Two Reasons for the Name “Yeshua”?

Names in the Bible have great importance. Our savior was given the name “Yeshua” for TWO reasons. Yeshua in Hebrew is a shortened form of the name Yehoshua, the original name of Joshua, the hero of faith who led the conquest of Canaan. “Jesus” and “Joshua” are at root the same name.

The name Yehoshua means, “God saves” or “Yehovah saves.” Of all the names that God could have given to the Messiah, He chose Yeshua (Matthew 1:21). The first reason is that saving mankind from sin and Satan, from death and hell, is the highest priority in the heart of God. Everything else is secondary.

Eternal life and forgiveness of sins, as offered to the world by the gospel, should be our highest priority as well. We need to leave the ninety nine to find the one who is lost (Matthew 18:12). The Messiah came into this world, first and foremost, to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).

The second reason that Yeshua was given the same name as Joshua is to show us that Yeshua’s second priority is to take possession of planet earth at the second coming. Joshua is an image and type of the Messiah. (In fact it was Yeshua Himself who oversaw Joshua in the conquest of Canaan in the first place – Joshua 5:13.) As Joshua conquered the Promised Land over three thousand years ago, so will Jesus conquer the entire globe when He returns.

There is a parallel between Jesus and Joshua. There is a parallel between the conquest of Canaan and the Second Coming. At the First Coming, He came to save; at the Second Coming, He will come to conquer. Those are His first and second priorities. Those are the two reasons He was given the name Yeshua.