Is Jesus Jehovah?
Unless other stated, all scriptures are from the American Standard Version 1901

 In introduction, we have to remind ourselves of the immensity of God. God is bounded by neither time nor space. His life in times past is boundless. His lifetime in the future is
unbounded. To this unbounded One Moses said: " Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." (Ps 90:2) This God lives to endless time, to keep on producing and creating beyond the present universe, expanding it. He is the bottomless reservoir of energy. All the things of the universe are bundles of particles of energy from him. Is 40:26 says, "Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking."
When we think just of the energy tied up in the sun of our solar system, which is a furnace of nuclear explosions like the explosion of hydrogen bombs, we are utterly amazed. And then when we think of the unnumbered billions of stars many of which are larger than our sun, we get some idea of the outflow of dynamic energy from God
 "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament showeth his handiwork." Ps 19:1
It is a good thing for us that God is invisible to humans. He himself says, "Thou canst not see my face; for man shall not see me and live." Ex 33:20 No man has seen God at any time (Jn 1:18).
King Solomon knew of his immensity, for he said, "But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded!" 1Kings 8:27.
God, as a bundle of dynamic energy could never be restricted by his own creation. He lives in the heavens, the earth he has given to men. Ps 115:16
Even Jesus himself prayed to the God "which art in
heaven." Mt 6:9
But people keep insisting that the Almighty God can indeed negate all of the above. The following letter was sent to me to promote the "Orthodox" position that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was also God Almighty, something Jesus never claimed for himself. Let us proceed:

"Is Jesus Yahweh?" John: The name Yahweh (or Jehovah) appears nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. Most English translations render the Hebrew name for God as LORD, while some (like the New Jerusalem Bible and Rotherham's Emphasized Bible ) use "Yahweh" and others (like the American Standard Version of 1901 and the New World Translation ) use "Jehovah." But, between Malachi and Matthew the Name suddenly disappears! There are over 5,000 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, and not one of them has the Name in either Greek or Hebrew letters. The Watchtower Society claims that the Name was there in the original Greek N.T., but that it was later removed. They claim this with no real evidence, for they are unable to produce even one manuscript of the Greek New Testament with the Name! Besides, some of those manuscripts of the N.T. date from within one generation of the original writings. That leaves very little chance for the Society's theory of a conspiracy to remove the Name from the N.T. writings. If we accept the facts the way they are (without trying to change them to fit a preconceived theory) we are forced to admit the Name is not in the N.T.
Reply: John's information starts off with a false premise and builds from there. We will see that the Name has been removed, and that the consequence has been the unbiblical doctrine of the Trinity. It is by killing off Jehovah/Yahweh that Trinitarians can deify and worship "the creature rather than the Creator." Rom 1:25
John: In the New Testament we meet up with another name. The name that is emphasized in the N.T. is the name of Jesus. (This makes for an interesting comparison in the New World Translation. While the Watchtower Society "restores" the name Jehovah 237 times to the N.T., their Comprehensive Concordance lists the name Jesus over 900 times!) In the book of Acts we particularly notice the emphasis of the name of Jesus. If you have an exhaustive concordance look up the word "name" in the book of Acts. Over and over again you will see the Name the early Christian church emphasized was the name of Jesus! At Acts 3:6 Peter healed the lame beggar in the name of Jesus Christ. In Acts 4:7,10,12,17,18 we read about the first disciples defending themselves before the Sanhedrin, proclaiming their use of the name of Jesus. In Chapter 5 they are back before the Jewish high court. For whose name did they suffer? Acts 5:41 tells us: "These, therefore, went their way from before the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy to be dishonored in behalf of his name." They suffered for the name of Jesus! Space does not permit us to look at all the relevant verses. Take time to consider these few: Acts 8:12; 9:13-16,27,28; 15:26; 16:18; 19:17; 21:13; 26:9. In Acts the Name that is emphasized is the name of Jesus Christ!


Reply: It should be noted the New World Translation was neither the first nor the last Bible to restore the Divine Name to the New Testament, You can see a list of them here and here. It is also interesting to see that, when you compare Bibles, it is actually difficult to determine how many times "Jesus" was mentioned. Take note:
NIV   Jesus = 1226  Christ = 499
KJV   Jesus =  943  Christ = 522
NASB  Jesus =  881  Christ = 493
NRSV  Jesus = 1088  Christ = 45
RSV Jesus = 926 Christ = 534
Darby Bible Jesus = 904 Christ = 507
Young's Literal Version  Jesus = 932  Christ 529
Wesley N.T.  Jesus = 951  Christ  = 497
God's Word  Jesus = 1504  Christ  = 516
New Living Translation  Jesus = 1404  Christ  = 536
Douay  Jesus = 932 Christ = 534
ASV  Jesus = 883 Christ = 501
Bible in Basic English  Jesus = 905 Christ = 496
Good News Bible/TEV  Jesus = 1543 Christ 502
New Century Version  Jesus = 1846 Christ 604
NKJV  Jesus = 941 Christ = 530

In fact it is hard to determine even in the KJV using differing software helps.
<Jesus>
983 (in 942 vrs)    QuickVerse 4.0
973 (in 935 vrs)    BibleWorks 3.5
983 (in 942 vrs)    Logos Research Systems

Why the difference? It was common to inflate the position and deity of Christ by adding to the text, and this is something that happened quite early on. When researching Textual Criticism (and reading books like The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture by Ehrman), it becomes clear that corruption in favor of the theology of the mainstream theology of the time happened almost immediately. Here are a few examples:
John 19:40, "They took the body of Christ" to "they took the body of God"
Luke 2:26 changed to "Christ, namely God." Old Latin ff
Luke 9:20 "the Christ of God" changed to "Christ, God" Coptic
Mark 3:11 "You are the Son of God" changed to "You are God, the Son of God." MS69
Luke 7:9 "when Jesus heard this" changed to "when God heard this" 124
Luke 8:28 "Jesus, Son of the highest God" changed to "Jesus, the highest God" 2766
Luke 20:42 "the lord said to my lord" changed to "God said to my God" Persian Diatesseron
2 Peter 1:2 changed to "in the knowledge of God, our Lord Jesus" P72
Jude 5 changed to "Jesus" or "the God Christ" who saved the people from Egypt P72
Gal 2:2 "Son of God" changed to "God the Son" MS1985
Acts 20:28 "church of God" changed to "church of the Lord" or "church of the Lord and God" various
1 Cor 10:5, "God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness" changed to "Christ" MS81
Rom 14:10, "we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God." changed to "judgment-seat of
Christ" 048, 0209 Byz etc
Matt 24:36, "But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only." The Byx mss omit "neither the Son." Interestingly, the Codex Siniaticus originally had "neither the Son", but was removed by a later scribe...and then was restored by yet another scribe.

"In the second or third centuries, there were, of course, Christians who believed in only One God; others, however, claimed that there were two Gods; yet others subscribed to 30, or 365, or more. Some Christians accepted the Hebrew Scriptures as a revelation of the one true God, the sacred possession of all believers; others claimed that the Scriptures had been inspired by an evil deity. Some Christians believed that God created the world and was soon going to redeem it; others said that God neither had created the world nor had ever had any dealings with it/ Some Christians beleived that Christ was somehow both a man and God; others said that he was a man; but not God; others claimes that he was God, but not a man....the controversies that ensued impacted the surviving literature on virtually every level. ...The New Testament manuscripts were not produced impersonally by machines capable of flawless production. They were copied by hand, by living, breathing human beings who were deeply rooted in the conditions and controversies of their day. Did the scribes' polemical context influence the way they transcribed sacred Scriptures? The burden of the present study is that they did....."
The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture by B. Ehrman, p. 3
These changes did not stop early on:
"When an intentional change affects the meaning of the passage, there is a demonstrable tendency to move the meaning in the direction of the orthodoxy of the time, not away from it. By 'demonstrable' I mean the even within the Byzantine tradition, the later witnesses are inclined to change things in favor of giving more titles to Christ, not fewer" D.A. Carson, The King James Version Debate, p. 62
It must be remembered that these intentional scribal changes were made by those in the orthodox position, not by fringe "heretical" groups.
John: Why the change of emphasis between the Old Testament Yahweh and the New Testament Jesus? Are we being introduced to some rival deity in the New Testament when we encounter so much emphasis on the name of Jesus? That is the way some nearly react when it is suggested that the answer lies in the fact that the N.T. identifies Jesus with Yahweh. Bear in mind that I am not saying Jesus is the Father! Rather, what I am saying is that Jesus and the Father share the same Name and are not in some sort of competition.
Reply: The NT writers had use of the LXX (Septuagint). Did the early LXX use the divine name?
"We know that the the Greek Bible text [the Septuagint] as far as it was written by Jews for Jews did not translate the Divine Name by Kyrios, but the Tetragrammaton written with Hebrew or Greek letters was retained in such MSS. It was the Christians who replaced the Tetragrammaton by Kyrios, when the divine name written in Hebrew letters was not understood anymore". (Dr. P. Kahle, The Cairo Geniza, Oxford, 1959, p.222)
When did they remove the name? In a commentary on the manuscript P Fouad 266, Professor G. D. Kilpatrick, on talking about the period between 70-135 C.E. said that 3 important changes were made in this period. The change from scroll to Codex, the Tetragrammaton was replaced by KYRIOS and abbreviations were introduced for divine names. See Etudes de Papyrologie Tome Neuvieme 1971 pp. 221,222

That's right, the Divine Name WAS at one time in the New Testament! Here is a quote from the Catholic magazine "Rivista Biblica", year XLV, n. 2, april-june 1997, p. 183-186.
JHWH. The tetragrammaton in the New Testament:
"The Tetragrammaton in the christian Scriptures according to the Babylonian Talmud.

The first part of this Yewish work is called Shabbath (Sabbath) and it contains an immense code of rules that establishes what could have been done of a Sabbath. Part of it deals with if on the Sabbath day Biblical manuscripts could be saved from the fire, and after it reads:

"The text declares: 'The white spaces ("gilyohnim") and the books of the Minim, can't be saved from the fire'. Rabbi Jose said: 'On working days one must cut out the Divine Names that are contained in the text, hide them and burn the rest'. Rabbi Tarfon said: 'May I bury my son if I don't burn them toghether with the Divine Names that they contain if I come across them". From the English translation of Dr. H.Freedman.

The word "Minim" means "sectarians" and according to Dr. Freedman it's very probable that in this passage it indicates the Jewish-Christians. The expression "the white spaces" translates the original "gilyohnim" and could have meant, using the word ironically, that the writings of  the "Minim" where as worthy as a blank scroll, namely nothing. In some dictionaries this word is given as "Gospels". In harmony with this, the sentence that appears in the Talmud before the above mentioned passage says: "The books of the Minim are like white spaces (gilyohnim)."

So in the book Who was a Jew?, of L.H.Schiffman, the above mentioned passage of the Talmud is translated: "We don't save the Gospels or the books of Minim from  the fire. They are burnt where they are, together with their Tetragrammatons. Rabbi Yose Ha-Gelili says: "During the week one should take the Tetragrammatons from them, hide them and burn the rest". Rabbi Tarfon said: 'May I bury my children! If I would have them in my hands, I would burn them with all their Tetragrammatons'". Dr. Schiffman continues  reasoning that here "Minim" is refered to Hebrew Christians.

And it's very probable that here the Talmud refers to the Hebrew Christians. It is a supposition that finds agreement among the studious people, and in the Talmud seems to be well supported by the context. In Shabbath the passage that follows the above mentioned quotations relates a story, regarding Gamaliel and Christian judge in which there is an allusion to parts of the Sermon on the Mount. Therefore, this passage of the Talmud is a clear indication that the Christians included the Tetragrammaton in their Gospel and their writings."

We have seen above that the omission is due to the expansion of piety, and to honor the Son more than the Father. It was important to lessen or blurr the role of the Father.
"In pre-Christian manuscripts for Greek-speaking Jews, God's name was not paraphrased with kurios [Lord], but was written in the tetragram form [YHWH] in hebrew or archaic characters....We find recollections of the name in the wroting of the Church Fathers; but they are not interested in it. By translating this name kurios (Lord), the Church Fathers were more interested in attributing the grandeur of the kurios to Jesus Christ." Entschluss/Offen, 1985, Feneberg
"The strongest anti-Arians experienced their present as a sharp break with the past. It was they who demanded, in effect, that Christianity be "updated" by blurring or even obliterating the long-accepted  distinction between the Father and the Son."
Rubenstein's When Jesus Became God, p. 74.
John: Let's consider a few quotations from the Old Testament and see if the New Testament writers had any problem in applying passages containing the name Yahweh to Jesus. We will use the New World Translation for these comparisons.
The apostle Paul quoted Psalm 68:18 and applied it to the Ascension of Jesus Christ. Psalm 68:18 says: "You
have ascended on high; you have carried away captives; you have taken gifts in the form of men, Yes, even the
stubborn ones, to reside among them, O Jah God." ("Jah" is an abbreviated form of the name Jehovah.) Notice how Paul applies this passage at Ephesians 4:7-10: "Now to each one of us undeserved kindness was given according to how the Christ measured out the free gift. Wherefore he says: `When he ascended on high he carried away captives; he gave gifts in men.' Now the expression `he ascended,' what does it mean but that he also descended into the lower regions, that is, the earth? The very one that descended is also the one that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might give fulness to all things."
Hebrews 1:10-12 quotes the Greek Septuagint version of Psalm 102:25-27 and applies it to Christ: "You at the
beginning, O Lord, laid the foundations of the earth itself, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They themselves will perish, but you yourself are to remain continually ; and just like an outer garment they will grow old, and you will wrap them up just as a cloak, as an outer garment; and they will be changed, but you are the same, and your years will never run out." Not only do we here see a N.T. writer apply an O.T. passage about Yahweh to Jesus Christ-notice to what lengths this N.T. writer will go in his scripture application. He openly identifies Christ as the Creator of heaven and earth. And he contrasts the impermanence of creation against its
Creator, who is unchangeable and eternal. Does it make sense to think the writer of Hebrews felt Christ was
only a creature after seeing how he applies Scripture?
Notice this comparison between 1 Peter 3:14,15 and Isaiah 8:12,13. 1 Peter says: "But even if you should
suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are happy. However, the object of their fear do not you fear, neither become agitated. But sanctify the Christ as Lord in your hearts, always ready to make a defense before everyone that demands of you a reason for the hope in you, but doing so together with a mild temper and deep respect." Now, Isaiah says: "`You men must not say, "A conspiracy!" respecting all that of which this people keep saying, "A conspiracy!" and the object of their fear you men must not fear, nor must you tremble at it. Jehovah of armies-he is the One whom you should treat as holy, and he should be the object of your fear, and he should be the One causing you to tremble.'" This comparison is even more striking if one compares the Greek word order of 1 Peter with the Greek Septuagint of Isaiah. The Hebrew says: "Sanctify Jehovah of hosts" (according to Jay
Green's The Interlinear Hebrew-Greek-English Bible ) but the Greek Septuagint has "Sanctify ye the Lord
himself." (From Brenton's translation of the Septuagint.) Now, Peter, writing in Greek, would most naturally quote from the standard Greek translation of the O.T.- the Septuagint. The Septuagint here says: kurion auton hagiasate (Greek word order: "Lord himself sanctify"). Peter's quotation in 1 Peter 3:14,15 is practically identical except here he exchanges the word auton (himself) for who is Christ. Peter writes: kurion de ton christon hagiasate (Greek word order: "Lord but the Christ sanctify"-compare the Watchtower Society's Kingdom Interlinear Translation.) It is as if Peter were adding a parenthetical thought to his quotation from Isaiah: "The object of their
fear do not you fear, neither become agitated. The Lord (who is Christ ) you should sanctify." Peter was making sure we knew that the Lord we are to sanctify is Christ!
Notice this prophecy from Isaiah 40:3-5: "Listen! Someone is calling out in the wilderness: `Clear up the way of Jehovah, you people! Make the highway for our God through the desert plain straight. Let every valley be raised up, and every mountain and hill be made low. And the knobby ground must become level land, and the rugged ground a valley plain. And the glory of Jehovah will certainly be revealed, and all flesh must see it together. '" Matthew 3:1-3, Mark 1:1-4, Luke 3:2-6 and John 1:23 apply this passage to John the Baptist's preparatory work before the ministry of Jesus.
It becomes undeniable that New Testament writers applied Old Testament passages about Yahweh to Jesus. Can we be sure they were thereby identifying Jesus with Yahweh? ......


Reply: John has given other examples also, but I think the main thrust of his argument are wonderfully demonstrated in the above. To be sure, there are scriptures that have indeed connected Jesus with Jehovah. Does this make them the same person though?
Let us compare 2 Samuel 24:1 with 1 Chron 21:1:
2 Sam reads, "And again the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them, saying, Go, number Israel and Judah."
1 Chron reads, "And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.
Are we here to conclude, by the arguments listed above by John, that Jehovah and Satan are the same person? These 2 scriptures were handled in the book "Alleged Discrepancies in the Bible" by John W. Haley, and his comments were:
"It is consistent with Hebrew modes of thought that whatever occurs in the world, under the overruling providence of God, what he suffers to take place, should be attributed to his agency."
Did you understand this? The Jews obviously did.
"The main point of the Jewish law of agency is expressed in the dictum, "A person's agent is regarded as the person himself." Therefore any act committed by a duly appointed agent is regarded as having been committed by the principle." The Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion, R.J.Z. Werblowski and Geoffrey Wigoder
GRB Murray (in _Gospel of Life: Theology in the Fourth Gospel_ ) cites the Jewish halachic law as follows: "One sent is as he who sent him." He then adds: "The messenger [the Shaliach] is thereby granted authority and dignity by virtue of his bearing the status of the one who sent him. This is the more remarkable when it is borne in mind that in earlier times the messenger was commonly a slave" (Murray 18).
For more on this go to availablelight.htm
Jesus holds a unique position in the Bible, a functional equality if you will. Rev 5:13 tells us "Unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever."
Also Rev 22:1, 3:" And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb... And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants shall serve him."
Jesus is often portrayed on the "right hand of God." (Ps 110:1; Mt 22:44; 26:64; Acts 7:55)

"He, therefore, can fill any position in the God's universe, and represent his Father in any purpose. This is something to keep in mind when we are looking at the various quotes that are applied to Jesus. As we consider how the NT quotes the OT, we must stress that an "ontological" identity between the persons mentioned in the quotes is not at all obvious." p. 195, Theology and Bias in Bible Translation by Rolf Furuli
Professor Furuli then goes on to point out some examples of this. In Hosea 11:1 the reference is to Israel, but the same words are later applied to Jesus at Matt 2:15. In Jeremiah Rachel is described as weeping over her sons, but this is later applied to the children of Bethlehem.(Mt 2:17, 18) Paul applied Habakkuk 1:5, 6 in his sermon at Acts 13:40, 41, but the earlier application was to the Chaldeans, the later was not.
"Then there is the identification of John the Baptist with the prophet Elijah. Malachi 4:5 prophecied that Elijah the prophet would come before the great and fear-inspiring day of YHWH. Jesus quoted these words in Matthew 17:12 and said that "Elijah has already come." Verse 13 tells us that the disciples perceived that he spoke about John the baptist. In Matthew 11:14 Jesus states the matter clearly, 'He himself is Elijah who is destined to come." There can hardly be a more way to express ontological identity that to say John the baptist is Elijah! But this is not what is meant, because John was neither the resurrected nor the re-incarnated Elijah. But John did the same work as Elijah, under circumstances which were comparable to
those of Elijah." Furuli, p 195
What of Hebrews 1:10 though? George Wesley Buchanan says,
"The connective "and" relates verses 10-12 to verses 7-9. "Now, (on the other hand,) [with reference] to the angels, it says" (1:7) "but [with reference] to the Son, [it says,]" (1:8) "and" (1:10).  The "Lord" in Ps 102 clearly referred to God. Here it might also
mean God, with the implication that since the Son was "heir or all" (1:2) and since it was through the Son that the Lord "made the ages" (1:2), any reference to the endurance of God would also be a reference to the endurance of the Son. In other places the author of Hebrews quoted Old Testament passages that mention the name of the Lord, and in every case the author held the same meaning (7:21; 8:8, 10, 11; 10:16, 30; 12:5, 6). On the other hand, the author did use the name "Lord" when referring to Jesus (2:3; 7:14). Like other scholars of his time, the author was also capable of taking an Old Testament passage out of context and attributing it to the Messiah. For example in LXX Deut 32:43, in which the object of worship for the sons of God according to the Proto-Massoretic text was Israel, the author of Hebrews applied it to the first-born, namely Jesus (1:6). Since the term "first-born" could be applied either to Israel (Exod 4:22) or to the Messiah, the author made the shift. By the same logic,
since the "Lord" was a title of respect used both for God and for kings, such as Jesus, he may also have made the shift here to apply to Jesus the durability of God in contrast to the temporal nature of the angels. If this were the case, then Jesus would also have been thought of as a sort of demiurge through whom God created the heaven and the earth.as well as the ages (1:2, 10). In either case it does not mean that Jesus was believed to be God or was addressed as God."
Hebrews 1:10 Anchor Bible/Buchanan
Hebrews 1and 2 is stressing the superiority of Jesus over the angels, something that almighty God does not have to defend nor explain.

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology; _Type, Typology_

“The "type" is perhaps the least understood but most important concept
in the hermeneutics of biblical prophecy. Typological prophecy occurs
throughout the Bible and can be considered the "normal" way that the
prophets, including Jesus, spoke of the future. Failure to take this
method of speaking into account can lead to gross distortions of the
prophetic message.
The non-Christian biblical interpreters of the NT era accepted and used typological perspectives in their hermeneutical work. The NT writers are accordingly using STANDARD approaches of their day to understanding the OT.
The typological interpretation of prophecy asserts that the prophets did not so much make singular predictions as proclaim certain theological themes or patterns and that these themes often have several manifestations or fulfillments in the course of human history.
The type may have its own place and meaning, independently of that which it prefigures.
Typology differs from prophecy in the strict sense of the term only in the means of prediction. Prophecy predicts mainly by means of the word, whereas typology predicts by institution, act or person.”
Scofield and others new about typology and they described in terms like "Type of Christ."
John MacArthur in his NKJV Study Bible describes Joseph as a "Type of Christ."
He provides the following of similarities between Joseph and Jesus:
Both Joseph and Jesus were A SHEPHERD OF HIS FATHERS SHEEP (Gen
             37:2/Jn 10:11,27-29)
             Both Joseph and Jesus were LOVED DEARLY BY THEIR FATHER (Gen 37:3/Mt
             3:17
             Both Joseph and Jesus were HATED BY THEIR BROTHERS (Gen 37:4/Jn 7:45)
             Both Joseph and Jesus were SENT BY FATHER TO BROTHERS (Gen
             37:13,14/Heb 2:11)
             Both Joseph and Jesus had OTHERS TO HARM THEM (Gen 37:20/Jn 11:53)
             Both Joseph and Jesus had ROBES TAKEN FROM THEM (Gen 37:23/Jn
             19:23,24)
             Both Joseph and Jesus were TAKEN TO EGYPT (Gen 37:26/Mt 2:14,15)
             Both Joseph and Jesus were SOLD FOR A PRICE OF A SLAVE (Gen 37:28/Mt
             26:15)
             Both Joseph and Jesus were TEMPTED (GEN 39:7/mT 4:1)
             Both Joseph and Jesus were FALSELY ACCUSED (Gen 39:16-18/Mt 26:59,60)
             Both Joseph and Jesus were BOUND IN CHAINS (Gen 39:20/Mt 27:2)
             Both Joseph and Jesus were PLACED WITH 2 OTHER PRISONERS, ONE WHO
             WAS
             SAVED AND THE OTHER LOST (Gen 40:2,3/Lu 23:32)
             Both Joseph and Jesus were EXALTED AFTER SUFFERING (Gen 41:41/Phil
             2:9-11)
             Both Joseph and Jesus were BOTH 30 YEARS OLD AT THE BEGINNING OF
             PUBLIC RECOGNITION
             (Gen 41:46/Lu 3:23)
             Both Joseph and Jesus BOTH WEPT (Gen 42:24; 45:2, 14, 15; 46:29/Jn
             11:35)
             Both Joseph and Jesus FORGAVE THOSE WHO WRONGED THEM (Gen
             45:1-15/Lu
             23:34)
             Both Joseph and Jesus SAVED THEIR NATION (Gen 45:7/Mt 1:21)
             Both Joseph and Jesus had WHAT MEN DID TO HURT THEM, GOD TURNED
             TO
             GOOD (Gen 50:20/ 1Cor 2:7,8
Does this mean Jesus must be Joseph? Of course not.
John: We are told at Isaiah 45:22-24: "Turn to me and be saved, all you at the ends of the earth; for I am God,
and there is no one else. By my own self I have sworn-out of my own mouth in righteousness the word
has gone forth, so that it will not return- that to me every knee will bend down, every tongue will swear,
saying, `Surely in Jehovah there are full righteousness and strength.'" Notice how Paul makes a
direct allusion to this passage at Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV): "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven
and on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father." At Isaiah 45:23 we were told that every knee would bend in worship and every tongue swear to
Jehovah. Paul alludes to this and says this would happen "at the name of Jesus." Why? Because Paul adds
that God has shared with Christ "the name that is above every name "-the Divine Name. So, when every
knee bows before Jesus and every tongue confesses Jesus Christ as LORD, does this detract from the
Father? Not at all! Rather, Paul said this would glorify God the Father!-compare John 5:23.
(Interestingly, early editions of the N.T. part of the New World Translation had a cross-reference at
Philippians 2:10 pointing to Isaiah 45:23. Their 1984 Reference Bible edition has removed that
cross-reference.)....
(Above written by Mr. Dave Brown; originally appeared as an article in "The Dividing Line", the newsletter
of Alpha and Omega Ministries. Printed copies available.)
Reply: 1Cor.8:6 identifies the "one God" as the Father who is the source of creation. Jesus is explicitly excluded when he is next identified as the "Lord" who is the agent of the one God. 1Tim.2:5 states there is "one God" but then specifically EXCLUDES Jesus from being that one God by saying he is the "mediator" between GOD and humans. Without equivocation or replacing the word God with father, explain how can Jesus be the same God he is mediator for?
Far from being Almighty, Jesus is said to have a God over him before, during and after he came to earth (Mic.5:4, Rom.15:6, Rev.1:6; 3:2,12). Rather than being equal in power, Jesus is said to be in subjection to God even when he is as high as he ever gets (1Cor.15:27,28, Eph. 1:17; 19-22). Mat.28:18,19 says that when Jesus returned to heaven he had to be "given" all authority (power-KJV). If Jesus were equal to God in power, then why exactly would he need to be "given" any authority? (Mt.28:18; 11:27, Jn. 5:22; 17:2; 3:35; 2Pet.1:17) cf. (Mat.11:26-27, Dan.7:13-14, Phil.2:9).
So what of the NAME in Php 2:9-11. We have to keep in mind the context of the passage.
"Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name."
God had to exalt Jesus, and give him a name above all others. Obviously, it is something he did not have before his exaltation, and again, why would Almighty God need to be given anything?
Any authority Jesus has was given to him (see Mt 9:8; 28:18; Jn 17:2).
It never says God shared his name.
But how does this authority tie into his exalted name? Thayer's Greek Lexicon says of NAME/ONOMA, "for one's rank, authority, interests, pleasure, command, excellences, deeds etc."
Vine's Bible Dictionary says of ONOMA/Name in reference to Jesus (as "in the name of Christ"). "representing the authorityof Christ."
Christians are persecuted for recognizing his authority. Interestingly, the New Living Translation renders Matthew 24:9 as "You will be hated all over the world because of your allegiance to me."
The Message translates Php 2:9 as "God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything."
What else can we learn from the preceeding verses in Php 2?
"Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross." ASV
Jesus, as the last Adam (1Cor 15:45) would never do what Adam did, that is, trying to be "be as God, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:5) Jesus humbled himself and was obedient to God, and in this, we should be of the "same mind." For this ultimate humility, Jesus was honored by being given more authority than the angels.
Does the exaltation of Jesus push his Father, Jehovah into the background? No, for the Bible never tells us to stop honoring the Father, and this is where I agree with you. Honoring Jesus means honoring the Father, as Jesus definitely made God's name known.
"Hallowed be thy name" Matt 6:9 Revised Version
"I have made known to them your name, and will make it known," John 17:26 NASB
"Around the time of Christ the Jewish copyists began to leave off writing the Divine Name in their Hebrew MSS and substituting the titles Lord and God. The reason was the development of a tradition of superstitious fear over pronouncing or writing the Divine Name. Old worn-out MSS were not destroyed but were buried, because they contained the Name. One Jewish tradition credits the miracles of Jesus to his possessing a writing containing the Name that he stole from the temple. Each time scribes scribes wrote the Name they reverently wiped their pens, some even took a bath! Little wonder that the copying of the Name was eventually dropped altogether by Jewish scribes.
Jesus was no respecter of Jewish traditions (Matt 15:3,6) especially when his Father's Name was at stake (John 17:26). So he and his apostles would scarcely have approved or followed this practice. In the original Greek Septuagint version of the Hebrew Scriptures as used by the apostles, the Name appeared in the form of the four Hebrew letters. This is shown by its appearance in ancient fragments of the Septuagint such as the Fouad 266 papyrus of the 2nd century B.C. It also can be seen in Aquila's version of the second century A.D., in Origen's Hexapla of the third century, and is attested to by Jerome in the fourth century. It can also be seen in the Dead Sea fragment of Habakkuk in Greek.
The Divine Name would thus have been spoken by Jesus and the apostles whenever they quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures, either directly or from the Greek version, and so would have appeared in their writings when they made such quotations."
Appendix, 21st Century N.T.
George Howard has done extensive study on the Divine Name in the New Testament and has this to say:
"The removal of the Tetragrammaton from the New Testament and its replacement with the surrogates KYRIOS and THEOS blurred the original distinction between the Lord God and the Lord Christ, and in many passages made it impossible which one was meant. ..Once the Tetragrammaton was removed and replaced by the surrogate 'Lord', scribes were unsure whether "lord" meant God or Christ. As time went on, these two figures were brought into even closer unity until it was often impossible to distinguish between them. Thus it may be that the removal of the Tetragrammaton contributed significantly to the later Christological and Trinitarian debates which plagued the church of the early Christian centuries." George Howard, The Name of God in the New Testament, BAR 4.1 (March 1978), 15
In fact, the name Jesus means, "Jehovah is Salvation."
Does the Bible ever tell us to stop using the Divine Name though?
No, definitely not. This name is in the Hebrew scriptures almost 7000 times. This name was in the LXX in Jesus time and it was definitely in the Hebrew scriptures. When Jesus read scriptures, whether he was using the the LXX (Septuagint) or the Hebrew, he read the Divine Name. This name is mentioned more than any other name, and more than all the other titles put together. The math and common sense alone tells us this repetitive emphasis means the Name was meant to last forever.

"You must tell the Isrealites this, that it is JEHOVAH the God of their forefathers, the God of Abraham, The God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, who has sent you to them. This is my name forever; this is my title in every generation." The New English Bible(Protestant and Catholic).

"Then have those fearing Jehovah spoken one to another, And Jehovah doth attend and hear, And written is a book of memorial before Him Of those fearing Jehovah, And of those esteeming His name." Malachi 3:16 Young's Literal Version

"Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy majesty above the heavens." Ps 8:1 Darby

"That [men] may know that thou, whose name alone [is] JEHOVAH, [art] the most high over all the earth." Ps 83:18 King James Version

"Let them praise the name of Jehovah; For his name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and the heavens." Ps 148:13 American Standard Version

'From the sun's rising even to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place sacrificial smoke will be made, a presentation will be made to my name, even a clean gift; because my name will be great among the nations,' Jehovah of armies has said."-Mal 1:11 NWT

"And in very deed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you; and that my name may be declared in all the earth." NKJV

"And I will sanctify my great name, which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes." Ezekiel 36:23 ASV

"Praise Yahweh! Call upon his name. Make known among the peoples his doings. Bring to remembrance that exalted is his Name. Praise in song Yahweh, for a splendid thing he has done. Well known is this in all the earth."-Isaiah 12:4, 5. Rotherham

Simeon has reported how God first intervened to take from the Gentiles a people for His name. Acts 15:14 HCSB

"I will protect those who know my name." Psalm 91:14 NRSV

"For the Name of Jehovah I proclaim, Ascribe ye greatness to our God! The Rock! --perfect [is] His work, For all His ways [are] just; God of stedfastness, and without iniquity: Righteous and upright [is] He. It hath done corruptly to Him; Their blemish is not His sons', A generation perverse and crooked!  To Jehovah do ye act thus, O people foolish and not wise? Is not He thy father--thy possessor? He made thee, and doth establish thee." Deut 32 Young's Literal Version

Don't be fooled by those who argue that the Divine Name is not in the New Testament. The Bible is not divided up into Testaments, that is something that man did. The Scriptures tell us, "The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God." 2Tim 3:16 The Living Bible
When this was written by Paul, he mainly had the existing Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) in mind. We must do our utmost to embrace the entire Bible, the book that contains the Sacred Name Jehovah/Yahweh/YHWH about 7000 times.
The Bible anticipated that there would be those that hate his name. "How long, O God, will you allow your enemies to dishonor your name? Will you let them get away with this forever?" Ps 74:10 Living Bible
When Jesus was given a name above all others, he was given authority. "Hence God saw fit to endow him with all authority and power." Col 1:19 21st Century NT
With this authority, he is able to sit at God's right hand, not supercede him (Ps 110:1; Mt 22:44; Mt 26:64; Acts 2:32, 33; 5:31; 7:55).
Jesus as Savior, knows that there is "and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name."
Jesus glorified his Father. In the Bible, Jehovah is identified as our Father (Deut 32:6; Isaiah 64:8). Even according to trinitarian theology, Jesus cannot be the Father.
Acts 2:36, "God hath made him both Lord and Christ"
"as there are gods many, and lords many; yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him." 1 Cor 8:6
"That they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah, Art the Most High over all the earth."
Psalm 83:18 King James Version
Thank you for this opportunity John.



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Heinz Schmitz
Jehovah's Witnesses