Jesus’ Life (a) Pre-Existence
The Son of God or Jesus’ Life was prophecised in the Old Testament. Scattered across the Old Testament, there were reference to this second Being, the Son, yet Jesus says no one knows the Son except the Father.
And in the book of Proverbs the Father offers a challenge to any doubter as to the existence of the two Beings, asking,
“Who hath ascended up into heaven or hath descended? Who hath gathered the wind in His fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if thou canst tell?” Proverbs 30:4.
The Being here, the Son, is spoken of as a Person distinct from the Father, though his name remains as yet secret. In Isaiah 7:14, it reveals the name ‘Immanuel’ that someday God will be with us; and when he was born, the name ‘Jesus’ indicates how that would be accomplished when God is being with us through his teachings and plan of redemption.
The Son’s name in Hebrew is actuallty Yeshua, not Jesus; since the letter J wasn’t around until only after the sixteenth century. But for simplicity and familiarity sake, both the names Jesus and Yehsua will be used in these commentaries. Also, other names with a J beginning will be retained, like John, James, Jude; together with those in the OT like Josiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Jonah.
In Isaiah 9
6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
— for unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, the eternal Word being made flesh for us, not only in our stead, but for our benefit, for the eternal salvation of all believers; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, the absolute and unlimited power, the divine authority in its fullest sense, rests upon him, he is, from his birth, in complete possession of the eternal power and Godhead;
— a Question for Jews for Judiasm: if a Rod shall spring forth out of the stem of Jesse (Isaiah 11), and a Branch shall grow out of his roots; why would he not start with as a child?
— and his name shall be called Wonderful, not only his birth, but his entire essence being a miracle, Counselor, for he not only knows the right and proper counsel in every difficulty of body and soul, he also carries out his plans for the benefit of men, the Mighty God, for the Messiah, true man as he is, is at the same time above all, God blessed forever, altogether identical with Yehovah;
— Orthodox Jews identify King Hezekiah as the Counselor, but from the record, King Hezekiah foolishly showed Merodach-baladan, the Babylonian king’s envoys to Hezekiah, of all his treasures and his armory, and Isaiah rebuked him for such foolishness, II Kings 20, Isaiah 39; which they came later and carry all to Babylon; from such record, how could Hezekiah be consider a wise king or a Counselor?
— the Everlasting Father, this description isn’t in the Septuagint nor in the Targum; so what could we make of this? The Messiah, the Son of God has never been described as the Father anywhere else in the Scriptures. Is this not the lying pen (ESV) of the scribes as described in Jeremiah 8:8? Is this another one of the self-deceptions of rabbinical Judaism to keep themselves blinded (who claim that King Hezekiah fulfilled this prophecy)?
— the Prince of Peace, the true Shiloh, Genesis 49:10, who has restored the right relation between God and man, making peace by abolishing in his flesh the enmity which existed since the fall of man, Ephesians 2:14-15.
— the full Targum says,
“The prophet said to the house of David, For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and He has taken the law upon Himself to keep it. His name is called from eternity, Wonderful, The Mighty God, who liveth to eternity, The messiah, whose peace shall be great upon us in His days”
— yes, the Targum identifies this verse confirming the Messiah had been prophesised but nothing about ‘the Everlasting Father’ and he was to be born, the Son and he was from eternity to eternity;
Remember: the Targum is an indispensable source of understanding the Bible. Started by Ezra for those returning Jews from Babylon and for these returnees they could only understand the Sacred Text in Aramaic; hence the Targum is as if Ezra is speaking to them in ancient times and to us today from the verses quoted.
In Isaiah 7
14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin (5959 הָעַלְמָ֗ה hā·‘al·māh) shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
— in a significant revelation of His almighty power, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign, cause a miracle to happen which would have abiding significance. Behold, an exclamation calling attention to the extraordinary prophecy now following, a virgin, literally, “the virgin,” that certain virgin whom the Lord had even now selected for this purpose, not merely an unwed woman of marriageable age as the Masoretic text says, but an undefiled maiden, Psalms 68:25; Matthew 1:25,
— Rabbinic Jews such as Jews for Judiasm and Rabbi Tovia Singer say this “virgin” is a young maiden as the above verse show;
— the Septuagint says,
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin (παρθένος parthenos) shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel.”
— although the Greek word παρθένος (parthenos) could be translated as a “virgin” or simply a young woman, the Targum confirms the Septuagint:
“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and she shall call His name Immanuel.”
— the Targum identifies the woman as a VIRGIN; reaffirms what the Septuagint says. The Targum is an indispensable source of understanding the Scriptures. Started by Ezra for those returning Jews from Babylon and for these returnees they could only understand the Sacred Text in Aramaic; hence the Targum is as if Ezra is speaking to them in ancient times and to us today from the Sacred Text.
— shall conceive, without the carnal knowledge of man, and bear a son, the event being represented as happening now, in the everlasting present of the eternal God, and shall call His name Immanuel, which is correctly interpreted by Matthew as meaning, “God with us.” This name characterizes the person, the essence, and the work of the Messiah. The son of a virgin, conceived and born a true human being, yet without sin, is at the same time true, almighty, eternal God. It is the great mystery of godliness: God manifest in the flesh, the Messiah, the true Savior, Creator, Protector and Redeemer of all men;
— a young woman giving birth to a child has barren meaning, only if she is a virgin would it has any significance; this is an example of the lying pen of the scribes in Jeremiah 8:8, “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.’”
— together with Isaiah 9:6 (Everlastying Father) this could be another one of the 134 changes from “LORD (יְהוָ֨ה)” to Adonai listed by EW Bullinger in Appendix 32 of The Companion Bible; it should be “Virgin” as the Targum and the Septuagint say, (more at the end);
— to Rabbanic Jews and Rabbi Tovia Singer, this represents
“the two warring kings, Pekah and Rezin, will have been removed. In II Kings 15-16, it becomes clear that this prophecy was fulfilled contemporaneously, when both kings, Pekah and Retsin, were assassinated. It is clear from the context of Isaiah’s seventh chapter that the child born in Isaiah 7:14 is not Jesus or any future virgin birth. Rather, it is referring to the divine protection that King Ahaz and his people would enjoy during the Syro-Ephraimite War.”
— but the problem remains with Rabbi Tovia Singer as he nowhere identifies who the child in the days of Ahaz was. What is so great about this child? To define the child born as “the divine protection” would be too much of a stretch.
— this is an example of the lying pen of the scribes in Jeremiah 8:8, “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.’”
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For further indepth Study, see Textual Criticism of the Greek New Testament
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Reference of the Son of God in the New Testament
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John 1:1-5
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
— with God; these words express the co-existence, but at the same time the distinction of another Being, the Son of God. The obvious reason why the Son is called the Word, seems to be, that as our words explain our minds to others, so was the Son of God sent in order to reveal his Father’s mind to the world.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
— the same, that is, the Son of God; the Word who was also God, existed before any act of creation, and in that existence was a Divine Being distinct from God. This is spoken in allusion to the well-known passage in Proverbs, after a reference to Wisdom, where another Being is being introduced, in Proverbs 8, saying,
22 “The Lord possessed Me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old.
23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth;
— he was “brought forth” whatever it means; some thought he was created; but it doesn’t say created;
— he might be “brought forth” the way Eve was brought forth out of Adam; but, again, this is a conjecture;
26 while as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the first parts of dust of the world.
27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there; when He set a compass upon the face of the deep,
28 when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
29 when He gave to the sea His decree that the waters should not pass His commandment, when He appointed the foundations of the earth”
30 then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him,
31 rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth; and My delights were with the sons of men. Proverbs 8:22-31
— some verses in Proverbs 8, refering to Wisdom, “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and disclose knowledge of learned thought,” has the link to the one “brought forth” – the Son of God, for he was also “called Wonderful, Counselor,” Isaiah 9:6. No one could be a counselor if he lacks wisdom! Hence the Son, a “Wonderful Counselor,” fulfiled the designation of being called Wisdom!
3 All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
— all things that are in heaven and earth, visible and invisible; Moses calls, the heaven and the earth, Genesis 1:1, in the beginning, by Elohim (plural); two Beings, yet One Yehovah (more at the end);
— without him was not anything made that was made; nothing that was made, neither the heavens nor the earth, neither things visible nor invisible, were made without him.
4 In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men.
— in him was life; he was the Logos or “Word” the world was originally created. One part of that creation consisted “in breathing into man the breath of life,” Genesis 2:7. God is declared to be “life,” or the “living” God, because he is the source or fountain of life. This attribute is here ascribed to the Son of God. He not merely made the material worlds, but he also gave “life.”
5 And the Light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.
— this eternal Word, this true Light shines, but the ignorant, the wretched, the deaf, the blind and the wicked couldn’t comprehend it. “To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with Me on My throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with My Father on His throne,” Revelation 3:21.
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More than One יְהוָ֨ה Yehovah?
Actually, there is only One יְהוָ֨ה Yehovah (and also one God; yet God is in a plural form, Elohim) and many Scriptures testify to this, and this One יְהוָ֨ה or One God principle is found in Exodus 23:
20 Behold, I send an Angel (or messenger) before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. Exodus 23:20-21
Hence the God (Elohim) in Isaiah 9:6 (or the LORDs mentioned in Psalm 110:5 and Genesis 18-19) were derivative. They were all carrying the message of the original God or יְהוָ֨ה Yehovah, “for my name is in him.”
Yeshua, the Son, testifies He came in His Father’s name: “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not,” John 5:43.
Joel
A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob 