What do you think Old Testament people thought about Jesus? Depending on who we could be asking, we might get blank stares or quizzical looks. “Jesus isn't in the Old Testament” is an answer that many folks would put forth. Yes, and they would be 100 percent correct. Jesus is not a name found in the Old Testament. However there is Son (of God), Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, The Most High, and Elohim to name some of the familiar titles referring to Jesus Christ. Clearly, Christ can be addressed by or spoken of with many terms of endearments and authority.
The word “Elohim” or “Elokim” is the plural of El, or Eloah, meaning God as mentioned more than 70 times in the Jewish Tanakh. Jewish people refrain from speaking the names of God. In the traditional Jewish view, Elohim is the Name of God as the Creator and Judge of the universe. Even though I am familiar with that Elohim equates to God, I was surprised to find Elohim was not in our Old Testament, nor is Yahweh. Arguably, Elohim is the first all inclusive name, that God revealed, to include God, Jesus and Holy Spirit.
The Hebrew name for God “Yahweh” easily translates to LORD as a singular entity. Elohim is the plural form of the Hebrew word for force “el” and thus represents how God discloses or unveils Himself to us.
Elohim is the first given name for God: “In the beginning, Elohim (God) created the heavens and the earth” The Tanakh, also called the Hebrew Bible, is the canonical collection of Jewish texts, which are also the theological origins for our Biblical Old Testament. The Tanakh consists of the same books as the Old Testament, although in a slightly different order and with other minor differences.
The name Elohim is unique to Hebraic literature and occurs in no other ancient Semitic language. The masculine plural ending does not mean "gods" when referring to multiple gods as opposed to the true God of Israel. However, considering the Trinity, as Christian believers, the use of the name Elohim indeed allows for Godhead plurality.
Genesis 1:26 says, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” We know God is used as a plural here because when God created mankind, He said “Let Us make man in Our own image, according to Our likeness”. This certainly refers to God and Christ and possibly the Trinity for Elohim is used in plural form.
God said let “Us” make man in “Our” image. If there were only One God then He would surely have said, “Let Me make man in My image” or “in the image of Yahweh” but He did not. While God's proclamation was expressed with perfection, many non-believers twist this very same verse to mean there are more gods than the One True God, God Almighty as reflected in the Holy Trinity.
There few fleeting descriptions of the Holy Spirit in scripture… in the first lines of Genesis, we hear that the Spirit or “a wind from God” hovered over the waters. The Old Testament Book of Proverbs talks about a spirit of Holy Wisdom that sounds very much like the Holy Spirit. The New Testament gospel of John confirms that the Spirit is like the wind (John 3). In Acts, Luke describes the Spirit as being tongues of fire above everyone’s head. But because the Holy Spirit is just that – a spirit, often more like the wind than like a person, it’s hard to have a mindful, tangible, image of God as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a tangible, intelligent being capable of independent thought and action. I believe, as the true entity of the Trinity, she can take on any shape, form or fashion desired. Now we can extrapolate we are made in the images of God and Christ but what image does our imagination conjure up of the Holy Spirit?
But lets get a little more specific as we trace just two dozen of the hundreds of prophetic messages and persuasive evidences of Christ in the Old Testament and New Testament.
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (or Emmanuel).
Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”
These are the most well known prophesies of the Messiah, given about 700 years before Jesus was born to Mary, the “Son” will not only be born of a virgin, but is “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.” It is quoted in Matthew 1:23 with Matthew 1:18-25 offering context. Jesus, born unto Mary, the “child to be born” who is also the “son to be given” is called “Mighty God,” “Eternal Father,” and the One who rules over all. In other words, as Revelation tells us; “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”.
One of the first prophesy's of Christ's coming as the Messiah is found in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Obviously, Christ is the One who will crush Satan's head.
Micah 5:2, which was written hundreds of years before Christ was born, prophesied that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Matthew 1:20 (NIV) tells us; an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” This tells us Christ will be born of a woman. Now wait a minute, you might say. How could he be born other than by a woman? That's no prophecy. Remember God can do anything, so the Christ could have just materialized a as ball of flame or have been formed from an ocean. Or a million other ways could Christ have come to us. But no, it was foretold that He would be 'Born of a woman'. Even more specifically born by Mary. God put all this into human terms so we could understand it and maybe more importantly, verify the truth of what the angels of God has spoken.
Jesus, the Messiah, was born under the law by the married couple of Joseph and Mary. Galatians 4:4, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,...”
The Messiah would come from the line of Abraham. Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
There were 14 generations from Abraham to David and 14 from David to Jesus. The Messiah had to be a descendant of Isaac (Genesis 17:19) and a descendant of Jacob. “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the people of Sheth. (Numbers 24:17)
The Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49:10, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.”
The Christ would be heir to King David's throne. 2 Samuel 7:12-13, “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you (David), who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his (Christ's) kingdom forever.”
The Messiah's throne will be anointed and eternal. Psalm 45:6, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.”
Children would be massacred at the Messiah's birthplace. Jeremiah 31:15, This is what the Lord says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
A messenger would prepare the way for the Messiah. Isaiah 40:3 and 5, “A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” and “And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The Messiah would be a prophet. Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.”
The Messiah would be declared the Son of God. “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. A heavenly voice said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17
The Messiah would be a Nazarene. “He went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.” Matthew 2:23
The Messiah would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Psalm 110:4, “The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 5:5-6, “In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
The Wonderful Counselor would be called King. Psalm 2:6, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” Matthew 27:37, “Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is Jesus, the king of the Jews”.
The Son of God would be praised by little children. “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, have you never read, “From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise”. Matthew 21:16
The price on the Messiah's head would be used to buy a potter's field. Zechariah 11:12-13, “I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter” the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.” Matthew 27:9-10, “Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”
The Prince of Peace would be silent before his accusers. Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
Soldiers would pierce His side. Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”
Innocence would be crucified with criminal transgressors. Yes, Jesus was and is clearly Christ, the Messiah, Son of God, Wonderful Counselor, and Mighty Prince of Peace and the Ransom for our sin. The twelve verses of Isaiah 53 are like the Cliff Notes of Jesus prior his resurrection and ascension.
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
The Messiah resurrected himself from the dead. Luke 9:22, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”Matthew 28:2-7, “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
However, the challenge for you is to consider how you can portray the predictions and fulfillment of the prophesy's of Jesus to your friend and enemies within today's culture. Jesus said, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. If you are a Christian, He forgives your sin.
Jesus has authority and superiority over all people.
He taught people to pray to Him as God.
He was more than a good man.
He came down from Heaven.
He was the Son of Man.
He performed miracles.
He was sinless.
There are some of the other names for Jesus that need no explanation when read in context:
Appointed Judge (Acts 17:31)
Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)
Author of Eternal Salvation (Hebrews 5:9)
Bread of God (John 6:33)
Bread of Life (John 6:35)
Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15)
Bright and Morning Star (Revelation 22:16)
Chief Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20)
Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4)
Door of the Sheep (John 10:9)
Faithful Witness (Revelation 1:5)
Firstborn of every Creature (Colossians 1:15)
First begotten from the Dead (Revelation 1:5)
Good Shepherd (John 10:11)
Head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23)
Head of all Principalities/Power (Colossians 2:10)
Heir, Lord of All (Galatians 4:1)
Holy One of God (Mark 1:24)
Image of the Invisible God (Colossians 1:15)
Judge of the Living and the Dead (Acts 10:42)
King of Kings (Revelation 19:16)
King of the Jews (Matthew 27:11)
Light of the World (John 8:12)
Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5)
Living Bread (John 6:51)
Living Stone, Chosen of God (1 Peter 2:4)
Lord of Glory (1 Corinthians 2:8)
Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16)
Only Begotten Son (John 1:18)
Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7)
Power of God (1 Corinthians 1:24)
Prince of Life (Acts 3:15)
Prophet of the Highest (Luke 1:76)
Propitiation for our Sins (1 John 2:2)
Rabbi/Master (John 20:16)
Ruler of the Kings of the Earth (Revelation 1:5)
The Way, The Truth, and The Life (John 14:6)
