Jesus Christ: The Adonay YHWH of the Prophets

In the synoptic Gospels, our Lord Jesus refers to the time when he himself would personally send forth prophets that would prophesy in his name. Christ also warned against those who would call him “Lord, Lord,” while failing to obey his commandments:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord (kyrie kyrie),’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord (kyrie kyrie), in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:21-23

“Then the kingdom of heaven may be compared to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the prudent answered, saying, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. And later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord (kyrie kyrie), open up for us.’ But he answered and said, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know the day nor the hour.” Matthew 25:1-13⁽¹⁾

“Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord (kyrie kyrie),’ and do not do what I say?” Luke 6:46

“On account of this, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,” Matthew 23:34

To say that these are all remarkable assertions would be a wild understand. That is because the Hebrew Bible proclaims that true prophets are sent forth by YHWH to prophesy in his name, and not in the name of some other god!

“Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers; you shall listen to him. This is according to all that you asked of Yahweh your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God; let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ And Yahweh said to me, ‘They have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their brothers like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And it will be that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ Now you may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” Deuteronomy 18:15-22

“‘So do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, “You will not serve the king of Babylon,” for they prophesy a lie to you; for I have not sent them,’ declares Yahweh, ‘but they prophesy a lie in My name, in order that I may banish you and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.” Jeremiah 27:14-15

“For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to your dreams which you dream. For they prophesy a lie to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares Yahweh.” Jeremiah 29:8-9

“And it will be that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you have spoken falsely in the name of Yahweh’; and his father and mother who gave birth to him will pierce him through when he prophesies.” Zechariah 13:3

Even more remarkable is that the phrase Jesus employed, “Lord, Lord (kyrie kyrie),” is found in the LXX in reference to YHWH himself. This expression is used as the Greek translation of the Hebrew phrase Adonay YHWH/YHWH Adonay!

I include either the translation of the Greek phrase or the entire English rendering from the LXX so the readers can see this for themselves:

“O Lord Yahweh (kyrie kyrie), You have begun to show Your slave Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours?” Deuteronomy 3:24

“And I prayed to Yahweh and said, ‘O Lord Yahweh (kyrie kyrie), do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a strong hand.’” Deuteronomy 9:26

“Then I said, ‘Ah Lord Yahweh (kyrie kyrie)! They are saying of me, “Is he not just speaking parables?”’” Ezekiel 20:49

“And it happened when it had completed eating the vegetation of the land, that I said, ‘Lord Yahweh (kyrie kyrie), please pardon! How can Jacob rise up, For he is small?’” Amos 7:2

“And the prayer was after this manner; O Lord, Lord (kyrie kyrie) God, Creator of all things, who art fearful and strong, and righteous, and merciful, and the only and gracious King, The only giver of all things, the only just, almighty, and everlasting, thou that deliverest Israel from all trouble, and didst choose the fathers, and sanctify them:” 2 Maccabees 1:24-25

“May those who hope for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord Yahweh of hosts; May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel,” Psalm 69:6

“Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord of hosts (kyrie kyrie ton dynameon), be ashamed on my account: let not them that seek thee, be ashamed on my account, O God of Israel.” Psalm 68:7 LXX

“But as for You, O Yahweh, O Lord, deal with me for Your name’s sake; Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me;” Psalm 109:21

“But thou, O Lord, Lord (kyrie kyrie), deal mercifully with me, for thy name’s sake: for thy mercy is good.” Psalm 108:21 LXX

“O Yahweh, O Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle.” Psalm 140:7

“O Lord God (kyrie kyrie), the strength of my salvation; thou hast screened my head in the day of battle.” Psalm 139:8 LXX

“For my eyes are toward You, O Yahweh, O Lord; In You I take refuge; do not pour out my soul to death.” Psalm 141:8

“For mine eyes are to thee, O Lord God (kyrie kyrie): I have hoped in thee; take not away my life.” Psalm 140:8 LXX

The Greek also employs another form of the double vocative, namely kyrie mou kyrie, for the phrase Adonay YHWH or YHWH God:

“And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh, so he said, “Alas, O Lord Yahweh (kyrie mou kyrie)! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.”” Judges 6:22

“Then David the king went in and sat before Yahweh, and he said, ‘Who am I, O Lord Yahweh (kyrie mou kyrie), and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? And yet this was a small thing in Your eyes, O Lord Yahweh (kyrie mou kyrie), for You have spoken also of the house of Your slave concerning the distant future. And this is the law of man, O Lord Yahweh (kyrie mou kyrie). And again what more can David say to You? And You know Your slave, O Lord Yahweh (kyrie mou kyrie)! For the sake of Your word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness to let Your slave know. For this reason You are great, O Lord Yahweh (kyrie mou kyrie); for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, before Your people whom You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods? Yet You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and You, O Yahweh, have become their God. So now, O Yahweh God (kyrie mou kyrie), the word that You have spoken concerning Your slave and concerning his house, establish it forever, and do as You have spoken, that Your name may be magnified forever, by saying, “Yahweh of hosts is God over Israel’; and the house of Your servant David shall be established before You. For You, O Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed in the hearing of Your slave, saying, ‘I will build you a house’; therefore Your slave has found courage in his heart to pray this prayer to You. So now, O Lord Yahweh (kyrie mou kyrie), You are God, and Your words are truth, and You have promised this good thing to Your slave. So now, be pleased and bless the house of Your slave, that it may be forever before You. For You, O Lord Yahweh (kyrie mou kyrie), have spoken; and with Your blessing may the house of Your slave be blessed forever.’” 2 Samuel 7:18-29

Therefore, by attributing the double vocative to himself, the Lord Jesus was claiming to be that very Adonay YHWH of the Hebrew Bible who sent forth prophets to prophesy in his blessed, glorious and all-powerful name.

Further Reading

JESUS: THE ONE AND ONLY ADONAY YHWH

APOCRYPHA & CHRIST’S DEITY

Christ: Israel’s Divine Lord Incarnate

JUDE TESTIFIES THAT JESUS IS YHWH ALMIGHTY!

Refuting Another Unitarian Canard

JUDE TESTIFIES: JESUS IS NOT MICHAEL!

JUDE’S EPISTLE VERSUS ARIANISM

JUDE’S EPISTLE REFUTES ARIANISM

Endnotes

(1) In the parable, Jesus is the Bridegroom since he is the spiritual Husband of the Church:

Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the attendants of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.’” Matthew 9:14-17

“I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are bearing with me. For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be corrupted from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit which you did not receive, or a different gospel which you did not accept, you bear this beautifully.” 2 Corinthians 11:1-4

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.” Ephesians 5:25-33

Christ is also said to be the Husband of heavenly Jerusalem, which is the true of which the earthly one is a mere imperfect shadow:

“‘Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.’ And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’” Revelation 19:7-9

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband… Then one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like precious stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall. It had twelve gates and at those gates, twelve angels; and names have been written on those gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Revelation 21:1-2, 9-14

This in itself confirms Christ’s Deity since the Hebrew Bible identifies YHWH as the Husband of his people:

“For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is Yahweh of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.” Isaiah 54:5

“‘And it will be in that day,’ declares Yahweh, ‘That you will call Me Ishi And will no longer call Me Baali. So I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth So that they will be remembered by their names no more. And in that day I will cut a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, The birds of the sky, And the creeping things of the ground. And I will break the bow, the sword, and war from the land, And I will make them lie down in security. And I will betroth you to Me forever; Indeed, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion, And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know Yahweh.” Hosea 2:16-20

For the risen Jesus to, therefore, be the Husband of heavenly Jerusalem means that he must be YHWH God Almighty in the flesh. There’s simply no honest exegetical way around this divinely revealed truth.