What is in a name? The Hebrew name 'Yeshua' occurs in the Old and New Testament under various forms. It is the same as Joshua and the Greek Jesus. It also appears in a most formal form as 'Jehoshua' meaning Jehovah Deliver and also as Hoshea, another prophet's name. It is also give to mean 'God is help', 'God's help' or 'the Lord saveth'. The name first appears as the name of Joshua the son of that Ephrathite [Book of Jasher 81:54] or Ephraimite Nun through whom the covenant remained. Joshua was who was chosen to succeed Moses as the prophet leader of Israel after the end of the Egyptian captivity and Moses' journey with the children of Israel in the wilderness.

In the Old Testament the name Joshua is clearly associated with the tribe of Ephraim. Hoshea (Hosea) was the only prophet of the northern kingdom of Ephraim in the Bible who has left written prophecies almost exclusively directed to the tribe of Ephraim. Thus the name of Joshua is clearly associate with being a part of the Northern Kingdom and the tribe of Ephraim. It is a well recognized 'faimly name' of the tribe of Ephraim, as is also Joseph.

In the New Testament, when the firstborn son of Zacharias the temple priest was born of Elisabeth his wife, when they came to circumcise and name the child, they called him Zacharias, after the name of his fatehr. Zacharias had been struct dumb, so Elisabeth, though being a woman, spoke up and said, Not so; but he shall be called John (Luke 1:59-60). But they in turn said unto her, There is non of thy kindred that is called by this name (Luke 1:61). It was a custom of the people to name their children along the lines of family names. Of course Gabriel (Noah) had given Zacharias the name of John to use, and that was what Zacharias did write that the child would be named.

When Gabriel gave Mary the name by which her child was to be named, there was no such question about Jesus or Joshua not being a family name that was exhibited (Luke 1:31). Joseph, who had also been visited by Gabriel, did not question the name Matthew 1:20-21). And at the time the Christ child was to be circumcised and named, there was no such complaint registered about the name of Joshua not being a family name appropriate to be the child's name (Luke 2:20). Now, though it is not absolute, one begins to consider, was not Joshua a family name associated witht he house of David?

In the Book of Mormon, before the birth of Christ who would be named in mortality Joshua or Jesus (Greek). it is of interest to note what the name of the true Church of the Lord was called or named. In 1 Nephi 14:10, what seems to be a 'descriptive name is used as 'church of the Lamb of God'. Of course the 'Lamb of God' is the sacrificial symbol of the Anointed Son of God. So it is little wonder that later in the Book of Mormon record, the church becomes more formally called by the name of the church of God or the Church of Christ (Mosiah 18:17; 25:18; 26:22; Alma 4:5, 3 Nephi 26:21; 3 Nephi 28:23; Mormoni 6:4). And it is 3 Nephi 27:3-11, where Jesus himself extablishes by what name his church should be called and that is in 'Christ's' name. And thus we conclude that the name of the church then was 'The Chruch of Christ'. Whether the church of the Nephites was ever called by the name of 'Jesus Christ' can only be presumed.

But today, we are well assured that by commandment, the latter-day church of Christ has a very precise formalized name, 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'.And with a little liberty of translating the Greek back into an Old Testament 'Hebrew' transliteration, it is 'The Church of Joshua Christ of Latter-day Saints'. Not that it is the Joshua of Jericho's Chruch, but that this is the given name of the Christ by the angel Gabriel, Josphua, Yeshua, or Jesus, they being but one and the same name.

Now the questions, was Yeshua, a family name of the house of David. In the genealogies presented in the New Testament, the name does not appear in the families of Judah from which Christ is there listed to have come from. The only prominant Joshua that one might consider is that of Joshua the son of Nun the Ephraphtite or Ephraimite. Was the nameing of Christ, Joshua, an allusion back to the Savior's most ancient and noble ancester of thte tribe of Ephraim, Joshua?

The topic of this text has been that Christ is Messiah ben Joseph/Ephraim. Thus Joshua would be fully possible a family name back to that ancient famous ancestor of Ephraim. Like Moses and Joseph of Egypt, Joshua was a type of Christ to come or a foreshadowing of the Messiah. And there seems to be no other significant scriptural tie with the name of Joshua to Christ that this most famous Joshua of Jericho fame.

The responsibilities of fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant of bring salvation to all the nations of the world has fallen upon the tribe of Ephraim. Joshua Christ, as Messiah ben Joseph/Ephraim is very much a part of the Ephraimic responsibility and fulfillment. Though the members of the tribe of Ephraim do much work toward bring the nations of the earth to salvation, that salvation cannot be complete or fulfilled but through Joshua Christ. Isn't it a most appropriate condition that the latter-day Messiah through whom the nations of the earth are blessed would be a memeber of that same tribe of Ephraim by whom those promises where given and fulfilled?

Is it not time for Ephraim to re-exert his claim in the Messiah? Even the name of the church in this desposition of the fulness of times is called, 'The Chruch of 'Joshua' Christ of Latter-day Saints'. Just what significance is it that the name of the most famous members of the tribe of Ephraim are containted in the name of the Lord's latter day Church. That is Joshua son of Num and Jesus the son of God and by Joseph of Egypt.

Yeshua Christ Our Warrior King

If one pursues this line of thinking, then this the the chruch of the Joshua Messiah. Joshua foreshadowed the Messiah as a warrior agianst the enemies of God who would conquer and prevail. It was Joshua who did lead Isreal against their enemies in obtaining the land of promise for Israel. And Joshua, being of the tribe of Ephraim does foreshadow the Messiah ben Joseph/Ephraim. And while the Jewish Rabbis but corrupt the image, certainly there is much of the flavor of this Messiah ben Ephraim/Joseph in the warrior messiah sought after by the Jews. The wicked will be destroyed and the Lord, our Jesus (Joshua) Christ, will lead us into the glorious millennial era.

As if it is not enough for Jesus to be so closely associaed with Joshua by name and by Joshua's foreshadowing of the Messiah, there is more to the connection of Christ and Joshua than just being called by his name. Some will call it 'providence' and others mere prophetic foreshadowing, but whatever the case may be, the tie between Joshua and Jesus becomes very much intertwinded.

NUN ~ FISH ~ JESUS

Joshua's Old Testament father who is well know to have been named 'Nun' has a number of curious attachments to Jesus Christ beside the fact that he is the Lord's namesake, Joshua's, father. The simplist meaning derived from the Hebrew lexicon avenue, Nun means 'fish' or at least that is one of its meanings. The fish was the well known sign of the Church of Christ in the meridian of time. Nun is the fourteenth letter of the 22 letter Hebrew alphabet. It appears in approximately the middle of that alphabet and exactly in the middle of the extended 28 letter alphabet of the Hebrew language. The number 14 seems to have a coincedence of appearance, as there are three sets of fourced 14 generations in the genealogies of Jesus in the New Testament. To me that is but courious.

Nun the letter has meanings of 'fish', 'kingdom', 'royal heir', 'the Messiah', 'heirs to the throne' and the figure of a 'bent-over servant' who descends below. As stated, 'nun' is the fourteenth letter of the alef-beit, which equals "David," the progenitor of the eternal Kingdom of Israel. And the heir to David, who is also called David, is Mashiach ben David. And that is Jesus Christ, whose symbol of his people was the fish of Nun, the father of Jesus or Joshua in the Old Testament. Was Nun and then Joshua 'heirs to the throne' by being Christ's ancestors? Were they the 'royal line' from which Christ was to come of the house of Joseph through Ephraim?

But that is not all. Many of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet also double as numbers. Nun means 50. In Jewish custom there is the cycle of 50 years which culminate in the Jubilee year. There is 'fifty years to counsel.' There are 50 queries into the nature of Creation which God poses to Job. There are 50 references to Exodus in Torah. There are 50 days of counting the Omer between Pesach (passover) and Shavout (feast of firstfruits). Much of these are just inserting unrelated data.

But what we can gain is that there appears to be a much tighter relationship between Joshua (Jesus) of the Old Testament and Jesus (Joshua) of the New Testament. And if Nun and Joshua represent the Ephraimite or Ephrathite 'royal line' or the line of the birthright of the covenant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), Joseph and Ephraim, then there is more to why the Christ child was named Joshua.

This text sets out that Christ was Messiah ben David who was the son of Jesse the Ephrathite. It further sets out that, while David, Jesse, and Obed where of the bloodline of Boaz of Judah, that by legal right of the Laws of God, Boaz but played the surrogate parent and was raising up seed to the dead as stated in Ruth chapter 4 and Dueteronomy chapter 25. That means that Obed's, Jesse', David's, and Christ's ancestry legally follows after the house of Mahlon and his father Elimelech, Ephrathites.

Further we have shown a very close relationship between Joshua (Jesus) the son of Num and Jesus Christ and his rightful kingdom upon earth. With the understanding of the name Joshua and how it ties to the tribe of Ephraim and it royal line, one must consider the further implication of the latter-day name of Christ's church today. We are the Ephraimite children of the Covenant of Abraham. We are in the process of fulfilling that covenant by bring salvation to the nations of the world. Ephraim was prophesied to so do this, bring forth the Kingdom of God in these last days of preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Is it so any wonder that the latter-day church would place emphasis upon the Ephraimite connection as bears of the covenant and also as the legal and rightful ancestry of Jesus ~ Joshua Christ. The Book of Mormon church was known by the Church of Christ. Though it is the same church, the latter-day church has placed the connecting name of Joshua with the tribe of Ephraim in the name of the church. It is 'The Church of Jesus (Joshua) Christ of Latter-day Saints. The salvation to the world is offered in the name of Ephraim, the firstborn of God. And Christ by right is the head of this church and he is the promised Messiah ben Joseph, even the promised Messiah ben David. He is but one and the same Messiah, Jeshua, rightfully of the family of Ephraim and Joseph and the Son of God.

Joshua Is Jesus

Before we leave this topic area of Joshua and Jesus, perhaps one last scripture can be given to tie them together. Often it is asked why Jesus or Christ is not mentioned in the Old Testament. We are told that all the Holy Prophets did testify of him. Well they and Zechariah chapter 3 is one very straight forward instance where our Lord is even called by name, the very name Jesus. We have come to understand that the Greek word translated as Christ means the Anointed One, implying the Anointed Son of God. And Christ is the same word which from the Hebrew has been translated as being the word Messiah, also meaning the anointed one. There are those references. Christ is also called Lord and because he is the same person as Jehovah, he is spoken of many times as Lord in the Old Testament. But Christ is also spoken of by the name of Jesus in the Old Testament, that is the Hebrew equivalent, being Joshua. Forgive the lengthy quotation with bracketed [] commentary which follows to confirm this fact. Being prophecy, not all is understood until the passing events do explain it, but here it is, Jesus Christ in the Old Testament being called by the name Jesus (Joshua).

ZECHARIAH
CHAPTER 3

Zechariah speaks Messianically: The Branch shall come-At the Second Coming, iniquity shall be removed in one day.

1 AND he shewed me Joshua [Jesus Christ] the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2 And the LORD [Elohim, Father in Heaven] said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? [This was part of the process of casting Satan out of Heaven.]
3 Now Joshua [Jesus, having taken the sins of the world upon himself] was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him [The mission of the Savior was to remove the sins of the world]. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. [Christ would suffer and therefore have the sins removed]
5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre [a clean pure cap] upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
6 And the angel of the LORD protested unto [covenanted with] Joshua [Jesus], saying,
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge [be the redeemer providing salvation], then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts [Christ, Jehovah, given the right and power to act for God the Father, the LORD], and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
8 Hear now, O Joshua [Jesus Chrsit] the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH [Jesus Christ, Jehovah].
9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10 In that day [Millennial Day], saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour [all mankind who will come under the covenant of accepting the BRANCH] under the vine and under the fig tree." ~ Zechariah 3:ALL

With more inspired translation, these Hebrew words could an should be translated within the true context of the event in heaven before the foundation of the world which this scripture reveals. And the latter crowning of a contempory Joshua (Zech. 6:11-13) with a crown of glory is but a foreshadowing similitude of what such would be Jesus/Joshua Christ, the Messiah, who would be so crowned as king of Israel and that his name would be Jesus, that is Joshua. This later event and foreshadowing in chapter six should not be used to confuse what is presented in the earlier chapter 3. The record in chapter 3 just quoted in full adds more light upon the events in heaven in respect to Jehovah called Joshua, meaning 'Jehovah Is Salvation' and Satan before the throne of God the Father. A more inspired and clearer interpretation could well be given to this as just stated.

This event in chapter three records that Jehovah (Joshua - Jehovah is Salvation) who is Jesus Christ (Jehovah is Salvation the Anointed One of God) and Satan were standing before the LORD, God the Father. And it is most likely an event which followed the preexistent counsel in heaven in the days after Lucifer's rebelion or war of words and deception of a third of the host of heaven, Such accompanying events are accounted by Abraham, Moses, John, Isaiah and elsewhere throughout the scriptures such as here in Zechariah chapter 3. It is Jesus Christ, that is Jehovah, and Satan standing before the 'Angel of the LORD', who is in an instruction confernece with these two individuals with others in attendance. The exact time can be presumed, and that is just prior to the expulsion of Lucifer and his angels from heaven for rebelling against God the Father and His chosen Son, And it included the covenant conditions for Joshua or Jehovah to follow and keep to redeem his followers from the fall of Adam.

Joshua means Jehovah is Salvation. Jehovah was the selected and anoited of the Father to be the Redeemer who provided Salvation to all the Father's children. The means by which Jehovah would save his people was to condescend to inhabit mortality, leaving his heavenly position above. The Hebrew letter 'nun' yeilds to this fall or condescension as 'a fall from 'egoless-ness' into 'self-consciouness',' which is an interesting way of phrasing the effects of the fall upon a spirit into the state of natural mortal man with a body of flesh and bone. And Christ/Joshua/Jesus would. as the BRANCH of the house of Joseph (the fruitful bough with many branches), come to provide mankind with the saving mercy and graces of salvation. The high position of the Messiah ~ Joshua ~ Jehovah ~ Jesus is likely represented by the 50 changes of clothing denoting his great postion in heaven. It would be a very understandable portrayal to Zechariah of the wealth of postion being given up by the Lord Joshua/Jesus, in order to come down and perform his mortal mission of redemption. And Jesus/Joshua would take upon himself the sins cause by Satan's doing in the world, thus removing Satan's sins from the world. And all the sins of the world over the millenniums of existance would be taken away in one day, the one millennial day of the Lord Joshua.

Now much has been spoken about Christ being given the name of Joshua after his likely illustrious progenitor, Joshua the son of Nun? But Zechariah's account does shed new light. It was not Christ being named after Joshua, it was Joshua being name by Jehovah with one of his own names, meaning 'Jehovah is Salvation'. And while it set forth Joshua as being the 'royal line' of the everlasting covenant who would likely be the source of providing the rightful heirship through his legal and rightful seed, it was Jesus (Joshua) Christ who did but retain his own name from the preexistence. This adds new consideration why Noah as Gabriel made it a matter of commandment to so properly name the mortal Jehovah with the name of Joshua or Jesus for the use of it in applying it to Jehovah by Elohim in the preexistence.