There is a category of Old Testament passages more striking than messianic prophecy, and it is the one anti-Trinitarian arguments have the hardest time absorbing. In these texts, YHWH speaks about Himself — declaring that He alone is first and last, that His glory will not be shared, that His way is being prepared, that He is the one who was pierced — and the New Testament writers apply the passage directly to Jesus of Nazareth.

The apostles were monotheistic Jews. They were not careless with the divine name. When Mark opens his Gospel by quoting Isaiah's "prepare the way of YHWH" and identifies the way as Jesus', he is making a deliberate theological identification, not a loose allusion. This post examines those texts, along with the passages in Genesis, Exodus, and Proverbs that establish the framework they depend on.

Isaiah 44:6 and 48:12 — First and Last: A Divine Exclusive

Isaiah 44:6 | Isaiah 48:12

"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.'" — Isaiah 44:6

"Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last." — Isaiah 48:12

Context

These passages belong to Isaiah's great polemic against idolatry (Isaiah 40–48). YHWH identifies Himself with the unique, exclusive title: "the First and the Last" — He who precedes all things and to whom all things return. Nothing exists before Him; nothing will remain after Him. This title stakes an absolute claim to singular divine sovereignty over all creation and time.

Key Words

‎אֲנִי רִאשׁוֹן וַאֲנִי אַחֲרוֹן (ʾănî rîʾšôn waʾănî ʾaḥărôn) — "I am the first and I am the last." רִאשׁוֹן (rîʾšôn; BDB 911; HALOT 1169), "first, foremost"; אַחֲרוֹן (ʾaḥărôn; BDB 30; HALOT 36), "last, final." Together, they encompass the totality of existence — everything from the first moment of creation to the ultimate end of history belongs to and is encompassed by YHWH.

The phrase "there is no God besides Me" (ʾên ʿôd ʾĕlōhîm mibbalʿādāy) makes this an exclusive divine claim — no other being can legitimately bear this title.

The New Testament Application to Jesus

In Revelation 1:17–18, the glorified Jesus explicitly takes this title for Himself: "I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore." Again in Revelation 22:13: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." And in Revelation 2:8: "The first and the last, who was dead and has come to life."

Jesus appropriates the exclusive divine title of YHWH. Since YHWH declared there is "no God besides Me" and this title belongs exclusively to YHWH, for Jesus to claim the same title is either the ultimate blasphemy — or the definitive declaration that He is Himself YHWH. No middle ground is possible. Grant Osborne [^18]: "When Jesus says 'I am the first and the last' in the Apocalypse, He is deliberately evoking the 'First and Last' of Isaiah 44:6 and 48:12 — a title reserved exclusively for YHWH. John's Christology here is maximally high: the risen Christ is identified with the God of Israel."

Isaiah 40:3 — Prepare the Way of YHWH

Isaiah 40:3

"A voice is calling, 'Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.'"

Context

Isaiah 40 opens the second major section of Isaiah with the great comfort proclamation ("Comfort, O comfort My people," v. 1). The voice in v. 3 announces the coming of YHWH Himself into the human scene — the preparation for a divine advent. This is a commissioning for the great eschatological return of God to His people.

All four Gospels explicitly identify John the Baptist as the fulfillment of this voice (Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:2–3; Luke 3:4–6; John 1:23). John prepared the way not for a great human leader but for YHWH Himself — and the one he prepared the way for was Jesus. The identification is unmistakable: Jesus = the LORD (YHWH) of Isaiah 40:3.

Mark's Gospel is especially pointed. Mark 1:2–3 attributes the Isaiah 40:3 citation (and Malachi 3:1) to Jesus as "the Lord": "Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.'" The "Lord" whose way is being prepared is Jesus Himself — and that Lord is the YHWH of Isaiah 40.

John Oswalt [^19]: "The one who was coming in Isaiah 40 was YHWH Himself. The New Testament's application of this verse to John the Baptist's ministry of preparing for Jesus is a profound Christological statement: Jesus is identified as YHWH coming to His people."

Malachi 3:1 — The Lord Comes Suddenly to His Temple

Malachi 3:1

"'Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,' says the LORD of hosts."

The Double Identification

This verse contains two profound identifications:

1. YHWH speaks ("I am going to send My messenger before Me") — identifying His messenger (John the Baptist, per Matthew 11:10) as one who goes ahead of YHWH Himself.

2. The Lord comes to His temple — the one who comes to the Temple, identified as "the Lord," is the Messiah Jesus (John 2:13–17; Matthew 21:12–13). Jesus cleansed His Temple — because it was His Father's house, and because He Himself was the true Temple (John 2:19–21).

Jesus explicitly identified John the Baptist as the messenger of Malachi 3:1 (Matthew 11:10), and if John prepares the way before YHWH, and John prepared the way for Jesus, then Jesus is YHWH. The logic is airtight. Thomas Schreiner [^20]: "Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 are both drawn upon in the Synoptics to identify the ministry of John the Baptist as preparing the way for Jesus — and in both passages, the one being prepared for is YHWH Himself. The Christological implication is inescapable."

Zechariah 12:10 — YHWH Who Was Pierced

Zechariah 12:10

"I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn."

The Grammatical Shock

This verse contains one of the most astounding grammatical features in the entire Old Testament. YHWH Himself is the speaker: "I will pour out...the Spirit of grace..." Then, without changing subject, YHWH says: "they will look on Me whom they have pierced." YHWH is declaring that He Himself will be pierced.

This is so theologically staggering that some ancient Jewish interpreters and scribes felt compelled to change the pronoun. The Septuagint renders it "they will look on Him whom they have pierced" (shifting to third person), apparently unwilling to maintain the first-person claim that YHWH was pierced. But the Masoretic Hebrew text is unambiguous: ʾêlāy — "upon Me." YHWH says this people will look upon Me whom they have pierced. This is only possible if YHWH became incarnate.

New Testament Fulfillment

John 19:37: After a soldier pierced Jesus' side at the cross, John quotes Zechariah 12:10 as fulfilled: "And again another Scripture says, 'THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.'" Revelation 1:7 also quotes it of Jesus' return: "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him."

The identification is complete: the YHWH who said "look upon Me whom they have pierced" in Zechariah is the Jesus who was pierced on the cross, whose return will be seen by all the world. Thomas McComiskey [^22]: "The first person pronoun in Zechariah 12:10 is the most direct Old Testament statement that YHWH Himself would be the one pierced. The New Testament's application to the crucifixion of Jesus is the only coherent fulfillment of this extraordinary text."

Genesis 1:26–27 — Let Us Make Man in Our Image

Genesis 1:26–27

"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

The Plural "Us" and "Our"

The creation account uses the first-person plural: "Let Us make...Our image...Our likeness." This is one of several OT passages where the singular God uses plural language (cf. Genesis 3:22: "the man has become like one of Us"; Genesis 11:7: "Come, let Us go down"; Isaiah 6:8: "Who will go for Us?").

These plurals have generated significant discussion. Proposed explanations include: (1) the "plural of majesty" (pluralis majestatis), (2) God speaking to the heavenly court of angels, (3) a genuine internal, intra-divine deliberation — i.e., an early indication of the triune nature of God. The third interpretation aligns with the full canon of Scripture: John 1:3 declares that "all things came into being through Him" (the Logos), and Colossians 1:16 states "by Him all things were created." The Son was present and active in creation — which is why Genesis 1:26 reflects plural intra-divine communication.

John Sailhamer [^24]: "The plural 'us' in Genesis 1:26 is best understood as a conversation within the Godhead itself — an early canonical hint at the divine plurality later revealed as the Trinity. The New Testament's identification of the Son as present at and agent of creation (John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2) provides the theological lens for understanding what Genesis 1:26 was already gesturing toward."

Exodus 3:13–14 — I AM WHO I AM

Exodus 3:13–14

"Then Moses said to God, 'Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you." Now they may say to me, "What is His name?" What shall I say to them?' God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM'; and He said, 'Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you."'"

The Divine Name

‎אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה (ʾehyeh ʾăšer ʾehyeh; BDB 218, HALOT 243) — The most sacred self-identification of God in the OT. אֶהְיֶה (ʾehyeh) is the first-person singular imperfect of הָיָה (hāyāh, "to be, to exist") — "I AM" or "I WILL BE." This name declares God's absolute, self-existent, uncaused, eternal being. He does not derive existence from anything outside Himself; He simply IS. This name is the root from which the covenant name יְהוָה (YHWH) is derived — the third-person form of the same verb.

In the Septuagint (LXX), this is rendered ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν (egō eimi ho ōn), "I AM THE BEING ONE" — connecting directly to the Greek phrase Jesus uses in the NT.

The New Testament Connection

When Jesus declared "before Abraham was born, I am" (John 8:58) — ἐγὼ εἰμί (egō eimi) — He was not merely asserting pre-existence; He was using the Greek equivalent of the divine name from Exodus 3:14. The Jewish audience understood this immediately: "Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him" (John 8:59) — the prescribed penalty for blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16). They did not misunderstand; they understood perfectly. Jesus was claiming to be the ʾehyeh — the I AM — of the burning bush.

Craig Keener [^25]: "John 8:58 is the most explicit of Jesus' 'I am' claims in the Fourth Gospel. The absolute use of 'I am' (egō eimi), the grammatical disjunction between Abraham's coming into being (genesthai, aorist) and Jesus' being (eimi, present), and the immediate attempt to stone Him — all confirm that His hearers understood Him to be claiming the divine name of Exodus 3:14."

Proverbs 8:22–31 — Wisdom Before Creation

Proverbs 8:22–31

"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His work, The first of His acts of old. From eternity I was established, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth... I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing before Him always."

Context and Caution

Proverbs 8 personifies divine Wisdom as a figure who was present with God from before creation, as a "master workman" (ʾāmôn, possibly "architect/craftsman"), delighting in the creative work. While this is the personification of an attribute (wisdom), the New Testament authors interpret the pre-creation Wisdom of Proverbs 8 as finding its fulfillment and identity in the Lord Jesus Christ.

‎חָכְמָה (ḥokmāh; BDB 315; HALOT 314) — "wisdom." Paul explicitly identifies Jesus as "the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24: "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God") and as the one "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). John 1:3 describes the Logos as the agent of all creation — precisely the role Wisdom plays in Proverbs 8:30. Hebrews 1:2 states that it was "through" the Son that the Father "made the world."

Bruce Waltke [^26]: "The personification of Wisdom in Proverbs 8 reaches beyond a mere literary device. The New Testament authors, guided by the Spirit, saw in this passage a forward-pointing type of the pre-existent Son of God — the divine Wisdom who was with the Father in the beginning and through whom all creation was made."

The Series

Part 3 of eight in the series Jesus is God: A Series on the Deity of Christ.

1. Part 1 - The Case for the Deity of Christ - How Scripture Makes the Claim
2. Part 2 - Messianic Prophecy and the Deity of Christ - Seven Old Testament Texts
3. Part 3 - YHWH Texts Applied to Jesus - The Old Testament's Boldest Claim (this post)
4. Part 4 - The Gospel of John and the Deity of Christ
5. Part 5 - The Synoptic Gospels and Acts - Jesus Claims and Receives What Belongs to God
6. Part 6 - The Epistles and the Deity of Christ
7. Part 7 - Revelation and the Deity of Christ - Worship at the Throne
8. Part 8 - Errors About the Deity of Christ - Arianism, Islam, Modalism, and More