Is Jesus Yahweh? What Jesus said & apostles tell us in the Bible

Is Jesus Yahweh?
What does the Bible teach?
— what did Jesus say?
What did the Apostles, epistles & Old Testament prophets tell us?

Why is this question important?
Whether the answer is yes or no,
will also help confirm whether :

is there one God with the same character,
working thru from Old Testament to New Testament … to our modern day?

Or,
is the God of the Old Testament different from the God of the New Testament,
with a different character ?

What does the Bible say?

We’ll be covering:

— Language & translations of the Bible.
— the name of Jesus

— Is Jesus Yahweh? What did Jesus say?

— Is Jesus Yahweh? What did the Apostles & epistles say?
— Isaiah’s prophecy of Jesus
— Zechariah’s prophecy of Jesus

— Is Jesus Yahweh? What do theologians, scholars say?

Method:
By taking an evidenced-based Bible reading approach,
based on the data in the Bible,
reading verses in the context of the passage of the Bible;
Bible explaining the Bible,
listening to ³What does Scripture say ? … ^{Romans 4:3 (NIV)},
reasoned and explained from the Scriptures.

“scriptura … sui ipsius interpres
Scripture is in itself the interpreter, Scripture is its own interpreter.”
— Martin Luther

The Bible also teaches,

¹⁶… Scripture says,

‘Every matter
must be proved
by the words of two or three witnesses.’ (Deuteronomy 19:15) ^{Matthew 18:16 (NIRV)}

Thus, a single verse evidence is not sufficiently convincing (beyond reasonable doubt)
And, each verse should be examined with it’s context.

All verses quoted, are referenced in full because,

¹⁷So then faith
comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God. the word of Christ ^{Romans 10:17 (NKJV, NASB)}

Language & translations of the Bible

The Old testament was written in Hebrew.

The word for ‘god’ or God in Hebrew is אֱלֹהִים‘ ĕlōhîm.
אֱלֹהִים‘ ĕlōhîm is a generic word,
pagan gods are also referred to as אֱלֹהִים‘ ĕlōhîm.
Another Hebrew word
translated as God or ‘god’ is אֵל ‘ēl.
Further information — Theophory in the Bible.

God revealed His name — יְהֹוָה Yᵊhōvâ, Yahweh,
to Abraham and his descendants.

³… And there Abram called
on the name of the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh). ^{Genesis 13:3 (NKJV)}

⁶And Abram believed the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh),

and the Lord counted him as righteous
because of his (Abram) faith. ^{Genesis 15:6 (NLT)}

Thus, Abraham believed, and followed
only one God — יְהֹוָה Yahweh.

Furthermore, when the New Testament author of Hebrews
wrote the list of people in Hebrews 11
— Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Moses, the Gentile Rahab, etc, etc,
³⁹These were all commended for their faith (in יְהֹוָה Yahweh) , … ^{Hebrews 11:39 (NIV)}

all of them had faith in יְהֹוָה Yahweh,
just like Abraham also did.

¹⁸So the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
made a covenant with Abram that day … ^{Genesis 15:18 (NLT)}

Personal relationship with יְהֹוָה Yahweh
is a covenant relationship with יְהֹוָה Yahweh.

Jehovah is a Latinization of the Hebrew יְהֹוָה‎ Yᵊhōvâ, Yahweh ^(Wikipedia).

יְהֹוָה Yᵊhōvâ (Yahweh, Jehovah)
in the Hebrew Old Testament
is mostly translated in English Bible translations as “Lord”.
^{( in the KJV translation — יְהֹוָה was translated as Lord (6,510x), God (4x), Jehovah (4x), variant (1x)).}The common Chinese Bible translations used a phonetic translation 耶和華 for יְהֹוָה Yahweh

Thus, popular verses that Christians quote from the Old Testament,
would be understood as:
(here, with יְהֹוָה Yahweh’s name, in the original Hebrew that was written),

¹The Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
is my shepherd,
I will not be in need. ^{Psalm 23:1 (NASB)}

⁵Trust in the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. ^{Proverbs 3:5, 6 (NIV)}

¹¹For I know the plans I have for you,”
declares the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh),
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ^{Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)}

¹Oh, give thanks to the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh),
for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

²⁴This is the day
the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it. ^{Psalm 118:1, 24 (NKJV)}

The New Testament was written in Greek,
thus the name יְהֹוָה Yahweh,
is not found in the New Testament Greek.

The New Testament writers
referred to the Old Testament as the Scriptures.
The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament),
was commonly used
during the time of Jesus and the Apostles.

“… the Septuagint seems to have been a major source for the Apostles, …
The New Testament writers freely used the Greek translation (Septuagint)
when citing the Jewish scriptures (or quoting Jesus doing so), implying that Jesus, his apostles, and their followers considered it reliable.” ^(Wikipedia)

Hence, sometimes, we see variations
between the Old Testament verse
and how this same verse is quoted in the New Testament (due to the writers writing the New Testament in Greek, and quoting from a Greek translation of the Old Testament written in Hebrew).

In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament),
the word יְהֹוָה Yahweh
in the Old Testament,
was translated into Greek as κύριος kyrios; ( i.e. κύριος kyrios = יְהֹוָה Yahweh)

In the New Testament written in Greek,
this word κύριος kyrios
is translated in English translations
as Lord (when kyrios is used to refer to Jesus).

Lord κύριος, kyrios
— supreme in authority,
by implication, Master ^(Strongs)

The word κύριος kyrios is also used to refer to human masters in the New Testament,
eg. in Jesus parables, Acts 16:19.

In Genesis,
the story of creation in Genesis 1
— only the word God, אֱלֹהִים‘ ĕlōhîm, is used.
Then, in Genesis 2:4,
the name of this God is first revealed in the Bible.

⁴This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day that the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) God (אֱלֹהִים‘ ĕlōhîm)
made the earth and the heavens, ^{Genesis 2:4 (NKJV)}

Chapters and verses was introduced into the Bible in later centuries,
Contextually, Genesis 2:4 is the culminating passage summary
highlighting & revealing — the name of the God
who created the heavens and the earth
— יְהֹ.וָה Yahweh.

(keeping Genesis 2:4 in mind)
In the New Testament, John wrote about Jesus,
¹In the beginning … the Word was God.

³All things came into being created ^(HCSB)
through Him, (in the beginning)
and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.
⁴In Him
was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. ^{John 1:1, 3, 4 (NASB)}

and Paul affirmed,
¹⁶for by Him (Jesus) all things were created,
… all things
have been created through Him and for Him. ^{Colossians1:16 (NASB)}

i.e.
⁴ … the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) God
made the earth and the heavens, ^{Genesis 2:4 (NKJV)}

The name of Jesus

The angel of the Lord
spoke to Joseph, the husband of Mary,

^{Matthew 1:21-23 (NKJV)}
²¹And she will bring forth a Son,
and you shall call His name Jesus,
for He will save His people from their sins.” ^{Matthew 1:21 (NKJV)}

then, Matthew goes on to explain,
²²So all this was done
that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:

²³“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son,
and they shall call His name Immanuel,” ^{(Isaiah 7:14)}
which is translated, “God with us.”

At Jesus birth, the angel of the Lord
told the shepherds,

¹¹For there is born to you this day in the city of David
a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord. (κύριος kyrios) ^{John 2:11 (NKJV)}

The Lord’s announcement to Joseph and the shepherds,
reveals exactly what Jesus name means.

He will save
a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord (κύριος kyrios)

The name Jesus is Ἰησοῦς (in the Greek),
a transliteration of the Hebrew “Joshua,”
— meaning “Jehovah is salvation,”
i.e., “Jehovah is the Savior ” ^(Vine’s)

Therefore,
… “Everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh, Jehovah)
will be saved.” ^{Joel 2:32}^{(also quoted in Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13 by Peter & Paul in the New Testament)}

His name is Jesus — “Yahweh is the Savior ”

Furthermore, based on Isaiah’s prophecy
and Matthew’s explanation of who Jesus is,
they shall call His name Immanuel,” (in Hebrew)
which is translated, “God with us.”

hence,
Jesus is Yahweh with us,
Yahweh is the Savior

.³².. Everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord
will be saved ^{Joel 2:32}

Is Jesus Yahweh? What did Jesus say?

Jesus said of Himself,

⁵Then Jesus said to them,
“The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” ^{Luke 6:5 (NIV)}⁸For the Son of Man is Lord (κύριος kyrios) of the Sabbath.” ^{Matthew 12:8 (NIV)}²⁸So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” ^{Mark 2:28 (NIV)}(as recorded in 3 gospels)

Based on the Old Testament,
who is the Lord of the Sabbath?

²³… “This is what the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) commanded:
‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest,
a holy sabbath to the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)… ^{Exodus 16:23 (NIV)}

When the Lord gave Moses the Ten Commandments,
the Lord said,
⁸“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
¹⁰but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) your God … ^{Exodus 20:8-10 (NIV)}

The Lord spoke to Isaiah to tell the people,
¹³“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) holy day (i.e. Sabbath) honorable, … ^{Isaiah58:13 (NIV)}

The Hebrew religious leaders and people in Jesus day,
understood what Jesus meant
when He identified Himself as the Son of God, the Lord of the Sabbath,
and Jesus said that God was His Father.
The Hebrew religious leaders understood
what the term — Son of God really meant from their Hebrew worldview at that time in history.

^{John 5:16-22 (NIV)}¹⁶For this reason
the Jews persecuted Jesus,
and sought to kill Him,
because He had done these things on the Sabbath.

¹⁷But Jesus answered them,
“My Father has been working until now,
and I have been working. (until now)”

¹⁸Therefore the Jews sought
all the more to kill Him,
because He not only broke the Sabbath,
but (from their understanding of what Jesus said)

also said that

God was His Father,
making Himself (Jesus) equal with God.

Son of God = equal with God

¹⁹Then Jesus answered and said to them,
“Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself,
but what He sees the Father do;

Then Jesus goes on to explain
that He is truly equal with God.

for whatever He (the Father) does,
the Son also does in like manner.

²⁰For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.

²¹For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them,
even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

²²For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,
²³that all should honor the Son
just as they honor the Father.

He who does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father who sent Him.

On another occasion,
the people & religious leaders questioned Jesus,

^{John 8:52-54, 56, 58, 59 (NASB)}⁵²The Jews said to Him,
“… Abraham died,
and the prophets as well;

and yet You (Jesus) say,
‘If anyone follows My word,
he will never taste of death.’

⁵³You are not
greater than our father Abraham, who died,
are You?

The prophets died too.
Whom do You make Yourself out to be?”

⁵⁴Jesus answered, …
⁵⁶Your father Abraham
was overjoyed that he would see My day,
and he saw it and rejoiced.”

Jesus was present when Abraham was alive,
and Abraham saw Jesus coming.

⁵⁸Jesus said to them,
“Truly, truly I say to you,
before Abraham was born,
I am.”

⁵⁹Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him,
but Jesus hid Himself and left the temple grounds.

Since, Jesus existed before Abraham,
before Abraham was born,
and Jesus is greater than father Abraham,
and Jesus promised
— ‘If anyone follows My word, he will never taste of death.’,
making Jesus word equal to Yahweh’s word,
and Jesus life-giving power equal to Yahweh’s power,
therefore, Jesus is Yahweh God.

Hence, Jesus said,
³⁹… These are the very Scriptures
that testify about me (Jesus) ^{John 5:39 (NIV)}

Testify about Yahweh in the Old Testament,
and testify about Yahweh is the Savior — Jesus (coming in the New Testament).

After the last supper, Jesus succinctly said
to His Hebrew disciples who believed in God Yahweh,

¹“Do not let your heart be troubled;

believe in God, (Yahweh)
believe also in Me. (Jesus)

⁹ … The one who has seen Me
has seen the Father …

¹⁰ … I am in the Father,
and the Father is in Me. ^{John 14:1, 9, 10 (NASB)}

And on another occasion, Jesus succinctly said to the religious leaders,

^{John 10:30-38 (NIV)}
³⁰I and My Father are one.”

³¹Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.

³²Jesus answered them,
“Many good works
I have shown you from My Father.

For which of those works
do you stone Me?” (why are you stoning Me?)

³³The Jews answered Him, saying,
“For a good work we do not stone You,

but for blasphemy,
and because

You, being a Man make Yourself God.” (i.e. Yahweh in their Hebrew minds, worldview)

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? ³⁵If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), ³⁶do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’
because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

³⁷If I do not do the works of My Father,
do not believe Me;
³⁸but
if I do, (the works of My Father)
though you do not believe Me,
believe the works, (that I do)

that you may know and believe
that
the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”

When Jesus healed a paralyzed man in Capernaum
in front of Hebrew religions leaders and people,
Jesus demonstrated the good works that only Yahweh can do
that reveal who Jesus really is
— forgiving sins and healing,
that only יְהֹוָה Yahweh can do .
This miracle is documented in 3 Gospels — Matthew 9:2-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:18-26.

^{Mark 2:5-12 (NKJV)}⁵When Jesus saw their faith,
He said to the paralytic,
“Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

⁶And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
⁷“Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?
Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (i.e. only יְהֹוָה Yahweh can do this)

⁸But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves,
He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?
⁹Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,
‘Your sins are forgiven you,’
or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’?

¹⁰But that you may
know that
the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”

—He said to the paralytic,
¹¹“I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

¹²Immediately he arose,
took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all,
so that all were amazed and glorified God,
saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

all were amazed and glorified God
For the Hebrew audience present that day,
the only God they knew was יְהֹוָה Yahweh.

Who can forgive sins but God (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) alone?
(in the understanding of the Hebrew scribes present that day)

Jesus forgave sin
and confirmed His word by instantly healing the man,
proving that Jesus is Yahweh,
by the same works that only יְהֹוָה Yahweh can do.

Besides healing people instantly, casting out demons, and forgiving people of their sins,
Jesus raised the dead, miraculously fed a multitude,
turned water to very good wine, calmed the storm, etc
— things that only Yahweh can do.

¹¹This beginning of signs (attesting miracles) ^(AMP)
Jesus did in Cana of Galilee,

and manifested His glory;

and His disciples believed in Him.

(Jesus’ disciples who believed in one God,
and followed Jesus;
they were not leaving Yahweh,
to follow Jesus.)

Jesus affirmed publicly
that there is only one Lord God
— ⁴“Hear, O Israel!
The Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) is our God,
the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) is one! ^{Deuteronomy 6:4 (NASB1995)}
because Jesus taught,

³⁰The Father and I are one.” ^{John 10:30 (NASB1995)}

³⁸… the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” ^{John 10:38 (NASB1995)}

^{Mark 12:28-31 (NASB1995)}²⁸One of the scribes came and heard them arguing,
and recognizing that He had answered them well,
asked Him (Jesus),
“What commandment is the foremost of all?”

²⁹Jesus answered, “The foremost is,
‘Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is one Lord;

³⁰and
you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
³¹The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no other commandment greater than these.

By saying this,
Jesus quoted and fully affirmed Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 & Leviticus 19:18.
in the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament,
the Prophets spoke about
Yahweh shepherding His sheep,

¹¹‘For thus says the Lord God (יְהֹוָה Yahweh):
“Indeed I Myself
will search for My sheep and seek them out. ^{Ezekiel 34:11}

¹⁶The Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) their God
will save his people on that day
as a shepherd saves his flock. … ^{Zechariah 9:16 (NKJV)}

¹⁰Behold, the Lord God
shall come with a strong hand, …

¹¹He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young. ^{Isaiah 40:11 (NKJV)}

Jesus said of Himself

¹⁴I am the good shepherd,
and I know My own (sheep), and My own know Me,
¹⁵just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father;
and I lay down My life for the sheep.

¹⁶And I have other sheep
that are not of this fold;
I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice;
and they will become one flock, (Jews & Gentiles)
with one shepherd. ^{John 10:14 (NASB)}

Jesus, the good Shepherd, laid down His life for the sheep.

David in the Old Testament
personally experienced in his own life,

¹The Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
is my shepherd,
I will not be in need. ^{Psalm 23:1 (NASB)}

John the Baptist prophesised about Jesus,
²⁹… “Behold! The Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world! ^{John 1:29 (NASB)}

And, John saw in the Revelation,

¹⁶They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat;
¹⁷for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne
will shepherd them
and lead them to living fountains of waters.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” ^{Revelation 7:16, 17 (NKJV)}

The good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep,
is also the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world — Jesus.

By Jesus being the Lamb of God,
God is the righteous, just judge,
and also the justifier of the ungodly,
thereby fulfilling God’s righteousness, justice and mercy, grace for us all;
one flock, with one shepherd.

^{Romans 3:25, 26, 21, 22, 4:3, 5, 6 (NIV)}²⁵God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,
through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. …

^3:26he did it
to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time,

so as to be just judge rightly ^(NCV)
and the one who justifies justifier ^(NKJV)

those who have faith in Jesus.

^3:21 .. the righteousness of God has been made known,
to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

²²This righteousness is given
through faith in Jesus Christ
to all who believe.
There is no difference between Jew and Gentile

^4:3What does Scripture say?
“Abraham believed God, (Yahweh)
and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

^4:5… God who justifies the ungodly,
their faith (in the Lord)
is credited as righteousness.

^4:6…whom God credits righteousness (to Abraham, Jews & Gentiles who believe in Him)
apart from works

Thank you Jesus.

This is in full agreement with what the Lord
said in the book of Jeremiah,

5 “Behold, the days are coming,”

says the Lord  (יְהֹוָה  Yahweh),

“That I will raise to David

a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper,

And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

6 In His days Judah will be saved,

And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name

by which He will be called:

The Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
our Righteousness. ^{Jeremiah 23:5,6 (NKJV)}
(i.e. Jehovah-Tsidkenu)

Jesus is the Lord, Yahweh our Righteousness ^{(see 1 Corinthians 1:30)}.

^{Matthew 28:16-18 (NASB)}¹⁶But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated to them.
¹⁷And when they saw Him,
they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.

Jesus’ Hebrew disciples
believed & worshipped one God — Yahweh.
They worshiped Him, Jesus.

¹⁸And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

Because Jesus is Yahweh, God,
Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth,
we can pray and ask in the authority of Jesus name.
Jesus taught His disciples,

¹²“I assure you:
The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do.
And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
¹³Whatever you ask in My name, (Jesus — Yahweh is the Savior)
I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ^{John 14:12, 13 (HCSB)}

Therefore, Jesus said to the religious leaders,

⁹You search and keep on searching
and examining the Scriptures (in the Old Testament)
because you think that in them you have eternal life;
and yet it is
those [veryScriptures] that testify about Me; (what Yahweh said and did)

⁴⁰… come to Me
so that you may have life. ^{John 5:39, 40 (AMP)}

Is Jesus Yahweh? What did the Apostles & epistles say?

John:

^{John 1:2 (NKJV)}¹ In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

²He was in the beginning with God.

pre-existent; pre-exisiting time & creation

³All things were made through Him,
and without Him nothing was made that was made created ^(HCSB)

Jesus was right there at the beginning
creating everything, the heavens and the earth.

^{Genesis 2:4 (NKJV)}⁴This is the history of the heavens and the earth
when they were created,
in the day that the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) God
made the earth and the heavens,

^In^{John 12:39-41 (NKJV)}^{, John wrote}³⁷But although He (Jesus)
had done so many signs before them,
they did not believe in Him (Jesus),

³⁹Therefore they could not believe,
because Isaiah said again:

⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.” ^{(i.e. Isaiah 6:10)}

⁴¹These things Isaiah said
when he saw His glory Jesus’ glory ^(NIV)
and spoke of Him.

Isaiah was referring to Jesus
when he said this,
because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah’s glory. ^(NLT)

John quoted from Isaiah 6:10,
when Isaiah saw the Lord, His glory, (Yahweh’s glory) in Isaiah 6,

^{Isaiah 6:1-3 (NKJV)}¹In the year that King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord (אֲדֹנָי‘ ăḏōnāy)
sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

³… “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”

Thus, by quoting from Isaiah,
John concluded that Isaiah saw Yahweh’s glory,
which is also Jesus glory.

⁴¹These things Isaiah said
when he saw His glory Jesus’ glory ^(NIV)
and spoke of Him.

(hence, one and the same God in both New and Old Testaments)

Peter:

On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came,
in Peter’s evangelistic sermon,
to the Hebrew crowd,
Peter quoted Joel 2:32,

^{Acts 2:21 (NIV),}^{(i.e. Joel 2:32)}²¹And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
will be saved.’

The meaning of the name of Jesus,
is embeded in Joel 2:32.

Filled with the Holy Spirit,
Peter went on to explained
from the Scriptures, the word of God,

^{Acts 2:34-39 (NIV)}³⁴For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
³⁵until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”’

³⁶“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this:
God has made this Jesus,
whom you crucified, both Lord (κύριος kyrios) and Messiah.”

³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins.
And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
³⁹The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off
—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Thus,
everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
will be saved,
in the name of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, in Acts 4,
when Peter highlighted to the Hebrew Sandherin in Acts 4,
¹⁰then know this, you and all the people of Israel:
it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead,
that this man stands before you healed. (real life evidence)

¹²Salvation is found in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven
given to mankind by which we must be saved.’ ^{Acts 4:10, 12 (NIV)}

Jesus — “Jehovah is the Savior ”

Paul:

Paul highlighted what the Lord, Yahweh, spoke about Himself,
from Isaiah 45:23, 24,

Isaiah wrote, ^{Isaiah 45:22-24 (NIV)}²²“Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.

²³By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:

Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.
²⁴They will say of me,
‘In the Lord ( יְהֹוָה Yahweh, and κύριος kyrios in the Septuagint) alone
are deliverance and strength.’” …

Paul understood who Jesus really is
and wrote in Philippians 2based on what the Lord, Yahweh, said about Himself in Isaiah 45:23, 24,

^{Philippians 2:10, 11 (NIV),}¹⁰that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue acknowledge

that Jesus Christ is Lord, (κύριος kyrios)
to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is Yahweh.

Paul explained what Joel 2:32 means
in Romans 10.
— everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
will be saved.’

^{Romans 10:9-13 (NIV)}
⁹If you declare with your mouth,
“Jesus is Lord,” (κύριος kyrios)

and believe in your heart
that God
raised him from the dead,

you will be saved.

¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

¹¹As Scripture says, “Anyone
who believes in him
will never be put to shame.”

¹²For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile
—the same Lord (κύριος kyrios) is Lord (κύριος kyrios) of all
and richly blesses all who call on him,

¹³for,
“Everyone
who calls
on the name of the Lord (κύριος kyrios = יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
will be saved.” ^{(i.e. Joel 2:32)}

Hence,
call on the name of the Lord (κύριος kyrios = יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
will be saved,

by declaring with your mouth, (calls)
“Jesus is Lord,” (κύριος kyrios)
and
believe in your heart
— God raised Jesus from the dead,

you will be saved.

On another note,

^{Joel 2:31, 32 (NASB)}³¹The sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and awesome
day of the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) comes.

³²And it will come about that everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
Will be saved; …

The day of the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) that Joel prophesised,
and Peter highlighted in his good news message on Pentecost,
is also the day of our Lord Jesus Christ that Paul wrote about.

⁸He will also keep you firm to the end,
so that you will be blameless
on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
⁹God is faithful,
who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. ^{Colossians 1:8, 9 (NIV)}^{(see also}^{Philippians 1:6, 10, 2:16)}

In the book of Genesis, in the Old Testament,
⁶And Abram believed the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh),
and the Lord counted him as righteous
because of his faith. ^{Genesis 15:6 (NLT)}

Abraham believed יְהֹוָה Yahweh.

In agreement with Genesis 15:6,
Paul explained in the New Testament,
^{Romans 4:3, 13, 23, 24, (NLT)}
³For the Scriptures
tell us, “Abraham believed God,
and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” ^{(quoting Genesis 15:6)}

¹³ … a right relationship with God
that comes by faith.

²³And when God counted him (Abraham) as righteous,
it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit.

It was recorded
²⁴for our benefit, too,

assuring us that God will also count us
as righteous

if
we believe in him, believe in the God ^(NIRV)
the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

And in the same chapter,
similar to Abraham’s experience,
Paul also quoted David’s experience (Romans 4:5-9)

¹Blessed is the one
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
²Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
does not count against them … ^{Psalm 32: 1,2 (NASB)}

Hence,
one and the same God in both New and Old Testaments,
one and same way to have a right personal relationship with God,
( for Abraham to David in the Old Coveanant,
and for Paul in the New Covenant,… and for us also )
and be counted as righteous, forgiven in God’s sight,
— on the basis of believing faith in Yahweh, Jesus (Yahweh the Savior),
trusting the God
who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Paul also explained,
^{Romans 8:9 (NASB)}^8:9However, you are not in the flesh
but in the Spirit, Holy Spirit ^{(NIRV, AMPC)}

if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
But if anyone does not
have the Spirit of Christ,

he does not belong to Him.

^8:11But if the Spirit of Him
who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you,

He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead
will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit
who dwells in you.

“What identifies the believer
as one who does not live “in the realm of the flesh”
is that “the Spirit of God lives in you” (Rom 8:9).

But then Paul immediately makes the interchange.
“And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,
they do not belong to Christ.”

Since for Paul there is also only “one Spirit (Eph 4:4; cf 1 Cor 12:4),
this kind of interchange is a crowning expression of Paul’s understanding
of the full deity of Christ.”
^{Source: Gordon D Fee, Jesus the Lord according to Paul the Apostle, Baker Academic, 2018, pg 171}

Writer of Hebrews:

Right at the beginning of the book of Hebrews,
^{Hebrews 1:1-3 (NIV)}¹ God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers
in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

i.e. יְהֹוָה Yahweh spoke, revealed Himself, taught God’s ways
thru His prophets in the Old Testament

²in these last days
has spoken to us in His Son (Jesus),
whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world.

i.e. Jesus spoke, revealed who He is, taught God’s ways
in the New Testament

³And He (Jesus) is the radiance of His glory
and the exact representation of His nature,
and upholds all things by the word of His power

Jesus is the exact representation of His nature,
the nature of יְהֹוָה Yahweh.

Therefore, sharing similar understanding
with the writer of Hebrews
— in these last days God has spoken to us in His Son
John began the gospel of John
by proclaiming
— ¹ In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

¹⁸No one has ever seen God,
but the one and only Son,
who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father,
has made him known.

In John 1:1
the Greek word for Word is λόγος logos,
the spoken word
— something said (including the thought),
… (with the article in John) the Divine Expression (i.e. Christ) ^(Strong)

Jesus life and teaching has made God known to all of us.

There’s an interesting note
that the writer of Hebrews highlighted
in Hebrews 11,
regarding the faith of Moses in Yahweh (in the Old Testament)
as Moses’ faith in living Christ,

²⁶He (Moses) regarded disgrace
for the sake of Christ the Messiah ^(HCSB)

was of greater value
than the treasures of Egypt,
because he was looking ahead to his reward.
²⁷By faith
he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger;
he persevered because

he saw him who is invisible. ^{Hebrews 11:26, 27 (NIV)}he saw the God who can’t be seen ^(NIRV)

Hence, Jesus said,
³⁹… those very Scriptures
that testify about Me;
…⁴⁶For if you believed Moses,
you would believe Me;
for he wrote about Me (Jesus). ^{John 5:39, 46 (NASB)}

⁵⁸Jesus said to them,
“Truly, truly I say to you,
before Abraham was born, (before Moses was born)
I am.”

James:

James 5:10, 14, 15 (NIV)
¹⁰Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering,
take the prophets (in the Old Testament)
who spoke in the name of the Lord. (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)

¹⁴Is anyone among you sick?
Let them call the elders of the church (in the New Testament)
to pray over them and anoint them with oil
in the name of the Lord. (Jesus)

¹⁵And the prayer offered in faith

will make the sick person well; heal the sick ^(CEB)
the Lord will raise them up.
If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

By believing faith in Jesus,
in the authority and power of Jesus
asking in Jesus name ^{(John 14:13)}one is forgiven and receives healing,
receiving God’s miracle of forgiveness and healing in Jesus name,
just like when Jesus healed a paralyzed man in Capernaum.

⁵When Jesus saw their faith,
He said to the paralytic,
“Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

¹⁰But that you may
know that
the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”

—He said to the paralytic,
¹¹“I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

¹²Immediately he arose, …

… all were amazed and glorified God, … ^{Mark 2:5, 10-12 (NKJV)}

Which David also spoke about יְהֹוָה Yahweh,

²Bless the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh), O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:
³Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases, ^{Psalm 103:2, 3 (NKJV)}

Thank you Jesus.

Isaiah’s prophecy of Jesus

Let’s read & consider the Old Testament
— 3 of Isaiah’s prophecy of Jesus,

^{Isaiah 11:2 (NASB)}¹Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse (David’s father),
And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
²The Spirit of the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh)
will rest on Him, …

^{Isaiah 61:1, 2a (NASB)}The Spirit of the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) God
is upon me,

Because the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) anointed me
To bring good news to the humble;00
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim release to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
²To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord …

In the gospels,
in Nazareth,
Jesus publicly proclaimed from Isaiah 61:1, 2a,
¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, …

²¹“Today this Scripture
has been fulfilled in your hearing.”” ^{Isaiah 61:18, 21 (NASB)}

And, John the Baptist testified who Jesus really is,
by seeing the Spirit of the Lord
remaining upon Him, Jesus,

^{John 1:33, 34 (NASB)}
³³ … He who sent me to baptize in water
said to me,
‘He upon whom you see the Spirit
descending and remaining upon Him,
this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’

³⁴And I myself have seen,
and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

^{Isaiah 9:1, 2, 6 (NASB)}¹In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt,
but later on He will make it glorious,
by the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

²The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.

In the gospels,
Matthew confirmed that this Scripture
was fulfilled in Jesus
in Matthew 4:12-17
(right after Jesus overcame the devil’s temptation in the wilderness).

⁶For a Child will be born to us ^{(see Luke 2:11)},
a Son will be given to us; ^{(see John 3:16)}

(both human and divine)

And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called

Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Peace.

⁷There will be no end
to the increase of His government ^{(see Luke 1:33, Revelation 11:15)}
or of peace …

In the gospels,
in John’s gospel,
Jesus answered Philip (after the last supper),

⁹Jesus said to him,
” … The one who has seen Me
has seen the Father;…

¹⁰Do you not believe that
I am in the Father,
and the Father is in Me? ^{John 14:9, 10 (NASB)}

and after Jesus last teaching with His disciples,
Jesus prayed
for His disciples and for the world,

²¹that they may all be one;

just as You,
Father, are in Me
and I in You,

that they also may be in Us,

so that

the world may believe
that You sent Me. ^{John 17:21 (NASB)}

Zechariah’s prophecy of Jesus

Let’s read & consider the Old Testament
— Zechariah’s prophecy

^{Zechariah 12:1, 10 (NASB)}¹The pronouncement
of the word of the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yᵊhōvâ)
concerning Israel: …

here Yahweh is speaking
and He says:

¹⁰“And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem
the Spirit of grace and of pleading, supplication ^(NKJV)
so that

they will look at
Me
whom they pierced ;

and they will mourn for Him,
like one mourning for an only son,
and they will weep bitterly over Him
like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

Here, the Lord, Yahweh, is speaking to Israel that
they will look at
Me (i.e. Yahweh)
whom they pierced

We know from Isaiah’s prophecy
of the Messiah Christ,
^{Isaiah 53:5, 11 (NASB)}
⁵But He was pierced for our offenses,
He was crushed for our wrongdoings;
The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him,
And by His wounds we are healed.

¹¹As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
For He will bear their wrongdoings.

Therefore,

they will look at
Me
whom they pierced

confirms that Jesus is Yahweh.

When John saw the Lord Jesus in Revelation, he also noted,
⁷Behold, He is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see Him,
even those who pierced Him;
and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.
So it is to be. Amen. ^{Revelation 1:7 (NASB)}

Therefore,

Paul:
¹³looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of
our great God and Savior,
Christ Jesus, ^{Titus 2:13 (NASB)}

Peter:
¹… To those who have received a faith
of the same kind as ours,
by the righteousness of
our God and Savior,
Jesus Christ: ^{2 Peter 1:1 (NASB)}

Mary sang and worshipped the Lord,
⁴⁶… “My soul exalts the Lord,
⁴⁷And my spirit has rejoiced
in God my Savior.

Mary acknowledges
that she herself needs to be saved by the Lord.

Jesus name means “Jehovah is the Savior ”.

Is Jesus Yahweh? What do theologians, scholars say?

F F Bruce:
“It might not be appropriate to reword
‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ as ‘Jesus Christ is Yahweh’;
but
nothing less than this is involved.

This usage did not originate with Paul (if the Christ-hymn is pre-Pauline),
but repeatedly
he ascribes to Jesus Old Testament texts and phrases
in which the word ‘Lord’ represents the Hebrew Yahweh.

“The day of the Lord’ (the great day of judgment)
in the Old Testament is the day of Yahweh;
what Paul understood by it is shown by the way
in which he calls it variously
‘the day of the Lord’, ‘
the day of the Lord Jesus’, or “the day of Christ’ ^{(1 Corinthians 1:8, 2 Corinthians 1:14, Philippians 1:6, 10, 2:16)}.

In Joel 2:32, ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’,
‘the Lord’ is Yahweh;
but when Paul quotes this passage in Romans 10:13
the context makes it plain
that for him ‘the Lord’ is Jesus.
Other New Testament writers share this usage with Paul”

^{Source: F F Bruce, The Real Jesus, Hodder & Stoughton, 1985, pg 203.}

Gordon Fee:
“In Paul’s repeated citations and intertextual use
of the Septuagint
he consistently identifies
the Kyrios (=Yahweh) of the Septuagint
with the risen Lord, Jesus Christ,

whenever Kyrios is the reason for, or otherwise
an important part of, the Biblical citation.” (from the Septuagint)

^{Source: Gordon D Fee, Jesus the Lord according to Paul the Apostle, Baker Academic, 2018, pg 130

Septuagint — the Greek translation of the Old Testament}

Jack Cottrell:
“I believe that Yahweh as the name for God revealed in the Old Testament includes all three persons of the Trinity. Depending on the context, this name may refer to all three persons or to any one of them. The New Testament makes this very clear regarding the divine nature of Jesus Christ, and based on this I simply infer that it would apply to the Holy Spirit also.

First, we will notice the connection between the name “Yahweh” and the NT title for Jesus, “Lord” (the Greek word kurios, or kyrios). The title “Lord” is used for Jesus almost 500 times. This is significant because of the way the title kurios was used among the Jews.
In most extant manuscripts of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT),
kurios is the Greek word used around 8,000 times to refer to the God of Israel.
Sometimes it translates the Hebrew terms ’adonai (“Lord” in a literal sense) and ’elohim (“God”),
but mostly–over 6,000 times–it appears in the place of “Yahweh,”
the divine name itself.
Nearly a thousand times kurios appears in combination with theos, “God,”
in the common expression “the LORD God.”
It is never used for pagan deities and idols.”

^{Source: Jack Cottrel, Jesus and Yahweh: How are they related?}

^{F F Bruce taught at University of Edinburgh, University of Leeds., Sheffield University and Manchester University.

Gordon Fee taught at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary & Regent College.

Jack Cottrel taught at Cincinnati Christian University.}

Conclusion

After the last supper Jesus prayed,

³And this is eternal life,
that they may know You,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ^{John 17:3 (NKJV)}

The writer of Hebrews quoted and referenced
extensively from the Old Testament to highlight and explain
— who Jesus is, and His finished work for us.
In the conclusion of Hebrews, wrote and prayed,

^{Hebrews 12:2, 14, 3:5, 6, 8, 8, 9, 20, 21 (NKIV)}^12:2fixing our eyes on Jesus …

¹⁴Make every effort to live in peace with everyone
and to be holy;
without holiness no one will see the Lord.

^13:5… God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”

quoting from Deuteronomy 31:8 (NKJV)
⁸And the Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh),
He is the One who goes before you.
He will be with you,
He will not leave you nor forsake you;
do not fear nor be dismayed.”

⁶So we say with confidence,

“The Lord (יְהֹוָה Yahweh) is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?” ^{(quoting from Psalm 118:6)}

⁸Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever.

⁹Do not be carried away
by all kinds of strange teachings. strange doctrines ^(NKJV)

²⁰Now may the God of peace,
who through the blood of the eternal covenant
brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
²¹equip you
with everything good for doing his will,
and may he work in us what is pleasing to him,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.
Amen.

John Newton, the writer of the timeless hymn Amazing Grace,
wrote in a hymn,

“Some take Him a creature to be,
A man, or an angel at most:
Sure these have not feelings like me,
Nor know themselves wretched, and lost;
So guilty, so helpless, am I,
I durst not confide in his blood;
Nor on his protection rely,

Unless
I were sure He is God.

What think ye of Christ?
is the test

To try both your state and your scheme;
You cannot be right
in the rest,

Unless
you think rightly of Him“

Endnote: one and only

John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only (μονογενής) Son,
so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. ^(NASB)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten (μονογενής) Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ^(NKJV)

The Greek word μονογενής monogenēsis is translated by most English translations
as — only or one and only.
Some English translations translate μονογενής monogenēs as — only begotten

The meaning of μονογενής monogenēsis
in the Greek is — single of its kind, only ^(Thayer’s), sole ^{(Strong’s),}only – the term is one of endearment, as well as of singleness ^(Vine’s)