Statements Which in
the Old Testament are Made Distinctly of Jehovah, God,
Taken in the New Testament to Refer to Jesus Christ
(1)
Ps. 102:24–27—“I
said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are
throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth:
and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt
endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as vesture shalt thou
change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years
shall have no end.”
In Heb.
1:10–12—“And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth; and the heavens are the works of Thy hands. They shall perish; but thou
remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment. And as a vesture
shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and
thy years shall not fail”—this statement is interpreted as referring to
Jesus Christ.
(2)
Is. 40:3,
4—“The
voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord
(Jehovah), make straight in the desert the highway for our God. Every valley
shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.”
In Matt.
3:3; Luke 1:68, 69, 76—“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited
and redeemed his people. And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the
house of his servant David. And thou, child shall be called the prophet of the
highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways”—Jesus
is the Lord before whose face the messenger goes.
(3)
Jer. 11:20—“But,
O
Lord of hosts, that judgest
righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on
them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.”
Jer. 17:10—“I,
the
Lord,
search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his
ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”
In Rev.
2:23—“And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know
that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every
one of you according to your works”—it is
Jesus who does what is
distinctly said of Jehovah in the Old Testament passage.
(4)
Is. 60:19—“The
sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon
give light unto thee: but the
Lord
shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.” (See also
Zech. 2:5.)
This is
said of Jesus in Luke 2:32—“A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of
thy people Israel.”
(5)
Is. 6:1,
3,
10—“In
the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the
Lord
sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. And
one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the
Lord
of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. Make the heart of this people
fat, and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes; lest they see with their
eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert
and be healed.” (Compare
Jno. 12:37–41—“But
though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.
That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled which he spake, Lord,
who hath believed our report?
and to whom hath the arm of the Lord
been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said
again, He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts; that they should
not see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts and be converted,
and I should heal them. These things said Esaias
when he saw his glory,
and spake of him.”)
In the Old
Testament passage it was when he saw the glory of Jehovah of hosts that Isaiah
spoke these things, but in the New Testament John says it was when Isaiah saw
the glory of Jesus Christ that
he said this. The inference is simple.
(6)
Is. 8:13,
14—“Sanctify
the
Lord
of hosts himself: and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he
shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of
offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem.” (Compare
1 Pet. 2:7,
8—“Unto
you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be
disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the
head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence, even to
them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were
appointed.”)
In the Old
Testament Jehovah is the stone of stumbling, etc. In the New Testament it is
Jesus Christ.
(7)
Is. 8:12,
13—“Say
ye not, a confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, a
confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the
Lord
of hosts Himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.”
(Compare 1
Pet. 3:14—“But and if ye
should suffer for righteousness’ sake, blessed are ye: and fear not their fear
neither be troubled; but sanctify in your hearts
Christ as Lord:
being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason
concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear.”)
(8)
Num. 21:6,
7—“And
the
Lord
sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people
of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned,
for we have spoken against
the
Lord,
and against thee; pray unto the
Lord,
that he take away the serpents from us, and Moses prayed for the people.”
(Compare
1 Cor. 10:9—“Neither
let us tempt Christ,
as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.”)
(9)
Ps. 23:1—“The
Lord is my shepherd; I shall
not want.”
Is. 40:10,
11—“Behold,
the Lord
God
will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold his reward
is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd:
he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall
gently lead those that are with young.” (Compare
Jno. 10:11—“I
am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”)
In the Old
Testament Jehovah is the good shepherd; in the New Testament
Jesus.
(10)
Ezek. 34:11,
12,
18—“For
thus saith the Lord
God:
Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd
seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are
scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all
places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. Seemeth it a
small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down
with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the deep
waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?” (Compare
Luke 19:10—“For
the Son of Man
is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
In the O.
T. Jehovah, in the N. T. Jesus
“seeks and saves the lost.”
(11) Lord in the Old Testament always refers to
God except where the context
clearly indicates otherwise: Lord in the New Testament always refers to
Jesus Christ except where the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
PROPOSITION: Very many statements which in the Old
Testament are made distinctly of Jehovah, God, are taken in the New Testament
to refer to Jesus Christ; i. e., in New Testament thought and doctrine Jesus
Christ occupies the place that Jehovah occupies in Old Testament thought and
doctrine.
Torrey, R. A. (1898). What the Bible
teaches a thorough and comprehensive study of what the Bible has to say
concerning the great doctrines of which it treats (77). New York,
Chicago [etc.: Fleming H. Revell company.
