That is correct, and one should treat verse 16 and 17 as one unit:
THESE ARE THE WORDS OF CHRIST OUR REDEEMER -- WITHIN THE GODHEAD
Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now [1] the Lord [Adonai] GOD [Yahweh], and [2] His Spirit, hath sent [3] me. Thus saith the LORD [Yahweh], thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel [CHRIST]; I am the LORD [Yahweh] thy God [Eloheka] which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
What do we see here?
1. "From the beginning, from the time that it was" goes back to creation, when God the Word did not speak in secret, but openly spoke the universe into existence (John 1:1-3).
2. "There am I" speaks of the existence of Christ from eternity and also at creation.
3. So these are the words of the pre-incarnate Christ -- the Word -- to Israel.
4. In verse 16 Christ calls God the Father "the Lord GOD" (Adonai Yahweh). And rightly so.
5. He calls the Holy Spirit "His Spirit" and we know that the Holy Spirit is called both "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ", yet He is a distinct person (as we note here).
6. "Hath sent me" is a prophetic statement regarding Jesus being sent to Israel (and to the world) by God the Father and the Holy Spirit at His incarnation. It was by the supernatural power of the Spirit that Jesus was conceived in the virgin womb of Mary. So both the Father and the Holy Spirit were involved in the incarnation.
7. In the next verse Christ then identifies Himself as "the LORD thy God". This is perfectly legitimate since Jesus also identified Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when He spoke to Moses at the burning bush. In Exodus 3 He is called "the Angel of the LORD", "the LORD", and also "God", and there He calls Himself "I AM THAT I AM" or just "I AM". It should be note here that whenever "the Angel of the LORD" appeared to men He addressed them as God, and they reverenced and worshiped Him as God.
8. "Which teacheth thee to profit" harks back to Jesus (as God) meeting with Moses at Mount Sinai and teaching Israel what was spiritually profitable (and what was not). It was the finger of Christ which wrote the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone (not once but twice).
9. "Which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldst go" refers back to (1) Christ leading Israel through the wilderness, and (2) Christ giving the entire Law to Israel through Moses.
10. So what we have here is solid proof of both (a) the deity of Christ and (b) the existence of the Holy Trinity (or the triune Godhead).
Now had the Jews simply believed Isaiah, they would all have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as their God and Savior. But it is Isaiah who tells us that seeing they would not see, and hearing they would not hear. So eventually the Gospel went to the Gentiles, and now the Church is predominantly Gentile.
THESE ARE THE WORDS OF CHRIST OUR REDEEMER -- WITHIN THE GODHEAD
Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now [1] the Lord [Adonai] GOD [Yahweh], and [2] His Spirit, hath sent [3] me. Thus saith the LORD [Yahweh], thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel [CHRIST]; I am the LORD [Yahweh] thy God [Eloheka] which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
What do we see here?
1. "From the beginning, from the time that it was" goes back to creation, when God the Word did not speak in secret, but openly spoke the universe into existence (John 1:1-3).
2. "There am I" speaks of the existence of Christ from eternity and also at creation.
3. So these are the words of the pre-incarnate Christ -- the Word -- to Israel.
4. In verse 16 Christ calls God the Father "the Lord GOD" (Adonai Yahweh). And rightly so.
5. He calls the Holy Spirit "His Spirit" and we know that the Holy Spirit is called both "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ", yet He is a distinct person (as we note here).
6. "Hath sent me" is a prophetic statement regarding Jesus being sent to Israel (and to the world) by God the Father and the Holy Spirit at His incarnation. It was by the supernatural power of the Spirit that Jesus was conceived in the virgin womb of Mary. So both the Father and the Holy Spirit were involved in the incarnation.
7. In the next verse Christ then identifies Himself as "the LORD thy God". This is perfectly legitimate since Jesus also identified Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when He spoke to Moses at the burning bush. In Exodus 3 He is called "the Angel of the LORD", "the LORD", and also "God", and there He calls Himself "I AM THAT I AM" or just "I AM". It should be note here that whenever "the Angel of the LORD" appeared to men He addressed them as God, and they reverenced and worshiped Him as God.
8. "Which teacheth thee to profit" harks back to Jesus (as God) meeting with Moses at Mount Sinai and teaching Israel what was spiritually profitable (and what was not). It was the finger of Christ which wrote the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone (not once but twice).
9. "Which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldst go" refers back to (1) Christ leading Israel through the wilderness, and (2) Christ giving the entire Law to Israel through Moses.
10. So what we have here is solid proof of both (a) the deity of Christ and (b) the existence of the Holy Trinity (or the triune Godhead).
Now had the Jews simply believed Isaiah, they would all have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as their God and Savior. But it is Isaiah who tells us that seeing they would not see, and hearing they would not hear. So eventually the Gospel went to the Gentiles, and now the Church is predominantly Gentile.
-
1
- Show all
