A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

A frequent people ask: “Who is the God of the Old Testament?”

To put it another way, Who is Yehovah or the YHVH, יְהוָֽה who identified himself in the Old Testament?

Some say he is the Son who spoke to Moses as the “I AM” in the burning bush (Exodus 3:14); and that He reappeared as the same “I AM” in John 18:5-6.

They also pointed out that “No man hath seen God at any time; . . . and Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape,” John 1:18; 5:37

There are a number of points to explore this subject in the Scriptures:

(1). the word God (Elohim) as used in Hebrew, which is in the plural (im), but nowhere have you discussed this. Yet “I and my father are one” John 10:30. This indicates that Elohim is composed of at least two Beings.

(2). Exodus 23:20 “Behold, I send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

²¹ Have regard for him, and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in him.

As the “him” above is singular, this could or should be understood as

“Behold, I (Father) send an Angel/Messenger (Yeshua) before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

²¹ Beware of Him (Yeshua) and obey His voice; do not provoke Him (Yeshua), for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name (Yehovah יְהוָֽה) is in Him (hence YHVH’s name is also in the Son”).

(3). Psalm 110 The LORD (YHVH יְהוָֽה the Father) said unto my Lord (i.e. David’s Lord: i.e. the Messiah. Compare Matthew 22:41-46).

¹ Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

² The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

³ Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

⁴ The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

⁵ The LORD (one of the 134 changes made by the Sopherim to Adonai) at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.

— notice that the second Lord sitting on the right hand of the Father in verse 2 has become LORD in verse 5. By doing so, the Soferim blurred the evidence of another YHVH (one of the 134 changes); although it is in a derived form from Exodus 23:20-21.

⁶ He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.

⁷ He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

— the above indicates that the Father was referring to his Son as also Lord יְהוָֽה, the second Being in the Godhead; he’s actually the anointed Son in Psalm 2:2.

(4). Psalm 2

² The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord (YHVH) and against his anointed (Yeshua), saying,

³ Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

⁴ He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord (YHVH) shall have them in derision.

⁵ Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

⁶ Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

⁷ I will declare the decree: the LORD (YHVH, Yehovah יְהוָֽה) ) hath said unto Me, Thou art my Son (Yeshua); this day have I begotten thee. — YHVH (Father) speaks to Yeshua (Son) in present tense, hence both were in existence at that time.

(5). Proverb 30:4. 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?

His name is YHVH (Yehovah יְהוָֽה) ) and this is written as if his Son is already in existence, although we are not told what his name is, beside being a name derived from his Father as considered in Exodus 23:20-21. Verse 21 didn’t say “What shall his name be, if thou canst tell?”

(6). Daniel 7: 13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. — from here it could be established that the Ancient of days is the Father, YHVH; and the Son of man came to the Father; none of which were written in future tenses.

(7). Instances of both YHVH יְהוָֽה together: Zechariah 2: (both are YHVH יְהוָֽה; but below here LORD as Father; and Lord as Son and narrator)

⁵ For I (Son),’ saith the Lord (יְהוָֽה Son as narrator), ‘will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.’”

⁶ “Up! Up! Come forth, and flee from the land of the north,” saith the Lord (יְהוָֽה Son); “for I (Son) have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven,” saith the Lord (Son).

⁷ “Deliver thyself, O Zion, ye that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.”

⁸ For thus saith the LORD (יְהוָֽה Father) of hosts: “After the glory hath He (Father) sent Me (Son) unto the nations which despoiled you, for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His (Father) eye.

— the prophet Zechariah was never sent to the nations; hence the One being sent was the Son and his request was to those “that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon” to flee back to the holy land from land of the north;

⁹ For behold, I (Son) will shake Mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants. And ye shall know that the LORD (יְהוָֽה Father) of hosts hath sent Me (Son).

¹⁰ “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I (Son) come, and I (Son) will dwell in the midst of thee,” saith the Lord (Son). — Yeshua, the Messiah and Son will dwell in Jerusalem in the midst of his people;

¹¹ “And many nations shall be joined to the Lord (Son) in that day, and shall be My (Son) people; and I (Son) will dwell in the midst of thee. And thou shalt know that the LORD (יְהוָֽה) of hosts hath sent Me (Son) unto thee.

¹² And the Lord (Son) shall inherit Judah as His portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.” — Yeshua, the Messiah and Son, was prophecised to be descended from the tribe of Judah and of the line of king David;

¹³ Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord (Son), for He (Son) is raised up out of His (Son) holy habitation.

This in turn means that the great majority of places in the Old Testament that use the name YHVH are references to Jesus Christ.

Now, let’s consider the God of the Old Testament as the Being who called out Moses:

And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty (El Shaddai), but by My name Yehovah (YHVH יְהוָֽה) was I not known to them (Exodus 6:3).

So God told Moses: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob only knew Me as “El Shaddai.” But now I am telling you, Moses, that My name is Yehovah (YHVH). So this YHVH is the same Being as El Shaddai.

Similarily, this is what Jacob said to Joseph in Genesis 48:3:

And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty (El Shaddai) appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, (Genesis 48:3)

With El Shaddai also being YHVH, this means that YHVH appeared to Jacob. And Jacob also heard the voice of YHVH, when YHVH blessed Jacob.

Some have thought that according to Jesus Christ’s own witness in John 5:37 this YHVH could not have been God the Father. They jump to conclusion that the God who dealt with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 6:3) was Jesus Christ, and he was the only Being who “appeared” to men.

But wait a minute; Let’s look at the context. Jesus was speaking those around him “Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.”

Who were these people “Ye” that Jesus was speaking to?

The context refered to “the Jews” who sought to slay him: “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day.” John 5:16

Yes, Jesus was speaking to the Jews, who were either misled by, or in alliance with, the Sadducees or the Pharisees, or both; and they were adament of getting rid of Jesus;

¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.”

¹⁸ Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. John 5:17-18

So we have to conclude that John 5:37 couldn’t be used to decide the God who dealt with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 6:3) was Jesus Christ, since Jesus was speaking to the Jews around him in Jerusalem (John 5:1-2) at that time.

Those Jews had not have any opportunity to heard the Father, but Jesus’ disciples (Peter, James, and John) did:

While he yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold, a voice out of the cloud, said, “This Is My Beloved Son In Whom I Am Well Pleased. Hear Ye Him!” Matthew 17:5

And there was a cloud that overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This Is My Beloved Son: Hear Him!” Mark 9:7

And earlier, John the Baptist and many around his disciples had heard the Father: And suddenly, a voice came from Heaven, saying, “This Is My Beloved Son, In Whom I Am Well Pleased.” Matthew 3:17

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

There are two opinions of this ‘God’ not seen: (1) Only refers to the Father, the context says so; (2) Since God is spirit, it only made sense if this refers to God in its glorified state. They saw Jesus, who was then God in the flesh. God told Moses, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me and live,” (Exodus 33:20).

Refering back to I John 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. The context indicates John meant God the Father was not seen, this is because many had seen Jesus Christ, God the Son, and only in human form.

John 6:46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. In context, Yeshua, the Son, was speaking to the doubting Jews (v41); but problem is that, the context is a generic statement “Not that anyone has seen the Father” which means that nobody had seen the Father, except the Son; i.e. the YHVH that Abraham saw in Genesis 18 to 19, wasn’t the Father!

Hence we can confidently conclude the God that Abraham saw, was the Son.

But who was the Lord in Exodus 33:11 who spoke to Moses face to face?

The verse shows that when Moses was making a request to see YHVH, the Lord wasn’t in a glorified state, otherwise why would Moses later ask to see His glory? Second, Moses would be dead, and it would contradict v23 as Moses couldn’t see the Lord’s face and live:

²¹ And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. ²² So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. ²³ Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.” Exodus 33:21-23

Here is another verse that claimed the God of the Old Testament is the Son.

They claimed that Jesus Christ created all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 2:10; etc.). I Corinthians 10:4 states unequivocally that the One called “the Rock” in the Old Testament is Christ (Deuteronomy 32:3-4; II Samuel 22:47; Psalm 18:2; etc.). The one called YHWH is also our Saviour and Jesus Christ, the Son.

Notice in 1 Corinthians 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them (the Israelites), and that Rock was Christ.

Here, this rock followed Israelites, not leading them. Only the shekinah was leading them. Exodus 13:21–22 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. Deuteronomy 1:33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.

Lastly, who dwell in the Temple, the Lord of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim? I Samuel 4:4, II Samuel 6:2

John 2:16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Jesus didn’t claimed the temple as “my house.”

He was the Lord of Hosts who sat between the Cherubim. Jesus Christ acknowledged that the Temple was His Father’s house (John 2:16) again endorsing that His Father as “the Most High” and “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

And in Acts:

“The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus, whom ye delivered up, and denied Him in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let Him go” Acts 3:13.

Everything is consistent that the evidence in the New Testaments supports the identity of the God of the Old Testament as the Father.

In Temple service, it doesn’t make sense that on the Day of Atonement, the goat’s blood, representing Christ’s blood, was presented to himself to be accepted.

Tracing back, He was the Being who asked Moses to build Him a sanctuary, so that He could dwell among menkind:

And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. Exodus 25:8

Of course, it must be the Father sitting between the Cherubim that accepts Christ’s blood. Otherwise, why are God’s pretentious ministers rendered as wretched, blind and naked? Revelation 3:17

~ by Joel on January 23, 2025.

Posted in Doctrines, Nature of God, Scriptures Studies