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The Tri-Unity of God & The Deity of Christ
The nature and personality of the Godhead is a problematic question, and as such has occupied the thoughts and minds of scholars and thinkers throughout the centuries. It has been a source of controversy not only between Church and Synagogue, but also between those who have named the name of Christ, and various heretical factions. The question of Messiah’s divinity sparked much debate from the time of the Apostles until the Council of Nicaea in the year 325, and the Council of Constantinople in 381,when gatherings of the chief Bishops finally hammered out what was to become the orthodox position of the Church down throughout the centuries. The controversy centers mainly on the person of Christ, but also on the personality of the Holy Spirit. A denial of the basic belief in the divine nature of the Messiah goes hand in hand with the denial of the personality and power of the Holy Spirit, Who is then totally marginalised. Little wonder then that those who deny the divinity of Yeshua, have also little time for the Holy Spirit, for He is the One Who guides us into all truth, and points us to Yeshua, John 16 v 13-14.
As this question is not merely an interesting historical controversy, but a very modern and up to date doctrinal error that is afflicting not only a number of Jews who have come to faith, but also many Gentiles, we do well to study the Scriptures to see what they have to say about these matters. It is also worth noting that the Old Testament Scriptures (or Tenach) are full of attestation to the divinity of the coming Messiah, and many interesting allusions to the same fact, even if not explicitly stated. It is a mistake to assume that ONLY the New Testament talks of the Deity of the Messiah, or that this was a new doctrine introduced by Paul and the Christians!
It is not in the scope of this article to include all the references found in the Tenach, but to point the reader in the right direction. One of the first prayers that a Jew learns at the earliest age is the SHEMA, which is found in Deuteronomy 6v 4, and means, “Hear”, or ”Listen”. It goes like this:
A literal translation would be, “Hear, O Israel, the LORDS, our GODS, The LORDS are ONE.
The whole thing is in the plural! Not only that, but the word for one in Hebrew, if it means a single entity (i.e. only one, as in only son) is YACHID. If it signifies a compound unity (i.e.ONE nation, or ONE flesh, as in man and wife being one flesh) the word used is ECHAD. AM ECHAD –one nation: BASAR ECHAD-one flesh. So we could say that this Shema could read literally "Hear, O Israel, The LORDS our GODS, the LORDS (are) a united whole".
The idea of God being a singular entity was crystallized into the Jewish creed by the famous RAMBAM, (Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon ) in the 12th century of the Christian era, when he wrote what has become the Jewish Creed or Articles of Faith. The second article of faith reads thus: "I believe with a perfect Faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is a Unity, and there is no Unity in any manner like unto His, and that He alone is our God, who was, is, and will be".
The word translated Unity here is the Hebrew, Yachid, which means again, the one and only, as in only son. This is in contradiction to the Echad of Deuteronomy 6 v 4, because it implies a single entity, as against the Oneness of God in Deuteronomy.
The allusion to a Oneness within the Godhead, rather than a single Entity, is found throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, beginning from the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, where God says, in verse 26, "Let US make man in OUR own image, and after OUR own likeness". In verse 27, it is stated that God, ELOHIM, (a plural noun) made man in His own image. The verb is in the singular. In the first verse of the same chapter we read that “In the beginning, GOD (ELOHIM-plural) created (singular) the heavens and the earth…… and (verse 2), the SPIRIT OF GOD moved upon the face of the waters! Here in the very first chapter of the first book of the Bible, in the first verses, we are introduced to God and the Spirit of God – the Ruah! In passing, we should also note than when Isaiah had his vision of the Lord seated upon the throne, the angels also praised the threefold holiness of God. “Holy, holy, holy is the YHVH (Jehovah) of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory” (chapter 6:3 )
The priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24-26, is also of great interest. Three times in these verses, the name of the LORD is mentioned.
The YHVH (Jehovah) bless you and keep you. The YHVH make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The YHVH lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace.
Further more, when the Jewish priest, or Cohen, stands to bless the people, the hands are held in such a manner as to depict the Hebrew letter SHIN. ש
It is made up of three perpendicular lines, with one line at the bottom to unite them, and forms the first letter of one of the Hebrew names for God, SHADAI. This letter always appears on the mezuza, which is attached to every Jewish doorpost, and contains the words, "Hear, O, Israel, The YHWH our Gods is one YHWH."
Proverbs chapter eight introduces us to the concept of Wisdom, and the role Wisdom plays in the affairs of men, and more importantly the role that Wisdom played in the creation of the Universe. As the chapter progresses, we see that Wisdom is not just an attribute of the man, who fears the LORD, but that Wisdom clearly becomes a Person who has been with God from the beginning of His way, before His works of old. Indeed the text goes on to tell us that Wisdom was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was! (Verse 22) We could quote all the verses, but 27 tells us that He was there when God prepared the Heavens, and set a compass on the face of the deep. The text goes on to tell us that Wisdom was present in all aspects of the Creation. "Then I was with Him as One brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him". (v.30). The end of this chapter describes the blessedness of the man that hears Him, watching daily at His gates, … and promises that those who find Him find life, and obtain favor of the Lord.
As we read this chapter, we are reminded of the majestic introduction to John’s Gospel, in which we read that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life". 1 Corinthians 1.v 24 states that He is the Wisdom of God. Genesis declares that "In the beginning God created, …… and that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters". Proverbs 8 introduces us to the Wisdom of God, as being co-Creator with God. The writer to the Hebrews puts it so eloquently, when He proclaims that God…has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds. (Hebrews 1 v 2-3). We see quite clearly from these verses that the Word, or Wisdom, or the Son was a co-agent in creation, together with God the Father, and the Ruah, or Spirit: that He is from everlasting, and that in Him is Life!
Closely connected with these Scriptures are those that tell of the Coming Messiah, and Who He would be. Not only do the Hebrew Scriptures give us a portrait of a coming King, but also they point out that the origin of this King is from the Throne of God Himself.
Micah 5 v 2 states that from Bethlehem would come One whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting. Isaiah 9 v 6 relates that the coming Governor, who was to be born as a child, and given as a son, would bare the names of Deity.
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called, “Wonderful, Counseller, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
Interestingly enough, Isaiah also refers to the rod out of the stem of Jesse, and the Branch, which would grow out of his roots. In chapter 11 and verses 1 & 2, he also declares that the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of WISDOM and understanding, just as in the book of Proverbs! Later on in the 48th chapter and 16th verse we find this little gem,
"Come ye now unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me."
Here quite clearly is one who from the beginning, was always there, and now is being sent by the Lord GOD, (Adonai Jehovah in the Hebrew), and his Spirit.
We could quote many verses, but time and space would fail, but before we bring this section to a close, there is one more verse, which could be added. This is from Jeremiah the prophet, and is found in the 23rd chapter and 5th & 6th verses. “Behold the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper……. This is his name whereby he shall be called,
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (ADONAI ZIDKENU) יהוה- צידקנו
The New Testament declares that "no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him". John 1 v 18 Yet time and time again, in the Tenach, People experienced the presence of God, either in the form of Cloud or Fire, as the Israelites did when they came out of Egypt, or in what appeared to be human or Angelic form. These visible appearances are known in Theology as “theophanies”.
One such visitation was to Joshua before the battle of Jericho. When Joshua enquired as to the identity of a man who appeared before him with sword in hand, the answer came back, "Nay; but as captain (Hebrew, “Prince”) of the Hosts of the LORD am I now come", and Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship. He was not only not rebuked for worshipping this man, but was commanded to remove his shoes, "For the place whereon thou standest is holy". (Joshua 5 v14-15)
When Jacob was on his way back to Canaan, after he separated from his Uncle Laban, he too met a man who wrestled with him all night and renamed him “Israel”, declaring that he had power with men and with God, and had prevailed. Although this “man” refused to give Jacob his name, Jacob’s called the name of the place where he had met him, “Peniel” (Hebrew- face of God), adding that he had seen God face to face and his life was preserved! (Genesis 32:24-30)
On another occasion, recorded for us in the book of Judges 13, we have the story of the appearance of One, who is first described as a man of God by Manoah’s wife, (13:6). She perceived that his face was as the face of an angel, but they thought he was a man. Verse 16 tells us that Manoah did not know that he was an Angel of the LORD. Later on, the Angel told them his name was “Wonderful”, one of the names given to the child who was to be born to Israel as we have already seen in Isaiah 9:6 . After the Angel of the LORD ascended back to heaven in the flame of the offering that Manoah had offered to the LORD, they both fell on the ground, (v20), and in verse 22 Manoah expresses his belief that they would both surely die, because they had seen God! But like Jacob, their lives were preserved!
What are we then to make of this? No man has seen God at any time, but here are a number who did! We can only assume that this is He of Whom it is written, "The only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared him". (John 1:18). The Man who wrestled with Jacob, and the man who appeared to Joshua, and the Man of God or Angel of the LORD who appeared to Manoah is none other than the Angel of his Presence, who saved them and redeemed them (Isaiah 63v9). Interestingly enough, the next verse informs us that in spite of all God’s love and pity, they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit (10).
We should not leave this section without reminding ourselves of another occasion when Isaiah himself (chapter 6) saw the Lord, sitting upon his throne. The Temple was filled with his glory, and the Seraphim cried out, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory" (v 3) ……. For mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. The Apostle John referring to this event declares that Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus, and spoke of him! (John12:41)
Someone once wrote:
“The New is
in the Old concealed,
What the Old Testament has shown us in shadows, the New Testament has revealed in radiant light. We have already quoted John 1 and Hebrews 1, both of which quite clearly show Yeshua (Jesus), as the Creator of the worlds, and the Express Image of God. And what could be more explicit than Colossians 1:15-17?
Who is the Image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and FOR him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Please notice that in the above verses, not only did he create all things, but also everything was created for him. (Compare Revelation 4:11. 5:13) The same honor is given to God and the Lamb! Philippians declares that Messiah Yeshua, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God (2:6). Furthermore we are told that God has highly exalted him and given him a name above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow……… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (v9-11).
Dr Arnold Fruchtenbaum of Ariel Ministries, in an excellent article reprinted by the Vineyard Magazine, March 2001, informs us that
According to Dr Fruchtenbaum, “the second thing the Rabbis taught about the memra was that the memra was also the agent of creation”.
“The third thing the Rabbis taught about the memra was that the memra was the agent of salvation”.
The fourth thing that they taught “was that the memra was the agent or the means by which God became visible throughout the pages of the Old Testament”. The rabbis used the term Shechina or the Shechina Glory, instead of “theophany”
The fifth point was that they taught that the memra was the agent of revelation. Whenever God revealed Himself He always revealed Himself by means of His memra, by means of His word.
Finally, the dispensation of Law was based upon the Mosaic Covenant, which was signed and sealed by the Shechina Glory (Exodus24)
We are indebted to Dr Fruchtenbaum and other scholars for their excellent teaching, which confirms the truth of God’s Word in both the Tenach and in the New Testament. The doctrine of the Deity of Christ in no way contradicts ancient Jewish theology or concepts. It is modern Rabbinical thought which is often at variance with the Tenach and the teachings of the prophets, and we must distinguish between that which has come to be known as Judaism, and the true teachings of the Tenach and our ancient sages. True Judaism and true Christianity are not at variance, but on the contrary, the Messiah fulfills all that the Tenach has revealed about Him.
God says, "I am the LORD and my glory will I not give to another", ( Isaiah 42:8).Yet Daniel tells us, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Where are we ever commanded to serve a created being in this way? Who else could approach to the Ancient of days, and receive such glory from God? Who else could have an everlasting kingdom? What human being could ever share the throne with God, the LORD of Hosts, JEHOVAH? The thought is blasphemous. It can only be the One who is the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Rev. 19:16). For God has highly exalted him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Let us then be among those who worship Him in spirit and in truth, and say with our hearts, "Blessing and honor, and glory and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever"(Rev.5:12). Amen.
Ruth Nessim, |
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