The Word of Yahweh

Some people seem to forget Moses promised that Yahweh would raise up a prophet “like unto me [Moses] from among your [Israel's] brethren” (Deut. 18:15). Was Moses a pre-existent deity? Were his brethren pre-existent deities? That Yahshua was not a pre-existent deity, but was one brother among many brethren is made clear in this and other Scriptures:

“For it was fitting that He [Yahweh], for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer [Yahshua] of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he [Yahshua] who sanctifies and those [other sons] who are sanctified have all one origin. That is why he [Yahshua] is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, 'I will proclaim thy Name to my [Yahshua's] brethren, in the midst of the congregation. I [Yahshua] will praise thee [Yahweh] (Heb. 2:10-12, RSV).

Yahshua had the same origin as his brethren, which means he did not pre-exist.

When we cry, 'Abba! Father!,' [Yahweh] it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of Yahweh, and if children, then heirs, heirs of Yahweh and fellow heirs with Yahshua, provided we suffer with him [Yahshua] in order that we might also be glorified with him” [Yahshua] (Rom. 8:15-17).

Think on these things.

A Further Look at John 1:1

Is the current translation of John 1:1 really a translation at all, if by translation we mean the conveying of the original into an intelligible equivalent in the target language? Does the phrase “the Word was with God” mean anything in English? When was your word last “with you”? We suspect that our present standard renderings, though they may be literally correct, simply allow the reader to feel good about his received orthodox Christology of the eternal Son assuming human nature. The capital on “Word” immediately suggests a person

preexisting. And many readers (11 million copies around the world in many languages) are offered a paraphrase such as the Good News Bible: “Before anything else existed, there was Christ, with God. He has always been alive and is himself God. He created everything there

is. Nothing exists that he did not make.” The reader's orthodoxy is all the more confirmed. But the Roman Catholic scholar Karl Josef Kuschel in his recent massive treatment of the question of Christ's origin asks: “Why do we instinctively read: 'In the beginning was the Son and the Son was with God'?

It seems to us that the Hebrew Bible should provide our first line of investigation, if we are to get at John's intention in the prologue. As a professor told me in seminary, “If you misunderstand the Old Testament you will misunderstand the New Testament.” Amazingly no occurrence of the Hebrew word davar (word) corresponding to John's Greek word logos provides any evidence that the “word from the beginning” means a person, much less an uncreated second divine person, the Son of God,along side the One God of Israel's creed. Davar in the Old Testament means “word,” “matter,” often “promise” or “intention,” but never a person. The ubiquitous presence of a capital “W” on word in our English versions is unwarranted. John did not say that the preexistent word was a second and distinct person before it

became embodied in the Messiah. Why shouldn't John therefore be saying that God's creative and expressive activity, His word or wisdom, the index of His mind, was “with Him, “just as wisdom was “with [para] Him” in Proverbs 8:30 (LXX)? Proverbs 8, in fact,has remarkable parallels with what John later says about Jesus. Life is found in the words of Jesus (John 6:63), as it is found in Wisdom. Wisdom cries out just as Jesus does (John 12:44), as he urges people to heed his teaching. What is predicated of Wisdom in Proverbs is elsewhere attributed to God (Job 12:13-16). Significantly, John always uses the preposition para (with) to express the proximity of one person to another (1:39;4:40; 8:38, etc.). Yet in his prologue he chooses pros (with), suggesting that “the word” is not meant to designate a person along side God. The first verse of John is reminiscent too of what Wisdom says in Ecclesiasticus 24:9: “God created me from the beginning before the world. “There is good evidence that the Hebrew prepositions im or et meaning “with” can describe the relationship between a person and what is in his heart or mind. Here are some interesting examples of the use of the Hebrew prepositions im and et from the Hebrew Bible:

“Im (with), alone = in one's consciousness, whether of knowledge, memory or purpose:

Num. 14:24: “He had another spirit with him” (operating in his mind)

1Kings 11:11: “This is with thee [Solomon]” (what you want)

I Chron. 28:12: “The pattern of all that was in the spirit with him” (in his mind)

Job 10:13: “I know that this was with you” (parallel to “hidden in your heart”; “in your mind,” NIV; “I know that the set hings are your purpose,” NASV)

Job 15:9: “which is not with us” (we don't understand it)

Job 23:10: “He knows the way which is with me” (the way of which I am conscious)

Job 23:14: “He performs the things which are appointed for me and many such things are with Him” (He has many such purposes); LXX: “He has willed a thing and done it.”

Job 27:11: “That which is with the Almighty I will not conceal” (His purposes)

Ps. 50:11: “Wild beasts of the field are with Me” (known to Me, in My thought and care)

Ps. 73:23: “I am continually with thee” (in your thoughts)

Et: “a dream or word of Yahweh is said to be with the prophet.”

Gen.40:14: “Keep me in mind when it goes well with you” (lit.”Remember me with yourself'). (The Word was what God had in mind.)

2 Kings 3:12: “There is with him the word of the Lord” (cp. 2 John 2: “truth is with us”; Gal. 2:5: “truth remains with you”)

Isa.59:12: “Transgressions are with us” (in our knowledge, present to our mind). (Cp. John 17:5, the glory which Jesus had with God-present to God's mind, as His purpose.)

Jer. 12:3: “You examine my heart's attitude with you” (lit. “You have tried my heart with you”)

Jer. 23:28: “The prophet with whom there is a dream” (the prophet who has a dream)

Jer. 27:18: “If the word of the Lord is with them”

Job 14:5: “His days are determined. The number of his months is with you” (known to you)

Prov. 2:1: “Treasure my commandments within you” (= with you)

Prov. 11:2: “Wisdom is with the humble.”

In view of this Hebrew background we suggest a translation of John 1:1, 14

as follows:

“In the beginning God had a Plan and the Plan was fixed as God's Decree and the Plan was fully expressive of

God's mind, and the Plan became embodied in the Man Messiah Jesus.”

Yahshua The Light

By Voy Wilks

5/14/02

Yahshua the Messiah is indeed referred to as the light of the world (John 1:7-9; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35; Luke 2:32). Does this mean he pre-existed?

John the Baptist came as a light to bear witness to a greater light (St. John 1:7-9).

“… a burning and a shining light” (John 5:35, KJV).

Does this mean that John the Baptist pre-existed?

“Ye [the disciples of Yahshua] are the light of the world … Let your light so shine …” (Mt. 5:14-16).

Does this mean the disciples pre-existed? No. The glorious gospel of the Messiah is what brings light to Believers (2 Cor. 4:4). His disciples walk in the light because of faith in the Messiah Yahshua walked in the light because of his faith and the closeness to Yahweh, he light giver.

“For ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Messiah. Walk as children of the light” (Eph. 5:8).

“Ye [brethren] are all the children of light …” (1 Thes. 5:5).

Yahshua was the greater light of all the prophets; the prophets who delivered the true message of the Most High to planet earth. He was not swayed by peer pressure. Even so, this does not indicate Yahshua pre-existed. When we study the word pre-exist. it basically means, he existed before he existed. Yahshua was like Moses (a man), a prophet in Israel.

“I [Yahweh] will raise up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee [Moses], and will put my words in his mouth …” (Deut. 18:15-18,19).

He was born of a woman, made under the law (Gal 4:4).

To believe that Yahshua pre-existed is only an assumption.

Revelation 19:13

Many erroneously believe since Yahshua is called, titled or named "The Word of Yahweh" in Revelation 19:13 that he is and LITERALLY was the word of Yahweh and that he preexisted as a separate being apart from his Father Yahweh in the beginning. This is not true! Father Yahweh's word is just that, His word. Father Yahweh's word is not a separate being apart from Himself. Yahshua is simply called or named/titled "The Word of Yahweh" because he is the spokesman of his and our Father Yahweh's word in this last time period as Hebrews 1:1-2 makes perfectly clear. Following is a list of Hebrew names and their meanings. Note that the meanings of these names do not mean that they are LITERALLY the meanings of their names:

Hagyah [Haggai]: meaning - 'Feast of Yahweh'

Moadyah [Moadian]: meaning - 'Appointed Feast of Yahweh'

Hagyah and Moadyah were not LITERALLY Yahweh's feasts!

Yahshaphat [Jehoshaphat, Joshaphat]: meaning - 'Judgment of Yahweh'

Pelalyah [Pelaliah]: meaning - 'Judgment of Yahweh'

Yahshaphat and Pelalyah were not LITERALLY Yahweh's Judgment!

Uzzyah [Uzziah]: meaning - 'Strength of Yahweh'

Yliyah [Elijah]: meaning - 'Strength of Yahweh'

Uzzyah and Yliyah were not LITERALLY Yahweh's strength!

Yahshabbth [Jehoshabeath]: meaning - 'Sabbath of Yahweh'

Yahshabbth was not LITERALLY Yahweh's Sabbath!

Zedekyah [Zedekiah, Zidkayah]: meaning - 'Righteousness of Yahweh'

Zedekyah was not LITERALLY Yahweh's righteousness!

Kolayah [Kolaiah]: meaning - 'Voice of Yahweh'

Kolayah was not LITERALLY the voice of Yahweh!

The same is true with Yahshua being called by the name/title "The Word of Yahweh".

Yahshua was not LITERALLY the word of Yahweh! Yahshua most certainly was not his and our Father Yahweh's word in the beginning as a separate being apart from Himself! Yahshua is the spokesman of his and our Father Yahweh's word in this last time period as Hebrews 1:1-2 make perfectly clear.

Now concerning the name Yahshua. This name means 'Yahweh Redeems, Delivers, or Rescues'. This name signifies Father Yahweh as our Supreme Redeemer.

Yahshua is not LITERALLY our Supreme Redeemer Yahweh, but he is our redeemer in the sense that we have redemption by or THROUGH (by WAY of) him, since Father Yahweh gave him ALL power (authority) in Heaven and in the Earth and this "ALL" power (authority) most certainly included the power (authority) to redeem mankind from sin and death. This is why Yahshua said "I am the WAY and the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except THROUGH me" (Yahchanan [John] 14:6).

I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (Yahchanan [John] Mark 2:10a).

It was FATHER Yahweh Who GAVE His SON Yahshua power (authority) on earth to forgive sin (Mattithyah [Matthew] 28:18).

YAHWEH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS

Jeremiah 23:5,6

4/17/97

"Behold, the days come, saith Yahweh, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and proper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his day Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is the name whereby he shall be called, The LORD [Yahweh] Our Righteousness" (Jer. 23:5,6 KJV).

Just as the name Yahshua means "Yahweh's salvation," so in the future time someone will, at least ceremonially, be called "Yahweh our righteousness." The question is, who? If indeed this speaks of Yahshua the Messiah, as some believe, wonderful. If not, so be it.

The subject in verse 5 is The Branch, but in verse 6 the salvation of Judah and Israel. The Berkely Version has a footnote on Jer. 23:6 which reads as follows:

"Receiving a name symbolizing the ideal character displayed by the NATION [Isa. 1:26;61:11], for God, as we now know, in Christ, is the source of our righteousness" (Emphasis added).

Notice How It Reads

To arrive at a perfectly clear understanding, let us again carefully review Jeremiah 23:5,6.

"Behold, the days come, saith Yahweh, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and proper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth" (Jer. 23:5, KJV).

In verse 5, two parties are spoken of: (1) David, and (2) David's descendant, The Branch (Yahshua, the Messiah). At some future time, The Branch will reign and prosper.

In his [Yahshua'a] day Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, Yahweh Our Righteousness" (Jer. 23:6).

Notice: Judah and Israel will be saved (verse 6a). The first HIS (verse 6a) speaks of The Branch; not Judah, not Israel. Now for the second HIS. "And this is HIS name whereby HE shall be called, Yahweh Our Righteousness" (verse 6b). Question: To whom does the second His and He refer? To Judah and Israel, or to The Branch (Yahshua)?

The correct answer is, the second HIS and HE refer to Israel and Judah, not to The Branch (verse 6b). I say this with confidence because of the related prophecy which is almost identical:

"Behold, the days come, saith Yahweh, that I will perform that good thing which I promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness [Yahshua] to grow up unto David; andHe [The Branch, Yahshua] shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith SHE [Jerusalem] shall be called, Yahweh Our Righteousness" (Jer. 33:14-16).*

Is The Branch (Yahshua) a SHE? No. But Jerusalem was often referred to as "she;" sometimes a homonym for Judah also (Ezek. 16:1-8). Both Israel and Judah were sometimes spoken of as women {she} (Hosea 2:1-18; Amos 5:12; 6:2). Jerusalem will be called, "Yahweh is there" (Ezek. 48:35). Jerusalem will be called "the city of righteousness, the faithful city" (Isa. 1:1,26).

Of several other versions which agree fully with the King James Version, the Beck Version is crystal clear:

"Then Judah will be saved and Jerusalem live without danger, and the CITY will be called "The-LORD-our-righteousness" [Yahweh-our-righteousness] (Jer. 33:16 Beck Version).

Conclusion

The title, Yahweh Our Righteousness" is not a reference to Yahshua, but to Judah, Israel, and especially to Jerusalem. This will occur at a future time when Yahweh and Yahshua the Messiah execute judgment and justice in the earth (Jer. 23:6) Obviously, that time has not yet come, because justice is not in the earth today. We wait for that day with patience (Rom. 8:18-26).

Blessed will be the day when Jerusalem will be called "Yahweh our righteousness."

Come Yahshua Messiah.

* A footnote in the Berkely Version reads as follows" "Our righteousness due to God: expression of the ideal character which the NATION will then display [ch. 23:6]; future ideal king, see the symbolic name, 'the LORD is there,' in Ezek. 48:35" (Emphasis added).

JEREMIAH 33:16 - SHE = THE CITY OF JERUSALEM

VERSIONS WHICH AGREE WITH THE KING JAMES

King James Version (Companion Bible; see Bullinger's Notes)

New King James Version

Revised Standard Version

New Revised Standard Version

American Standard Version

New American Standard Version

New English Bible

Beck Version*

Amplified Version

New American Bible

Good News Bible*

Moffatt Translation

Bethel Bible

Jerusalem Bible*

Jewish Publication Society O.T. (1985)

New World Translation

Bible In Basic English

NIV Interlinear Hebrew/English/ Translation

Zodhiates Complete O.T. Word Study

– The Doctrine Of The Trinity – Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound By Anthony F. Buzzard And Charles F. Hunting

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse