Before He came as a boy, Jesus was Yahweh of the Old Testament. What does this mean?
Let’s consider the name ‘Jehovah’ as used in the Bible. Exodus 6:1-3 says, “Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.” The word ‘LORD’ in verse 2, is the same as ‘JEHOVAH’ in verse 3. Jehovah which means the eternal or self-existent One. Throughout the Old Testament, when we read the LORD (Lord in capital letters), it is really the name of Jehovah. Yahweh is the same as Jehovah. In fact, the original name had only four letters: YWHW. Because it was considered blasphemous to utter the name of God, it was only written and never spoken, which resulted in the original pronunciation being lost. We do not believe the Lord’s name should never be spoken. After all, He gave that name to Moses so that we might know Him in the capacity of ‘the eternal or self-existent One.’ This name is used over 5,500 times in the Bible. The first time is in Genesis 2:4 where we read, “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. ‘LORD God’ is literally ‘Jehovah Elohiym.’
It is vital that we understand that the Son of God did not have His beginning in a manger in Bethlehem. It is true that He was born and was given the name Jesus then, but He ever lived in past eternity. Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…” A child was BORN, but a son was GIVEN. God sent His Son. Let’s read the words of the Lord Jesus in John 8:58, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” He is clearly speaking here of His eternal existence as the ‘I AM.’ We read of the Lord speaking to Moses in Exodus 3:13-14, “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” This is the same One who later told Moses that His name is Jehovah in Exodus 6:1-3. Jesus is the ‘I AM’ and therefore is JEHOVAH.
There are many examples in the scriptures showing that Jesus is Jehovah, but we will only look at a couple of them. I challenge you to find more! Let’s read Joel 2:32, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered…” Notice that the word LORD is in capital letters, showing it is speaking of Jehovah. Now let’s read Romans 10:9 and 10:13, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Again we see that Jesus is Jehovah.
For one more example, let’s read Isaiah 44:6, “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I AM THE FIRST AND I AM THE LAST; and beside me there is no God.” Now let’s compare that to the words of the Lord Jesus to the Apostle John in Revelation 1:17-18, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I AM THE FIRST AND THE LAST: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” It is clear that Jesus of the New Testament is the same as Jehovah of the Old Testament. (210.9)