6. Jehovah-Jesus, THE SHEPHERD
Our next parallelism between Jehovah in the Old Testament and Christ in the New Testament is the well-known Shepherd character of our Lord. Let us cite some of the passages:
"The LORD [Jehovah] is my shepherd; I shall not want.... Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.... Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD [Jehovah] forever." Psalm 23:1-6.
"Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth." Psalm 80:1.
"Hear the word of the LORD [Jehovah], 0 ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattereth Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock." Jer. 31:10.
"Thus shall they know that I the LORD [Jehovah] their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord Gob." Eze. 34:30, 31.
"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep....I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine... And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd.... My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." John 10:27, 28, 11-16. "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant." Heb. 13:20.
After reading the above comparisons we can well understand why "Christian piety in every age has identified the Good Shepherd of John 10 with the Shepherd of whom David sang; and the Shepherd of Psalm 23 is Jehovah."6
7. Jehovah-Jesus, THE LAW GIVER
Let us now notice another striking identification of Jehovah with Jesus. We refer to His being the One who spoke at Sinai. Note how carefully the Word of God identifies the Speaker on Sinai with the Lord Jesus in the New Testament.
"And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord [Jehovah] descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD [Jehovah] came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount:... and the LORD [Jehovah] said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord [Jehovah] to gaze, and many of them perish." Exod. 19:18-21.
"Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet.... But ye are come... to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling.... See that ye refuse not him that speaketh: for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: whose voice then shook the earth: but now hath he promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven." Heb. 12:18-26.
The above quotation from Heb. 12 positively identifies Jesus as the One, "whose voice then shook the earth," referring to Exod. 19:18, "the whole mount quaked greatly." There it was the Lord (Jehovah), but the epistle to the Hebrews tells us it was Jesus. Yes, Jesus is Jehovah.
8. Jehovah-Jesus AND THE SABBATH
Closely related to our last identification of Jesus as the giver of the ten commandments at Mount Sinai, is His own claim to being Lord of the Sabbath. Note the parallel:
"And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD [Jehovah] hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD [Jehovah]... See, for that the LORD [Jehovah] hath given you the sabbath." Exod. 16:23, 29.
"Keep my sabbaths; I am the LORD [Jehovah] your God." Lev. 19:3.
"It is the sabbath of the LORD [Jehovah] in all your dwellings." Lev. 23:3.
"But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them,... I say unto you... the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day." Matt. 12:2-8.
Is it not true that the only legitimate way in which Jesus could claim supremacy to God's sabbath, was in consideration of the fact that He was the One who gave the sabbath?
Yes, how plain it is: Jesus is Jehovah.
9. Jehovah-Jesus FEEDS HIS PEOPLE
Psalm 132 describes the blessing that will ensue under the reign of Messiah in the coming day. Jehovah is mentioned six times in this Psalm. One of His many kindnesses is His tender consideration for the poor of His people. Let us compare this with the heart of our Lord when He was here upon earth.
"For the LORD [Jehovah] hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread." Psalm 132:13-15.
"He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled." Matt. 14:19, 20.
Yes, Jehovah-Jesus was there present to meet the need, and it was so abundantly met that there were twelve baskets of fragments remaining after all were satisfied.
10. Jehovah-Jesus, THE HEALER
In no area of His life is Jesus more frequently recognized as the Jehovah of the Old Testament than in His long continued healing ministry. Note a few selected parallels:
"I am the LORD [Jehovah] that healeth thee." Exod. 15:26. "Bless the LORD [Jehovah], 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases." Psalm 103:2, 3. "They shall see the glory of the LORD [Jehovah], and the excellency of our God.... Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped." Isa. 35:2, 5.
"They bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech;... and he took him aside... and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;... and straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain." Mark 7:32-35.
"And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple.... Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.... And immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked." Acts 3:2, 6-8.
Thus we see that, not only did Jesus personally do what was accredited to Jehovah in the Old Testament, but also through the power of His name, similar miracles were wrought. The above parallels could be multiplied many times over, but space forbids. We recommend to our readers that they themselves trace the parallels.
11. Jehovah-Jesus KNOWS THE HEART
Omniscience is one of the exclusive prerogatives of deity. Only God can read the hearts of His creatures. Let us note some of the Old Testament statements as to Jehovah's knowledge of the heart, and compare the same with those of a similar nature applied to our Lord in the New.
"Then Job answered the LORD [Jehovah], and said, I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee." Job 42:1, 2.
"For the LORD [Jehovah] searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee." 1 Chron. 28:9.
"The LORD [Jehovah] knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity." Psalm 94:11.
"For by fire and by his sword will the LORD [Jehovah] plead with all flesh.... For I know t heir works and their thoughts." Isa. 66:16, 18.
"0 LORD [Jehovah], thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; thou understandest my thought afar off." Psalm 139:1, 2.
"But the LORD [Jehovah] said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height
"But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?" Luke 5:22. "But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man,... Rise up." Luke 6:8.
"Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be the greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him." Luke 9:46, 47.
"And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them." Luke 11:16, 17.
"Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Be-hold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and
of his stature;... for the LORD [Jehovah] seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD [Jehovah] looketh on the heart." 1 Sam. 16:7.
"Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, 0 LORD [Jehovah] my God.... For thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men." 1 Kings 8:28, 39.
saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God: thou art the King of Israel." John 1:47-49.
"And immediately, when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he saith unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?" Mark 2:8.
"But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew what was in man." John 2:24, 25.
"And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord [Christ], which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen." Acts 1:24.
Can any reader of the above parallelism fail to see that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New? Yes, Jesus is Jehovah.
12. Jehovah-Jesus COMMANDS THE ELEMENTS
Not only was our Lord superior to sickness, disease, and deformity of all kinds, but He showed Himself repeatedly as in command of the very elements themselves. In this He showed Himself the Jehovah of the Old Testament. We here present a parallel on this point:
"O LORD [Jehovah] God of hosts, who is a strong LORD [Jehovah] like unto thee?... Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them." Psalm 89:8, 9. "And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship.... And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." Mark 4:37, 39.
"The LORD [Jehovah] on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea." Psalm 93:4.
"But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with the waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea." Matt. 14:24, 25.
Can it be otherwise than that Jesus is Jehovah?
6. "Jesus Christ is Jehovah," by Dr. W. Childs Robinson, in Evangelical Quarterly. opus cit. vol. 5, p. 153.