Jesus, the Word, In the Old Testament
After Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and during their walk, He began to show through the Old Testament the Scriptures concerning Himself. That is one conversation that I wish they had written down. But I wanted to share with you some things from the Old Testament regarding Jesus.
In the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, they read the Aramaic translation of the Old Testament. So, I will reference the Aramaic so we can glean more about Jesus in the Old Testament.
Listen to this:
“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31: 6
The Targum Onkelos reads:
“Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be broken before them; for the Word of the Lord thy God will be the leader before thee, He will not forsake thee, nor be far from thee.”
Deuteronomy 31: 1
Do you see the powerful difference? There are certain things in the Old Testament regarding Jesus, that we can miss because we are not looking for them. Here is another example:
“After these things the Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
Genesis 15: 1
The Aramaic:
“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in prophecy, saying, Fear Not, Abram: My Word shall be thy strength, and exceeding great reward.”
Genesis 15: 1 Targum Onkelos
Now turn to John’s Gospel and look at the first chapter, and you will start to understand what John was talking about and how He recognized Jesus as the Word!
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1: 1, 14
John identifies the Word as Jesus. Now please note in the Old Testament clearly declares that the Word was God! We can see the plurality of God, though He was one.
In the Book of Exodus, Moses has a conversation with the Lord recorded in Exodus chapter thirty-three.
“So the Lord spoke with Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend…”
Exodus 33: 11
So, we can see the intimacy of the fellowship Moses knew with the Lord God. Then:
“And He said, My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Then He said to Him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.”
Exodus 33: 14-15
The Aramaic reads-
“And He said, My Shekinah shall go, and I will give thee rest. And he said before Him, If Thy Shekinah goeth not among us, let us not ascend from hence.”
Exodus 33: 14-15
Moses then asks to see the Lord’s glory! Here is what the Aramaic recorded:
“And he said, Show me, I pray Thy Glory! And He said, I will make all My Goodness pass before thy face, and I will proclaim the Name of the Lord before thee, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And He said, Thou canst not see the Face of My Shekinah; for no man can see Me and abide alive. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place prepared before Me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock, and it shall be, when My glory passeth, I will put thee in a cavern of the rock, and My Word shall overshadow thee until I have passed…”
Exodus 33: 18-22
In John’s Gospel, we see something similar:
“Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?”
John 14: 8, 9
Did you catch that? The Father is seen in Exodus with the Word or the Son. And because they are one, if you have seen the Word, Jesus, you have seen the Father.
Now go to the story of the Fall:
“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the Presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”
Genesis 3: 8
Looking at the Aramaic version (are you ready for this?):
“And they heard the voice of the Word of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from before the Lord among the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where art thou?’ And He said, ‘The voice of Thy Word heard I in the garden, and I was afraid, because I (was) naked, and I would hide.”
Genesis 3: 8, 9
Who was in the Garden that day? Jesus the Word. No wonder when Jesus speaks to the church of this hour He says-
“For you have a little strength, have kept My Word, and have not denied My Name.”
Revelation 3: 8 b
And then look at this:
Then the Word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.”
Acts 6: 7
Here is another famous verse we all love:
When the Lord divided the Red Sea, and the Children of Israel came out on the other side, it is recorded:
“This Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.”
Exodus 14: 31
The Aramaic version:
“And Israel saw the Power of the Great Hand which the Lord made to appear in Mizraim; and the people feared before the Lord, and believed in the Word of the Lord, and in the prophetic work of Mosheh His servant.”
Exodus 14: 31
We can begin to understand where John got His “Word” theology from and why we see this term used throughout the New Testament. It is clear that the Word was the Lord God, and we now know the Word is Jesus.
Let’s go to the Song of Moses:
“The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a man of war; The Lord is His Name.”
Exodus 15: 2, 3
Now the Aramaic:
My strength and my song is the terrible Lord; He hath said by His Word that He will be mine to redeem , this is My God. And I will build Him a sanctuary ; the God of my fathers, and I will worship before Him. The Lord is the Lord of Victory in battles, the Lord is His Name.”
Exodus 15: 2, 3
Oh, may the Word dwell richly in us! Amen?!
