Yeshua (Jesus) Appears Many Times in the Hebrew Bible (Older Covenant)

Believers in the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) know Him as the “Lamb of God;” the one who paid the price for their salvation. They also know that He was born of a virgin (Is 7:14), born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), raised from the dead (Is 53:9-10) and is God’s son (Psalms 2; Prov 30:4). But, many do not know that He was:

• Creator (as part of Elohim);

• The one who walked in the garden with Adam and Eve;

• The one who walked with, and negotiated with, Abraham;

• The one who provided the ram in lieu of Isaac;

• The one who wrestled with Jacob on the future temple mount;

• The one who revealed Himself on Mt. Sinai, ate with Moses and the Elders, and gave the Torah/Law to Moses; and

• The one who is the visible representation of His Father and came to earth as official Spokesperson/Mediator for Him.

Yes, this Yeshua made several appearances on earth BEFORE the 1st century C.E.

CREATOR:

Gen 1:1, “B’resheet bara Elohim et hashamayim ve’et ha’arets” (Hebrew text)

• Translation in the King James Version: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

• Translation in the Jewish Publication Society Tanakh: “When G-d began to create heaven and earth” (JPS Tanakh)

The JPS Tanakh is a much better translation of this verse as we know that God existed before His creation of the heavens and earth. He is without beginning and end.

The title for “God” [Elohim] literally means “MIGHTY ONES.” This word is plural. How many gods do we have? Our answer is ONE. The one true God explained this by telling us that He spoke through the WORD (Yeshua) at creation of the heavens and earth.

Yeshua’s taught one, John, in the Apostolic Writings (John 1:1-5,14), explains Yeshua’s role in creation:

• “In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with G-d, and the WORD was G-d. He was with G-d in the beginning. All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing made had being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it…The WORD became a human being and lived with us, and we saw His Sh'khinah (glory, presence), the Sh'khinah of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth.” [CJB]

John is telling us that God’s WORD is synonymous with YESHUA. This means that Yeshua is the one who took part in the creation of the universe and mankind. He is the living Law or Torah. He is the embodiment of the Commandments. He is the Truth. These cannot be separated from Him, not even one “jot or one tittle!” (Matt 5:18)

In the Aramaic translation (Targums) of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), the Hebrew word used in in Exodus 19:17 is “MEMRA,” which is translated into English as “WORD”:

• "And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet the WORD of the Lord…”

• "Moshe brought the people out of the camp to meet GOD…" (CJB)

Dr. David Stern, author of “The Complete Jewish Bible” and in his accompanying commentary writes:

• “Memra” was a "technical theological term used by the rabbis in the centuries before and after Yeshua when speaking of G-d’s expression of Himself.”

Therefore, John 1:1, would read:

• “THE MEMRA BECAME FLESH AND MAKE HIS TABERNACLE AMONG US.”

Psalms 33:6 tells us:

• “By the WORD of the L-RD the heavens were made, And by the Spirit of his mouth all their host.”

John is telling us that Yeshua is the “Living Law” and that He CANNOT be separated from the “Written Law.” God is perfect. His Messiah Yeshua is perfect. And, we know that His LAW is perfect. We must keep this in the forefront of our minds. Otherwise, we will grossly misunderstand who Yeshua was and wrongly interpret His teachings.

John also tells us in John 1:18 that God and His WORD, Yeshua, are in complete unity. Yeshua is the visible representation of the invisible God. They are separate but one [Hebrew: ecad – separate but in perfect unity]

• “No one has ever seen G-d; but the only and unique Son, who is identical with G-d and is at the Father's side-- He has made him known.”

And, in John 3:3:

• “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”

Yeshua tells the woman at the tomb, in John 20:17:

• “…‘Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your G-d.’”

Paul explains this further mystery in Colossians 1:15-17:

• “He is the visible image of the invisible G-d. He is supreme over all creation, because in connection with Him were created all things, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities - they have all been created through Him and for Him. He existed before all things, and He holds everything together.”

Yeshua confirms that God is not a physical form. He tells us in John 4:24:

• “God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The author of Book of Hebrews states in 11:1-3:

• “Trusting (faith) is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see. It was for this that Scripture attested the merit of the people of old. By trusting, we understand that the universe was created through a spoken WORD OF GOD, so that what is seen did not come into being out of existing phenomena.”

Yeshua tells us of His origins in John 8:41-42:

• “…Yeshua said to them, ‘If G-d were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from G-d; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.’”

ADAM AND EVE

Gen 3:8-9 states:

• "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"

This would have been Yeshua, who is the physical representation of God, walking in the garden. Remember, God is Spirit and does not have a physical form.

ABRAHAM

Gen. 17:1 reads:

• “When Avram was 99 years old ADONAI appeared to Avram and said to him, "I am El Shaddai. Walk in my presence and be pure-hearted.”

Gen. 18:1-5 says:

• “ADONAI appeared to Avraham by the oaks of Mamre as he sat at the entrance to the tent during the heat of the day. He raised his eyes and looked, and there in front of him stood three men. On seeing them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, prostrated himself on the ground, and said, "My L-rd, if I have found favor in your sight, please don't leave your servant…”

Tim Hegg, Messianic author, writes:

• “Sages teach that whenever the scribes wrote the word Adonai with the vowel qametz under the nun (as it is here) - it always referenced to יהוה…This interpretation is collaborated in v. 22: “The men had turned from there and went to Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before יהוה. This verse contains one of the 18 Tiqqune Sofrim, the “corrections of the scribes.” These “corrections” are carefully marked in the notes of the Masorah. In this case, the scribes felt it irreverent to say that Adonai remained standing before Abraham (which is how the original text reads). Should the Sovereign of the Universe stand before (a Hebraic way of noting service) a mere mortal? So, the scribes reversed the order of the sentence, and wrote: “while Abraham was standing before HaShem.” This “scribal correction” verifies beyond question that the ancient scribes recognized the “man” who spoke with Abraham was, in fact, G-d Himself…eats with him, talks with him, negotiates with him—and the text carries on as though this is normal… G-d has always existed in both invisible and visible form...”

John 14:9, states:

• “Yeshua replied to him, "Have I been with you so long without your knowing me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father; so how can you say, `Show us the Father'?”

1 Tim. 1:17 reads:

• “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only G-d, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

1 Tim. 6:16 says:

• “...who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”

Abraham also sees this individual as “Judge of all the Earth” in Gen 18:25:

• “Far be it from you to do such a thing - to kill the righteous along with the wicked…Far be it from you! Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

James tells us Abraham's “Judge” is Yeshua in James 4:12:

• “There is but one Giver of Torah; He is also the Judge, with the power to deliver and to destroy. Who do you think you are, judging your fellow human being?

Zechariah describes what it will be like when this “Judge” (Yeshua) comes in the future in Zech 14:3-5:

• “Then the L-RD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south…You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the L-RD my G-d will come, and all the holy ones with him.”

These verses should confirm that there is a physical person coming to a physical earth in the future who will judge the nations. This is none other than Messiah Yeshua.

HAGAR

Gen 16:9-11, tells us:

• “And the Angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction… She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

The English word "Angel” in the Hebrew is “Mal’ak”. It means “Messenger.” Yeshua is the “Messenger” between God and man. Here, Hagar states that she has seen God.

This “no name” Angel has sovereign power and the ability to multiple her seed. This can only be Yeshua.

ABRAHAM AND ISAAC

Gen 22:10-18 states,

• "And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am." And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of The Lord it shall be provided." Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son--blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

We believe this is Yeshua, the “Angel of the Lord.” He is speaking to Abraham from Heaven. He is the Intercessor between man and God.

JACOB AND THE MESSENGER

Gen 31:11, [Jacob speaking]"

• “And the Angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.” And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’”

In this encounter, “Angel of God” and “I am the God of Bethel” are identical. This identifies the God of the place Bethel, where the future house of God will be built in Jerusalem.

Gen 48:16, [Jacob speaking]:

• “The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

The “Angel” here is the “Redeemer” which is clearly a role of Messiah.

YESHUA – LAWGIVER ON MT. SINAI

Ex 24:9-12, states:

• “Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and THEY SAW THE GOD OF ISRAEL. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So, THEY SAW GOD, AND THEY ATE AND DRANK. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them."

Remember that God is spirit and He cannot be seen. Who is the visible representation of God? This is Yeshua in the physical form, i.e., His feet on His throne. He taught them and ate with them like we see Yeshua doing later with His taught ones.

John 1:18, tells us:

• “No one has ever seen G-d; but the only and unique Son, who is identical with G-d and is at the Father's side -- He has made him known.”

MOSES AND THE BURNING BUSH

Exodus 3:2-4 states:

• “And the Angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire OUT OF THE MIDST OF A BUSH: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, GOD CALLED UNTO HIM OUT OF THE MIDST OF THE BUSH, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.”

Here the Angel and God’s voice are the same. Yeshua said that He came only speaking the words of His Father.

THE EXODUS

Ex 14:19, states:

• "And the Angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:”

This is Yeshua leading Israel out of the bondage of Egypt and is a foreshadowing of when He will lead us again out of the bondage of this world. He will defeat His enemies.

Ex 23:20-22, reads:

• “Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for MY NAME IS IN HIM. But, if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

Who has the ONLY authority to forgive sin in God’s name? Yeshua! Matt 9:4-8 tells us:

• “But Yeshua, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins’--”

THE PROMISED LAND

Judges 2:1-4 states:

• Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: "I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.' But, you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.' " So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.

Also, in Judges 13:1-20,

• Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son…So the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name… Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, "What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?" And the Angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is WONDERFUL?...For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.”

Here we see this “Angel of God” described as a “Man of God” and “Very Awesome” and His name is “Wonderful.”

Isaiah 9:6-7 gives us more details of this "Wonderful" Angel of the Lord:

• For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called WONDERFUL, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

”This says it ALL!

BALAAM

Num 22:34 tells us:

• “And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, "I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back." Then the Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.”

This Messenger has the power over life and death and over Balaam’s words. As well, Balaam later calls Him God.

CONCLUSION

Yeshua said that ALL Scripture: Law, Prophets, and the Psalms, testify about Him. He said in John 5:37-43:

• “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, NOR SEEN HIS FORM. But you do not have His WORD abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and THESE ARE THEY WHICH TESTIFY OF ME. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I HAVE COME IN MY FATHER'S NAME, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

If Yeshua is the WORD of God, He would not come and change His own WORDS. He would not be against the commandments of God because He is the one who gave them. We believe God and Yeshua are as they describe themselves; ONE in perfect unity. They would not change or separate to create different religions, i.e., Old Testament for Jews and New Testament for Christians!

It is our responsibility as God-Fearers, to follow the example of the Berean Jews in the first century, and seek to understand who our Messiah Yeshua really is, not only in the Apostolic Writings, but throughout ALL Scripture:

• Acts 17:11, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”