And His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful - Study One
STUDY ONE
Yeshua in the Tenach
(The Name JESUS in the Old Testament)
In dealing with my Jewish brethren for the past twenty years in Canada, the United States, Argentina and Uruguay, I had one great difficulty, and it was this: my Jewish people would always fling at me this challenging question: “If Jesus is our Messiah and the whole Old Testament is about Him, how come His name is never mentioned in it even once?” I could never answer it satisfactorily to their way of thinking, and I admit I often wondered why His name was not actually written in the Old Bible. Oh yes, I could show them His divine titles in Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Jer. 23:5, 6, etc., and even the word Messiah (Christ) in several places; but the Hebrew name that would be equal to Jesus—that I could not show until one day the Holy Spirit opened my eyes, and I just shouted. There was the very Name Jesus found in the Old Testament about 100 times all the way from Genesis to Habakkuk!! Yes!—the very word—the very Name that the angel Gabriel used in Luke 1:31 when he told Mary about the Son she was to have.
“Where do we find that Name?” you ask. Here it is, beloved: Every time the Old Testament uses the word salvation (especially with the Hebrew suffix meaning “my,” “thy” or “his”), with very few exceptions (when the word is impersonal), it is the very identical and absolutely same word Yeshua[1] (Jesus) used in Matt. 1:21. Let us remember that the angel who spoke to Mary and the angel who spoke to Joseph in his dream did not speak in English, Latin or Greek, but in Hebrew; and neither was Mary nor Joseph slow to grasp the meaning and significance of the Name of this divine Son and its relation to His character and His work of salvation.
For in the Old Testament, all great characters were given names with a specific and significant meaning. For example, in Gen. 5:29, Lamech called his son “Comfort (Noah), saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands.” In Gen. 10:25, Eber calls his first born son “Division (Peleg); for in his days the earth was divided.” The same is true of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob (changed to Israel—God’s Prince), and all of Jacob’s sons (see Gen. chapters 29-32). In Ex. 2:10, Pharaoh’s daughter called the baby rescued from the Nile “Drawn Forth (Moses); and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.” And so we can go on and on to show the deep significance of Hebrew names.
Now, then, when the Angel spoke to Joseph, husband of Mary the mother of our Lord, this is what he really said and what Joseph actually understood: “And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Yeshua (Salvation) for he shall salvage (or save) His people from their sins.” This text was so forcibly brought home to my soul (soon after I was converted 22 years ago), that I saw the whole plan of the Old Testament in that one ineffable and blessed Name.
So let us proceed to show clearly the Hebrew name Yeshua (Greek, Iesus; Eng., Jesus) in the Old Testament
When the great Patriarch Jacob was ready to depart from this world, he by the Holy Spirit was blessing his sons and prophetically foretelling their future experiences in those blessings. In verse 18 of Gen. 49 he exclaims: “I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord!” What he really did say and mean was, “To thy Yeshua (Jesus) I am looking, O Lord”; or, “In thy Yeshua (Jesus) I am hoping (trusting), O Lord!” That makes much better sense. Of course Yeshua (Jesus) was the One in Whom Jacob was trusting to carry him safely over the chilly waters[2] of the river of death. Jacob was a saved man, and did not wait until his dying moments to start trusting in the Lord. He just reminded God that he was trusting in His Yeshua (Jesus—Salvation), and was at the same time comforting his own soul.
In Psalm 9:14, David bursts forth: “I will rejoice in thy Salvation!” What he actually did say and mean was, “I will rejoice in (with) thy Yeshua (Jesus).”
In Psalm 91:14-16 God says, “because he delighted in me I will deliver him: I will set him on high (raise him above circumstances),[3] because he hath known my name. He shall call me, and I will answer him: I am with him in affliction; I will succor him and honor him. With length of days (eternal life) will I satisfy him, and I will cause him to look upon my Yeshua (Jesus Salvation).” Of course that promise is realized in Rev. 22:3,4: “And there shall be no more curse:[4] but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face.”
FOOTNOTES
1 You know, Sabba, that the word “Yeshua” used in these texts is feminine. Yeshua’s name is masculine. You later show a masculine form. Also, you should point out that “Wisdom” in Proverbs is a person too, and she describes the same Salvation. For God is not masculine or feminine; He made both masculine and feminine beings to correctly reflect His image.
2 Regarding the chilly waters of the river of death, Sabba, why would you bring something that sounds like Greek mythology into your work here? The River Styx does not belong in this work. If you are referring to Pilgrim’s Progress, say so.
3 Sabba, that text does not mean that. You later learned to take the texts more literally. Look closely at Psalm 91, and you will see that it is an End Times Psalm. The character with whom Yehovah is dealing is the race of Israel as a whole (as is the case in many of the Psalms). Yehovah will literally set Israel on high in terms of both rank and physical situation, for the mountain of Yehovah’s house (Mount Zion) will literally be elevated above the mountains.
4 Sabba, remember that you discovered that the word “curse” is the Hebrew orj (Kherem), which means devoted (to destruction, if referring to humans). This text really excited you.
About His Name shall be called Wonderful
Study One | Yeshua in the Tenach (The Name JESUS in the Old Testament)
Study Two | And His Name shall be called Wonderful
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And His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful
Original online page 1997 | Last update May 25, 2021