6. The Name Yahshua (Jesus)
in the Old Testament
by Arthur E. Glass
During gatherings with my Jewish brothers over the last 20 years in Canada, the USA, Argentina and Uruguay, I had a big problem, which was this: My Jewish friends always wanted to throw this challenging question in my face, "If Yahshua (Jesus) is our Messiah and the whole of the Old Testament talks about Him, why then isn't His name mentioned even once?"
I Found the Name!
I could never find a satisfactory answer to this question - and I must confess that I often wondered why His Name wasn't mentioned in the Old Testament. Certainly I could show them His Divine Titles in Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Jeremiah 23:5-6, etc., also the word Messiah (Christ) in the various places; but the Hebrew name that meant the same as Jesus I couldn't show them. Until one day the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and I had to shout with joy. The same Name Yahshua (Jesus) occured in the Old Testament approximately 100 times from Genesis to Habakkuk. Yes, the same word, the same Name that the angel Gabriel used in Luke 1:31 when he told Mary about the Son she was to have.
Where Do You Find It?
Well, here it is, friends. The word SAVIOUR in the Old Testament is absolutely identical to the word YAHSHUA (Jesus) - the way it is used in Matthew 1:21 (where the word is used personally and with the Hebrew addition "mine", "yours", or "his").
Let's remember that the angel speaking with Mary and the angel speaking with Joseph in his dream did not speak English, Greek or Latin but Hebrew (or Aramaic), and neither Mary nor Joseph neglected to notice the meaning or significance of the name of this divine Son and its connection to His character and His salvation. Because in the Old Testament all the great characters were given names holding a special and significant meaning.
The Meaning of the Name
For instance in Genesis 5:29 Lamech called his son "Comfort" (Noah), as he said: "This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed". In Genesis 10:25 Eber calls his firstborn son "Division" (Peleg) "for in his days the earth was divided".
It is the same in the case of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob (changed to Israel = God's prince) and all the sons of Jacob (Genesis 29:32). In Exodus 2:10 Pharaoh's daughter called the boy who was drawn out of the Nile "Drawn Out" (Moses) and she said: "Because I drew him out of the water". And so we could go on showing the deep meanings of the Hebrew names. When the angel spoke to Joseph, Mary's husband-to-be, and the mother of our Lord and Saviour, then this is what he really said, and also how Joseph understood it: "And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call His Name YAHSHUA (Saviour), for He will save His people from their sins". This text was brought to powerfully to my soul immediately after I was converted that I saw the whole of the Old Testament's plan in this one unutterable and blessed Name.
Let us therefore continue with clarity to reveal the Hebrew name YAHSHUA (Greek - Iesus, English - Jesus) in the Old Testament!
Particular Sections
When the great patriarch Jacob was ready to leave this world and while blessing his sons through the Holy Spirit and prophesying their future experiences and destinies in these blessings, he says in Genesis 49:18, "I have waited for your salvation, O Lord!" What he actually said and meant is: "I have waited for your YAHSHUA (Jesus), O Lord!" or "In your YAHSHUA (Jesus) do I have my comfort, O Lord!"
Naturally YAHSHUA (Jesus) was the only one who could comfort Jacob when being carried over the ice cold floods of death. Jacob was a saved man, and didn't wait until moment of death before he trusted in the Lord. He reminded God that he had his comfort in his YAHSHUA (Jesus = Saviour), and so at the same time comforted his own soul.
In Psalm 91:14-16 God says: "Because he has set His love upon me, therefore I will deliver him: I will set him on high, because he has known My Name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in troible: I willd eliver him and honour him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him my salvation." - "And show him my YAHSHUA (Jesus)".
This promise is realised in Revelation 22:3-4, And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. They shall see HIS face..."
In Isaiah 12:2-3 we have something wonderful. Here salvation is mentioned three times. The reader will be much blessed by reading these great verses in the Bible, but let me give them to you as they read in the original Hebrew language with Yahshua (Jesus) as the embodiment and personification of the word Salvation: "Behold, God is my YAHSHUA (Jesus), I will trust and not be afraid; for YAH-YAHWEH, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has also become by YAHSHUA (Jesus). Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of YAHSHUA (Jesus)." (Yahshua/Jesus crucified - the water of salvation flowing from Golgotha).
Revealing Reading
Something very interesting happened one spring in St.Louis. I was visiting the home of our friends, Charles Siegelman, and there was also another Jew present. he was orthodox by creed. Naturally, the conversation centered around the One who is the centre of all things - Yahshua (Jesus). This good Jew refuted the fact that the name Yahshua (Jesus) existed in the Old Testament, but in a friendly and tempered manner. His best offensive weapon was, so he thought, to throw at us the renowned challenge: "You can't find the name Jesus in the Old Testament!"
I didn't answer him directly but asked him to translate for us from my Hebrew Bible, Isaiah 62:11. Being a teacher in Hebrew he was able to do this quite easily, quickly and correctly; here is what and how he translated this text correct to the letter: "Indeed the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the world: Say to the daughter of Zion, Surely our YAHSHUA (Jesus) is coming; Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him."
When he realised what he had done he suddenly blushed because he realised that he had given the game over into my hands and without pausing to catch his breath he cried, "Oh no, oh no, you made me read 'your YAHSHUA (Jesus)', Mr. Glass! You fooled me!" I said: "No, I haven't fooled you. I only made you read God's Word for yourself. Can't you see here that the word SALVATION is a person and not a thing or an occasion? HE is coming, HIS reward is with Him. And HIS work is before him."
Then he ran to fetch his Old Testament while he frantically uttered, "I am sure that mine is different to yours." When he had found the text in the scriptures, he became just like an emptied balloon. His Old Testament was naturally just the same as mine. All he could do now (as a way out) was to deny the divine inspiration of Isaiah.
The Greatest Evidence!
In the book of Habakkuk we have the greatest evidence about the name of YAHSHUA (Jesus) in the Old Testament. In 3:13 we read from the original text in Hebrew: "You went forth for the YAHSHUA of your people, for YAHSHUA with your Messiah (your Anointed One = Christ). You struck the head from the house of the wicked (Satan)."
So there you have it! The same name that is given to our Lord in the New Testament - YAHSHUA HA-MASHIACH (JESUS CHRIST)! So don't you let anybody - neither Jew for Gentile tell you that the Name YAHSHUA (Jesus) doesn't exist in the Old Testament.
When the ageing Simeon came to the Temple, led by the Holy Spirit, he took the child Yahshua (Jesus) into his arms and said: "Lord, now you are letting your servanr depart in peace, according to your word; For my eyes have seen your YAHSHUA (Jesus)" (Luke 2:29-30). There it is! His eyes had not just seen God's SALVATION - God's Yahshua (Jesus), but he had felt and touched Him, the holy child Yahshua (Jesus). "And you shall call His Name SALVATION (YAHSHUA - Jesus) for He will save His people from their sins." Amen!
This page was created on 27 July 1999
Updated on 27 July 1999
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