Jesus Christ: His Divinity (አምላክነቱ) and Lordship (ጌትነቱ) – Testimonies from the Old Testament (Part II)

 

The divinity and lordship of Jesus Christ are central to Orthodox Christian theology. While the New Testament explicitly affirms His divine nature, the Old Testament also provides compelling testimony to His eternal existence, divine authority, and messianic identity. Rooted in ancient apostolic tradition, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church upholds that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, as revealed in both Testaments.

This essay explores key Old Testament passages that foreshadow Christ’s incarnation, affirming His divine nature through prophecies, divine attributes, and manifestations of God in human form. The voices of the prophets, the poetic expressions of the Psalms, and historical narratives all testify that Jesus Christ is not only a great teacher or prophet, but also the eternal God who has existed from everlasting.

1. Messianic Prophecies Identifying Christ as God (ክርስቶስ መሲሕ፣ አምላክ እንደሆነ የሚገልጹ ትንቢቶች)

The prophetic writings clearly reveal that the coming Messiah (Christ) is not merely a man but God Himself in human form.

Isaiah 9:6 declares: "ሕፃን ተወልዶልናልና፥ ወንድ ልጅም ተሰጥቶናልና፤ አለቅነትም በጫንቃው ላይ ይሆናል፤ ስሙም ድንቅ መካር፥ ኃያል አምላክ፥ የዘላለም አባት፥ የሰላም አለቃ ተብሎ ይጠራል።" This verse explicitly identifies the Messiah as "Mighty God" (ኃያል አምላክ) and "Everlasting Father" (የዘላለም አባት), affirming His divine nature (አምላካዊ ባሕርይ).

Likewise, Micah 5:2 proclaims: "አንቺም ቤተ ልሔም ኤፍራታ ሆይ፥ አንቺ በይሁዳ አእላፋት መካከል ትሆኚ ዘንድ ታናሽ ነሽ፤ ከአንቺ ግን አወጣጡ ከቀድሞ ጀምሮ ከዘላለም የሆነ፥ በእስራኤልም ላይ ገዥ የሚሆን ይወጣልኛል።" Here, the Messiah is described as one who has existed "from everlasting" (ከዘላለም የሆነ), emphasizing His eternal nature—an attribute belonging to God alone.

2. Passages Affirming the Messiah’s Divinity (አምላክነቱን የሚያረጋግጡ ምንባቦች)

Psalm 45:6-7 states: "አምላክ ሆይ፥ ዙፋንህ ለዘላለም ነው፤ የመንግሥትህ በትር የቅንነት በትር ነው። ጽድቅን ወደድህ ዓመፃንም ጠላህ፤ ስለዚህ ከባልንጀሮችህ ይልቅ እግዚአብሔር አምላክ የደስታ ዘይትን ቀባህ።" The significance of this passage is profound: the Messiah is addressed as "O God" አምላክ ሆይ፥ and anointed by God, and stated as “እግዚአብሔር አምላክ የደስታ ዘይትን ቀባህ;::”  This is later confirmed in Hebrews 1:8-9, where it is explicitly applied to Christ. “ስለ ልጁ ግን፦ አምላክ ሆይ፥ ዙፋንህ እስከ ዘላለም ድረስ ይኖራል፤ የመንግሥትህ በትር የቅንነት በትር ነው። ጽድቅን ወደድህ ዓመፅንም ጠላህ፤ ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር አምላክህ ከጓደኞችህ ይልቅ በደስታ ዘይት ቀባህ ይላል።” (Hebrews 1:8-9). This passage clearly identifies Christ as the subject, affirming His divine authority. For a deeper understanding, it is helpful to read from Hebrews 1:1 onward.

Jeremiah 23:5-6 powerfully affirms Messiah’s divine nature: "እነሆ፥ ለዳዊት ጻድቅ ቍጥቋጥ የማስነሣበት ዘመን ይመጣል፥ ይላል እግዚአብሔር፥ እርሱም እንደ ንጉሥ ይነግሣል፥ ይከናወንለታልም፥ በምድርም ፍርድንና ጽድቅን ያደርጋል። በዘመኑም ይሁዳ ይድናል እስራኤልም ተዘልሎ ይቀመጣል፥ የሚጠራበትም ስም፦ እግዚአብሔር ጽድቃችን ተብሎ ነው።" The title “Yahweh (the LORD) our righteousness” is directly attributed to the Messiah, revealing that He is not merely a ruler but God Himself. The passage explicitly states: "የሚጠራበትም ስም፦ እግዚአብሔር ጽድቃችን ተብሎ ነው።" This undeniable declaration of His divinity asserts that the Messiah is also referred to as the manifestation of God's righteousness.

3. Manifestation of God in Human Form (የእግዚአብሔር በሰው አምሳል መገለጥ)

Throughout the Old Testament, there are instances where God appears in human form, indicating the incarnation of Christ.

In Genesis 18:1-2, 13, it is written: "በቀትርም ጊዜ እርሱ በድንኳኑ ደጃፍ ተቀምጦ ሳለ እግዚአብሔር በመምሬ የአድባር ዛፍ ተገለጠለት። ዓይኑንም አነሣና እነሆ፥ ሦስት ሰዎች በፊቱ ቆመው አየ፤ ባያቸውም ጊዜ ሊቀበላቸው ከድንኳኑ ደጃፍ ተነሥቶ ሮጠ፥ ወደ ምድርም ሰገደ፥እንዲህም አለ፦... እግዚአብሔርም አብርሃምን አለው፦ ካረጀሁ በኋላ በውኑ እወልዳለሁን? ስትል ሣራ ለምን ሳቀች?" Here, Abraham meets three visitors, one of whom is explicitly identified as Yahweh, indicating a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ.

Daniel 7:13-14 declares: "በሌሊት ራእይ አየሁ፤ እነሆም፥ የሰው ልጅ የሚመስል ከሰማይ ደመናት ጋር መጣ በዘመናት ወደ ሸመገለውም ደረሰ፤ ወደ ፊቱም አቀረቡት። ወገኖችና አሕዛብ በልዩ ልዩ ቋንቋም የሚናገሩ ሁሉ ይገዙለት ዘንድ ግዛትና ክብር መንግሥትም ተሰጠው፤ ግዛቱም የማያልፍ የዘላለም ግዛት ነው፥ መንግሥቱም የማይጠፋ ነው።." Here, "The Son of Man"—a title Jesus frequently used for Himself—is granted everlasting dominion (ግዛት), glory (ክብር), and an indestructible kingdom (የማይጠፋ መንግሥት), affirming His divine authority.

4. Passages Affirming Christ is the Creator (ፈጣሪነቱን የሚያረጋግጡ ምንባቦች)

The Old Testament consistently attributes creation to God. Similarly, the New Testament unmistakably identifies Christ as the Creator, emphasizing His divine authority.

Isaiah 44:24 proclaims: "ከማኅፀን የሠራህ፥ የሚቤዥህ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፦ ሁሉን የፈጠርሁ፥ ሰማያትን ለብቻዬ የዘረጋሁ ምድርንም ያጸናሁ እግዚአብሔር እኔ ነኝ ከእኔ ጋር ማን ነበረ?" This aligns perfectly with John 1:1-3 and Colossians 1:16, where Christ is explicitly identified as the Creator.

Colossians 1:16 states: “እርሱም የማይታይ አምላክ ምሳሌ ነው፤ የሚታዩትና የማይታዩትም፥ ዙፋናት ቢሆኑ ወይም ጌትነት ወይም አለቅነት ወይምሥልጣናት፥ በሰማይና በምድር ያሉት ሁሉ በእርሱ ተፈጥረዋልና ከፍጥረት ሁሉ በፊት በኵር ነው፤ ሁሉ በእርሱና ለእርሱ ተፈጥሮአል::” This verse clearly affirms that Christ is the Creator of all things.

John 1:1-3 also affirms that all creation came into being through Christ, reinforcing His divine authority as the Creator: “በመጀመሪያው ቃል ነበረ፥ ቃልም በእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ነበረ፥ ቃልም እግዚአብሔር ነበረ። ይህ በመጀመሪያው በእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ነበረ። ሁሉ በእርሱ ሆነ፥ ከሆነውም አንዳች ስንኳ ያለ እርሱ አልሆነም።”

Proverbs 8:22-31, which speaks of Wisdom being present at creation, is often understood as referring to Christ: “እግዚአብሔር የመንገዱ መጀመሪያ አደረገኝ፥ በቀድሞ ሥራው መጀመሪያ። ከጥንቱ ከዘላለም ጀምሮ ተሾምሁ ምድር ከመፈጠርዋ አስቀድሞ። ቀላያት ገና ሳይኖሩ እኔ ተወለድሁ፥ የውኃ ምንጮች ገና ሳይፈልቁ ተራሮች ገና ሳይመሠረቱ፥ ከኮረብቶች በፊት እኔ ተወለድሁ…”  

This interpretation is reinforced by 1 Corinthians 1:24, where Christ is explicitly called the Wisdom of God: “ለተጠሩት ግን፥ አይሁድ ቢሆኑ የግሪክ ሰዎችም ቢሆኑ፥ የእግዚአብሔር ኃይልና የእግዚአብሔር ጥበብ የሆነው ክርስቶስ ነው።” (1 Corinthians 1:24)

Conclusion

The Old Testament provides profound and undeniable evidence of Jesus Christ’s divinity and lordship. Through messianic prophecies, divine attributes, pre-incarnate manifestations, and His role as Creator, the scriptures reveal that Christ is not only a prophet or a great teacher but also the eternal God, one with the Father from everlasting. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church upholds this truth as central to the faith, affirming that Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, is both fully God and fully man. His presence and mission, prophesied long before His incarnation, testify to the divine plan of salvation, calling all to recognize and worship Him as Lord and Savior.