What's in a name? Part 2

In Part 1 I outlined the Greek word Iesous and the English pronunciation Yesous or Hasous becoming Jesus; and the Hebrew Yeshua is an abbreviation of His name Yehoshua.  Yehoshua means "Yahweh is salvation", or "the Lord is salvation". In some cases this name is abbreviated even more and spelled "Y'shua". 

In Matthew 1:21 He is given the name Yehoshua, ""She shall bring forth a son and thou shall call His name Jesus (Yehoshua)."  Why?  "For He shall save His people from their sins."  That is the meaning of Yehoshua - Yahweh is salvation.

The "oshua" part we know from Hosanna.  Hosanna means "save us now."  The ye on the beginning of Yehoshua, is an abbreviation of the name of God, Yahweh.  Yehoshua - Ye (Yahweh) oshua (salvation). 

Isaiah 9:6 tells us His name will be called Wonderful.  The Hebrew word for Wonderful means "difficult to understand" or "incomprehensible."  So, why would His name be beyond our ability to understand?  Psalm 139:1-6 tells us God's knowledge is so great that before there is a word on our tongue, He knows it.  Before we say anything, He knows exactly what we are going to say.  He knows the end from the beginning.  Verse 6 "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; I cannot attain it."  His ways are not our ways.  His understanding is not our understanding.  Our minds and hearts cannot comprehend or understand the vastness that is God.  The I AM.  He is greater than our ability to understand.

His name is above any other name.  A name that is so wonderful we cannot comprehend it.  Romans 11:33 "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways past finding out!" 

Jesus - Yehoshua - name above all names.  Acts 4:12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

What's in a name? Part 1

The word name appears 800 times in the Old Testament.  It is the Hebrew word shem.  Remember that Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japhath.  Shem is in the line of the Messiah - the line of the Jews and Semites.  The word shem means "name", therefore the Semites are the People of the Name.
 
The name Jesus in English comes off a Greek word - Iesous, pronounced Yasous.  The "I", or "J" in English is sounded like a "Y".  So basically it is not translated but simply pronounced in English as Yasous or Jesus.

The Greek word, Iesous, comes off a Hebrew word.  The word is often called Yeshua, but that is just an abbreviation of His name.  The real name is Yehoshua which means "Yahweh is salvation" or "the Lord is salvation".

When people say that Jesus is Yeshua ben Abraham, Yeshua ben David, or Yeshua ben Joseph, they are simply saying "son of".  The word ben placed in front of the name is used to denote "son of".

The word "Christ" in English is from the Greek word christos, which is a translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah, Masheach.

The book of Matthew begins by saying "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham"  Mathew was a Jew.  His Gospel was most likely written in Hebrew and translated to Greek for all the world to hear the message of the gospel.  It is the book of the generations of Yahoshua ha Masheach, Jesus the Messiah, or as we often say, "Jesus Christ".

The next thing that Matthew states is "ben David", the son of David.  This immediately identifies Christ as the messianic King.  So here we have the book of the generations of Yeshua ha Masseach [Jesus the Messiah] ben David [the son of David] (the messianic King) and ben Abraham [the son of Abraham] (the promised seed).  We also know He is the son of Joseph (ben Yosef).

Jews never say that a person is the son of a woman, they always list the man.  Now I digress here, but let me follow this a little bit.  Matthew 1:16 says Jacob begot Joseph (the husband of Mary).  The next phrase "of whom" is a feminine pronoun that is highly unusual in any Jewish genealogy.  It is indicating that Jesus is not the natural son of Joseph.  Isaiah 9:6 states "for unto us a Child is born," (birth) "unto us a Child is given." (adoption).   Matthew shows the genealogy of Jesus through David - Solomon - to Joseph.  However there was a curse on the Kingly line of David through Solomon (Jeremiah 22:30) and the Lord took the kingship away from the line of David thru Solomon because of the sins of Jehoiachin. Mary's lineage, as seen in Luke 3:23-31 (here Joseph is shown as the son-in-law of Heli, the father of Mary)  is the line of David though his son Nathan, the older brother of Solomon.  So, Jesus being the oldest son of Joseph, thru adoption, inherits the kingly line of David - yet being the son of Mary, the line of David thru Solomon's older brother Nathan, Jesus is the legal heir of David's throne.

Okay, that is enough for now.  To be continued . . .

The Incomparable Christ

From the tract published by Faith, Prayer and Tract League:

He came from the throne of the Father to the womb of a woman. 

He put on humanity that we might put on divinity. 

He became Son of Man that we might become sons of God. 

He was born in a supernatural way, lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity. 

He had neither wealth nor influence, yet the wisdom of men has never matched His wisdom. 

Never has a man spoken like this man. 

His family was inconspicuous and uninfluential. 

In infancy He startled a king. 

As a boy, He stunned theologians with His knowledge and wisdom for He was taught of God. 

In manhood, He ruled the elements and quieted the raging sea. 

He healed the multitudes without medicine. And fed thousands from a boy’s lunch.

Even demons obeyed Him and He gave back life to those who died. 

He never wrote a book, yet none of the libraries of the world can contain the books that

have been written about Him. 

He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme of more songs than all song writers combined. 

He never founded a college, yet all the colleges together cannot boast of as many students as He has.

He never marshaled an army, yet no leader has ever had more volunteers. 

Great men have come and gone yet He lives all. 

Herod could not kill Him. Satan could not tempt Him to sin. 

Death could not destroy Him. The grave could not hold Him. 

He laid aside His purple robe for a peasant’s gown. 

He was rich yet for our sakes He became poor. 

He slept in another’s manger. He rode on another’s donkey.  He was buried in another’s grave. 

He conquered death and rose on the third day as  He said He would. 

He ascended into heaven and is now at the right hand of the throne  of God. 

One day He will return with power and great glory to judge the world when every knee shall bow 

to Him and every tongue shall confess Him as Lord. 

His friends gladly. But enemies seeking for a place to hide from His face. 

He is the perfect one. The only one who can satisfy the soul. 

He gives everlasting life to those who love Him. 

He is altogether lovely. 

But best of all, He is my Savior.

Beulah Land

Beulah Land - a timeless Southern Gospel song.  Beulah is a Hebrew word that means Land of Marriage.  It is found only once in the Bible (Isaiah 62:14).  At the time of Christ's coming the land is to be called "Beulah" - "Land of Marriage".  How fitting that we, the church, the Body of Christ, are called His Bride.http://youtu.be/J15I85hESTg

Welcome

Welcome to In the beginning - God.

I profess no special insight, I am a conservative, fundamental, Bible believing, Christian.  I am not politically correct - however I strive to be Biblicaly correct in all I say and do.

Here is what I believe:

- The Bible is the inerrant Word of God, written by men as inspired by the Holy Spirit.
- God created the universe, all that is seen and unseen, in six literal 24-hour days by the power of His spoken Word.
- Jesus, Jehovah, Yahweh, Yeshua, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, was brutally beaten and suffered immeasurably, was crucified, died and rose again - all to rescue us from our sin and to provide a final atonement for our redemption, healing and salvation from the death penalty of our sin.
- Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Mashiach

In this blog I will share my experiences, what I am learning and exploring, teachings and articles I find interesting and/or revealing.  I am not always right - and I encourage your input and opposing points of view. 

So buckle up and enjoy the ride with me until we hear that great shout, with the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God. (1 Thes 4:15-17)