Jesus is Jehovah
Dr. John Hoole
Is Jesus God? There are many cults and false religions today that deny it.
• The Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, believe Jesus was created by the Father billions of years ago as the Archangel Michael and is hence a “lesser god” than the Father.
• The Mormons say Jesus was born as the first and greatest spirit child of the Heavenly Father and heavenly mother, and was the spirit-brother of Lucifer.
• New Agers claim Jesus was an enlightened master. Unitarian Universalists say Jesus was just a good moral teacher.
What is the truth about Jesus Christ - is Jesus God? We turn to the Scriptures for the answer. There are numerous evidences for the absolute deity of Jesus Christ in the Bible. Let me begin with a general statement.
Jesus Christ possesses divine names, attributes, and authority — names, attributes and authority that can only be found and displayed by God.
In this lesson will examine on one of the more common names of God. We will examine Yahweh to see if it applies to Jesus Christ.
Let me restate what I said in our previous lesson. Jehovah and Yahweh are identical terms.
Yahweh/Jehovah is a very common Hebrew name for God in the Old Testament, occurring over 5,300 times. It is translated Lord (all capitals) in many English translations of the Bible.
We first learn of this name in Exodus 3, where Moses asked God by what name He should be called.
Exodus 3:13 NKJV
13 Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"
God replied to him in verse 14 (NKJV)
14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
Yahweh is basically a shortened form of “I AM WHO I AM” (verse 15).
In verse 15, you will see that the name Yahwey/Jehovah is the same as “I Am Who I Am.”
I will say at this point that this name conveys the idea of eternal self-existence. Yahweh never came into being at a point in time for He has always existed.
Exodus 3:15 NKJV
15 Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.'
Notice the phrase found in both verses 114 and 15.
Vs. 14: "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
Vs. 15: Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The Lord… has sent me to you.
“I Am” is replace by “LORD,” showing they are the same.
Actually “Yahweh” is a shortened for of “I Am Who I Am.”
Now, how do we apply this name to Jesus? Jesus ascribed God’s divine name to himself during a confrontation He had with a group of hostile religious Jews.
John 8:57-58 NKJV
57 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
Jesus deliberately contrasted the created origin of Abraham—whom the Jews venerated—with His own eternal, uncreated nature as God.
And, by their immediate reaction, they knew what He was saying, for in the next verse we read:
John 8:59 NKJV
59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
The Jews knew exactly what Jesus was declaring. He was saying He was the eternal God incarnate.
Such a statement, if not true, was blasphemy and the punishment was death (Leviticus 24:11-14). But Jesus committed no blasphemy. He was and is God – the 2nd person of the Godhead.