19. Jehovah-Jesus, THE ALPHA AND OMEGA
As a further and impeccable proof that Jesus is Jehovah we place side by side the two scriptural portions below:
"Thus saith the LORD [Jehovah] the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the LORD [Jehovah] of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God." Isa. 44:6. "Hearken unto me, 0 Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last." Isa. 48:12.
"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. . . . I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches." Rev. 22:12-16.
Herewith we append a comment from another:
"Who it is that announces that He is coming quickly is now declared, and declared as its solemn affirmation and certainty. He is the One who was before anything had its existence, who will be after all created things in this scene shall have passed away, and who exists through all time and eternity, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all existence, the eternally self-existent One who comprehends all being in Himself, for it is in Him that all live and move and have their being. The last two titles are found in Isaiah: 'Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last: and besides me there is no God.' Isa. 44:6. No terms therefore could more distinctly convey the truth of the Person of our blessed Lord, or more clearly assert His true and proper deity. And the significance of this, coming immediately after the promise of His coming, will, when their eyes have been opened, be at once understood by the tried and persecuted remnant of the last days. They will learn from it that the Messiah, for whose advent they long, is Jehovah Elohim, their Lord and their God." 10
Let us then bow to this precious truth,
Jesus is Jehovah.
20. Jehovah-Jesus is THE I AM
Now we come to the grand climactic claim of our Lord Jesus to His being the LORD (Jehovah) of the Old Testament. When God commissioned Moses to go unto Pharaoh to negotiate with him regarding his permission to the children of Israel to leave Egypt, Moses asked God a direct question and received a direct answer. Let us note the portion:
"And the LORD [Jehovah] said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry. .. . And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians. . . . And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?" Ex. 3:7, 8, 13.
Let us put God's reply to Moses' question alongside a leading challenge that was put to our Lord Jesus by the Pharisees in John's Gospel, chapter 8. We list the two passages in parallel.
"And God [the LORD (Jehovah), see verse 7] said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Arvi hath sent me unto you." Ex. 3:14.
"Then said the Jews unto him, . . . whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, . . . Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. . . . Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM. Then they took up stones to cast at him." John 8:52-59.
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." Heb. 13:8.
Yes, Jesus is Jehovah, and He did not hesitate to declare himself the "I AM" of Exodus 3:14. Note a similar declaration also in John 18:4-6. We quote:
"Jesus . . . said unto them, . . . Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I AM. . . . As soon then as he had said unto them, I AM, they went backward, and fell to the ground."
21. Jehovah-Jesus ACCEPTS WORSHIP
One of the most outstanding proofs of our Lord's being Jehovah is in the matter of His repeatedly accepting worship. Let us note a few such instances, and as we do so, let us remember the well-known solemn warning to Israel in Exodus 34:14.
"For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD [Jehovah], whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God."
Turn now to Matthew 2, verses 1, 2.
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."
Now read verse 11:
"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."
Also note the following further similar instances:
"Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God." Matt. 14:33. See also Matt. 8:2; 9:18; 15:25.
"And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him." Matt. 28:9. See also verse 17.
"And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." Luke 24:51, 52.
"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped." Rev. 5:13, 14.
"Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am." John 13:13.
Let us take careful notice that in no case did our Lord ever refuse worship, yet He knew full well that none but God (Jehovah) was entitled to this honor. In contrast to this, let us note how decisively and peremptorily others, who were taught of God, refused worship. In Acts 10, when Peter was commissioned to go to Cornelius and his household with the gospel,
"As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man." vv. 25, 26.
When Paul and Barnabas visited Lystra, Paul healed the cripple who was impotent in his feet. Immediately the heathen concluded that the gods Jupiter (Barnabas) and Mercurius (Paul) were come down to visit them. Accordingly, "the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein." (Acts 14:8-17.)
Even the Apostle John in his apocalyptic vision of Revelation 19 is similarly rebuked by the angelic messenger for seeking to accord worship to the latter.
"And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God." Rev. 19:10.
Again in Revelation 22 the Apostle John repeats his error, and is again rebuked.
"I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then saith he unto
me, See thou do it not: . . . worship God." vv. 8, 9.
Perhaps the most outstanding witness to Christ's being worthy of worship is found in Hebrews 1:6 where it is God Himself who says,
"Let all the angels of God worship him."
Now if He be not the Jehovah of the Old Testament, how shall we reconcile the solemn prohibition of Exodus 34:14,
"For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD [Jehovah] . . . is a jealous God,"
with God's command that all angels should worship Him? The only logical reconciliation of the two passages is in the simple, yet blessed fact that Jesus is Jehovah.
22. Jehovah-Jesus, THE PIERCED ONE
When our Lord shall appear for the deliverance of Israel in the coming day, we read of Him as the pierced Jehovah. This statement is quoted by John in the New Testament and applied to our Lord.
"In that day shall the LORD [Jehovah] defend . . . Jerusalem; . . . and I will pour upon the house of David . . . the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."" Zech 12:8-10.
"But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. .. . For these things were done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled. . .. They shall look on him whom they pierced." John 19:34-37.
No doubt is left to us as to the identification:
Jesus is Jehovah.
23. Jehovah-Jesus, ACKNOWLEDGED AS GOD
As the high point of our meditation on the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, we would call special attention to the fact that He did not hesitate to accept the acclamation of being God. The following parallel seals irrevocably that Jesus is Jehovah.
"Therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD [Jehovah], that I am God." Isa. 43:12.
"Then saith he to Thomas, . . . be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." John 20:27-29.
O dear reader, in view of the abundant proof in the Word of God that Jesus is Jehovah, are you not willing to fall on your knees before Him and repeat out of an adoring heart,
"My Lord and my God"?
"Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father"! 1 John 2:23.
"There is no other name than Thine
Jehovah-Jesus! name divine;
On which to rest for sins forgiven,
For peace with God, for hope of heaven.
"Name above every name, Thy praise
Shall fill yon courts through endless days,
Jehovah-Jesus! name divine,
Rock of salvation—Thou art mine."
The Visions of John in Patmos, being Notes on the Apocalypse, by Edward Dennett. G. Morrish, 20 Paternoster Row, London. p. 306.
We are aware that many later translations have rendered Zech. 12:10, "and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced," but we believe this to be a mistake. On this point we quote from the able expositor, Mr. Wm. Kelly.
"There is really no serious doubt that the true reading is the latter (to Me), not the former (to Him). . . . It was in fact originally nothing but a marginal correction, due to the desire partly of eliminating so strong a testimony to the deity or Jehovah title of the Lord Jesus," et. seq. pp. 422424. An exposition of the Gospel of John, London, F. E. Race, 3 London House Yard, Paternoster Row, E. C., 1898.
Also see the author's further note on the same point in his Lectures Introductory to the Study of the Minor Prophets, pp. 483, 484. London, G. Morrish, 20 Paternoster Square. Also see Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's Commentary on Old and New Testament, in loco. (Concluded)