BEGOTTEN

Begotten

The primary meaning of this word in the Old Testament, translated from the Hebrew yawlad, is to bear young, then in its causative sense to beget (be the cause of).  It is also used in the sense of a midwife and in a detailed sense, to show lineage.

There are many uses of yawlad in reference to the begetting of children in the Old Testament but the one of special interest, because of its reference to Messiah the Son of God, is in Psalm 2:7; “I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou [art] my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”  The declared decree is in two sections, “Thou art my Son” and “this day have I begotten thee”. 

The first is interesting because of the etymology of the word ben meaning son.  The word ben, and bath – daughter; are both derived from the verb banah meaning to build, and therefore a son/daughter is one who has been built and is part of the continuing process of the construction of, i.e. the family, tribe, nation (or Church).  Being the Son of God, or ‘the only begotten’ Son as the New Testament further reveals Messiah will build God’s family by empowering men and women to become sons of God through faith in him (John 1:12).

The New Testament word for build is the Gk. oikodomeo (Matthew 16:18) and means to be a house builder; there it has the idea of constructing an immaterial (a spiritual) building, the Church.  The Church is said to be the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27) “…and members in particular”.  In Romans 8:10-17 Paul shows that those who are ‘born again’ have the testimony of the Spirit within that they are the sons - the children of God.  This family relationship is because of Christ being in you and conversely of you being in Christ (Romans 8).  We are ‘born again’ into the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ - God’s only begotten Son; God’s builder of the Church.

This day have I begotten thee:

There is no clear idea in Psalm 2 as to when this day was or would be: The heathen have raged since time immemorial and people have imagined they can do without God from the very beginning, yet although individual nations have been judged and even destroyed, the wrath and sore displeasure of vs.5 is to be upon the heathen, suggesting a world wide desolation, and on the people suggesting national judgement on Israel.  Taking all things into consideration it would appear to be the language used for the future day of wrath as described in Zephaniah 1:15; “That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness”.

The ISBE describes this day thus:

It denotes the consummation of the kingdom of God and the absolute cessation of all attacks upon it (Isaiah 2:12; Isaiah 13:6, Isaiah 13:9; Isaiah 34:8; Ezekiel 13:5; Ezekiel 30:3; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:11; Amos 5:18; Zephaniah 1:14; Zechariah 14:1) It is a “day of visitation” (Isaiah 10:3), a day “of the wrath of Yahweh” (Ezekiel 7:19), a “great day of Yahweh” (Zephaniah 1:14). The entire conception in the Old Testament is dark and foreboding.

It is a day of future worldwide and catastrophic judgement and if this is the case then the day that God’s Son was begotten (vs.7) might, from this passage alone, be any day from the beginning of days to that final day of wrath, unless the Lord reveals the truth of the matter somewhere else.

When we turn to the New Testament the truth is soon established, for as the letter to the Hebrews shows, the Son through whom God has spoken in those last days was no other than Jesus who is called Christ (the anointed).  Who is not only the Son (Hebrews 1:2, 5, 8) but is very God himself (1:8, 9, 10, 12); not only God himself, but our sacrifice (2:9, 14) and our High Priest (2:17, 3:1) and the one through whom we are able to obtain mercy and find grace in the times of our need (4:14-16).

 

In Acts 13:30-33, Paul speaks of God’s past promises being fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ, and quotes this passage from Psalm 2 as a proof text.  Paul states that the resurrection of Christ was the fulfilment of this passage from Psalm 2.  

“God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.”

Quoting Alfred Barnes; “This interpretation of an inspired apostle fixes the meaning of this passage in the psalm, and proves that it is not there used with reference to the doctrine of eternal generation, or to his incarnation, but that he is called his Son because he was raised from the dead.”

When we look at this Psalm from it’s beginning, we see the prophetic accuracy of the psalmist in portraying the hatred, abuse and rejection that the authorities (both Jewish and Gentile) and the people, would hold for Jesus of Nazareth and the God whom he came to represent.  Yet the LORD who sitteth in the heavens is unmoved and states that even against such hatred and rejection, “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion”. 

It was the Lord who gave the Apostle Peter the words of fulfilment; “…let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom (they had) crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:22-36).  It was after the rage, the vanity and the counsel of ungodly men had spent itself against the LORD’S anointed, that Jesus whom they had crucified was made both Lord and Christ.  It was then that the fulfilment of this passage in Psalm 2 occurred.  This passage in Psalm 2 refers therefore, “not to his eternal generation or his incarnation, but to something succeeding his death; that is, to his resurrection, and his establishment as King at the right hand of God.”

Romans 1:8 states Christ was “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead”.

The phrase “firstborn from the dead” is in keeping with this whole concept.  Colossians 1:18 tells us that Christ is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, alluding to a newness of life due to the resurrection.  It is also the life that the believer shares (Romans 6:4).  Revelation 1:5 describes Jesus Christ as “the first begotten of the dead…” and it is in this context that he is called a Son.

In Luke 1:35 the child born to Mary would be called the “Son of God”. Mary was overshadowed (became pregnant) by the supervening power of the Holy Spirit, and “that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”  This might suggest that Jesus was the Son of God by reason of his incarnation, but it is in the future tense (shall be) and therefore does not conflict with Paul’s statement.

In this psalm however, Paul says that the Psalmist was prophesying the resurrection and its consequences.

“God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.”