30. 1. The Lord from eternity is Jehovah. This we know from the Word, since the Lord said to the Jews,

Truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:58)

And again,

Glorify me, Father, with the glory I had with you before the world existed. (John 17:5)

This means the Lord from eternity and not the Son from eternity, because the Son is his human nature conceived by Jehovah the Father and born by the Virgin Mary in time, as explained above.

[2] We are assured by many passages in the Word that the Lord from eternity is Jehovah himself, a few of which passages may be cited now.

It will be said on that day, “This is our God; we have waited for him to free us. [This is] Jehovah; we have waited for him. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:9)

We can see from this that the speakers were waiting for Jehovah God himself.

A voice of someone in the wilderness crying out, “Prepare a pathway for Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God. The glory of Jehovah will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together. Behold, the Lord Jehovih is coming in strength.” (Isaiah 40:3, 5, 10; Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4)

Here too, the Lord, who is to come, is called Jehovah.

[3] I am Jehovah. I will make you a covenant for the people, a light for the nations. I am Jehovah. This is my name, and I will not give my glory to another. (Isaiah 42:6-8)

A covenant for the people and a light for the nations is the Lord in his human nature. Because this is from Jehovah and was made one with Jehovah, it says “I am Jehovah. This is my name, and I will not give my glory to another” - that is, to no one other than himself. To give glory is to glorify, or to unite with himself.

[4] The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his Temple. (Malachi 3:1)

The Temple means the temple of his body, as he says in John 2:19, 21.

The Dayspring from on high has visited us. (Luke 1:78)

The Dayspring from on high is Jehovah, or the Lord from eternity.

We can see from these passages that “the Lord from eternity” means his divine nature as the source, which is called Jehovah in the Word. We will see from passages to be cited below that after his human nature had been glorified, both “the Lord” and “Jehovah” mean the divine nature and the human nature together as one, and that “the Son” by itself means the divine human nature.