
So the Lord (Jehovah) is the King of glory.
In 1Corinthians the Lord of glory is said to have been crucified.
1 Cor 2:8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;
Obviously, only Jesus was crucified, yet He is given the same title that only Jehovah holds, as in Psa 24.
3. Jehovah our righteousness
JER 23:5-6 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. 6 “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’
The branch that comes from David is the Messiah, a human being promised to come, and He is called “The Jehovah our righteousness”!
What’s the name of this “Lord our righteousness” who will come from the line of David and reign as king, and do justice and righteousness in the land?
Well this prophecy says it is Jehovah Himself who will be coming as the Messiah!
Read it again; the righteous Branch himself will be called the Lord (Jehovah) our righteousness.
Jehovah our righteousness in the Hebrew is: “Yehovah Tsidqenuw” ; Jehovah (is) our right; Jehovah-Tsidkenu, a symbolical epithet of the Messiah and of Jerusalem.
Even without going to New Testament passages, we can see that Jehovah is the One stated to come as David’s righteous Branch, to reign in the land in justice and righteousness.
Of course, we also know that the Lord Jesus Christ is a direct descendant of David, both on Joseph’s side and on Mary’s side! Mat 1, Luke 3
REV 5:5, speaking of Jesus Christ; “and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”
1JO 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
REV 19:11 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
This is the Lord, Jesus Christ.
REV 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
And again, Jehovah Himself is said to be the One who will come from the line of David in JER 23:5-6.
4. Jehovah is above all.
In the Old Testament in PSA 97:9, Jehovah is said to be above all gods. “For You are the LORD Most High over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.”
And here’s John the Baptist, speaking of Jesus in JOH 3:31 “He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
So Jehovah is “above all gods”, and Jesus is said to be “above all”. If Jesus were a lesser God, then how can He be said to be “above all”?
Some people say the Bible never says Jesus was equal to God, but there are many scriptures which say this, and/or give Jesus the qualities or powers that only Jehovah has.
JOH 5:18 “For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”
John 5:21 “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.”
Only Jehovah Elohim, the Lord God, can give life! Only He has all power, and He is said to be the Creator in Gen 1.
And if you think Jesus is an angel, where does it say in scripture that angels have the power to raise the dead or give eternal life to whomever they wish? If Jesus were just an angel, as some teach, He could not be given the power to do this.
Only Jehovah God, Lord Almighty, has the power to give life.
And when He was on earth, Jesus knew fully well who He was and where He was from. He knew He was One with God in heaven, and was now in the form of humanity to save the human race from their sins.
This is why at times He made it clear that He had equality with the Father in His deity, all the while listening to and obeying the Father in His humanity.
In what’s called the “Hypostatic Union” in theology, Jesus is both 100% God and 100% Man at the same time, in One Person forever.
How can we say this? Because scripture is revealing to us that Jehovah God took on flesh to save the world.
This is why MAT 1:23 says of Jesus He is the Immanuel of the OT, which means “God with us”!
And that’s what PHI 2:5-8 is all about: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
5. Jehovah is the first and the last
In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah declares one title for God is “the first and the last”, and this is the title for God alone!
ISA 44:6 “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.
By the way, also notice Jehovah Himself is called the Redeemer.
Of course, Jesus is called the Redeemer in ROM 11:26-27, so which one is it?
This is actually a reference from the OT in ISA 59:20!
But not to get sidetracked, let’s get back to the first and the last.
ISA 44:6 says Jehovah is the first and the last, and there is no God besides Him!
This clearly states that only Jehovah is the first and the last.
The New Testament gives this same title to Jesus Christ!
REV 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,”
It goes on to say that the first and the last became dead! But how could that be if Jehovah is the first and the last?!
18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
When was Jehovah, the God of the OT, dead?! How could Jehovah die? He is the Lord God who IS eternal life. This is only possible if He took the form of a man.
Now back to the Old Testament prophets again.
ISA 48:12-16 “Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. 13 “Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together. 14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon, And His arm will be against the Chaldeans. 15 “I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him, I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful. 16 “Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
Jehovah, the first and the last, is speaking, in context here. And He is saying that “the Lord God has sent Him, and His Spirit”!
So the literal translation says Jehovah was sent by Jehovah! And Jehovah’s Spirit was sent too! This is more evidence for God being 3 in 1, despite our limited ability as humans to understand this. But what does scripture reveal???
And if we find the Bible says that Jesus is actually Jehovah God in the flesh, we have much more understanding of the possibility that the Spirit is also Jehovah, and that the Trinity truly is One God in essence and attributes, but showing Himself in 3 Persons.
Now back to the New Testament;
REV 22:12-13 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Open up your Bible and you’ll see this is Jesus speaking, in context. And clearly He says He is the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, which Jehovah declares only Jehovah can be, when He says “there is no other God besides Me.”
ISA 41:4 “Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.'”
Once again, the OT declares Jehovah is the first and the last.
And again, the NT mentions the alpha and the omega (the first and the last) is not only Jesus, but also the Almighty One!
REV 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
So the Lord God Almighty, Jehovah, is the Alpha and Omega, right?
But speaking of Jesus again, the Bible says that HE is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
REV 21:5-6 “And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
7 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
And who gives to the one who thirsts from the spring of water of life without cost?
John 4:7-14 “There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, “Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?
12 “You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again;
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
And comparing this with REV 21:6, the Alpha and the Omega is the One who gives the water of life!!!
If we continue to read the scriptures with the humble faith of a child, the truth is apparent.
JOH 7:37-38 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'”
REV 7:17 “for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
REV 22:16-17 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” 17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
6. Jehovah’s fellow and equal
The Old Testament speaks of an Associate in ZEC 13:7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate,” Declares the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.”
The New Testament says this Associate is Jehovah’s equal.
Phil 2:6-7 “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Look at what Jesus said in MAT 22:42-46: “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him “Lord,’ saying,
44’THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET”‘? 45 “If David then calls Him “Lord,’ how is He his son?” 46 No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.
And Peter’s famous speech in Acts 2 is clear on who Jesus is:
Acts 2:22-36 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know —
23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
25 “For David says of Him,
‘I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. 26’THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE; 27 BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. 28’YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’
29 “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30 “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE,
31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.
32 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.
33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.
34 “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:
‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, 35 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”‘
36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified.”
This is a direct quote from David in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah:
PSA 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
In the OT, the Hebrew says “Yahweh says to Adonai”, which are both titles for God Himself.
Yahweh is the same as Jehovah, just a different pronunciation. And Adonai means Lord and is often used in reference to Jehovah.
In fact, the form Adhonai began to be used by devout Jews in an effort to avoid taking the personal name of Yahweh in vain. They didn’t want to pronounce the sacred tetragrammaton YHWH, so they would say and later write Adhonai instead!
Adhonai, as a substitute for the holy word Yahweh, is therefore also synonymous with the other substitute for Yahweh, “Jehovah”.
Yes, Adonai is used elsewhere in the Old Testament in reference to men like Abraham who were lord or master over their servants or wives, but it is also used to speak of deity, of Jehovah Himself.
And Jesus makes it clear in the New Testament, in MAT 22:45, that PSA 110:1 is speaking of Adonai as deity.
MAT 22:45 “If David then calls Him “Lord,’ how is He his son?”
And they could not answer him.
And as Jesus pointed out Himself in the Gospels, David in the Spirit called his Son-to-be “Lord”, pointing to the fact that the Messiah to come would be God Himself in the flesh.
This is further proof of the Trinity; where we have One God in essence, yet 3 personalities of this same God.
7. Jehovah of hosts
ISA 6:1-3 “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”
And the New Testament says Isaiah the prophet saw Jehovah’s glory.
In John 12:41 “These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.”
Whose glory did Isaiah see? Jehovah’s glory. The glory of the Lord of hosts.
Yet, in context, JOH 12:41 is speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Isaiah the prophet goes on…
ISA 8:13-14 “It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.
14 “Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
In the New Testament Peter tells us the stumbling stone, the Lord of hosts, is Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:7-8 “This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,” and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.”
The Lord of hosts is the stumbling stone, as is Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, and we see here they are one in the same, “the stone which the builders rejected”.
The Jews stumbled over Jesus being the Messiah because they expected a powerful King right away, not a meek servant who would die for their sins as the Lamb of God.
But this direct quote from Isaiah about the Lord of hosts is applied by the apostle Peter to Jesus Christ.
How can that be, unless they are one and the same God?
8. Jehovah the Shepherd
ISA 40:10-11 “Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him and His recompense before Him.
11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
Here the Lord God (Adonai Yahweh) is the Shepherd who will tend His flock and gather His lambs.
Yet, the New Testament says the Great Shepherd is Jesus Christ our Lord.
HEB 13:20 “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,
Here, the great Shepherd was raised from the dead, and is called Jesus our Lord!
In ISA 40:10 the Lord God, Adonai Yahweh, will come with might, and His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.
So Jehovah is coming with a reward, right?
ISA 62:11 “Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your salvation comes; Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”
Yet, in REV 22:12-21, Jesus is the One with the reward. We see Jesus is the One speaking throughout this passage:
“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Here, Jesus is called the Alpha and the Omega and is the One with the reward, as Yahweh is in the book of Isaiah!
ISA 49:4 “But I said, “I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the LORD, And My reward with My God.”
In our next passage, we see the Lord God accomplishing mighty deeds with His arm, as ISA 40:10 says. We also see that God is called “the Mighty One”, a title the JWs say is given to Jesus as a lesser deity.
They say that Jehovah is called the Almighty One, but here Jehovah is also called the Mighty One.
That’s because “Mighty One” and “Almighty One” are used interchangeably, and used for both Jehovah and Jesus!
In LUK 1:46-51 – Mary calls Jehovah the “Mighty One”.
“And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. 49 “For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. 50 “AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. 51 “He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
And ironically, when the predicted Messiah was called “Mighty One”, He was also called “Eternal Father”!
ISA 9:6 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
John the Baptist’s father Zacharias prophesied about his son John and the purpose for his son’s ministry:
Luke 1:67-77 “And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: 68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, 69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant — 70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old — 71 Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US; 72 To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant, 73 The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, 74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, 75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. 76 “And you, child (speaking of John the Baptist), will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS; 77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins,”
Notice, Zacharias prophecies by the Holy Spirit, and says of his baby John the Baptist that he is called prophet of the Most High (not prophet of a lesser god, or of the man Jesus).
And John will go BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS.
He will not go before Jesus, the man or the angel, but before the Lord!
Again, as Jehovah the Shepherd, God said He would search for His own sheep.
Ezek 34:11 “For thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.”
Yet, notice what Jesus said in John 10:11-16…
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
12 “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13 “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,
15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
And Jehovah said He would judge between His sheep:
Ezek 34:17 “As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.
Ezek 34:22 “therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.
Yet, Jesus is said to judge the sheep in Matt 25:31-33…
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
9. Jehovah, for whose glory all things were created.
Prov 16:4 “The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.
Jehovah, the Almighty God, made everything for its own purpose.
Yet, in COL 1:16, Jesus created all things.
“For by Him (Jesus in context) all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him.
10. Jehovah as the eternal God and Creator.
In the Old Testament, PSA 102:24-27 I say, “O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days,Your years are throughout all generations. 25 “Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26 “Even they will perish, but You endure;And all of them will wear out like a garment;Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. 27 “But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.
In the New Testament, in HEB 1:8-12, an exact quote about Jehovah is said about Jesus Christ.
“But of the Son He says, “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.
9 “YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.”
10 And, [still speaking of the Son]
“YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; 11 THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN; AND THEY ALL WILL BECOME OLD LIKE A GARMENT, 12 AND LIKE A MANTLE YOU WILL ROLL THEM UP; LIKE A GARMENT THEY WILL ALSO BE CHANGED. BUT YOU ARE THE SAME, AND YOUR YEARS WILL NOT COME TO AN END.”
A direct quote from Psa 102, said to be of the Son!
The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that Jesus is Michael the archangel and that he was God’s assistant in creation.
In GEN 1:26, it says “Let Us create man in Our image”.
This cannot be Elohim and Michael the archangel speaking, because the Bible says in the next verse that man and woman were made in the image of Elohim.
We are either made in the image of God or in the image of an angel. It can’t be both.
Here, Elohim is a plural word for God Almighty. The JW’s say it means “gods”, and that we are all gods, so Michael the archangel is included in this creation.
But isn’t there only one true God?… Only Almighty God, Jehovah, has the power and ability to create. And if Elohim in the plural goes beyond Almighty Jehovah, then we are saying there is more than one God.
Elohim in the Hebrew is used to represent the plurality of Jehovah.
This is another reason to believe in the Trinity.
Comparing all these scriptures, we can conclude the Bible says Jesus is Jehovah in the flesh. The Lord God has come and saved His people!
“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved”. ACT 16:31
11. Jehovah as the only Savior.
In Php 2:10-11, it also teaches “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
It is interesting to note that this passage is quoted by Paul from the Old Testament Scriptures in Isaiah 45:23.
If you read the entire context in Isaiah, you will find that bowing the knee and confessing this oath was to be done to God, Jehovah, the Savior of the world.
ISA 45:21-23, Isaiah speaks of Jehovah as the ONLY Savior;
“Declare and set forth your case;
Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old?
Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD?
And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior;
There is none except Me. 22 ” Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other. 23 ” I have sworn by Myself,
The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back,
That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
For Paul to quote this passage in Philippians referring to Jesus would be blasphemy, unless Jesus is God is the flesh.
In Isaiah 43:11, it is said there is no Savior besides Jehovah, and yet the entire New Testament calls Jesus Christ the Savior.
Is this what you believe and confess to others? Do you believe that He is the Christ, the Savior of the world, that He is Lord, and that He is the very God of heaven come in human flesh?
This is what the Bible teaches.
12. Jehovah is the One who would be pierced!
In Zech 12:10, Jehovah is speaking when He says He will pour out His Spirit on the house of David, the Jews.
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”
How could Jehovah be pierced, unless He entered into the flesh?
13. Only Jehovah is the great “I AM”.
In Exodus 3:13-15, when Moses is confronted by God in the burning bush, he asked God, “What is your name?” God declared, “I AM WHO I AM… This is My name forever… to all generations.”
Jesus also made a very specific claim to be God by claiming He was the “I AM”.
In John 8:24 He said, “If you do not believe that I AM he, you will die in your sins.”
The word he is in italics in most Bibles, denoting that it is not in the original text.
Therefore, Jesus was declaring that it was essential to believe that He was the great I AM or you would die in your sins.
In addition, Jesus claimed to be the great I AM several times.
When He did, the Pharisees understood exactly what He was claiming. That’s why in several instances they took up stones to stone Him to death, because they understood that He was claiming to be God. Open your Bibles and check out JOH 8:57-59; JOH 5:17-18; JOH 10:29-33.
Do you believe what Jesus Himself claimed, that He was God in the flesh?
And of course, Jesus is also called God and Savior later in the NT. (TIT 2:13; TIT 3:4-6)
Titus 2:11-13 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
Titus 3:4-7 “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
The Scriptures are apparent. In comparing scripture with scripture, we see that Jesus is assigned the same titles as Jehovah, and that God Himself promised to come save His people. And it has happened!
It is my prayer that people will open their minds and see the direct teachings of the scriptures regarding the deity of Christ, “Immanuel”, God with us.
ACT 16:31 “Believe in the LORD Jesus and you will be saved.”
Here’s the Good News of the Gospel: Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, humbled Himself to die on our behalf.
He rose from the dead to declare with power that He is Lord over all, and He offers eternal life freely to sinners who will surrender to Him in humble, repentant faith.
As the Lord Jesus Himself said; Repent and believe the good news! – MAR 1:15