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Son
of God in the Old Testament

by
Adam Simnowitz

According to the New Testament, the key identity of Jesus Christ
is that He is the Son of God. This
is seen in the importance of the need to understand, confess, and believe this
about Jesus in the following verses:

Matt 16:13-17

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi,
He began asking His disciples, saying, "Who do people say that the Son of Man
is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still
others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you
say that I am?" 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you,
Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My
Father who is in heaven.

John 20:30-31

30 Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the
presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have
been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and
that believing you may have life in His name.

1 John 2:22-23

22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the
Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son
has the Father also.

1 John 5:9-13

9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is
greater; for the witness of God is this, that He has borne witness concerning
His Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself;
the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not
believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son. 11 And the
witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God
does not have the life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the
name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal
life.

The Scriptural witness to the Son of God, however, did not begin
with the New Testament - it first appears in the Old Testament in the
abbreviated form of "Son" (with one exception). While the number of Old Testament
references to Son [of God] are nowhere near as numerous as that in the New
Testament, they are extremely significant and have helped Christians recognize
that Jesus Christ is indeed this Son of God and what the Bible means by this
phrase. The following chart is a
list of nine passages from the Old Testament with brief
commentary.





Reference


Comments



2 Samuel 7:14

I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he
commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the
sons of men,


The first sentence is quoted in Hebrews 1:5 as a reference to
Jesus with regard to His superiority over
angels.

This verse is alluded to Psalm 89:26 as an explicit reference
to David and by implication, his sons.
By comparing the wider context of Psalm 89:20-51; 2 Samuel 7:12-16; and
Isaiah 55:3-4 with Luke 1:31-35 and Acts 13:34, it is obvious that the only one
who fulfills the description of an everlasting kingdom is Jesus, the Son of
God, and therefore never subject to the consequences of violating covenant with
God. In other words, Jesus is the
prophetic anti-type (i.e. He is the obedient Son who maintains his
"inheritance") to David and his sons (i.e. the disobedient sons who have lost
their inheritance).



Psalm 2:7

"I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD:

He said to Me, 'Thou art My
Son,

Today I have begotten Thee.


This is quoted in Acts 13:33 as a reference to Jesus and His
resurrection from the dead.

The final part of this verse is quoted in Hebrews 1:5 as a
reference to Jesus with regard to His superiority over
angels.

The final part of this verse is quoted in Hebrews 5:5 as a
reference to Jesus being called by God to be the High Priest for those who
believe in Him.

Much has been written about Psalm 2 being a "coronation" hymn
for those who were heirs to David's throne.   Neither Psalm 2:7, 12 is ever used in
the Bible to refer to any son of David other than Jesus who is more than a
human descendant of David (see Matthew 22:41-45).



Psalm 2:11-12

Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss
the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled
but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in
Him.


People are commanded to worship the “Son” just as they are
commanded to worship “the Lord” (YHWH).
This agrees with Jesus' statement in John 5:23: “that all may honor the
Son, even as they honor the Father”.
See Hebrews 1:8-9 and Psalm 45:6-7.



Proverbs 30:4

Who has ascended into heaven and
descended?

Who has gathered the wind in His
fists?

Who has wrapped the waters in His
garment?

Who has established all the ends of the
earth?

What is His name or His son's
name?

Surely you know!


In this verse, the “Son” is not only identified with the
Creator but as also being involved in Creation, thus making Him equal with the
Creator. See also John 1:1-5;
Colossians 1:13-17; Hebrews 1:3.



Isaiah 7:14

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a
virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name
Immanuel.


In this well-known prophesy of the Messiah, given about 700
years before Jesus was born to Mary, the “Son” will not only be born of a
virgin, but is   “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.”

It is quoted in Matthew 1:23. See Matthew 1:18-25 for
context.



Isaiah 9:6-7

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And
the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will
be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David
and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and
righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will
accomplish this.


In this well-known prophecy of the Messiah, also given about
700 years before Jesus was born to Mary, the "child to be born" who is also the
"son to be given" is called “Mighty God,” “Eternal Father,” and the one who
rules over all, in other words, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords" (see
Revelation 19:16).



Daniel 3:25

He answered and said, "Look! I see four men loosed and walking
about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth
is like a son of the gods!"


When Nebuchadnezzar made this statement, he described the
fourth "man" as a "son of the gods."
While "gods" is consistent with the pagan context of the Babylonians,
the miraculous deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and the fact
that "son" is rendered in the singular (as opposed to "sons of God" elsewhere
in the Old Testament), the king's statement is rightly understood as a
recognition of an Old Testament theophany or appearance of God to man prior to
the Incarnation of the Son of God as the Son of
Man.



Hosea 11:1

When Israel was a youth I loved
him,

And out of Egypt I called My
son.


The last part of this verse is quoted in Matthew 2:15 as a
reference to Jesus and His return to Israel from
Egypt.



Micah 5:1-3

"Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops; they have
laid siege against us; with a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the
cheek. 2 "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans
of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings
forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity." 3 Therefore, He will give
them up until the time when she who is in labor has borne a
child.


In this well-known prophecy of the Messiah, given about 700
years before Jesus was born to Mary, although “Son” is not mentioned it is
implied in verse 3 which talks about a female giving birth to a child. This “child” is described as having
existed from eternity a characteristic exclusive to God.
See Matthew 2:6 where Micah 5:2 is quoted from the Septuagint (i.e. the
Greek translation of the Old Testament).

The language of the magi in Matthew 2:2, "Where is He who has
been born King of the Jews?," is an implicit claim to deity - no human can be
born a king but rather a prince.
The statement that this child was born King of the Jews agrees with the
Scriptural witness that the Son is Eternal (see also Isaiah 9:6; John 17:24;
Hebrews 7:3). Jesus is in need of no coronation because as God He has always
been King of Kings! The act of the
magi worshipping Jesus (Matthew 2:11) also points to the deity of this
child/Son. The worship of Jesus by
the magi is significant for at least two reasons: 1) magi were known for
worshipping the stars but here they follow a supernatural star in order to
worship Jesus; and, 2) in the New Testament, Jesus accepts worship of Himself
whereas Peter and angel(s) refuse to do so because they are not God (see Acts
10:25-26; Revelation 19:10).

This unique Son spoken of in the Old Testament, though
prophesied that He would be born of a woman, is specifically called God,
described as eternal, said to be equal with the Creator, and due the same
worship as Yahweh. This witness of
the Old Testament to the Son is one of the strongest cases not only for the
deity of Jesus Christ but also of his eternal nature and eternal identity as the
Son of God. This Old Testament Son
is repeatedly and exclusively identified with Jesus Christ in the New
Testament.

See
to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception,
according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the
world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity
dwells in bodily form

Colossians
2:8-9

And
Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You
wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and
one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, "This is My
beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to
Him!"

Matthew
17:4-5