INDEX FOR THIS SECTION

1. JESUS WAS THE “HOLY ONE” IN BOTH THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS.
2. THE HOLY ONE IN THE NT WAS JESUS.
3. THE HOLY ONE IN THE OT WAS JESUS.
4. BIBLICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE HOLY ONE, OLD/NEW TESTAMENTS.

5. WHAT THE TERM “SON OF GOD” MEANS.

JESUS WAS “THE HOLY ONE” IN BOTH OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS

         We have already seen that Jesus was the central person in both the Old and New Testaments. For those who might need further proof that Jesus was the God of the Jews in the Old Testament and was the same God-man who later made an appearance to the Jews as their Messiah, let’s keep piling up evidence. There are many references in the Old Testament to “The Holy One of Israel” and “The Holy One.” Likewise there are many references in the New Testament to “The Holy One.” I have compiled many of the scriptures which use these phrases below. I have also compiled lists of the characteristics assigned to “The Holy One” in each of the Testaments. Let’s read through the scriptures and discuss what we find. Let’s see if we cannot agree that it is Jesus in both Testaments.

THE HOLY ONE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT WAS JESUS CHRIST

• Mark 1:23-24   23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-- the Holy One of God!"
• John 6:68-69 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
  I Jn 2:20 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
• Acts 3:14-15   14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
• Acts 13:35-37 35 So it is stated elsewhere: "'You will not let your Holy One see decay.'
  36 "For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. 37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.
• Acts 2:26-27   26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
• Ps 16:9-10 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, 10 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

THE HOLY ONE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT WAS JESUS CHRIST

Ps 71:22 I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praise to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.

Ps 89:18 Indeed, our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Job 6:10 Then I would still have this consolation-- my joy in unrelenting pain-- that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.

Jer 50:29 "Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
Jer 51:5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.

Ezek 39:7 "'I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel.

Hosea 11:9 I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man-- the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.

Hab 1:12 O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.

Hab 3:3 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth.

Isa 43:3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead.

Isa 43:14-16 14 This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride. 15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King." 16 This is what the LORD says-- he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,
Isa 47:4 Our Redeemer-- the LORD Almighty is his name-- is the Holy One of Israel.

Isa 49:6-7 6 I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." 7 This is what the LORD says-- the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel-- to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."

Isa 49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

Isa 54:5 For your Maker is your husband-- the LORD Almighty is his name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.

Isa 55:5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor."

Isa 57:15 For this is what the high and lofty One says-- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Isa 60:9, 14, 16 9 Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.

14 The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

16 You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

Isa 1:4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

Isa 1:24 Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: "Ah, I will get relief from my foes and avenge myself on my enemies.

Isa 5:19, 24 19 to those who say, "Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it. Let it approach, let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it."
24 Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Isa 10:17, 20-21 17 The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers.

20 In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. 21 A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.

Isa 12:6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

Isa 17:7 In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.

Isa 29:19, 23 19 Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

23 When they see among them their children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

Isa 30:11-15 11 Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!" 12 Therefore, this is what the Holy One of Israel says: "Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, 13 this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant. 14 It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern." 15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

Isa 40:25 "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

Isa 41:14-20 14 Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 "See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. 16 You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away. But you will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17 "The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. 19 I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, 20 so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Isa 45:11-12 11 "This is what the LORD says-- the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands? 12 It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.

Let’s next summarize the descriptions of the “Holy One” from the scriptures that we have just read in both the Old and New Testaments and note which of them clearly point to Jesus Christ.

BIBLICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE HOLY ONE
DESCRIPTIONS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT</h3 > (All refer to Jesus the Christ)

• Jesus of Nazareth (Mark 1:23-24)
• The Holy One of God (Mark 1:23-24, John 6:69)
• The Holy One (1 John 2:20)
• Your Holy One (Acts 2:26-27)
• The Holy and Righteous One (Acts 3:14-15)
• The One who will not see decay (Acts 13:35-36 as fulfillment of Ps 16:9-10)
• The author of life (Acts 3:14-15)
• The One whom God raised from the dead (Acts 13:35-36)

DESCRIPTIONS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

(Items in ( ) are obvious New Testament fulfillments of Jesus being the “One” mentioned in the Old Testament)

The Holy One (Mark 1:23-24, 1 John 2:20)

Your Holy One (Acts 2:26-27, 13:35-37)

Their Holy One

My Holy One

The One who will not see decay (Acts 2:26-27, 13:35-37)

The Holy One from Mount Paran

The Holy One of Israel

The Mighty One of Israel

The Holy One of Jacob

The Mighty One of Jacob

The high and lofty One

A flame (Rev 1:14, 2:18, 19:12)

The LORD (Acts 2:36, Rom 8:39, 10:13, Rev 17:14)
O LORD

The LORD Almighty (Rev 1:8, 15:3-4)

The LORD your God (John 20:28)

The Sovereign LORD (Jude 4)

My God (John 20:28)

Your God

God (1 John 5:20, Phil 2:6, 2 Pet 2:1, Heb 1:4-14, Titus 2:13)

The God of all the earth

The God of Israel

The Mighty God

Selah His glory covered the heavens

The One whose praise filled the earth

Your Savior (Titus 1:3-4, 2:13, Luke 2:11, John 4:42, Acts 13:23)

Your Redeemer

Our Redeemer (Titus 2:13-14, Gal 3:13)

Your husband (2 Cor 11:2)

O Rock (1 Cor 10:4, Rom 9:32-33)

Your King (Matt 2:2, Luke 19:38, Rev 17:14)

Our king (Matt 2:2, Luke 19:38, Rev 17:14)

A light to the gentiles (Luke 2:32)

The Light of Israel (John 1:4, 9)

Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation (Acts 3:12-15)

Israel's Creator (John 1:3:4, Col 1:15-16)

Your Maker (John 1:3:4, Col 1:15-16)

He who made the earth and created mankind upon it (John 1:3:4, Col 1:15-16)

He whose own hands stretched out the heavens (John 1:3:4, Col 1:15-16, Heb 1:10)

He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters

He who lives forever (Heb 1:12)

He whose name is holy (Luke 1:35)

He who lives in a high and holy place (Acts 2:34-35, Rom 8:34, Heb 8:1, 1 Pet 3:22)

DISCUSSION: It’s completely obvious that “The Holy One” in the New Testament is Jesus Christ. It is also apparent that New Testament authors knew that “The Holy One” in the Old Testament was also Jesus. Luke indicates that Acts 13:35-36 is fulfillment of Ps 16:9-10. This is the most obvious indication that Jesus is “The Holy One” of the Old Testament. In the above list of 43 characteristics ascribed to “The Holy One” in the Old Testament, I have listed New Testament fulfillments for many of them through Jesus Christ. I should point out that many of the instances may also point to the Father God being “The Holy One.” The point I want to make is that both the Father and the Son were God of Israel. They are both Yahweh and are “One.” The great mistake of the Jews was and is in not recognizing Jesus as the Savior and Messiah sent from God and as God.

WHAT THE TERM “SON OF GOD” MEANS

          When Greek words are translated into English we sometimes get a confusing or inaccurate translation because there may not be a matching English word. For example, the Greeks had several different words that are all translated “love” in English, even though all of the Greek words have quite different meanings. Another word that can lead to confusion on our part is the Greek word which is translated as “son.” If we think that Jesus, who is called the “Son of God,” is the offspring of God the Father we have come to an inaccurate conclusion. Jesus is called the Son of God in John 3:16 and many other places in the Bible. What did the Greek word that is translated as “son” mean to the Greeks? It is Strong’s word 5207 and means “figurative kinship.” Miethe’s Compact Dictionary of Doctrinal Words says that the word means that Jesus shares the same nature with God the Father, and that the word does not mean “son” in a physical sense. Jesus was not conceived or created by God the Father; in fact, God the Son has always been and will always be. He is eternal. 1 John 5:20 says that Jesus is the true God and eternal life. In Phil 2:6, Paul says this of Jesus, “Who, being in very nature God.” In Heb 1:6-9, God the Father twice calls Jesus “God.” Thus we see that “son of God” means of the same nature as God or of the same order as God. Jesus was of the same nature or order as God the Father. They were the very same in their basic nature.
         Again, we could be confused when we read in Heb 1:6 that God the Father brings his “firstborn” into the world. The Greek word used here refers to priority of position rather than of origin. Col 1:15-18 says that Jesus is the “firstborn” over all creation because he created all things, and that he is the “firstborn” from the dead because when he voluntarily became a man and sacrificed his earthly life he was the first to arise from the dead with a glorified body. This is explained in 1 Cor 15:20-23 and 42-49. All believers will one day have a body like this. Likewise, Rom 8:29 calls Jesus “the firstborn of many brothers.”
          Was Jesus presented as the “son of God” in the Old Testament? Yes. One such place is in Prov 30 where we read the following in verses 2-6,
2 Surely I am only a brute, not a man; I do not have human understanding. 3 I have not learned wisdom, nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One. 4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son? Surely you know! 5 “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.”