Who was “the LORD” of the Old Testament?
Part 5
John Plunkett
In
the past 4 sermons, we’ve been looking into the question: Who was “the LORD” of the Old
Testament?
Last
time, we started looking at the astonishing concept of the LORD/YHVH preparing
the way – and even the details – for His
own future human self; and His sojourn as the human Jesus.
I’d
like to continue with this today.
Isaiah 42 and 61
Another
great example of this can be found in chapters 42 and 61 of the book of Isaiah. Let’s
start with chapter 42:
Isaiah
42:
1: Behold my servant, whom I uphold; my
elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth
judgment to the Gentiles.
2: He
shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
3: A bruised read shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench: He shall
bring forth judgment unto truth.
4: He
shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He
has set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for His law.
This
rings a bell, doesn’t it? We’ll come to the New Testament quotes of
these verses very soon. But please note
two points in this short passage: the pronouns Him, His and He; and the repeated reference to judgment.
Yes,
we see three mentions of judgment
here. Three mentions of some person who
will bring judgment to the Gentiles –
and to the rest of the world.
Who
will that person – that judge –
be? Will it be God the Father?
No! Let’s quickly read what Jesus said about who this
ultimate future judge will be:
John
5:
22: For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son...
Verse 27: And has given Him {the Son} authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
John
9:39a:
And Jesus said, “For judgment I am
come into this world”…
Back
to Isaiah 42. Who was speaking there? We’re told in verse 5:
Isaiah
42:
5: Thus says God the LORD {Hebrew: El-YHVH}, He that
created the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which comes out of it; He that gives breath unto the people
upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein…
It
was “God the LORD” – El-YHVH – the
“primary Creator.”
In
this regard, whenever we read something like this, either
in the Old Testament or the New Testament, please always keep John 1 in mind:
John
1:
1: In the beginning was the Word {Logos}, and the Word
{Logos} was
with God, and the Word {Logos} was God…
Verse
3: All things were made by Him {Logos}; and
without Him {Logos} was not any thing made that
was made… ..
Verse 14a: And the
Word {Logos} was made flesh, and dwelt among us…
Not that the Father was not involved in the creation
process. Of course, He was. Very much so:
Genesis
1:
1: In the beginning God {Elohiym – plural} created the heaven and the earth…
Verse
26a: And God {Elohiym – plural} said, “Let us make
man in our image, after our likeness” …
Maybe
God the Father was the designer and the LORD (YHVH – Logos) was the actual builder.
But back in Isaiah 42:5, we see yet another reiteration of which “God-being”
of the two was the main, primary” Creator.
As
Isaiah continues into verse 6 and 7 of chapter 42, I find it interesting how the
personal pronouns change – from “He”
and “Him” and “His” to “you” and “your”:
Isaiah
42:
6: I the LORD {YHVH} have called you
in righteousness, and will hold your
hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a
light of the Gentiles;
7: To open the blind eyes, to bring out
the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison
house.
This
is also very familiar to most readers, isn’t it? We’ll come to the New Testament quote of this
very soon. But two questions arise from
these verses:
1.
Who was the “you” that the LORD (El-YHVH)
was talking to here?
2.
How and when were these prophecies fulfilled?
Let’s
answer the second question first: How and when were these prophecies fulfilled?
The
answer is given, seemingly, in two “segments” or “stages.” The second of these two stages was recorded by Matthew:
Matthew
12:
14: Then the Pharisees went out and plotted
against Him {Jesus}, how they might
destroy Him.
15: But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from
there. And great multitudes followed Him,
and He healed them all.
16: Yet He warned them not to make Him known,
17:
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet {in Isaiah 42, as we just read}, saying:
18:
“Behold! My servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased! I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He will
declare justice to the Gentiles.
19: He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will
anyone hear His voice in the streets.
20: A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking
flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory;
21: And in His name Gentiles will trust.”
Is
this referring to the human Jesus?
Yes! In many modern Bible versions of Isaiah 42,
the words Servant, Elect One, Him, He and His in
verses 1 to 4 – and You and Your in verse
6 – all have their first letters capitalized – showing, of course, that their
translators and/or publishers thought – in this case, correctly, I believe –
that this was referring to a God
being.
We
find the fulfillment of the first segment/stage
of the Isaiah 42 and 61 prophecies in Luke 4.
But first, let’s read the applicable verses in:
Isaiah
61:
1: The Spirit {Holy Spirit} of the LORD God
{Adonai-YHVH} is upon me;
because the LORD {YHVH} has
anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek; He has sent me
to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2a: To proclaim the acceptable year of
the LORD {YHVH}…
That’s
where Jesus finished His quote of these verses… actually, in mid-verse.
Once
again, all the “me”s in verse 1 are capitalized in many modern-language Bible
versions.
Now
let’s look at Jesus’ quotation of these verses from Isaiah:
Luke
4:
16: And He {Jesus} came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and,
as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day, and stood up
for to read.
17: And there was delivered unto Him the book of
the prophet Esaias {Isaiah}. And when He had opened the book, He found the
place where it was written…
Only a little of what Jesus read
here is from Isaiah 42. Most of
His reading was from Isaiah 61.
Still
in Luke 4 though, as Jesus’ quote begins:
18: “The Spirit of the LORD {Greek
“Kurios” as translated from the Old Testament Hebrew “YHVH”} is upon me,
because He {the LORD/YHVH} has anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor. He {the LORD/YHVH} has sent me
to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance
to the captives {Isaiah 61}, and recovering of sight to the blind {Isaiah42}, to set at liberty them that are bruised {Isaiah 61},
19: To preach the acceptable year of the LORD” {Isaiah
61} …
This
sparks a series of questions: Who was the “me” that:
1.
The
Spirit of the LORD-God (Adonai-Yehvih) was upon?
2.
Was
anointed by the LORD/YHVH -
to preach the gospel/good tidings
to the poor/meek?
3.
Was
to heal the brokenhearted?
4.
Was
to preach (and bring) deliverance to the captives?
5.
Was
to preach (and bring) recovery of sight to the blind?
6.
Was
to set at liberty them that are bruised?
7.
Was
to preach (and bring) the acceptable
year of the LORD/YHVH?
Who
was it?
Jesus
answered these questions and told those
people in the Nazareth synagogue that Sabbath Day who it was:
Verse
20: And He closed the book, and He gave
it again to the minister, and sat down.
And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him.
21: And He began
{NB!}
to say unto them, “This
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
Did
Jesus’ listeners understand what He was saying to them? i.e. that these scriptures were referring to Himself?
Yes, they did:
22: And all bore Him witness,
and wondered at the gracious words
which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”
Jesus
must have said much more than just the quote
of these few verses from Isaiah – followed by His brief sentence, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in
your ears.” After all, those few words
couldn’t be accurately described as “gracious words” that so many people would “wonder at.”
Still,
that sentence, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your
ears” must have been the crux of what He said.
Who Anointed Jesus?
It
is true that some
of the verses of the 42nd and 61st chapters of Isaiah could rightly be applied to the participation
of Isaiah himself. And maybe even to any of Jesus’ spiritual brothers or sisters who are actively participating
in such Christian “work-functions.”
But
of course, Jesus Himself was and is the Captain, the
Forerunner,
the Prime Example, the Primary “Worker” and the primary fulfillment of those scriptures!
(Hebrews 2:10; 6:20; John 5:17).
But who was the One:
·
Who
put the Spirit of the LORD-God (Adonai-Yehvih)
upon the human Jesus?
·
Who
anointed the human Jesus with the
Holy Spirit?
·
Who
anointed the human Jesus to preach and to do
all these things?
Acts
10:
34: Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, “Of a
truth I perceive that God {Theos} is no respecter of persons:
35: But in every nation he that fears Him {God
– Theos}, and works
righteousness, is accepted with Him {God – Theos}.
36: The Word
{Logos}
which God sent unto the children of Israel,
preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (He {Jesus/Logos}
is LORD {Kurios} of all:)
37: That Word,
I say, you know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee,
after the baptism which John preached;
38: How God
{Theos} anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power:
who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil;
for God {Theos} was
with Him…
Verse
40: Him God {Theos} raised up the third day, and showed Him openly;
It
was the very same God being:
1.
Who
anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power (verse 38),
2.
Who
raised up Jesus the third day (verse 40),
3.
Who
showed Him openly (verse 40),
4.
Who
was with Jesus during His physical
human sojourn.
Which God being was “with” Jesus during His physical human lifetime?
Okay,
it might be theoretically true that
the YHVH/Logos was with Him – because
He was the YHVH/Logos!
But
it would be much more accurate to say that the YHVH/Logos was in Him because he was YHVH/Logos and because YHVH became
Jesus at the instant of His conception in Mary’s womb:
John
8:29:
And He that sent me is with me. The Father
has not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him.
John
16:32:
Behold, the hour comes, yes, is now come, that you shall be scattered, every
man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
We
know also that it was the Father who raised Jesus from the dead. Here are just two scriptures that mention Him
doing so:
Romans
6:4:
Therefore we are buried with Him {Jesus} by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead
by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life.
Galatians
1:1:
Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead).
So,
once again we see this same parallel between:
·
The LORD/YHVH/Word/Logos saying words to David,
Isaiah and other prophets
in the Old
Testament scriptures… and…
·
God
the Father saying the same words to His begotten Son, Jesus
in the New Testament scriptures!
The “Angel” of Exodus
Let’s
switch gears now and look at yet another amazing aspect of the nature of the “LORD
God.”
In
the book of Exodus, we read of a special “angel” being mentioned six
times – and sometimes being shown in the KJV – and always in the NKJV – with a capital-upper-case
“A”:
·
Once
referred to as “the angel of the LORD”
·
Once
as “the angel of God”
·
Once
as “an angel”
·
Three
times as “my angel”
Who
was this “angel”?
The
uses of the capital-upper-case “A” shows us that the translators believed that this
angel was a God being – that it was the LORD/YHVH Himself!
But was it?
Before
we go into the “Exodus angel” scriptures, let’s just look at a few scriptures
that prove the fact that Jesus – the LORD – was (and still is, of course) much more than just some “super-angel”:
Hebrews
1:
4: Being made so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5: For unto which
of the angels said He {God the Father} at
any time, “You are my Son, this day have I begotten you”? And again, “I will be to Him a Father, and He
shall be to me a Son”?...
Verse 13: But to which of the angels said He
{God the Father} at any time, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your
enemies your footstool”?
And
just one more:
Hebrews
2:5:
For unto the angels has He {God the Father} not put in subjection the world to come,
whereof we speak.
But
still, let ‘s go through the relevant “angel” verses
in the book of Exodus and examine them in some detail – because, even though those
angels were and are very wonderful, as we’ll see, Jesus is orders of magnitude
higher and greater than even the highest, greatest of the angels, archangels
and cherubim:
Exodus
3:
1: Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro
his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he {Moses} led the flock to the back side of the desert and came
to the mountain of God {Har
Elohiym}, even to Horeb.
2: And the
angel of the LORD {malakh-YHVH”} appeared
unto him {Moses} in a flame of fire {N.B.} out of the midst
of a bush: and he {Moses} looked, and,
behold, the bush burned with fire {N.B.}, and the bush was
not consumed.
3: And Moses said, “I will now turn aside, and
see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”
4: And when the LORD {YHVH} saw that he
{Moses}
turned aside to see, God {Elohiym}
called unto him {Moses} out of the midst of the bush, and said,
“Moses, Moses.” And he {Moses} said, “Here am I.”
But
was this “LORD/YHVH” – this “God/Elohiym”
mentioned here in verse 4 and subsequent verses – was He the same person who
is called “the angel of the LORD”
{malakh-YHVH} who “appeared to” Moses in verse 2?
Or
were there two beings in the burning
bush? The LORD/YHVH and the malakh-YHVH –
the angel of the LORD?
Or,
if there were two beings, were they
in the burning bush at different times?
i.e. Did the angel of the LORD depart or move aside when Moses “turned
aside to see” – at which time the LORD/YHVH Himself replaced His angel in the burning
bush?
The
English word “angel” here is translated from the Hebrew noun “malakh” (Strong’s 4397) and stems from a
root verb meaning “to dispatch
as a deputy.”
Malakh is elsewhere translated as messenger and ambassador. One of its extended
Hebrew meanings is representative.
So
then, was this angel of the LORD – this malakh-YHVH – was he a separate, different
person than the LORD/YHVH Himself? Was
he, perhaps, a kind of angelic “scout” that the LORD, for some reason, sent
into burning bush first – in advance?... after which He (the LORD) perhaps then
either joined – or replaced – His “scout” once Moses responded and reacted to the
amazing sight of the un-burnt burning bush?
I’m
not quite sure! This event is recalled
in a few other scriptures; but only Stephen’s address
in Acts 7 sheds light on the question (and then not
a lot):
Acts
7:
30:
And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him {Moses} in the wilderness of
Mount Sinai an angel {Greek “aggelos” –
elsewhere translated “messenger”} of the
LORD {Kurios} in a flame of fire in
a bush.
I
believe that this “flame of fire” may be very significant!
31: When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight:
and as he drew near to behold it, the
voice of the LORD {“Kurios” from the
Old Testament
Hebrew “YHVH”} came unto him,
32: Saying, “I am the God {“Theos” from the
Old Testament Hebrew “Elohiym”} of your Fathers,
the God {Theos/Elohiym} of Abraham,
and the God {Theos/Elohiym} of Isaiah,
and the God {Theos/Elohiym} of Jacob.” Then Moses trembled, and durst not
behold.
33: Then said the
LORD {Kurios/YHVH} to
him, “Put off your shoes from your feet: for the place where you stand is holy
ground.
34: I have seen, I have seen the
affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and
am come down to deliver them. And now
come. I {the LORD/Kurios/YHVH} will send you
into Egypt.
35: This Moses whom they {the Israelites} refused, saying, “Who made you a ruler and a judge?”
the same did God {Theos/Elohiym}
send to be a ruler and
a deliverer by the hand of the angel {aggelos} which appeared to him in the bush.
Who
was the “God” being who actually sent Moses? Who actually did the sending?
Back
in Exodus 3, we read the original account of “the Sender” speaking to Moses:
Exodus
3:
7: And the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people
which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters;
for I know their sorrows…
Verse 10: “come now therefore, and I will send you unto Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people the
children of Israel out of Egypt”….
Verse
12: and He said, “Certainly I will be
with you; and this shall be a token unto you, that I have sent you:
when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon
this mountain.”
Yes,
it was the LORD/YHVH who did the sending!
But
Stephen said that the LORD sent Moses “by the hand of an angel”!
The
Greek that is translated as “by the hand
of” is “en-cheir,”
which means “by the help of” or “by the agency of” or “by means of.”
Also,
from the meanings of the Hebrew word malakh and the Greek word aggelos, it appears that, for His own good reasons, the LORD
sent Moses – not directly – but by the hand
of - by means of – by the agency of – an angelic agent, messenger, ambassador or
representative.
This
might be one of the classic examples of God speaking through an angel.
But
why would the LORD/YHVH sometimes speak through angels and at other times speak
– to Moses and others – directly – face-to-face?
Maybe
it has something to do with the relative spiritual “cleanliness”
of the person at the time that He wishes to communicate with him/her.
Pillar of Cloud and Fire
As
mentioned earlier, the flame of fire
might be very significant to this topic.
Why? Because the angel of the LORD/YHVH
appearing to Moses from inside the burning
bush leads, perhaps naturally, into the next “Exodus angel” scripture:
Exodus
13:
21: And the LORD {YHVH} went before
{in front
of} them by day in
a pillar of a cloud, to lead them
the way; and by night in a pillar of
fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
22: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before {in
front of} the people.
The
pillars of cloud and fire were essentially the same thing. The pillar of cloud was the daytime form and the
pillar of fire was the highly-visible nighttime form.
As
we read in our recent discussion of the transfiguration, cloud, as well as fire,
might be very significant to the LORD’s temporary visits to His people on earth.
More
on this later; but for now, let’s move on – still
in Exodus
– into chapter 14:
Exodus
14:
15: And the LORD said unto Moses, “Why cry
you unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel,
that they go forward…
Verse 18: And the Egyptians shall know
that I am the LORD {YHVH}, when I have
gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.”
Here
we see the LORD/YHVH speaking directly
to Moses.
But
then, from Moses’ own narrative:
Verse
19a: And the angel of God {malakh-ha-Elohiym},
which went before {in front of} the
camp of Israel, removed and went behind them…
What
happened here?
The angel of God moved – from his previous position – “before” the Israelites – in
front of them – in his leading
role.
And
he moved to a different position – behind the
Israelites – in a defensive/protective role.
Anything
else?
Yes!...
19b: … and the
pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them…
As
well as the angel of God moving from
in front of them to behind them, the pillar of cloud also moved from in front
of them to behind them!
Logically,
this is telling us that the pillar of
cloud and the angel of God are one and the same!
Perhaps
the angel of God is a kind of personification of the pillar of cloud and fire.
And
conversely, the pillar of cloud and fire
is a visible representation of the angel of God.
Continuing
in:
Verse
24a: And it came to pass, that in the
morning watch the LORD {YHVH} looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud …
This
reads like the LORD/YHVH Himself was not
the pillar of cloud and fire per se; but that He was in the pillar of cloud and fire – a place from which He could look
out and see what was happening – perhaps in the same – or a similar – way as He
did from inside the burning bush.
This
concept of the LORD coming in cloud when
He wants to visit His people jumped out at me recently when we sang hymn number
61 which was quoted from Psalm 80:
Thou
shepherd that dost Israel keep,
Give
ear in time of need,
Who
leadeth like a flock of sheep,
Thy
loved one, Joseph's seed,
That
sits between the cherubs bright,
Between their wings outspread,
Shine forth and from thy cloud give light,
And
on our foes thy dread.
Although
Psalm 80 doesn’t actually mention the LORD’s cloud, or
Him being in it during his visits to mankind, many other psalms do. Let’s just quickly read through a couple of them:
Psalm
18:
11: He made darkness His secret place; His
pavilions round about Him were dark waters and thick
clouds of the skies.
12: At the brightness
that was before Him His thick clouds
passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
Psalm
68:34:
Ascribe you strength unto God: His excellency is over Israel,
and His strength is in the clouds.
Psalm
97:2:
Clouds and darkness are round about Him: righteousness and judgment are the
habitation of His throne.
Psalm
104:3:
Who lays the beams of His chambers in the waters: who makes the clouds His chariot: who walks upon the wings of the wind:
And
just three more, which refer to the cloud and fire – in which and from which –
He specifically led – and spoke to – and dealt with – ancient Israel”:
Psalm
78:14:
In the daytime also He led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a light of fire.
Psalm
99:7a:
He spoke unto them in the cloudy pillar…
Psalm
105:39:
He spread a cloud for a covering; and
fire to give light in the night.
Amazing!
Do
we really think that we know all there is to know about God – both our Father
and Jesus?
We all need to be growing in knowledge – as well as in grace!