And His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful - Study One
STUDY ONE - continued
Yeshua in the Tenach
(The Name JESUS in the Old Testament)
In Isa. 12:2,3 we have something wonderful. Here Salvation is mentioned three times. The reader will be much blessed by reading these glorious verses in his Bible; but let me give them as they actually read in the original Hebrew with Jesus as the embodiment and personification of the word Salvation: “Behold, mighty (or, God the mighty One) is my Yeshua (Jesus—in His pre-incarnation and eternal existence); I will trust and not be afraid; for Yah Yehovah is my Strength and my Song; He also is become my Yeshua (Jesus—“and the word became flesh, and dwelt among us” {John 1:14}—Jesus Incarnate). Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of Yeshua (Jesus crucified—waters of salvation flowing forth from Calvary).
Something very interesting occurred last spring in St. Louis. I was visiting in the home of Brother and Mrs. Charles Siegelman, and another Jew was present there. He claimed Jewish Orthodoxy for his creed. Of course the conversation centered around him Who is the center of all things — Jesus. This good Jewish brother opposed the claims of Christ in the Old Testament verbally, and in a friendly fashion, most violently. His best offensive weapon, he thought, was to fling at me (and at all of us there) the well-known challenge: “You can’t find the name ‘Jesus’ in the Old Testament;” and this he did. I did not answer him directly, but asked him to translate for us Isa. 62:11 from my Hebrew Bible. Being a Hebrew scholar, he did so with the utmost of ease, rapidity and correctness; and here is what and how he translated that text verbatim: “Behold, Jehovah has proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy Yeshua (Jesus) cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.” Just then he crimsoned as he realized what he had done and how he had played into my hands, and just fairly screamed out, “No! no! You made me read it ‘thy Yeshua’ (Jesus), Mr. Glass! You tricked me!” I said, “No, I did not trick you; I just had you read the Word of God for yourself. Can’t you see that here Salvation is a Person and not a thing or an event? ‘HE comes; HIS reward is with HIM, and HIS work before HIM.’” Then he rushed at his own Old Testament, talking away frantically, saying, “I’m sure mine is different from yours.” And when he found the passage, he just dropped like a deflated balloon: his Old Testament was of course identically the same. All he could use as an escape from admitting defeat was to deny the divine inspiration of the Book of Isaiah.
Then skipping on to Habakkuk, we have the greatest demonstration of the Name “Jesus” in the Old Testament; for here we have both the name as well as the title of the Savior. In 3:13 we read literally from the original Hebrew: “Thou wentest forth with the Yesha (variant of Yeshua—Jesus) of (or, for) thy people; with Yesha thy Messiah (thine Anointed One: i.e., with Jesus thy Christ); thou woundest the head of the house of the wicked one (Satan).” Here you have it! The very Name given to our Lord in the New Testament—JESUS CHRIST! So don’t let any one—Jew or Gentile—tell you that the Name JESUS is not found in the Old Testament.
And so when the aged Simeon came to the Temple, led there by the Holy Ghost, and took the baby Jesus in his arms, he said, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy Yeshua (Jesus).” Luke 2:29,30. Certainly! Not only did his eyes see God’s Salvation—God’s Yeshua (Jesus), but he felt Him and touched Him, as His believing heart throbbed with joy and assurance, and as he felt the throb of the loving heart of God as it throbbed in the heart of the holy infant Jesus.
“And thou shalt call His name Salvation (Yeshua—Jesus); for He shall salvation—salvage—save His people from their sins!”
There is no name so sweet on earth,
No name so sweet in heaven;
That Name—before His wondrous birth—
To Christ the Savior given.
And when they nailed Him to the tree
They wrote His name above Him,
That all might see the reason we
For ever more must love Him.
So now upon the Father’s throne—
Almighty to release us
From sin and pains—He ever reigns,
The Prince, the Savior JESUS!
O Jesus—by that matchless Name!—
Thy grace shall fail us never;
Today as yesterday the same,
Thou art the same forever!
We love to sing of Christ our King,
And hail Him blessed JESUS!
For there’s no word ear ever heard
So dear, so sweet as JESUS!
NEXT: STUDY TWO
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 19, 2021