Matt
1:20-21 But while
he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in
a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy
wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.21 And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their
sins.KJV
Luke
1:30-31 And the
angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. KJV
NT:2424 Iesous (ee-ay-sooce'); of Hebrew origin
[OT:3091]; Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua), the name of our
Lord and two (three) other Israelites: KJV -
Jesus.(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with
Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc.
and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
This brings up a good
point, why would the Father, God, name his Son Joshua, Yeshua, Jesus? God did
not make things complicated, but sometimes distortions in expounding scriptures
make things difficult. We have to remember Hebrew was almost a lost language in
300 BC, and there were deliberate changes to text at or about 300 AD by Jews
trying to take the Christianity out of the Bible.
In the Early Christian Church, the presumption that the Septuagint was translated by Jews
before the era of Christ, and that the Septuagint at certain places gives
itself more to a Christological interpretation
than 2nd-century Hebrew texts, was taken as evidence that "Jews" had
changed the Hebrew text in a way that made them less Christological. For
example, Irenaeus concerning Isaiah 7:14: The Septuagint
clearly writes of a virgin (Greek παρθένος) that shall conceive.[35] While the Hebrew
text was, according to Irenaeus, at that time interpreted by Theodotion and Aquila (both proselytes of the Jewish faith) as a young woman that shall conceive. According to
Irenaeus, the Ebionites used this to claim that
Joseph was the (biological) father of Jesus. From Irenaeus' point of view, that
was pure heresy, facilitated by (late) anti-Christian alterations of the
scripture in Hebrew, as evident by the older, pre-Christian, Septuagint.[36]
Also:
By the 5th Century BC, the name YEHOSHUA was
shortened to YESHUA (see Neh. 8:17). By the 1st century AD, probably due to
Greek influence, the name YESHUA was shortened twice more ... first to Y'SHUA,
and then again to Y'SHU. The Y'shu form seems to be a deliberate attempt by orthodox
Jews of that time to express their displeasure to the name of Jesus, the
recently arrived Greek Christian God who was trying to seduce Jews away from
their religion.
Hebraic speaking
people from the first century through to today know that the name Joshua means Jesus in English. Therein lies the problem; if one does not believe
in Jesus as Messiah, hiding any relationship between Jesus and the Messiah will
be normal. If we take our previous understanding of the Aleph Tav, and combine
that with the understanding of names and translations of names, we find that
Zechariah, in the second year of Darius, gave us the name of the strong man on
the cross, the one we were to look for. Remember, when we studied Paleo Hebrew,
as Moses wrote AZ (Aleph Tav) almost 5,000 times in the Torah alone, and AZ or ‘et is used over 11,000 times in the Old
Testament, which means ox and sign, or strong man, and cross. In
Daniel 9, Daniel says he read Jeremiah and knew the 70 years of exile were
almost up. That was in the first year of Daruis. It was the time of Daniel’s
greatest vision of the Anti-Christ, the seven year tribulation, and the angel’s
exact date when the Messiah was going to be hailed as King, the day Jesus rode
into Jerusalem on a donkey. From the time of Daniel’s vision it was173,880 days.
In other words, 483 years until the Messiah comes on a donkey (of a 360 day
year). One year later, after Daniel’s vision, Zechariah tells us the Messiah’s
name, Jesus. I bet most people have never heard that before. Let’s look at the
definition of the word Joshua in Hebrew. http://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-choice-aleph-and-tav-part-1-of.html
OT:3091 Yehowshuwa` (yeh-ho-shoo'-ah); or Yehowshu`a (yeh-ho-shoo'-ah); from OT:3068
and OT:3467; Jehovah-saved; Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua), the
Jewish leader: -Jehoshua, Jehoshuah, Joshua. Compare OT:1954, OT:3442. (Biblesoft's
New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew
Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International
Bible Translators, Inc.)
OT:3068 Yehovah (yeh-ho-vaw');
from OT:1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah,
Jewish national name of God:KJV - Jehovah, the Lord.
Compare OT:3050, OT:3069.(Biblesoft's
New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew
Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International
Bible Translators, Inc.)
OT:3467 yasha` (yaw-shah');
a primitive root; properly, to be open, wide or free, i.e. (by implication) to
be safe; causatively, to free or succor: KJV - at all,
avenging, defend, deliver (-er), help, preserve, rescue, be safe, bring
(having) salvation, save (-iour), get victory.(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive
Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary.
Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible
Translators, Inc.)
Jehovah
saves, or Jehovah frees is the literal translation for Yehowshuwa, Joshua. I
want to look at several translations, and the interlinear to start building
this process of understanding that Joshua is Jesus. Note the un-translated
word, ‘et, Aleph Tav. We have to understand that in this context there are two
Joshua’s but as we read the context, we will see which one is being spoken of. You
may wish to grab your Bible and read along with this blog.
Zech 2:17
|
3:1
|
yn]a@r+Y~w~
And he shewed me 7200 wayyar°¢nî |
Áta#
853 °e¾- |
u^v%ohy+
Joshua 3091 Y®hôš¥a± |
/h@K)h^
priest 3548 hakkœh¢n |
lodG*h^
the high 1419 hagg¹¼ôl |
|
dm@u) standing 5975 ±œm¢¼ |
yn}p=l!
before 6440 li¸nê |
Ea^l=m^
the angel of 4397 mal°a½ |
hw`hy+
the Lord, 3068 Y®hwâ |
/f*C*h^w+
and Satan 7854 W®ha´´¹‰¹n |
dm@u)
standing 5975 ±œm¢¼ |
|
Álu^ at 5921 ±al- |
onym!y+
his right hand 3225 y®mînô |
.onf=c!l=
to resist him. 7853 l®´i‰nô. |
(Interlinear Transliterated Bible
(TR Edition). Copyright © 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved. [For
more detail see the full copyright page.])
Zechariah says he, the angel, showed him the AZ Joshua, the Alpha Omega, Jesus. We may not have understood that before as we didn’t understand Aleph Tav or the first and last, or the beginning and the end, or as the Greeks call him the Alpha and Omega. Here is our first identifier, the Alpha and Omega Jesus. As we know, the ‘et was un-translated in the Septuagint and Aramaic, but it has a very strong purpose. As we recognize Moses was not writing the ox symbol and the cross symbol to identify the object of the preposition or the object of the verb, as grammar rules had not been invented yet, that is simply absurd. And because ‘et is used over 11,000 times throughout the Old Testament, it behooves us to reexamine it’s usage. Now I know someone might say, just because the ‘et is used here does not make this Joshua, Jesus the Messiah, so let’s look at the entire section in the Septuagint first. Keep in mind Zechariah’s vision occurred around 444 BC and the Septuagint was transcribed in the 2nd century BC, so not much time elapsed from the original writing to the Greek translation.
The Septuagint Zechariah Chapter 3
3:1 And the Lord shewed me Jesus the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and the Devil stood on his right hand to resist him. 2 And the Lords said to the Devil,3 The Lord rebuke thee, O Devil, even the Lord that has chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: behold! is not this as a brand plucked from the fire?
4 Now Jesus was clothed in filthy raiment, and stood before the angel. 5 And the Lord answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy raiment from him: and he said to him, Behold, I have taken away thine iniquities: and clothe ye him with a long robe, 6 and place a pure mitre upon his head. So they placed a pure mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments: and the angel of the Lord stood by. 7 And the angel of the Lord testified to Jesus, saying, 8 Thus saith the Lord Almighty; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and take heed to my charges, then shalt thou judge my house: and if thou wilt diligently keep my court, then will I give thee men to walk in the midst of these that stand here.
9 Hear now, Jesus the high priest, thou, and thy neighbours that are sitting before thee: for they are diviners, for, behold, I bring forth my servant The Branch. 10 For as for the stone which I have set before the face of Jesus, on the one stone are seven eyes: behold, I am digging a trench, saith the Lord Almighty, and I will search out all the iniquity of that land in one day. 11 In that day, saith the Lord Almighty, ye shall call together every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig-tree. http://ecmarsh.com/lxx/Zacharias/index.htm
The numbering for verses in the Septuagint varies slightly from our English versions. First, let’s identify our characters. We have Zechariah, one year after Daniel’s vision, speaking with an angel. We have Jesus the High Priest. We have the angel of the Lord, which may be Michael as Jude 9 seems to be a close comparison to this verse in a similar story about rebuking satan. Then we have the Lord Almighty, or Lord of the angel armies, hosts. In verse 9 (8 in English translations) we have Jesus the exiled High Priest, and some men. Then we have The Branch, Jesus the Messiah. There is also a stone with 7 eyes to add to the fun. I will refer to Jesus the exiled High Priest as Joshua the exiled High Priest, to hopefully avoid confusion between the Messiah and the exiled man.
In verse 3 we see Jesus the Messiah dressed in filthy raiment, or more accurately, covered in excrement. That is a sad statement, that our Messiah was covered in excrement, which is likened to iniquities, which would be our iniquities by the way. Verse 4 literally reads ‘I have covered over iniquity and clothed Aleph Tav with a mantle’. They put a clean turban on his head, mitre, as opposed to the crown of thorns he was wearing on the cross. This is a vision of the Messiah right after his death on the cross, being cleaned up.
Where does satan accuse Jesus? This seems to be a place like the mount of the congregation, where the angels are judged. Here, as in Job, satan stands to accuse, this time it’s Jesus. Let’s think this through from hindsight. Jesus was crucified, then went down to hell and set the captives free. He witnessed to the imprisoned spirits, the ones Lucifer refused to release, even though they were technically redeemed, and satan legally had no right to keep them in Hades. The brand plucked from the fire is a reference to Judah; Jesus is from the tribe of Judah, and there were many redeemed in hell from the tribe of Judah. Joshua the exile was from the tribe of Levi. Jesus is as a brand or stick, snatched out of the fire. Once the captives were set free by Jesus’ death, satan stood to accuse Jesus before the Almighty for taking out the captives, but satan is rebuked by the angel of the Lord. For Zechariah, this is the future vision of what will happen when the Messiah comes to earth and dies for us. To us it is hindsight.
Then as a present comment, while Zechariah is watching this vision, the angel of the Lord then speaks for the Almighty to Jesus saying if he walks in the Father’s ways and commands, Jesus would judge the Father’s house and be given men for the Father’s court. Verse 7 uses Aleph Tav three times. It reads: ‘If in my way you walk, Aleph Tav, and you keep my charge, then you Aleph Tav will judge my house and also shall protect my courts, Aleph Tav I will give you to walk between those that abide’. It is clear from the usage of Aleph Tav three times who the angel is speaking to. We know that when Jesus was on earth he spoke of those who the Father gave him.
John 10:27-30 My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:28 And I give unto them eternal life;
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.29 My Father, which gave them me,
is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.30 I and my Father are one.KJV
The key to understanding this entire section lies in verse 8. We know from history that there was a Joshua, who was a priest of the exiles to Babylon, Ezra 3:2. While some have tried to attribute Zechariah’s vision to the Joshua of the exile, the rest of this vision makes no sense being attributed to Joshua of the exile as we will shortly see. Instead what we have here is Zechariah now seeing the Joshua of the exile and the people with him. The angel of the Lord, who was speaking to Jesus in the present, is now turning to Joshua of the exiles, and speaking to him. It says they are “diviners” in the Septuagint, but really that word means an omen or a foretelling. In other words, Joshua of the exiles, and the men with him, were a shadow of the coming Jesus, The Branch. The Branch, semah, has to grow up into His ministry and the foreshadowing of others creates the path for the Messiah. Let’s look at the word for diviners, or omen, or wondered at.
OT:4159 mowpheth (mo-faith'); or mopheth (mo-faith'); from OT:3302
in the sense of conspicuousness; a miracle; by implication, a
token or omen:KJV - miracle, sign, wonder
(-ed at). (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with
Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc.
and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
If we
understand types and shadows, we know
that there are prototypes of Jesus the Messiah throughout Old Testament
History. Let’s look at the interlinear in verse 8.
Zech 3:8
|
8
|
Áum^v=
Hear 8085 Š®ma±- |
an`
now, 4994 n¹° |
u^v%ohy+
O Joshua 3091 y®hôš¥a± |
/h@K)h^
priest, 3548 hakkœh¢n |
lodG*h^
the high 1419 hagg¹¼ôl |
hT*a^
thou, 859 °attâ |
|
;yu#r}w+ and thy fellows 7453 w®r¢±ey½¹ |
<yb!v=Y{h^
that sit 3427 hayyœš»îm |
;yn\p*l=
before thee: 6440 l®¸¹ney½¹ |
ÁyK!
for 3588 kî- |
are 9999 |
yv@n+a^
men 376 °anšê |
|
tp@om wondered at: 4159 mô¸¢¾ |
hM*h@
they 1992 h¢mmâ |
ÁyK!
for, 3588 kî- |
yn]n+h!
behold, 2005 hinnî |
ayb!m@
I will bring forth 935 m¢»î° |
Áta#
853 °e¾- |
|
yD]b=u^ my servant 5650 ±a»dî |
.jm^x#
the BRANCH. 6780 ‚emaµ. |
This reads, ‘Hey listen Joshua the exile, who will be high priest in the rebuilt temple, you and those with you are the prototype, the representation of the future Messiah, the one I, Almighty God, will bring forth, the Aleph Tav, my servant, the Branch’. Jesus the Messiah is the chief cornerstone, and the seven eyed stone, the seven Spirits of God, are not given to Joshua the exile, but Jesus the Messiah, we can see that in our hindsight as well.
Rev 3:1 And
unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath
the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast
a name that thou livest, and art dead.KJV
Rev 4:5 And out
of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were
seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of
God.KJV
Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of
the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been
slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God
sent forth into all the earth.KJV
Let’s read the Douay-Rheims translation. I will group the verses together.
Zech 3:1 And the Lord shewed me Jesus the
high priest standing before the angel of the Lord: and Satan stood on his right
hand to be his adversary.2 And the
Lord said to Satan: The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan: and the Lord that chose
Jerusalem rebuke thee: Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
3 And Jesus
was clothed with filthy garments: and he stood before the face of the angel.4 Who answered, and said to them
that stood before him, saying: Take away the filthy garments from him. And he
said to him: Behold I have taken away thy iniquity, and have clothed thee with
change of garments.5 And he
said: Put a clean mitre upon his head: and they put a clean mitre upon his
head, and clothed him with garments, and the angel of the Lord stood.
6 And the
angel of the Lord protested to Jesus, saying:7 Thus
saith the Lord of hosts: If thou wilt walk in my ways, and Keep my charge, thou
also shalt judge my house, and shalt keep my courts, and I will give thee some
of them that are now present here to walk with thee.
8 Hear, O
Jesus thou high priest, then and thy friends that dwell before thee, for they
are portending men: for behold I WILL BRING MY SERVANT THE ORIENT.9 For behold the stone that I have
laid before Jesus: upon one stone there are seven eyes: behold I will grave the
graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will take away the iniquity of
that land in one day.10 In that
day, saith the Lord of hosts, every man shell call his friend under the vine
and under the fig tree. Douay-Rheims
I like
the NLT’s translation of verse 8, Joshua the exile and the men with him were
symbols of things to come. They were the leaders in the new temple that was
about to be built, they were the type of Jesus the Messiah who comes and
establishes a temple in the millennial kingdom.
Zech 3:8 "Listen to me, O Jeshua the
high priest, and all you other priests. You are symbols of things to come. Soon
I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 Now look
at the jewel I have set before Jeshua, a single stone with seven facets.* I will engrave an inscription on
it, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, and I will remove the sins
of this land in a single day.10 "And
on that day, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, each of you will invite
your neighbor to sit with you peacefully under your own grapevine and fig
tree."Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by
Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All
rights reserved.
In the
millennial reign, Jesus the Messiah will make all things right. He will clean
the land of iniquities and sins. Joshua the exile did not take away the sins of
the people, even if he was covered in excrement, he couldn’t have done that.
Only the Messiah could do that. Remember what the angel said to Joseph, that
Jesus would save people from their sins. Yet Jesus had to come to earth as a
man, and he needed to keep every fine point of the law to be the fulfillment of
the law. Jesus the Messiah is given the seven spirits of the Lord, not Joshua
the exile, and Jesus the Messiah is the one who will be in charge in the
millennial kingdom. Verse 9 reads that the Lord of angel armies will inscribe
something on the stone and ‘Aleph Tav, will remove the sins of the land in one
day’. As the engraved stone was a foreshadowing of the future, in the book of
Revelation we see that Jesus now gives the overcomer an engraved stone.
Rev 2:17 He that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that
overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white
stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that
receiveth it.KJV
Remember,
there were no chapter and verse divisions at the time of this vision. This next
section is how we know that Jesus was named as the Messiah. All the references
here in this part of the vision are directly related to the book of Revelation.
The Septuagint Zechariah Chapter 4
4:1 And the angel that talked with me returned, and awakened me, as when a man is awakened out of his sleep.
2 And he said to me, What seest thou? And I said, I have seen, and behold a candlestick all of gold, and its bowl upon it, and seven lamps upon it, and seven oil funnels to the lamps upon it: 3 and two olive-trees above it, one on the right of the bowl, and one on the left. 4 And I inquired, and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these things,my lord? 5 And the angel that talked with me answered, and spoke to me, saying, Knowest thou not what these things are? And I said, No, my lord. 6 And he answered and spoke to me, saying, This is the word of the Lord to Zorobabel, saying,
Not by mighty power, nor by strength, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord Almighty. 7 Who art thou, the great mountain before Zorobabel, that thou shouldest prosper? whereas I will bring out the stone of the inheritance, the grace of it the equal of my grace.
8 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 The hands of Zorobabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands shall finish it: and thou shalt know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to thee. 10 For who has despised the small days? surely they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet of tin in the hand of Zorobabel: these are the seven eyes that look upon all the earth.
11 And I answered, and said to him, What are these two olive-trees, which are on the right and left hand of the candlestick? 12 And I asked the second time, and said to him, What are the two branches of the olive-trees that are by the side of the two golden pipes that pour into and communicate with the golden oil funnels? 13 And he said to me, Knowest thou not what these are? and I said, No, my lord. 14 And he said, These are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. http://ecmarsh.com/lxx/Zacharias/index.htm
The reference to the seven candlesticks and seven lamps is what we see in Revelation when Jesus is explaining this mystery.
Rev 1:20 The
mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven
golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and
the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.KJV
The two olive trees are a reference to the two witnesses.
Rev 11:3-4 And I
will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two
hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.4 These are
the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the
earth.KJV
Zerubbabel was the governor in Jerusalem at the time of the first exiles from Babylon returning to Jerusalem. He probably believed that in his strength he would prosper by helping to rebuild the temple. Yet it would not be built of man’s strength, but by the Spirit. If we remember, the city had to be built first before the Temple could be built. The next part, verse 7, is important as it reads: I will bring forth the Aleph Tav headstone shouting grace, grace.
Verse 10 is also
interesting as it states that they (the seven eyes) will rejoice and see the
Aleph Tav, the plummet of tin or the plumb line, in the open hand of
Zerubbabel, and the seven eyes of the Lord that go around the whole earth. It
sounds like a spiritual experience as in the first temple dedication. While
Zerubbabel was dropping the plumb line, Jesus was showing up, and the seven
spirits that are with Jesus will rejoice.
Again, we see
Zechariah asking about the two anointed ones, the two witnesses. They are Enoch
and Elijah, the only two who still have their bodies, who will come back to
earth in the tribulation time and be killed by the beast. These two men had
been caught up before Zechariah’s
vision. http://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2013/03/benchmarks-for-end-two-witnesses.html
Here is
chapter 4 in Douay-Rheims’ translation.
Zech 4 And
the angel that spoke in me came again: and he waked me, as a man that is
wakened out of his sleep.
2 And he
said to me: What seest thou? And I said: I have looked, and behold a
candlestick all of gold, and its lamp upon the top of it: and the seven lights
thereof upon it: and seven funnels for the lights that were upon the top
thereof.3 And two
olive trees over it: one upon the right side of the lamp, and the other upon
the left side thereof.
4 And I
answered, and said to the angel that spoke in me, saying: What are these
things, my lord?5 And the
angel that spoke in me answered, and said to me: Knowest thou not what these
things are? And I said: No, my lord.
6 And he
answered, and spoke to me, saying: This is the word of the Lord to Zorobabel,
saying: Not with an army, nor by might, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of
hosts.7 Who art
thou, O great mountain, before Zorobabel? thou shalt become a plain: and he
shall bring out the chief stone, and shall give equal grace to the grace
thereof.
8 And the
word of the Lord came to me, saying:9 The hands
of Zorobabel have laid the foundations of this house, and his hands shall
finish it: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me to you.10 For who hath despised little
days? and they shall rejoice, and shall see the tin plummet in the hand of
Zorobabel. These are the seven eyes of the Lord, that run to and fro through
the whole earth.
11 And I
answered, and said to him: What are these two olive trees upon the right side
of the candlestick, and upon the left side thereof?12 And I
answered again, and said to him: What are the two olive branches, that are by
the two golden beaks, in which are the funnels of gold?
13 And he
spoke to me, saying: Knowest thou not what these are? And I said: No, my lord.14 And he said: These are two sons
of oil who stand before the Lord of the whole earth. Douay-Rheims
In
Zechariah 6 we see another shadow or type; Jesus/Joshua son of Josedec is the
shadow of Jesus the Messiah once again. This time they were to make crowns and
put them on Joshua the exile’s head. The Branch, the Aleph Tav, shall spring up
and will build the Temple of Jehovah. Interestingly, Zachariah was told that if
they hearken to the voice of Jehovah Elohim, these things will come to pass. In
dealing with shadows and types, earthly obedience is necessary for the future prophecy
to be fulfilled (Zech 6:15).
Septuagint, Zechariah 6:9 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 10 Take the things of the captivity from the chief men, and from the useful men of it, and from them that have understood it; and thou shalt enter in that day into the house of Josias the son of Sophonias that came out of Babylon. 11 And thou shalt take silver and gold, and make crowns, and thou shalt put them upon the head of Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest; 12 and thou shalt say to him, Thus saith the Lord Almighty;
Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall spring up from his stem, and build the house of the Lord. 13 And he shall receive power, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and there shall be a priest on his right hand, and a peaceable counsel shall be between them both.
14 And the crown shall be to them that wait patiently, and to the useful men of the captivity, and to them that have known it, and for the favour of the son of Sophonias, and for a psalm in the house of the Lord. 15 And they that are far from them shall come and build in the house of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you: and this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God.
Chapter 6, verse10 uses Aleph Tav three times, and then verse 12 says Aleph Tav shall build the Temple. Verse 13 repeats that again and says Aleph Tav will build the Temple of the Lord.
The prototype of ‘Joshua the exile’ is what will happen in the millennial kingdom when Jesus Messiah will be crowned and rule in the Temple of Elohim. There are things that people are told to do on earth that will be copied in the future. All of those things which the Lord directs people to do have a spiritual purpose. This is probably a good reason for Jesus’ name, because some people named Joshua are the pattern for the Messiah in the future. In Zachariah 12, we see something prophesied about the Messiah’s coming at the end of the tribulation when Jesus comes with his armies.
Zech
12:9-10 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all
the nations that come against Jerusalem.10 And I
will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the
spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they
have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son,
and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his
firstborn. KJV
We have to
ask, who is going to do this? That is,
who will destroy the goyim, the nations, that come against Jerusalem? Jesus
will do that on the Day of the Lord. On the Day Jesus comes back with His
armies, he will pour out grace and supplication upon Jerusalem, and then the
inhabitants of Jerusalem (the one third Zechariah tells us will be left) will
recognize Jesus as one that they pierced. What is even more interesting is that
they will mourn because they pierced Him. But let’s look at the interlinear on
this as well.
Zech 12:9
|
9
|
hy`h*w+
And it shall come to pass 1961 w®h¹yâ |
<oYB^
in day, 3117 bayyôm |
aWhh^
that 1931 hahû° |
that 9999 |
vQ@b^a&
I will seek 1245 °¦»aqq¢š |
|
dym!v=h^l= to destroy 8045 l®hašmî¼ |
Áta#
853 °e¾- |
ÁlK*
all 3605 k¹l- |
<y]oGh^
the nations 1471 haggôyim |
<ya!B*h^
that come 935 habb¹°îm |
Álu^
against 5921 ±al- |
|
.<l!*v*Wry+ Jerusalem. 3389 Y®rûš¹l¹im. |
(Interlinear
Transliterated Bible (TR Edition). Copyright © 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc. All
rights reserved. [For more detail see the full copyright page.])
Who will destroy the
nations? The Aleph Tav will fight for Jerusalem at the end of the tribulation.
Let’s read on.
Zech 12:10
|
10
|
yT!k=p^v*w+
And I will pour 8210 W®š¹¸a½tî |
Álu^
upon 5921 ±al- |
tyB@
the house of 1004 bê¾ |
dyw]D`
David, 1732 D¹wî¼ |
lu^w+
and upon 5921 w®±al |
|
bv@oy the inhabitants of 3427 yôš¢» |
<îv*Wry+
Jerusalem, 3389 Y®rûš¹laim |
j^Wr
the spirit of 7307 rûaµ |
/j@
grace 2580 µ¢n |
|
<yn]Wnj&t^w+ and of supplications: 8469 w®¾aµnûnîm |
WfyB!h!w+
and they shall look 5027 w®hibbî‰û |
yl^a@
upon me 413 °¢lay |
ta@
853 °¢¾ |
|
Árv#a& whom 834 °¦šer- |
Wrq*D`
they have pierced, 1856 d¹q¹rû |
Wdp=s*w+
and they shall mourn 5594 w®s¹¸¼û |
wyl*u*
for him, 5921 ±¹l¹yw |
|
dP@s=m!K= as one mourneth 5594 k®misp¢¼ |
Álu^
for 5921 ±al- |
his 9999 |
dyj!Y`h^
only 3173 hayy¹µî¼ |
son, 9999 |
|
rm@h*w+ and shall be in bitterness 4843 w®h¹m¢r |
wyl*u*
for him, 5921 ±¹l¹yw |
rm@h*K=
as one that is in bitterness 4843 k®h¹m¢r |
|
Álu^ for 5921 ±al- |
his 9999 |
.rokB=h^
firstborn. 1060 hab½ôr. |
(Interlinear Transliterated Bible (TR Edition). Copyright © 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved. [For more detail see the full copyright page.])
And they shall look
upon me, Aleph Tav, the one they pierced and shall mourn. To be sure, the ‘et,
AZ, shows up in the Hebrew at critical times, and it is hard to understand why
this has been a secret for so long. We know that Joshua, Yeshua, is the English
name Jesus. We have to adjust our thinking to agree with the Bible. Both Mary
and Joseph were told to name the baby Mary was carrying, Jesus. There was a
reason the baby was not called something else.
So this is what we
have. Zechariah, in around 444 BC, wrote an entire book of prophecies regarding
the Messiah and Jerusalem. The exiles would soon be going back to Israel from
Babylon as Jeremiah foretold regarding the 70 years of punishment. As the
prophecy of Zechariah announces, Jesus the Aleph Tav will be the Messiah.
People at that time were to know that they were not only looking for a stong
man on a cross as a sign, but also that that strong man’s name would be Jesus,
or Joshua, or Yeshua, Ieosus,or Eashoa, depending on what language we are
reading from. Therefore, when Jesus was born and Mary and Joseph obeyed the
angel of the Lord, naming the baby Jesus, there were probably still questions
as to whether this baby could be the Messiah. When Jesus walked out in
ministry, healing people, and teaching people, the Messiah Israel was looking
for was now obvious, in hindsight of course. Then when Jesus was pierced, it
should have been further confirmation that Joshua the Messiah had been among
them. The part that probably bothered people in those days who could still read
Hebrew, was the Aleph Tav, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
Jesus may not have glowed as we see
in renaissance art. Jesus pushed against religion and loved sinners; that may
have made it difficult for some to believe he was the Aleph Tav Messiah. Today,
we know he is the Messiah because he lives within us, and we have a personal
relationship with him. So, to the question, why isn’t Jesus made known in the
Old Testament, the obvious answer is he is named by name.
End Notes:
By the time the New
Testament was
written, the Septuagint had already transliterated ישוע Yeshua` into Koine Greek as
closely as possible in the 3rd-century BCE, the
result being ἸησοῦςIēsous.
Since Greek had no equivalent to the semitic letter ש shin [sh], it was replaced with a σ sigma [s], and a masculine singular ending [-s] was
added in the nominative case, in order to allow the name to be inflected for
case (nominative, accusative, etc.) in the grammar of the Greek language. The
diphthongal [a] vowel of Masoretic Yehoshua` or Yeshua` would not have been present in Hebrew/Aramaic
pronunciation during this period, and some scholars believe some dialects
dropped the pharyngeal sound of
the final letter ע `ayin [`], which in any case had no counterpart in
ancient Greek. The Greek writings of Philo of Alexandria[12] and Josephus frequently mention this name. It also occurs
in the Greek New Testament at Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8, referring to Joshua
son of Nun.
From Greek, Ἰησοῦς Iēsous moved into Latin at least
by the time of the Vetus Latina. The morphological jump this time was
not as large as previous changes between language families. ἸησοῦςIēsous was transliterated to Latin IESVS, where it stood for many
centuries. The Latin name has an irregular declension, with a genitive, dative,
ablative, and vocative of Jesu,
accusative ofJesum, and nominative of Jesus. Minuscule (lower case) letters were developed around
800 and some time later the U was invented to distinguish the vowel sound
from the consonantal sound and the J to
distinguish the consonant from I.
Similarly, Greek minuscules were invented about the same time, prior to that the
name was written in Capital
letters: ΙΗCΟΥC or abbreviated as: ΙΗCwith a line over the top, see also Christogram.
Modern
English Jesus
derives from Early Middle English Iesu (attested from the 12th century). The name
participated in the Great
Vowel Shift in late Middle
English (15th
century). The letter J was
first distinguished from 'I' by the Frenchman Pierre
Ramus in the
16th century, but did not become common in Modern English until the 17th
century, so that early 17th century works such as the first edition of the King James Version of the
Bible (1611)
continued to print the name with an I.[13]
From the Latin, the English
language takes the forms "Jesus" (from the nominative form), and
"Jesu" (from the vocative and oblique forms). "Jesus" is
the predominantly used form, while "Jesu" lingers in some more archaic
texts.
The name Jesus appears to have
been in use in Palestine at the time of the birth of Jesus.[2][14] Moreover, Philo's reference in Mutatione Nominum item 121 to Joshua (Ἰησοῦς) meaning salvation
(σωτηρία) of the Lord indicates that the etymology of Joshua was known outside
Palestine.[15] Other historical figures named Jesus include
Jesus Barabbas, Jesus ben
Ananias and Jesus ben
Sirach.
In the New
Testament, in Luke 1:31 an angel tells Mary to name her child Jesus,
and in Matthew 1:21 an angel tells Joseph to name the child Jesus
during Joseph's first dream. Matthew 1:21 indicates the salvific implications of the name Jesus when the angel
instructs Joseph: "you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his
people from their sins".[16][17] It is the only place in the New Testament
where "saves his people" appears with "sins".[18] Matthew 1:21 provides the beginnings of the Christology of the name Jesus. At once it achieves the
two goals of affirming Jesus as the savior and emphasizing that the name was
not selected at random, but based on a Heavenly command.[19]
