The Word
Yeshua is referred to as the Word of
God. That is a reference to God creating the world by His words, “Let there be
. . .”
John 1:1—In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The expression is also referring to
the appearances of the Word of God as the divine messenger who came to visit
the prophets. The “Word” is both the message and the messenger. The prophets
sometimes saw and heard, sometimes felt the presence and heard, and other times
just heard.
Yeshua being the Word means that He
came and spoke to someone personally. Two clear examples are: 1) where Abraham
both saw and heard the word (Gen. 15:1), and 2) where the word comes and
stands next to Samuel (1 Sam. 3:7, 10).
Genesis 15:1—And after
these things the Word-Yehovah came to Abram in a vision . . .
. . . אַחַ֣ר׀ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה הָיָ֤ה דְבַר־יְהוָה֙
אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם בַּֽמַּחֲזֶ֖ה לֵאמֹ֑ר
1 Sam 3:7, 10—Now
Samuel did not yet know Yehovah, nor was Word-Yehovah yet revealed to him.
And Yehovah came and stood and called out as the other times, “Samuel, Samuel!”
וּשְׁמוּאֵ֕ל טֶ֖רֶם יָדַ֣ע אֶת־יְהוָ֑ה
וְטֶ֛רֶם יִגָּלֶ֥ה אֵלָ֖יו דְּבַר־יְהוָֽה׃
וַיָּבֹ֤א יְהוָה֙ וַיִּתְיַצַּ֔ב וַיִּקְרָ֥א
כְפַֽעַם־בְּפַ֖עַם שְׁמוּאֵ֣ל׀ שְׁמוּאֵ֑ל וַיֹּ֤אמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל
It is interesting to note in both
these verses the “Word of Yehovah” is in paired-noun construct in the Hebrew. “Word”
and “Yehovah” are hyphenated together. The Scriptures do not say, “Word of the
Lord” but “Word-Yehovah.” The Genesis and Samuel passages are astonishing and
only make sense in the light of John’s understanding of Yeshua as the Word of
Yehovah.
Word-Yehovah comes and visits Abraham
and Samuel. To know Yehovah is to know this “Wod-Yehovah.” John understood
Yeshua to be that prophetic Word who came to visit our forefathers. (Asher Intrater,
Who Ate Lunch with Abraham? The Appearances of God in the Form of a Man in
the Hebrew Scriptures [Grand Prairie, Tex.: Tikkun Global Media, 2011],
124-25)
