We shall now look at the Old Testament.
The first time Jesus’ mortal mission is referred to is when God spoke to Adam, Eve and the Serpent. See Genesis chapter 3.
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
In verse 15 God refers to the adversarial relationship between the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman. To clarify: the Serpent is obviously the Devil, and the Seed of the Woman is Jesus Christ in his mortal ministry. The Seed shall bruise the head of the Serpent (means crush) and the heel of the Seed is bruised. Isaiah, my favourite Old Testament prophet, in his Messianic chapter 53, prophecies the following about the Saviour’s bruised heel.
10 ¶ Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
As Jesus Christ had to bear all the sins of mankind in his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross of Calvary, this would be the bruising of his heel. As the Serpent (Satan or the Devil) tempted man into sinning, and Christ had to bear our sins, we could say that ultimately Satan bruised the heel of Christ.
But of course the very bruising of the heel of Christ would result in the Saviour overcoming death, both physical death (separation of body and spirit) and spiritual death (separation of God and man). By the Saviour gaining power over the two kingdoms of Satan, it is thus seen that Satan’s power will be eventually destroyed. Satan is allowed for a brief time (in God’s eyes) to continue his work of tempting mankind. The purpose of allowing man to endure temptation and learning the consequences of sin is for the eternal growth of mankind. At the Second Coming of Christ Satan will be bound for a thousand years. Later when the Earth is glorified, Satan will be cast off forever and thus crushed. Christ has won the victory.
The most significant title to be explored is the name “I AM”. When Moses spoke with God before his mission to free the Israelites from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, God told him to tell Israel this name.
13 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?
14 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.
15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
We know that name was also used by Jesus, which was a horrifying blasphemy to the unbelieving Jews in the days of Christ’s mortal ministry. Read the following verses in John chapter 8
54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Read verse 58 carefully and what do you see? Christ clearly calls himself I AM at the end. That is why the Jews took up stones to kill Jesus by stoning for blasphemy. There is great significance in this title, it means the eternal, self-existing One. We depend upon Him for life, but he exists independently and eternally. Thus he is a God and part of the Godhead.
In the inspired words of Isaiah, we can learn so much. He is not an easy prophet to understand. He is a prophet that can only be understood with much study and prayer. His vision was broad and spanned the centuries of this earth’s existence. He used poetry to express his words and the works of God. Chapter 43 of Isaiah is rich with parallel meanings. I know it is a long passage but the first 13 verses are incredible.
1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
6 I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
8 ¶ Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.
9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.
10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.
13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?
God REDEEMED Israel, as a nation here, and spiritually in the mortal ministry of Christ. (verse 1)
God CREATED man, and by that it is obvious that women are included (verse 7). Here we can also profitably consider again the opening words of Paul in the Book of Hebrews:
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
So we can see that the Son made the worlds for God, the Father.
Verse 11 has so much; the titles, I AM; the LORD; and vitally “beside me there is no Saviour”.
My last area to explore in this subject are the very names of Jehovah and Jesus. What are the meanings of these names?
Jehovah, is a name that is sacred to the Jews. Whenever the name of Jehovah appeared in sacred writ, the Jews put the name Adonai rather. In the King James Version of the Bible, the translators followed this Jewish custom by using the names LORD or GOD. Jehovah is the name of the God of Israel, or even the covenant name. It links very closely to the earlier mentioned "I AM"
Jesus is the Greek form of the name Joshua. Joshua means “God is help” or “Saviour”. It was a common name among the Jews during the mortal ministry of Christ.
I hope that these series of articles were helpful and not too boring. I found it exciting when I uncovered these things for myself many years ago. I have never forgotten them.
Christ is pivotal in my life and I hope he is, or will be, in yours.