Katzpur Posted December 31, 2013 Posted December 31, 2013 Can anyone give me any guidelines for knowing whether a reference to God in the Old Testament is the God the Father or to His Only Begotten Son? I know that the individual known as Jesus Christ in the New Testament is known by the name Jehovah in the Old Testament, but I'm still unclear as to whether every mention of God in the Old Testament is referring to Jehovah or to Elohim? I'm especially curious about the instances in which God appears to individuals or to groups of people, where they see Him and speak to Him "face to face." Is it Jehovah that's being spoken of in these instances or Elohim. If it's sometimes one and sometimes the other, how can I tell which one it is? Sometimes context gives me a clue, but not always.
Palerider Posted January 1, 2014 Posted January 1, 2014 Can anyone give me any guidelines for knowing whether a reference to God in the Old Testament is the God the Father or to His Only Begotten Son? I know that the individual known as Jesus Christ in the New Testament is known by the name Jehovah in the Old Testament, but I'm still unclear as to whether every mention of God in the Old Testament is referring to Jehovah or to Elohim? I'm especially curious about the instances in which God appears to individuals or to groups of people, where they see Him and speak to Him "face to face." Is it Jehovah that's being spoken of in these instances or Elohim. If it's sometimes one and sometimes the other, how can I tell which one it is? Sometimes context gives me a clue, but not always. I would say as a general rule, you could always assume that the individual appearing to, or speaking to mortals in the Old Testament is the pre-mortal Jesus Christ, known as Jehovah and by other names. One instance in which both God the Father and Jehovah are referred to at the same time might be Psalm 110: 1 Which states: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Indicating that once His (Jehovah/Christ's) mission upon the earth was accomplished, God the Father invited Him to sit at His right hand until the final wrapping up scenes for this earth are accomplished. I'm sure there are others here that can give you more technical insights than what I have but, I believe this to be correct in a nutshell. Personally I don't believe anyone has seen God the Father "face to face" and that those instances where Jehovah is mentioned as appearing, might be better read as "presence to presence", as when Moses was permitted to see the Lord's "back parts" and not His actual face, but that's just a personal opinion.
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