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The word/name “Jesus” in the New Testament comes from the Greek word Iēsous (Strong’s G2424). It is pronounced “ee-ay-SOOS.” Iesous is not a translation of Jesus’ name in Hebrew, but rather it is a transliteration. A translation takes the meaning of a word in one language and assigns it the equivalent word with the same meaning in a different language.

In the late 4th century, Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, a manuscript known as the Vulgate. In it, the Greek Iesous became the Latin Iesus. The English Bible eventually changed the Y sound of the Latin I to the letter J, which we now have in Jesus. “Jesus” is mentioned some 972 times in the New Testament.

The name Jesus is derived from the ancient Greek form of the Hebrew and Aramaic name Yehoshua or Yeshua, which is etymologically related to Joshua (Strong’s H3091). The name Joshua or Jehoshua means “Jehovah (LORD or YHWH) is Salvation.” Joshua is mentioned 218 times in the Old Testament, mostly in the Book of Joshua. Nearly all of them are in regard to Joshua, the son of Nun of the tribe of Ephraim, and successor to Moses as the leader of the children of Israel. Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land of Canaan.

Both the Hebrew word Yeshua and the Greek word Iesous (Jesus) mean “salvation.” Before Jesus was born, the angel of the Lord told Joseph in a dream, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).

After Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph went to the Temple to present Him to the Lord according to the Law of the Lord. They met Simeon (a man who was just and devout) who was waiting to see the Messiah, as the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Upon meeting baby Jesus, Simeon, who was filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed: “For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32).

In effect, Simeon said, “For my eyes have seen Yeshua,” while he was actually holding baby Yeshua in his arms! No wonder the next verse says, “His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him” (Luke 2:33). God fulfilled his promise to Simeon as he saw and touched Jesus (Savior), the Christ (the Anointed one), before his death.

Anna, a prophetess of the tribe of Asher, was there in the temple as well. “And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). So, here we have two godly witnesses testifying to the legitimacy of Jesus as the Jew’s long-awaited Messiah. Both witnesses were under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1 tells the story of the birth of John the Baptist. John’s father, Zacharias, was a priest in the temple of the Lord at this time. Upon John’s birth, Zacharias prophesied the following about his newborn son: “And you, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the day-spring from on high has visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:76-79).

Here again, the word “salvation” in verse 77 could be changed to the word “Yeshua” or “Jesus.” It would then read: “To give knowledge of Jesus unto his people by the remission of their sins..”

This prophecy came true approximately 30 years later, as recorded in Luke 3, when John began to preach unto all the country about Jordan. “As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:4-6). Of course, the salvation of God is Jesus Christ. John was quoting Isaiah 40:3-5.

In Luke 19:9, Jesus goes to the house of Zacchaeus, a rich publican, and tells him, “This day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Once again, you could substitute “salvation” with “Yeshua.”

Regarding Jesus and salvation in the New Testament, I believe Peter might have said it the best when he was asked by the rulers and religious elites in Jerusalem by what power or name they had cured a man. Peter said, “Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.‘ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10-12).

Many non-Christian Bible scholars like to point out that the name Jesus is never mentioned in the Old Testament. Of course, this is technically correct, as Jesus is not a Hebrew word. However, we do have the Hebrew word, Yeshuah or Yeshua (Strong’s H3444). The KJV translates Strong’s H3444 in the following manner: salvation (65x), help (4x), deliverance (3x), health (3x), save (1x), saving (1x), for a total of 77 times in the Old Testament. The most mentions of this word are found in Psalm 45, followed by Isaiah with 19.

Let’s look at twelve (the number for Israel) of these Old Testament verses that have the English word “salvation” in them. Most of them also have the word LORD (or God) included. We will substitute the Hebrew word “Yeshua” for the English word “salvation” to get a good picture of Jesus as Savior in the Old Testament.

1. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, stand still, and see the Yeshua of the Lord, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more forever (Exodus 14:13). This is a description of the Angel of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Jesus, saving the children of Israel from Pharoah’s army. Exodus 15:3 calls him a Man of War. See A Man of War: The Lord is His Name :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready

2. And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoices in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in Yeshua (1 Samuel 2:1).

3. Sing unto the Lord, all the earth; show forth from day to day Yeshua (1 Chronicles 16:23).

4. Oh that Yeshua of Israel were come out of Zion! when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad (Psalm 14:7).

5. His glory is great in your Yeshua: honor and majesty have you laid upon him (Psalm 21:5).

6. And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in Yeshua (Psalm 35:9).

7. Truly my soul waits upon God: from him comes my Yeshua (Psalm 62:1).

8. Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his Yeshua (Psalm 78:22).

9. The Lord has made known his Yeshua: his righteousness has he openly showed in the sight of the heathen (Psalm 98:2).

10. I will take the cup of Yeshua, and call upon the name of the Lord (Psalm 116:13).

11. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in Yeshua (Isaiah 25:9).

12. You shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior. And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, Neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; But you shall call your walls Yeshua, And your gates Praise (Isaiah 60:16, 18).

“In the Millennial Kingdom, the Holy City will be the source of pride and joy for all generations of Earth’s people. Wealth and favor will be accompanied by peace and righteousness, with violence, ruin, and destruction consigned forever to the past. Once again, the Hebrew word translated as Salvation is Yeshua, but in this case, the word for praise actually means a hymn or song of praise. It’s absolutely fascinating to me that the walls and gates of the Holy City are modeled in the contemporary evangelical church. The emphasis is on Jesus, expressed in song after song of praise and worship.” {1}

Yes, Jesus is in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. He just goes by another name, Yeshua (Salvation). Salvation is not just what He does; it is who He is. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16–17). “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach (the Anointed/Messiah), came not to judge the world but to save the world, according to John. He came so that all human beings could be saved from sin and eternal death. There are two things that are required to be saved. One is God-given. It is called grace and is available to everyone. The second requirement is faith. It is a choice or a decision that every individual must make for him/herself. “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

What does it take to be saved by faith? “If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shalt be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:9-13). You cannot punt on this one. Not making a decision is the same as not believing. The result will be eternal death and separation from God.

“Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5-11).

Randy Nettles

rgeanie55@gmail.com

Endnotes:

{1} The End Times According To Isaiah, Part 12 – Grace thru faith (Jack Kelley)

Ezekial 16:1-14 & Jeremiah 31:36-38

“Again, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² ‘Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, ³ and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: ‘Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. ⁴ As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling clothes. ⁵ No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born.

⁶ And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ ⁷ I made you thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.

⁸ When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,’ says the Lord God.

⁹ Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil. ¹⁰ I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹ I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your wrists, and a chain on your neck. ¹² And I put a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.

¹³ Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate pastry of fine flour, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and succeeded to royalty. ¹⁴Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you,’ says the Lord God.”

I hope that you enjoyed the journey through the book of Hebrews. I certainly learned a lot.

We will take a bit of detour from going through the entire book for a bit. For the next few weeks, we are going to look at God’s love for Israel and His commitment to her.

Recently, I encountered a very large ‘religious’ organization in China and South Korea that promotes their belief in Jesus, and I had a conversation with one of the followers; they ‘checked’ all the right boxes. Do you believe that Jesus is God, that Jesus died on the cross, went to the grave, and rose again? I got yeses all the way through. Do you believe in the Bible as God’s Holy Word? and on we can go; you get the gist. Then, I set up a subsequent meeting with a leader in the group. When I logged into the meeting, I was shown a video of more than 100,000 people ‘graduating’ from a school with much pomp and dance.

There was a man, one whom they seemed to revere and to whom they gave flowers; he was obviously the leader, and when I pressed about who he was, it was then that I learned the whole truth.

They believe that the book of Revelation is a Parable and that this man has the interpretation. They reject Israel, believing that since they rejected Jesus, God has rejected them. So, for instance, where the 12 tribes and 144,000 are mentioned and called out by name, they do not believe they are literal Jews but that these Chinese persons can be in the 144,000 and that only these will be in the New Jerusalem.

I asked a simple Biblical question. How can God be done with Israel when Jesus is a Jew, born of the tribe of Judah, under Mary’s lineage, and thus is the oldest living male and the rightful King of Israel? It was then that I learned that they did not believe in the literal birth of Jesus; it was figurative. Sadly, these folks are not saved. Jesus was literally born, did die, and did resurrect, or we are lost as well without hope.

This bugged me over the last few weeks, and so as I am currently reading through Jeremiah and seeing all the promises that God made to them, and how He planned to preserve a remnant in Babylon so they could come back to Israel and inhabit Jerusalem. I thought we should take a look at God’s love for Israel. This will be an exhaustive look at the subject as best I can do it. I would love your responses and insights if maybe I missed something. Thanks ahead of time for all the time it will take to read these lessons.

In Ezekiel 16, we have a very detailed story of how God views Israel and, in particular, Jerusalem. By the way, we are introduced to Jerusalem in Genesis 14; it is where Abram pays tithes to Melchizedek. God views Jerusalem as his wife. God discovered her abandoned and forsaken; He had compassion on her, washed her, and wrapped her in swaddling clothes; this is a sign of deep affection and care.

God, in verse 6, commands her to ‘live.’ God sustains her, and no one can destroy her without His expressed permission.

Notice in verse 7 that God sees Jerusalem as very beautiful and that He ‘covers’ her; this is a reference to the marital act of intercourse; this is God claiming Jerusalem, in particular, as His wife.

Now we know that Israel and, in particular, Jerusalem were unfaithful to God, and some really bad things happened to them, including captivities in Assyria and Babylon. But God never abandoned Israel; while He was pronouncing the judgment on Jerusalem through Jeremiah, He made sure to include this promise from Jeremiah 31:36-38,

“Only if this fixed order departed from My presence,’ declares the LORD, ‘would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.’ 37 This is what the LORD says: ‘Only if the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below searched out would I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they have done,’ declares the LORD. 38 ‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.”

Now we know the city was rebuilt in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, but this was an eternal promise as well, one of those double prophesies. Israel today is rebuilt from the ruins left by the AD 70 invasion and the myriad of crusades that were fought over the centuries. She was basically a barren land for the better part of 1,900 years, but now Israel and, in particular, Jerusalem are rebuilt. She will never cease to exist ever again, and one day, Jesus, the King of the Jews, will sit and reign from the throne of His father David. God loves Israel, so much so that His Son came as a Jew.

I leave you with Psalm 122:6. We are called to love who or what God loves.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.”

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

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A Name Which is Above Every Name :: By Randy Nettles

God’s Love for Israel :: By Sean Gooding